About me

I am a faculty member at the department of computer science at the university of Toronto. I conduct research in the areas of data systems, analysis of big data, data science and applied machine learning. My main interest is to develop algorithms and build systems capable to analyze and process massive and diverse data sets. Of particular interest in our group is the incorporation of machine learning techniques as primitives in scalable data systems capable of processing and analyzing vast data collections.

I received a Bachelors Degree from the University of Patras in Greece, a MSc from the University of Maryland at College Park and a PhD degree from the University of Toronto.

Our work has received various best paper awards at international forums. I was named the 2011 inventor of the year by the University of Toronto (1st prize).

My interests in data analytics expand beyond academic activities. In the past, I have co-founded Sysomos (part of Marketwire/NASDAQ) and Aislelabs (part of Trapeze Group/Constellation Software). I am also a co-founder at Workorb.

You can find a list of my recent publications here

PERC: Precision Engine for Recall and Comprehension

We are building a system to execute arbitrary natural language questions on top of unstructured document collections with one hundred percent recall and high precision.

SVQ: Streaming Video Queries

We are building a system to execute interactive queries on streaming video. We are investigating query semantics, formulation and interactive query execution utilizing video content and image analysis primitives.

DeepQuery

Exploring query processing with a deep learning lens. Revisiting query processing, query execution and estimation utilizing deep learning primitives.

DataScrew

Automating the discovery and labelling of training data for any data type

Reliable Text to SQL

Generating Text to SQL Reliably with Abstaintion

Teaching

Here is a list of courses regularly offered

CSC2508

Review of Relational and noSQL/newSQL systems and an understanding their strengths and limitations. Exploration of new trends in data management fueld by deep learning and application needs, such as support for advanced analytics and neural information retrieval and LLMs for data processing.

CSCC43

Introduction to database design. Topics covered: Entity relationship models, relational algebra, normalization theory, SQL and embedded SQL, implementation of relational database operators.

CSCD43

Introduction to the technolgy behind database management systems. The topics covered include: storage systems, buffer management, physical database design, indexing and searching in one and more dimensions, query processing, query optimization, transaction management.

Students

Here is a list of current and past PhD students. I am actively recruiting new PhD students! Some advice if you are or plan to be a PhD student.

  • Xiaohui Yu (York University)
  • Chaitanya Mishra (Facebook)
  • Nikolaos Sarkas (Tower Research Capital)
  • Dimitrios Tsirogannis (Microsoft Research)
  • Albert Angel (Google)
  • Michail Mathioudakis (Aalto University)
  • Nilesh Bansal (serial enterpreneur)
  • Manos Papagelis (UC Berkeley)
  • Milad Eftekhar (Google)

Get in touch

The best way to contact me is via email.