>JJMC89 bot III at 00:49, 19 December 2020

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{{short description|Indian American mathematician}}
{{advert|date=March 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2018}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Avinash Kak
| honorific_suffix =
| image = 7TbjJqF7 400x400.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Kak in 2016
| native name =
| birth_name =
| birth_date =
| birth_place = Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India
| alma_mater = [[College of Engineering, Guindy]], [[Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi]]
| other_names =
| known_for = [[Computer vision]], [[Simultaneous Algebraic Reconstruction Technique|SART algorithm]], [[Robotics]], [[Software engineering]]
| occupation = Computer Scientist
| credits = Author of "Digital Picture Processing", "Objects Trilogy Project"
}}'''Avinash C. Kak''' (born 1944) is a professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at [[Purdue University]] who has conducted pioneering research in several areas of information processing.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}} His most noteworthy contributions deal with algorithms, languages, and systems related to networks (including sensor networks), [[robotics]], and computer vision.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}} Born in [[Srinagar]], [[Kashmir]], he was educated at [[College of Engineering, Guindy]] and [[Indian Institute of Technology Delhi]].<ref>Kak, Ram Nath, Autumn Leaves. Vitasta, 1995.</ref> He joined the faculty of [[Purdue University]] in 1971.<ref>Homepage https://engineering.purdue.edu/kak/ Avi Kak's Personal Homepage</ref>

His brother is the [[computer scientist]] [[Subhash Kak]] and sister the literary theorist [[Jaishree Odin]].<ref>Kak, Ram Nath, Autumn Leaves. Vitasta, 1995.</ref>

== Robotics and computer vision ==
His contributions include the 3D-POLY, which is the fastest algorithm for recognizing 3D objects in depth maps<ref>Chen, C.H. and A. C. Kak, "A Robot Vision System for Recognizing 3-D Objects in Low-Order Polynomial Time," IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, pp. 1535–1563, November/December 1989</ref>
In 1992, Kosaka and Kak published FINALE,<ref>Kosaka, A. and A. Kak, "Fast Vision-Guided Mobile Robot Navigation using Model-Based Reasoning and Prediction of Uncertainties," Computer Vision, Graphics, and Image Processing -- Image Understanding, pp. 271–329, November 1992</ref> which is considered to be a computationally efficient and highly robust approach to vision-based navigation by indoor mobile robots. In 2003, a group of researchers that included Kak developed a tool for [[content-based image retrieval]] that was demonstrated by [[clinical trial]]s to improve the performance of radiologists. This remains the only clinically evaluated system for content-based image retrieval for radiologists.<ref>Aisen, A., Lynn Broderick, H. Winter-Muram, [[Carla Brodley|C. Brodley]], A. Kak, C. Pavlopoulou, J. Dy, Chi-Ren Shyu, and A. Marchiori, "Automated Storage and Retrieval of Thin-Section CT Images to Assist Diagnosis: System Description and Preliminary Assessment," Radiology, Vol. 228, No. 1, pp. 265–270, July 2003</ref> His book ''Digital Picture Processing'',<ref>Rosenfeld, A. and A.Kak, ''Digital Picture Processing'' Academic Press(1982)</ref> co-authored with [[Azriel Rosenfeld]], is also considered a classic and has been one of the most widely referenced sources in literature dealing with digital [[image processing]] and [[computer vision]].

Kak is not a believer in [[Artificial general intelligence|Strong AI]] as evidenced by his provocative/amusing essay ''Why Robots Will Never Have Sex''. This essay a rejoinder to those who believe that robots/computers will someday take over the world.<ref>[https://engineering.purdue.edu/kak/RobotsWillNeverHaveSex.pdf Kak, A. Why Robots Will Never Have Sex]</ref>

== Image reconstruction algorithms ==
The SART algorithm<ref>Andersen, A. and Avinash Kak, "Simultaneous Algebraic Reconstruction Technique (SART): A Superior Implementation of ART," Ultrasonic Imaging, 1984</ref> ([[Simultaneous Algebraic Reconstruction Technique]]) proposed by Andersen and Kak in 1984 has had a major impact in CT imaging applications where the projection data is limited. As a measure of its popularity, researchers have proposed various extensions to
SART: OS-SART, FA-SART, VW-OS-SART, SARTF, etc. Researchers have also studied how SART can best be implemented on different parallel processing architectures. SART and its proposed extensions are used in emission CT in nuclear medicine, dynamic CT, and holographic tomography, and other reconstruction applications.<ref>Byrne, C. A unified treatment of some iterative algorithms in signal processing and image reconstruction. Inverse Problems 20 103 (2004)</ref> Convergence of the SART algorithm was theoretically established in 2004 by Jiang and Wang.<ref>Jiang, M. and Ge Wang, "Convergence of the simultaneous algebraic reconstruction technique (SART)" IEEE Transactions on Image Processing, Vol. 12, August 2003, pp. 957–961.</ref> His book ''Principles of Computerized Tomographic Imaging'',<ref>Kak, A. and [[Malcolm Slaney]], ''Principles of Computerized Tomographic Imaging'' SIAM (Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics) Press(1988)</ref> now re-published as a classic in [[Applied Mathematics]] by [[Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics|SIAM]] (Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics), is widely used in courses dealing with modern medical imaging. It is one of the most frequently cited books in the literature on [[image reconstruction]].

==Software engineering and open source==
The three books written by Kak in the course of his 17-year-long Objects Trilogy Project <ref>https://engineering.purdue.edu/kak/ObjectsTrilogy.html The Objects Trilogy Project</ref> cover [[object-oriented programming]], object-oriented scripting, and [[object-oriented design]]. The first of these, ''Programming with Objects'',<ref>Kak, A. ''Programming With Objects: A Comparative Presentation of Object Oriented Programming with C++ and Java'' John Wiley and Sons (2003)</ref> presents a comparative approach to the teaching and learning of two large object-oriented languages, [[C++]] and [[Java (programming language)|Java]]. This book is now used in several universities for teaching object-oriented programming with C++ and Java simultaneously. The second book, ''Scripting with Objects''<ref>Kak, A. "Scripting with Objects: A Comparative Presentation of Object-Oriented Scripting with Perl and Python" John Wiley and Sons (2008)</ref> does the same with Perl and Python. The last book of the trilogy is ''Designing with Objects''.<ref>Kak, A. "Designing with Objects: Object-Oriented Design Patterns Explained with Stories from Harry Potter" John Wiley and Sons (2015)</ref> Regarding the teaching of programming languages in universities, Kak is critical of programs that start the students off with relatively easier-to-learn languages like Java.<ref>https://engineering.purdue.edu/kak/TeachingProgramming.pdf</ref><ref>
https://engineering.purdue.edu/kak/EnsenandoProgramacion.pdf</ref>

Over the years, Kak has also contributed to several [[Open-source software|open-source]] projects.<ref>http://search.cpan.org/~avikak/</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=https://pypi.python.org/pypi?%3Aaction=search&term=avinash+kak&submit=search |title = Search results}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=https://engineering.purdue.edu/kak/OpenSourceProjects.html |title = Avi Kak's Open-Source Projects}}</ref>
The software modules developed through these projects are widely used for data analytics and computer security. In addition, during the last decade, Kak has collaborated with people in industry and developed metrics for measuring the quality of large software systems and the usability of APIs ([[Application Programming Interface]]s).<ref>Sarkar, S., G. Rama, and A. C. Kak, ''API-Based and Information-Theoretic Metrics for Measuring the Quality of Software Modularization,'' IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, vol. 33, no. 1, pp. 14-32, January 2007.</ref><ref>Sarkar, S., A. C Kak, G. M. Rama, ``Metrics for Measuring the Quality of Modularization of Large-Scale Object-Oriented Software,'' IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering}, vol. 34, No. 5, September/October 2008</ref><ref>Rama, G.M. and A. Kak ``Some Structural Measures of API Usability'' Software -- Practice and Experience pp. 1-36, 2013.</ref>

== Computer and network security ==
In computer security research, together with Padmini Jaikumar he has presented a robust solution to the difficult problem of [[botnet]] detection in computer networks.<ref>Jaikumar, P. and Avinash Kak, "A Graph-Theoretic Framework for Isolating Botnets in a Network," Security and Communication Networks, 2012</ref> He has authored popular online lecture notes that are updated regularly. These notes provide comprehensive overview of computer and [[network security]].<ref>[https://engineering.purdue.edu/kak/compsec/Lectures.html Kak, A. Cryptography and Network Security]</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
* [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Ii7P2QQAAAAJ Avi Kak's articles on Google Scholar]
* [https://engineering.purdue.edu/kak/ Avi Kak's Personal Homepage]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kak, Avinash}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:1944 births]]
[[Category:American computer scientists]]
[[Category:Artificial intelligence researchers]]
[[Category:Indian computer scientists]]
[[Category:Theoretical computer scientists]]
[[Category:Indian emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:21st-century American engineers]]
[[Category:Purdue University faculty]]
[[Category:American technology writers]]
[[Category:American textbook writers]]
[[Category:American male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:IIT Delhi alumni]]
[[Category:Modern cryptographers]]
[[Category:American academics of Indian descent]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian mathematicians]]
[[Category:20th-century American mathematicians]]
[[Category:Scientists from Jammu and Kashmir]]
[[Category:People from Srinagar]]

Avinash Kak - Revision history

>JJMC89 bot III at 00:49, 19 December 2020