Do Not Miss This SPS Late Summer Webinar with Professor Xiao-Ping (Steven) Zhang

Webinar Topic: "Applying Signal Processing and Machine Learning to Finance, Economics, and Marketing"

Speaker: Professor Xiao‐Ping (Steven) Zhang
Date: Tuesday, August 21, 2018
Time: 12:00 - 1:00 pm EDT (New York, GMT-04:00)
Email: xzhang@ee.ryerson.ca
Affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON, Canada;
Director of the Communication and Signal Processing Applications Laboratory (CASPAL)

Register: Attendee Registration

Abstract:

This webinar intends to give in-depth introduction of econometrics principles and compare them with signal processing (SP) models. We explain the different focuses between economic time-series analysis and physical signal processing, such as evolution analysis, co-integration and causality analysis. For example, in most physical systems using signal processing and machine learning, the causality (input/output) relationship is often known and taken for granted, but it is generally not obvious/unknown in social and economic sciences. It is critical to discriminate causalities from spurious correlations in data. We further give in-depth research examples on SP and machine learning applications in these fields. We illustrate a marketing dynamic response model that uses signal processing tools to identify and catch fleeting business opportunities. We analyze how short-term (or temporary) marketing efforts generate long-lasting (or persistent) market performance effects, and whether and how should marketing managers budget for short-term and long-term spending using these models. We also give examples to show how to use signal processing and machine learning models to describe and capture the dynamic changes of security risk over time. We hope to empower SP and AI researchers to broaden their knowledge beyond their current areas of expertise and quickly grasp the right formulations of the research questions and related evaluation criteria in these fields.

Speaker Biography: 

Xiao-Ping (Steven) Zhang received B.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Tsinghua University, in 1992 and 1996, respectively, both in Electronic Engineering. He holds an MBA in Finance, Economics, and Entrepreneurship with Honors from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Chicago, IL.

Since fall 2000, he has been with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON, Canada, where he is now Professor, Director of the Communication and Signal Processing Applications Laboratory (CASPAL). He has served as Program Director of Graduate Studies and is cross appointed to the Finance Department at the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University. He was Visiting Scientist at Research Laboratory of Electronics (RLE), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in 2015 and 2017. His research interests include statistical signal processing and big data analytics, multimedia content analysis, sensor networks and electronic systems, machine learning/AI, and applications in bioinformatics, finance, and marketing. He is a frequent consultant for biotech companies and investment firms. He is cofounder and CEO for EidoSearch, an Ontario-based company offering a content-based search and analysis engine for financial big data.

Dr. Zhang is a registered Professional Engineer in Ontario, Canada, and a member of Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society. He is the general co-chair for ICASSP2021 and the General Co-Chair for 2017 GlobalSIP Symposium on Signal and Information Processing for Finance and Business. He is an elected member of ICME steering committee and is the general chair for MMSP'15. He is the publicity chair for ICME’06 and program chair for ICIC’05 and ICIC’10. He served as Guest Editor for Multimedia Tools and Applications, and the International Journal of Semantic Computing. He is a tutorial speaker in ACMMM2011, ISCAS2013, ICIP2013, ICASSP2014, and IJCNN2017. He is a Senior Area Editor for IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing and is currently/has been an Associate Editor for IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing, IEEE Transactions on Image Processing, IEEE Transactions on Multimedia, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology, and IEEE Signal Processing Letters.