Curriculum Vitae
Experience
Computer Vision Research Engineer [December 2014 – To Date]
Oxehealth Ltd. Oxford, UK.
Role Involves:
o Development of camera based vital signs extraction algorithms using image and signal processing techniques.
o Writing and testing prototypes using MATLAB/PYTHON.
o Porting of proven algorithms using C++ for cross platforms.
o Test driven development using the pipeline based software architecture.
o Creation of big video/image/signal datasets to develop and test algorithms.
o Writing analysis tools for data examination and annotation using C++/Qt, Python/PyQt.
o Optimisation of the code and algorithms to manage trade-off between accuracy and real-time performance.
o Working in a collaborative manner and managing variety of tasks.
o Major Projects: Human detection and localisation in a variety of indoor scenarios, Micro motion detection in humans for heart rate (HR) and breathing rate (BR) estimation, Classification of HR and BR signals in the presence of noise due to varying illumination.
Industrial Projects
Metal Whisker Detection on Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) [March 2012 – November 2012]
(Project Funded by: John Shoesmith Consulting ltd.)
Project work involved:
o Detailed analysis of the problem and performance comparison with relevant literature.
o Design and development of the novel algorithm and fine tuning to get maximum accuracy.
o Implementation of prototype system using C language.
Forensic Investigation Network Database (FIND) System [December 2011 - June 2013]
(Project Funded by: Technology Strategy Board (TSB) and Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP))
Main tasks that I performed in the project as PhD student:
o Quality assessment and automatic enhancement of compressed surveillance videos.
o Development of a novel algorithm for text detection and recognition in the surveillance videos.
o Implementation of algorithms using C++ and OpenMP for real time performance.
Technical Skills
Programming Languages MATLAB, C/C++, Python, VHDL, OpenMP.
Relevant Libraries STL, Boost, OpenCV, Qt/PyQt.
Databases SQL
Processes/Versioning Git, Atlassian Tools (Confluence, Jira etc.), Jenkins
Operating Systems Windows, Linux
Embedded Platforms TI DSPs, FPGAs, Microcontrollers, ODROID, NUC.
Education
Ph.D. in Computer Science (Computer Vision and Image Processing) [2011 – 2014]
Loughborough University, UK.
[Thesis Title: Video Content Analysis for Intelligent Forensics.]
Specific areas addressed during doctorate research:
o Identification and classification of objects in Surveillance Videos.
o Object color correction, enhancement and recognition in images and videos.
o Detection and recognition of text in outdoor scene images and videos.
o Vehicle make and model recognition and type identification in images and videos.
M.Sc. in Embedded Digital Systems [2007-2008]
University of Sussex, UK.
B.Sc. in Computer Engineering [2002-2006]
COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Pakistan.
Teaching Experience
Teaching Assistant [December 2011 – To-date]
Department of Computer Science, Loughborough University, Loughborough, United Kingdom.
Lecturer [December 2008 – November 2011]
Electrical Engineering Department, COMSATS Institute of I.T. Lahore. Pakistan.
Lab Engineer [September 2006 – August 2007]
Electrical Engineering Department at COMSATS Institute of I.T. Lahore. Pakistan.
Academic Projects
- Real time video transmission over the LAN using DSP (TMS320DM6437).
- Design and implementation of 16-Point Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) processor on FPGA.
- Vision based Traffic Signals Control for Better Traffic Management on Roads.
- Intelligent Multilevel Car Parking Robot.
- GSM/WiFi Communicator (student-faculty console).
Research Papers
Journal
Fraz M., Zafar I., Giounona T., Edirisinghe E. A., Sarfraz M. S. Exploiting Colour Information for Better scene text detection and recognition. International Journal of Document Analysis and Recognition(IJDAR) 18(2):153-167, 2015.
Fraz M., Zafar I., Giounona T., Edirisinghe E. A., Sarfraz M. S. Human Object Annotation for Surveillance Video Forensics. Journal of Electronic Imaging 22(4), 041115, August 2013. (DOI: 10.1117/1.JEI.22.4.041115)
Sarfraz M.S., , Shahzad M.A., Fraz M., Elahi M. A., Edirisinghe E., Zafar I. Real Time Automatic License Plate Recognition for CCTV Forensic Applications. Journal of Real-Time Image Processing,November 2011. (DOI: 10.1007/s11554-011-0232-7).
Conference
Fraz M, Sarfraz M. S. and Edirisinghe E. A. Exploiting Color Information for Better Scene Text Recognition. In proceedings of British Machine Vision Conference (BMVC), 1-4 September 2014, Nottingham, UK.
Fraz M, Sarfraz M. S. and Edirisinghe E. A. Mid-level representation based lexicon for vehicle make and model recognition. In proceedings of International Conference on Pattern Recognition (ICPR),24-28 August 2014, Stockholm.
Fraz M., Zafar I., Edirisinghe E.A. Object Color Extraction for CCTV Video Annotation. In proceedings of International Conference on Computer Vision Theory and Applications (VISAPP),21-24 February 2013, Barcelona, Spain.
Zafar I., Fraz M., Edirisinghe E.A. Human Object Articulation for CCTV Video Forensics. In proceedings of SPIE Video Surveillance and Transportation Imaging Applications Conference,3 -7 February 2013, California, US.
Fraz M., Sarfraz M.S. Text Detection in Still Images and CCTV Videos using Local Energy Based Shape Histogram Features (LESH). In Proceedings of VISAPP, 5-7 March, 2011, Algarve, Portugal.
Shahzad M.A., Fraz M., Elahi M. A., Sarfraz M.S. Real Time Localization, Tracking and Recognition of Vehicle License Plate. In the Proceedings of VISAPP, 5-7 March, 2011, Algarve, Portugal.
Malhi, M.H., Aslam, M.H., Saeed, F., Javed, O., Fraz, M. Vision based intelligent traffic management system. In proceedings of IEEE conference on Frontier of Information Technology (FIT), December 2011. (ISBN: 978-1-4673-0209-8)
Fraz M., Malkani Y.A., Elahi M.A. Design and Implementation of Real Time Video Streaming and ROI Transmission System using RTP on an Embedded Digital Signal Processing (DSP) Platform. In proceedings of 2nd IEEE International Conference on Computer, Control and Communication(IEEE-IC4), Feburary 2009, Karachi. (ISBN: 978-1-4244-3313-1)
Elahi M.A., Malkani Y.A., Fraz M. Design and Implementation of Real Time Vehicle Tracking System. In proceedings of 2nd IEEE International Conference on Computer, Control and Communication(IEEE- IC4), Feburary 2009, Karachi. (ISBN: 978-1-4244-3313-1)
Awards and Activities
- PhD Scholarship, Loughborough University, UK. [2011-2014]
- MS. Scholarship, COMSATS Institute of I.T. Pakistan. [2007-2008]
- BS. Scholarship, Ministry of Science and Technology Pakistan. [2000-2006]
- 2nd position, Science Matters Poster Competition, Loughborough University. [2012]
- Reviewer, All Pakistan Technical Papers Competition (APTECH). [2011]
- Convener, Departmental extra-curricular committee, COMSATS, Pakistan. [2010-2011]
- Event Organiser, IEEE student chapter CIIT, Pakistan. [2005-2006]
- Member, CIIT Electronics Society, Pakistan. [2002-2006]
Langugages
Interest and Activities