Dr. Mehdi Kargar

TRS 2-026 · 55 Dundas St W, Toronto · +1 (416) 979-5000 x 7671 · kargar@ryerson.ca

I am an assistant professor at the Ted Rogers School of Information Technology Management at Ryerson University (since 2018) and an adjunct assistant professor at the Department of Management Sciences at the University of Waterloo (since 2017). Prior to this, I was an assistant professor at the School of Computer Science at the University of Windsor (2016-2018).

Academic Positions

SOSCIP Scientific Advisory Committee Member

SOSCIP Consortium, MaRS West Tower, Toronto
May 2019 - Present

Assistant Professor

Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University
July 2018 - Present

Adjunct Assistant Professor

Department of Management Sciences, University of Waterloo
December 2017 - Present

M.Sc. Program Chair

School of Computer Science, University of Windsor
April 2017 - June 2018

Assistant Professor

School of Computer Science, University of Windsor
July 2016 - June 2018

Mitacs Elevate Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Dapasoft Inc. (Microsoft Gold Certified Partner)
York University
April 2014 - March 2016

Education

York University

Toronto, Canada

Ph.D. in Computer Science

September 2009 - August 2013

Sharif University of Technology

Tehran, Iran

M.Sc. in Software Engineering

September 2006 - October 2008

Sharif University of Technology

Tehran, Iran

B.Sc. in Software Engineering

September 2001 - August 2006

Research Interests

My primary research interests are in business analytics, big data, data science, data management, and sustainability. Specific interests include:

  • Search over Enterprise Databases for Business Users
    • Keyword Search in Big Graphs
    • Meaningful Pattern Mining in Big Data
  • Business Analytics over Enterprise Data
    • Predictive Analytics
    • Team Formation in Social Networks

Collaborators

I am fortunate to collaborate with several bright researchers. Past and current collaborators are listed here alphabetically:

  • Aijun An (York University)
  • Ebrahim Bagheri (Ryerson University)
  • Heidar Davoudi (Ontario Tech University)
  • Hossein Fani (University of Windsor)
  • Parke Godfrey (York University)
  • Lukasz Golab (University of Waterloo)
  • Ziad Kobti (University of Windsor)
  • Zhibin Lin (Durham University Business School)
  • Piotr Mierzejewski (IBM Canada)
  • Pooya Moradian Zadeh (University of Windsor)
  • Divesh Srivastava (AT&T Lab-Research)
  • Jaroslaw Szlichta (Ontario Tech University)
  • Xiaohui Yu (York University)
  • Morteza Zihayat (Ryerson University)
  • Hossein Zolfagharinia (Ryerson University)

Industrial Partners

I work with several companies in Canada and the US. Past and current industrial partners are listed here:

  • IBM
  • AT&T Lab-Research
  • Dapasoft Inc.
  • NexJ Inc.
  • TTC (Toronto Transit Commission)
  • BuyProperly Inc.

Publications

Journal Papers

  1. Unearthing Trends in Environmental Science and Engineering Research: Insights from a Probabilistic Topic Modeling Literature Analysis
    Y. Palanichamy, \M. Kargar, and H. Zolfagharinia
    Journal of Cleaner Production, 128322, 2021. see graphical abstract here
  2. Leveraging Non-Respondent Data in Customer Satisfaction Modeling
    M. Zihayat, A. Ayanso, H. Davoudi, M. Kargar, and N. Mengesha
    Journal of Business Research, 135, 112-126, 2021.
  3. A Socially Motivating and Environmentally Friendly Tour Recommendation Framework for Tourist Groups
    M. Kargar, and Z. Lin
    Expert Systems with Applications, 180, 115083, 2021.
  4. A Unified Framework for Effective Team Formation in Social Networks
    K. Selvarajah, P. Moradian Zadeh, Z. Kobti, Y. Palanichamy, and M. Kargar
    Expert Systems with Applications, 177, 114886, 2021.
  5. Robust Keyword Search in Large Attributed Graphs
    S. Bryson, H. Davoudi, L. Golab, M. Kargar, Y. Lytvyn, P. Mierzejewski, J. Szlichta, and M. Zihayat
    Information Retrieval Journal, 2020.
  6. Effective Keyword Search over Weighted Graphs
    M. Kargar, L. Golab, D. Srivastava, J. Szlichta and M. Zihayat
    IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering (TKDE), 2020.
  7. Cultural Algorithms for Cluster Hires in Social Networks
    K. Selvarajah, Z. Kobti, and M. Kargar
    Procedia Computer Science: 170, 541-521, 2020.
  8. Compact Group Discovery in Attributed Graphs and Social Networks
    A. Khan, L. Golab, M. Kargar, J. Szlichta and M. Zihayat
    Information Processing & Management Journal (IP&M), 57(2): 102054, 2020.
  9. User Community Detection via Embedding of Social Network Structure and Temporal Content
    H. Fani, E. Jiang, E. Bagheri, F. Al-Obeidat, W. Du, and M. Kargar
    Information Processing & Management Journal (IP&M), 57(2): 102056, 2020.
  10. Identifying a Team of Experts in Social Networks using a Cultural Algorithm
    K. Selvarajah, P. Moradian Zadeh, M. Kargar and Z. Kobti
    Procedia Computer Science: 151, 477-484, 2019.
  11. Effective and Complete Discovery of Bidirectional Order Dependencies via Set-based Axioms
    J. Szlichta, P. Godfrey, L. Golab, M. Kargar and D. Srivastava
    The VLDB Journal (VLDBJ): 27(4): 573--591, 2018.
  12. Effective and Complete Discovery of Order Dependencies via Set-based Axiomatization
    J. Szlichta, P. Godfrey, L. Golab, M. Kargar and D. Srivastava
    Proceedings of the VLDB Endowment (PVLDB), 10(7): 721-732, 2017.
  13. Finding Top-k r-cliques for Keyword Search from Graphs in Polynomial Delay
    M. Kargar and A. An.
    Knowledge and Information Systems (KAIS), 43(2): 249-280, 2015.
  14. Efficient Duplication Free and Minimal Keyword Search in Graphs
    M. Kargar, A. An and X. Yu.
    IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering (TKDE), 26(7): 1657-1669, 2014.
  15. Keyword Search in Graphs: Finding r-cliques
    M. Kargar and A. An.
    Proceedings of the VLDB Endowment (PVLDB), 4(10): 681-692, 2011.
  16. Truthful and Secure Routing in Ad Hoc Networks with Malicious and Selfish Nodes
    M. Kargar and M. Ghodsi
    International Journal of Security and Its Applications (IJSIA), 3(1), 117-128, 2009.
  17. Enhanced Evolutionary and Heuristic Algorithms for Haplotype Reconstruction Problem Using Minimum Error Correction Model
    M. Kargar, H. Poormohammadi, L. Pirhaji, H. Pezeshk, C. Eslahchi and M. Sadeghi
    MATCH Communications in Mathematical and in Computer Chemistry, 62(2):261-274, 2009.
  18. A Tale of Two Symmetrical Tails: Structural and Functional Characteristics of Palindromes in Proteins
    A. Sheari, M. Kargar, A. Katanforoush, S. Arab, M. Sadeghi, H. Pezeshk, C. Eslahchi and S-A. Marashi
    BMC Bioinformatics, 9:274-280, 2008.
  19. The Performances of the Chi-square Test and Complexity Measures for Signal Recognition in Biological Sequences
    L. Pirhaji, M. Kargar, A. Sheari, H. Poormohammadi, M. Sadeghi, H. Pezeshk and C. Eslahchi
    Journal of Theoretical Biology, 251:380-387, 2008.
  20. Evolution of 'Ligand Diffusion Chreodes' on Protein Surface Models: A Genetic Algorithm Study
    S-A. Marashi, M. Kargar, A. Katanforoush, H. Abolhassani and M. Sadeghi
    Chemistry and Biodiversity, 4(12):2766-2771, 2007.

Conference Papers

  1. PyTFL: A Python-based Neural Team Formation Toolkit
    R. Hamidi Rad, A. Mitha, H. Fani, M. Kargar, J. Szlichta, and Ebrahim Bagheri
    to appear in Proceedings of the 30th ACM International Conference on Information and Knowledge Management (CIKM), 2021.
  2. PyTFL: A Python-based Neural Team Formation Toolkit
    J. Nemec, H. Davoudi, L. Golab, M. Kargar, Y. Lytvyn, P. Mierzejewski, J. Szlichta, and M. Zihayat
    to appear in Proceedings of the 30th ACM International Conference on Information and Knowledge Management (CIKM), 2021.
  3. Retrieving Skill-Based Teams from Collaboration Networks
    R. Hamidi Rad, R. Bagheri M. Kargar, D. Srivastava, and J. Szlichta
    to appear in Proceedings of the 44th International ACM SIGIR Conference on Research and Development in Information Retrieval (SIGIR), 2021.
  4. Effective Keyword Search over Weighted Graphs (Extended Abstract)
    M. Kargar, L. Golab, D. Srivastava, J. Szlichta, and M. Zihayat
    to appear in Proceedings of the 35th IEEE International Conference on Data Engineering (ICDE), 2021.
  5. Efficient Discovery of Approximate Order Dependencies
    R. Karegar, P. Godfrey, L. Golab, M. Kargar, D. Srivastava, and J. Szlichta
    in Proceedings of the 24th International Conference on Extending Database Technology (EDBT), 427-432, 2021.
  6. Learning to Form Skill-based Teams of Experts
    R. Hamidi Rad, H. Fani, M. Kargar, J. Szlichta and E. Bagheri
    to appear in Proceedings of the 29th ACM International Conference on Information and Knowledge Management (CIKM), 2020.
  7. Erratum for Discovering Order Dependencies through Order Compatibility
    J. Szlichta, P. Godfrey, L. Golab, M. Kargar and D. Srivastava
    in Proceedings of the 23rd International Conference on Extending Database Technology (EDBT), 459-663, 2020.
  8. Link Prediction by Analyzing Temporal Behavior of Vertices
    K. Selvarajah, Z. Kobti, and M. Kargar
    in Proceedings of the The International Conference on Computational Science (ICCS), 2020.
  9. Dynamic Network Link Prediction by Learning Effective Subgraphs using CNN-LSTM
    K. Selvarajah, K. Ragunathan, Z. Kobti, and M. Kargar
    in Proceedings of the International Joint Conference on Neural Networks (IJCNN), 2020.
  10. Exploring Structured Information Systems: A Keyword Search Approach
    M. Kargar
    in Proceedings of IEEE 4th International Conference on Communication and Information Systems (ICCIS), 2019.
  11. Bringing Order to Data
    H. Davoudi, P. Godfrey, L. Golab, M. Kargar, D. Srivastava and J. Szlichta
    in Proceedings of the 13th Alberto Mendelzon International Workshop on Foundations of Data Management (AMW), 2019.
  12. Forming a Collaborative and Productive Team of Experts
    M. Kargar
    in Proceedings of the 25th International Conference on Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM), 2019.
  13. A Palliative Care Simulator and Visualization Framework
    K. Selvarajah, P. Zadeh, Z. Kobti, k. Pfaff, and M. Kargar
    in Proceedings of the Innovation in Medicine and Healthcare Systems, and Multimedia (KES-InMed), 2019.
  14. A Cultural Algorithm for Determining Similarity Values Between Users in Recommender Systems
    K. Selvarajah, Z. Kobti and M. Kargar
    in Proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on the Applications of Evolutionary Computation (EvoApplications), 2019.
  15. Productive and Profitable Cluster Hire
    P. Patel, K. Selvarajah, Z. Kobti and M. Kargar
    in Proceedings of the 31st Florida Artificial Intelligence Research Society Conference (FLAIRS) in cooperation with AAAI, 32-37, 2019.
  16. Team Formation in Community-Based Palliative Care
    K. Selvarajah, P. Zadeh, Z. Kobti, M. Kargar, M. Ishraque and k. Pfaff
    in Proceedings of the 2018 Innovations in Intelligent Systems and Applications (INISTA), 2018.
  17. Effective Team Formation in Expert Networks
    M. Zihayat, A. An, L. Golab, M. Kargar, J. Szlichta
    in Proceedings of the 12th Alberto Mendelzon International Workshop on Foundations of Data Management (AMW), 2018.
  18. FastOD: Bringing Order to Data
    A. Mihaylov, P. Godfrey, L. Golab, M. Kargar, D. Srivastava and J. Szlichta
    in Proceedings of the 34th IEEE International Conference on Data Engineering (ICDE), 2018.
  19. WSCAN-TFP: Weighted SCAN Clustering Algorithm For Team Formation Problem in Social Networks
    K. Selvarajah, A. Bhullar, Z. Kobti and M. Kargar
    in Proceedings of the 31st Florida Artificial Intelligence Research Society Conference (FLAIRS) in cooperation with AAAI, 209-212, 2018.
  20. Cluster Hire in a Network of Experts
    M. Patel and M. Kargar.
    in Proceedings of 13th International Workshop on Mining and Learning with Graphs (MLG) in conjunction with the 23rd ACM SIGKDD Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (KDD), 2017.
  21. A Knowledge-based Computational Algorithm for Discovering a Team of Experts in Social Networks
    K. Selvarajah, P. Moradian Zadeh, M. Kargar and Z. Kobti.
    KDD Workshop on Data Driven Discovery (DDD) in conjunction with the 23rd ACM SIGKDD Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (KDD), 2017.
  22. Authority-Based Team Discovery in Social Networks
    M. Zihayat, A. An, L. Golab, M. Kargar and J. Szlichta
    Proceedings of the 20th International Conference on Extending Database Technology (EDBT), 498-501, 2017.
  23. Meaningful Keyword Search over Databases with Complex Schema
    M. Kargar, A. An, P. Godfrey, J. Szlichta and X. Yu.
    in Proceedings of the 11th Alberto Mendelzon International Workshop on Foundations of Data Management (AMW), 2017.
  24. eGraphSearch: Effective Keyword Search in Graphs
    M. Kargar, L. Golab and J. Szlichta
    Proceedings of the 25th ACM International Conference on Information and Knowledge Management (CIKM), 2461-2464, 2016.
  25. Meaningful Keyword Search in Relational Databases with Large and Complex Schema
    M. Kargar, A. An, N. Cercone, P. Godfrey, J. Szlichta and X. Yu.
    Proceedings of the 31st IEEE International Conference on Data Engineering (ICDE), 411-422, 2015.
  26. MeanKS: Meaningful Keyword Search in Relational Databases with Complex Schema
    M. Kargar, A. An, N. Cercone, P. Godfrey, J. Szlichta and X. Yu.
    Proceedings of the International Conference on Management of Data (SIGMOD), 905-908, 2014.
  27. Two-Phase Pareto Set Discovery for Three-objective Team Formation
    M. Zihayat, M. Kargar and A. An.
    Proceedings of the 2014 IEEE/WIC/ACM International Conference on Web Intelligence (WI), 304-311, 2014.
  28. Finding Affordable and Collaborative Teams from a Network of Experts
    M. Kargar, M. Zihayat and A. An.
    Proceedings of the SIAM International Conference on Data Mining (SDM), 587-595, 2013.
  29. Signal Detection in Genome Sequences using Complexity based Features
    M. Kargar, A. An, N. Cercone, K. Tirdad and M. Zihayat.
    Proceedings of the 12th International Workshop on Data Mining in Bioinformatics (BioKDD) in conjunction with the 19th ACM SIGKDD Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (KDD), 25-33, 2013.
  30. Efficient Bi-objective Team Formation in Social Networks
    M. Kargar, A. An and M. Zihayat.
    Proceedings of the Machine Learning and Knowledge Discovery in Databases - European Conference (ECML/PKDD), 483-498, 2012.
  31. Efficient Top-k Keyword Search in Graphs with Polynomial Delay
    M. Kargar and A. An.
    Proceedings of the 28th IEEE International Conference on Data Engineering (ICDE), 1269-1272, 2012.
  32. TeamExp: Top-k Team Formation in Social Networks
    M. Kargar and A. An.
    Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Data Mining Workshops (ICDMW), 1231-1234, 2011.
  33. Discovering Top-k Teams of Experts with/without a Leader in Social Networks
    M. Kargar and A. An.
    Proceedings of the 20th ACM International Conference on Information and Knowledge Management (CIKM), 985-994, 2011.
  34. Evaluation of Different Complexity Measures for Signal Detection in Genome Sequences
    M. Kargar and A. An.
    Proceedings of the First ACM International Conference on Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (BCB), 422-425, 2010.
  35. The Effect of Sequence Complexity on the Construction of Protein-Protein Interaction Networks
    M. Kargar and A. An.
    Proceedings of the International Conference on Brain Informatics (BI), 308-319, 2010.
  36. Haplotyping Problem, A Clustering Approach
    C. Eslahchi, M. Sadeghi, H. Pezeshk, M. Kargar and H. Poormohammadi.
    Proceeding of International Conference of Numerical Analysis and Applied Mathematics (ICNAAM), AIP Conf. Proc. 936, 185-201, 2007.
  37. Trusted Secure Routing for Ad Hoc Networks
    N. Haghpanah, M. Akhoondi, M. Kargar and A. Movaghar
    Proceeding of 6th ACM International Workshop on Mobility Management and Wireless Access (MobiWac), 176-179, 2007.
  38. Approximation Algorithms for Software Component Selection Problem
    N. Haghpanah, S. Moaven, J. Habibi, M. Kargar and S. Hassas Yeganeh
    Proceeding of 14th Asia-Pacific Software Engineering Conference (APSEC), 159-166, 2007.

Book Chapter

  1. Cultural Algorithms for Social Network Analysis
    K. Selvarajah, Z. Kobti, and M. Kargar
    In: Cultural Algorithms: Tools to Model Complex Dynamic Social Systems, First Edition. Robert G. Reynolds. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2020.
  2. A Survey of High Utility Pattern Mining Algorithms for Big Data
    M. Zihayat, M. Kargar and J. Szlichta
    in Fournier-Viger P., Lin JW., Nkambou R., Vo B., Tseng V. (eds) High-Utility Pattern Mining. Studies in Big Data, vol 51. Springer, 2019.

Honors & Awards

  • TRSM Research Recognition Award, Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University, 2020
  • TRSM Outstanding Research Award (four times), Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University, 2018-2020
  • Nominated for Roger Thibert Teaching Excellence Award by the acting director of the School of Computer Science, University of Windsor, Fall 2017
  • Highest teaching evaluation in both graduate and undergraduate courses, School of Computer Science, University of Windsor, Winter 2017
  • Nominated for Eshrat Arjomandi award for outstanding Ph.D. dissertation (best Ph.D. thesis award), Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, York University, Fall 2013
  • SIAM Travel Award for Graduate Students to attend International Conference on Data Mining, Austin, USA, 2013.
  • Graduate Scholarship, York University, Toronto, Canada, 2009-2013.
  • Ranked 7th in scientific Olympiad for university students in Software Eng., Iran, 2006
  • Ranked 9th in graduate entrance exam in Software Eng., Iran, 2006
  • Ranked 39th (top 0.01%) in nationwide university entrance exam for engineering and applied mathematics among more than 400,000 participants, Iran, 2001.