About
I build machine learning and computer vision systems, from image inpainting and 3D-aware vision to retrieval systems and the data pipelines around them.
Machine Learning / Data Science & Computer Vision
M.Sc. graduate in Visual Computing from Saarland University.
I grew up as the daughter of a philosophy lecturer, which means I grew up asking questions. I read science magazines for children, collected cards about clouds and animals, built small electrical circuits and ran my own experiments. I was always more interested in how something works than in simply using it.
That curiosity took me to Computer Engineering, where I programmed robots to react to people's actions and emotions. It left me with a question I still work on: how do machines perceive people and the world? I first explored it by transferring facial expressions from 2D video to 3D models in real time. Later came recommender-system research, explainable AI for painting-price data at DFKI, and a GAN that repairs damaged paintings without losing their style. Most recently, I have been building retrieval systems and the pipelines around them.
Today I am most drawn to computer vision and graphics, especially human faces and facial animation, 3D animation, and tracking-based video and image generation, as well as data science with explainable AI and end-to-end ML systems. Behind all of it is a simple wish: to create a world where we overcome physical restrictions and boundaries with our digital selves.
Skills
- Computer vision & ML: PyTorch, TensorFlow, OpenCV, scikit-learn, GANs, SHAP
- Data & pipelines: Python, pandas, SQL/PostgreSQL, Docker, GitHub Actions
- Languages: Python, C/C++, JavaScript
- Earlier web work: HTML, CSS, Node.js, PHP
Resume
Summary
Beste Ekmen
ML and computer vision engineer (M.Sc. Visual Computing, IMPRS-CS) with research experience at DFKI
- Saarbrücken, Germany
Education
Visual Computing Master Program
2018 - 2025
Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany
Master of Science - Final grade: 2.1
Master's thesis: Inpainting Artworks with Style in Mind (grade: 1.8)
IMPRS-CS Master's Scholarship, awarded in 2018
Industrial Engineering Bachelor Program
2013 - 2018
Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Türkiye
Bachelor of Science (Double Major) - GPA: 3.53/4
Computer Engineering Bachelor Program
2010 - 2016
Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Türkiye
Bachelor of Science - GPA: 3.71/4
(Graduated in the top 3% of the class)
Computer Science - Erasmus Exchange
2014 (Mar - Jul)
AGH University of Science and Technology, Kraków, Poland
Erasmus Student Exchange Program
High School for Applied Sciences
2006 - 2010
Adana High School for Applied Sciences, Adana, TURKEY
Professional Experience
Research Assistant (Part-time)
2021 - 2022
DFKI, Saarbrücken, Germany
- Built a Python web-scraping and data-processing pipeline using Beautiful Soup and Requests to collect and organize large volumes of visual and textual painting data
- Conducted regression and cluster analysis with scikit-learn and XGBoost, improving the previous regression model's accuracy by 20%
- Analyzed and visualized model predictions with explainable AI techniques and SHAP for non-technical interpretation
Machine Learning & Data Science Trainee
2022 (Mar - Jul)
Integrify, Remote
- Completed 5 Python data projects in 3 months
- Scraped, transformed and analyzed data; worked with SQL and PostgreSQL
- Managed CI/CD for machine learning models with GitHub Actions and Docker
Junior Software Engineer
2015 - 2018
Digiturk (beIN MEDIA GROUP), Istanbul, Türkiye
- Developing Node.js based UI for 4K STB (set-top-box) interfaces using HTML5, CSS, JS and a Dojo-based specific framework
- Research on evaluating the usability of STB interfaces with heuristic checklists and user experience tests with novel methods
- Research on evaluating the feature usage and access patterns for STB feature recommender systems
Software Engineer (Part-time)
2014 (Oct-Dec)
iNROBOTEK, Istanbul, Türkiye
- Programming iRobiQ robots for a preschool training system using ROCOS platform
- Programming Nao robots for demonstration purposes
Software Engineer (Part-time/Intern)
2012 - 2013
Arı Mobil Çözümler, Istanbul, Türkiye
- Web programming using PHP, JS, JQuery, HTML, CSS, and MySQL
Publications
- Kaya, A., Gumussoy, C. A., Ekmen, B., & Bayraktaroglu, A. E. (2021). Usability heuristics for the set‐top box and TV interfaces. Human Factors and Ergonomics in Manufacturing & Service Industries.
- Ekmen, B., & Ekenel, H. K. (2018). From 2D to 3D real-time expression transfer for facial animation. Multimedia Tools and Applications, 1-17. (demo video)
- Köprülü, M., Kasapoğlu, Ş., & Ekmen, B. (2018, September). Feature Usage and Access Pattern Evaluation for Set-Top-Box Feature Recommender Systems. In Proceedings of SAI Intelligent Systems Conference (pp. 1185-1192). Springer, Cham.
- Ekmen, B., & Ekenel, H. K. (2016, May). Real time animated facial expression transfer. Signal Processing and Communication Application Conference (SIU), 2016 24th (pp. 1193-1196). IEEE.
Interests
Animation & Digital Arts, Image Processing, Video Processing, Machine Learning, Robotics, User Experience, Philosophy, Charcoal drawing, Photography, Backpacking (travel) (20 countries visited), Hitchhiking, Nature Sports (Swimming, Trekking, Hiking, Skiing), Camping, Reading, Playing Violin, Volunteering
Honors, Scholarships & Awards
- International Max Planck Research School for Computer Science (Master’s Scholarship, awarded 2018)
- Bachelor's Degree (2010 - 2015) - Foundation of ITU, KYK, OBSS (Success Scholarships)
- High School (2006 - 2010) - Foundation of TEKFEN (Success Scholarship)
- Istanbul Technical University Honor List (2012 Spring, 2013 Fall, 2014 Fall, 2016 Spring)
- Istanbul Technical University High Honor List (2011 Spring, 2011 Fall, 2012 Fall)
- ITU Seed Contest (2015) - Acceptance to Acceleration Camp with “Training without Disabilities”
- 13th National Philosophy Olympics (2009) – 36th place in the country
Contact
Location:
Saarbrücken, Germany