Research Interests

My research focuses on machine learning for video understanding and time series forecasting. I am experienced in self-supervised learning, compressed-domain video analysis, and graph-based sequence modeling. I develop advanced models to improve video understanding, particularly in compressed domains and through self-supervised techniques. Additionally, I explore novel methods for representing sequential data using de Bruijn graphs, including multivariate time series, protein sequences, and other temporal patterns, to enhance model performance in classification and forecasting tasks.

Publications

Conferences and Workshops

2025
Mert Onur Cakiroglu, Idil Bilge Altun, Mehmet Dalkilic, Elham Buxton, Hasan Kurban. "Multivariate de Bruijn Graphs: A Symbolic Graph Framework for Time Series Forecasting." International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML 2025), 1st Workshop on Foundation Models for Structured Data (FMSD). (arXiv)
2025
Mert Onur Cakiroglu, Idil Bilge Altun, Shahriar Rahman Fahim, Hasan Kurban, Mehmet M. Dalkilic, Rachad Atat. "De Bruijn Graph-Enhanced Time Series Models for Electricity Load Forecasting." International Symposium on Signals, Circuits and Systems (ISSCS 2025), Iasi, Romania, pp. 1-4. (DOI)
2024
Mert Onur Cakiroglu, Hasan Kurban, Elham Khorasani Buxton, Mehmet Dalkilic. "A Novel Discrete Time Series Representation with De Bruijn Graphs for Enhanced Forecasting Using TimesNet (Extended Abstract)." IEEE 11th International Conference on Data Science and Advanced Analytics (DSAA 2024), San Diego, CA, USA, pp. 1-3. (DOI)

Peer-Reviewed Journals

2025
Mert Onur Cakiroglu, Idil Bilge Altun, Shahriar Rahman Fahim, Hasan Kurban, Mehmet Dalkilic, Rachad Atat, Abdulrahman Takiddin, Erchin Serpedin. "An Extended Frequency-Improved Legendre Memory Model for Enhanced Long-Term Electricity Load Forecasting." IEEE Open Access Journal of Power and Energy, 12, 691-701. (Impact Factor: 3.6) (DOI)
2025
Mert Onur Cakiroglu, Hasan Kurban, Elham Buxton, Mehmet Dalkilic. "A Novel Discrete Time Series Representation with De Bruijn Graphs for Enhanced Forecasting Using TimesNet." IEEE Access, 13, 123182-123198. (Impact Factor: 3.2) (DOI)
2024
Mert Onur Cakiroglu, Hasan Kurban, Parichit Sharma, M. Oguzhan Kulekci, Elham Khorasani Buxton, Maryam Raeeszadeh-Sarmazdeh, Mehmet Dalkilic. "An Extended de Bruijn Graph for Feature Engineering Over Biological Sequential Data." Machine Learning: Science and Technology, 5(3), Article 035020. (Impact Factor: 6.8) (DOI)
2024
Mert Onur Cakiroglu, Hasan Kurban, Lilia Aljihmani, Khalid Qaraqe, Goran Petrovski, Mehmet M. Dalkilic. "A Reinforcement Learning Approach to Effective Forecasting of Pediatric Hypoglycemia in Diabetes I Patients Using an Extended de Bruijn Graph." Nature – Scientific Reports, 14, Article 31251. (Impact Factor: 3.8) (DOI)

Under Review

2025
Mert Onur Cakiroglu, Idil Bilge Altun, Zhihe Lu, Mehmet Dalkilic, Hasan Kurban. "Temporal Realism Evaluation of Generated Videos Using Compressed-Domain Motion Vectors." Under review at IEEE/CVF Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR 2026). (arXiv)

Research Experience

May 2024 – Jul. 2024
Research Associate – Texas A&M University at Qatar
  • Advisor: Dr. Hasan Kurban
  • Developed a self-supervised learning framework for video data, enabling models to learn meaningful representations without labeled data.
  • Implemented federated video learning in the compressed domain, optimizing performance while preserving privacy.
Aug. 2023 – Ongoing
Student Researcher – Kurban Intelligence Labs (Visit Lab Website)
  • Advisor: Dr. Hasan Kurban
  • Conducted research and authored academic papers on time series forecasting, Type 1 Diabetes hypoglycemia detection, and protein classification.
  • Currently conducting research on video learning, self-supervised learning, and representation learning using de Bruijn graphs.

Work Experience

Jul. 2021 – Apr. 2023
Full-Stack Software Developer – Innova IT Solutions (Visit Project Website)
  • Contributed to the development of the "Centralized Fault Management System (MARS)," designed to provide end-to-end fault detection, diagnosis, and resolution for telecommunication networks and IT infrastructures.
  • Improved legacy codebase and developed new functionalities based on functional specifications and business requirements.
  • Gained experience working in an agile development environment.
  • Developed microservices using Spring Boot, interacting with PL/SQL and MongoDB databases in a microservice architecture.
  • Worked on front-to-backend interactions using React.js and Vaadin frameworks, utilizing RESTful services for seamless integration.

Teaching

Spring 2023 – Ongoing
CSCI-C 200 Introduction to Computers and Programming – Associate Instructor (TA)
  • Instructor: Prof. Dr. Mehmet M Dalkilic
Spring 2024
CSCI-B 657 Computer Vision – Associate Instructor (TA)
  • Instructor: Prof. Dr. David Crandall

Education

Fall 2023 – present
Ph.D. Computer Science, Indiana University, Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering
  • Advisor: Prof. Dr. Mehmet M Dalkilic
  • Co-Advisor: Dr. Hasan Kurban
2017 – 2021
BS Computer Science, TOBB University of Economics and Technology

Awards and Recognition

2023
Fall 2023 Luddy Doctoral Associate Instructor Fellowship, Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering.

Curriculum Vitae

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