\fchapter{ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS}
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisor, Dr. Konstantinos Kalpakis for his help, support and constant involvement in guiding me towards my goals. I am also grateful to the distinguished members of my thesis committee, Dr. Stephens and Dr.Peng, for providing guidance and support. I would like to thank the staff members in the Department of Computer Science and Electrical Enginnering for helping me with the administrative details regarding my thesis. 
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This thesis would not have been a success without the contribution of my colleagues at LIST and friends who motivated me and helped me at all times. I am particularly indebted to Koustuv Dasgupta, Ripin Natani, Parag Namjoshi, Vasundhara Puttagunta and Meghna Kukreja, without whose support and encouragement it would not have been possible for me to complete this thesis.
