EVOLUTIONARY COMPUTING FOR FEATURE SELECTION AND PREDICTIVE DATA MINING By Muhsin Ozdemir A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Major Subject: Engineering Science Approved by the Examining Committee: _____________________________ Jorge Haddock, Thesis Adviser _____________________________ Mark J. Embrechts, Thesis Adviser _____________________________ Curt M. Breneman, Member _____________________________ Nong Shang, Member Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, New York March 2002 (For Graduation May 2002)