Vivek Borkar

Keeping Up With the Shahs 



Abstract: It's easy if you stay on top of gossip and rumours, and are quick to compare and rank.


Biography : Vivek Borkar has made stellar contributions in the areas of stochastic control and optimization, reinforcement learning, random processes, and several other areas in control and optimization. He is a J.C. Bose National Fellow and a Fellow of IEEE, INSA, IASc, INAE, NASI, and TWAS. He is a recipient of several best paper awards and is widely known for many fundamental results in the above areas.

Sriram Raghavan



Overview of Research Agenda at IBM Research India

Abstract: This talk will cover the overall research agenda for IBM Research India, covering the work we do in core AI, blockchain and applications of AI to specific industries like agriculture. We will further deep dive into three areas: building secure, fair and unbiased AI systems, new data management challenges for blockchain and how application of AI is helping to digitize agriculture. 


Biography : Sriram Raghavan is Vice President, IBM Research and CTO, IBM India. In this role is he is responsible for establishing and executing the technical agenda of the IBM Research Lab in India and the IBM Research Center in Singapore. In addition, as CTO, Sriram is responsible for representing and communicating IBM's overall technical vision & strategy with key stakeholders across the India/South Asia ecosystem - from developers and startups to key clients, analysts, media, and industry experts.
Over the past two years, Sriram has established and grown IBM Research-India into a world class center of competency for blockchain, driving both deep technology innovations and first of a kind blockchain-based solutions. Sriram serves as the worldwide blockchain leader for IBM Research, working closely with IBM's industry platforms and global services businesses to take innovative blockchain solutions to clients across the globe. Prior to his current role, Sriram led the Information & Analytics Department at IBM Research-India, establishing new research directions at the intersection of large scale data management, text analytics, and distributed systems. Sriram has been with IBM since 2004 when he first joined the Almaden Research Center in San Jose, California, as a Research Staff Member. Sriram is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai and Stanford University.

Manish Singhal

AI for the next 6 Billion



Abstract: AI is impacting every sector. Is this hype or is this real? What problems can it really solve. Are there examples around us which are impacting the society. If these questions are on your mind, this talk will address - What is AI, how it can address some real problems with examples and illustrations. 


Biography : Manish is a keen technology, people and business leader. He brings in over 25+ years of experience in building hardware and software IP oriented product companies, early stage investing, valuations, deal structuring and strategy advisory across different sectors.
He is the Founding Partner of pi Ventures, a venture fund focused on Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence and IoT based out of India. He has been active in the startup eco-system in India for several years. He co-founded LetsVenture.com and led it to become the leading marketplace for startups & early stage investors in India (enabled 15 startups raising their rounds) within a very short span of time.
Before LetsVenture, he was the India country manager for Sling Media Inc, a silicon valley based consumer electronic startup. He built the R&D and product team in India from scratch and took it to a successful acquisition to Echostar Inc in the USA for 380M USD.
He is also a founder-mentor for an initiative called Women Entrepreneur Quest, which is an annual event for recognizing and rewarding women entrepreneurs in India.
After doing his engineering from IIT Kanpur in 1992, he has been instrumental in building several products and teams in different startups and established organisations like Sling Media, Ittiam Systems and Motorola. He has contributed to the standardisation of MPEG-4 standard and holds couple of video technology patents to his name.

Dhananjay Gore

Making 5G NR a Reality



Abstract: TBA 


Biography : Dr. Dhananjay Gore is Senior Director Engineering and Head of Qualcomm Research India. He is responsible for all RnD efforts at the center spanning 3G/4G/5G protocol and modem design, imaging and virtual reality. He also leads the cellular and wireless LAN modem systems & HW engineering teams at Qualcomm India.
Dhananjay Gore received his B. Tech. in Electrical Engineering from IIT Bombay in the year 1998 and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University in 2000 and 2003 respectively. He was awarded the Institute Silver Medal by IIT Bombay and in 2016 he was conferred the Young Alumni Achievers Award also by IIT Bombay. He has over 90 US patents.

Vinay Kulkarni

Some Aspects of Digital Twins for Large Complex Systems 



Abstract: We are witnessing increased number of large complex systems of systems operating in dynamic environment characterised by uncertainty and partial information. They need to rapidly adapt to the changes taking place in their operating environment. This is an intellect-intensive endeavour calling for heavy duty analysis and synthesis of vast amount of information. Towards this end, the current practice of relying solely on human experts is turning out to be quite ineffective. There is an urgent need to develop technology aids that can reduce the analysis and synthesis burden on human experts. 

The talk will present 'digital twin' as a possible solution for analysing large complex systems - key aspects along with the rationale will be highlighted. Core technology components necessary to construct and put to use the digital twin will be described along with illustrations. Though intended for a general engineering audience, the talk may resonate somewhat more with researchers in modeling & simulation, language engineering, and dynamic adaptation.

Mayur Datar

A couple of Data Science problems in E-commerce



Abstract: In this talk, we will present an overview of the various opportunities that exist in e-commerce to apply data science to improve our business processes and operations. In particular, we will talk about a couple of problems in more details and the approach that we have followed to solve them. 


Biography : Mayur Datar is the Chief Data scientist at Flipkart and VP of engineering at Flipkart. Until recently he headed their search and recommendations group. He previously with worked Google Inc as a Research Scientist. His research interests are in data mining, algorithms, databases and computer science theory. Prior to joining Google, Mayur obtained his doctorate degree in computer science from Stanford university and a Bachelor of Technology degree from I.I.T. Bombay. He was awarded the President of India, Gold Medal for being the most outstanding student of his graduating batch from I.I.T. Bombay. He has published several papers in renowned conferences like SIGMOD, VLDB, KDD, FOCS, SODA, WWW. He also serves on the review committees for these conferences and journals.

Rajendra Naik

Power Electronics in Energy, Healthcare and Transportation – Industrial Applications and Challenges


Abstract: The talk will cover some of the typical applications of power electronics in the energy, healthcare and transportation space. Energy density, reliability and efficiency play an important role in this industry and challenges will be put forth through appropriate examples. The importance of energy storage will also be highlighted as we strive to take a holistic system view to achieve the above goals. 


Biography : Rajendra Naik obtained the BTech degree in electrical and electronics engineering from the IIT, Chennai in 1991, and the MS and PhD degrees in EE from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA in 1993 and 1996 respectively, with specialization in Power Electronics.
He started his professional career with Smith Equipment, Watertown, South Dakota in 1996, where he was responsible for developing power supplies for plasma based metal cutting equipment. From 1998 to April 2005, he was with Advanced Technology, Allen Bradley-Rockwell Automation, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he was involved in the development of various topologies for motor drives. He was also a part time instructor for power systems and power electronics at Marquette University and the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee for several years. He obtained the MBA degree from the University of Wisconsin in 2004.
He joined GE Global Research, Bangalore in April 2005 and has held several technical and managerial roles since then. He currently is a Senior Principal in the Electrical Technologies group. His research interests include power electronic topologies, renewable energy/distributed generation and energy storage. He has authored several IEEE conference and journal papers and has 12 issued US patents.

Panel Session

What they don't teach you at IISc? (for becoming a technology leader) 



Moderator: Swami Manohar (Microsoft Research India)

Panelists:

• S.V. Sharma, Deputy Director, ISAC, Bangalore (Alum of ESE)
• Srivatsan Laxman, Founder, FrontDesk (Alum of EE)
• Shashidhar Vummintala, Qualcomm (Alum of ECE)
• M. Bharath Kumar, Co-Founder, Sensara (Alum of CSA)
• Jandhyala Srivastava, Intel Technology India (Alum of ESE)