Professor Arun Kumar Sangaiah visited the University of Moratuwa

A distinguished professor from the School of Computer Science and Engineering at the Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), India; Prof. Arun Kumar Sangaiah visited the University of Moratuwa on 1st April 2024. He holds a Ph.D. from the School of Computer Science and Engineering at VIT University, Vellore. He is currently working for the National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, Taiwan. His visit was coordinated by Prof. Sisil Kumarawadu and Prof. Buddhika Jayasekara of Department of Electrical Engineering of university of Moratuwa.

Prof. Arun Kumar Sangaiah is a highly accomplished researcher with a prolific publication record, including over 200 research articles in refereed journals such as IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics, IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems, IEEE Transactions on Network Science and Engineering, IEEE Transactions on Emerging Topics in Computational Intelligence, IEEE Systems Journal, IEEE Sensors Journal, IEEE Internet of Things Journal, and ACM Transactions on Sensor Networks. He has also received numerous awards, including the Yushan Young Scholar award, Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher awards for 2021, 2022, and 2023, recognition as a Top 2% Scientist in the Stanford Report for 2020, 2021, and 2022, the PIFI-CAS fellowship, and recognition as a Top-10 Outstanding Researcher and significant contributor by the CSI. 

During his visit, Prof. Sangaiah engaged in a productive discussion with the following staff members of the University of Moratuwa to explore potential future collaborative work. The participants from the University of Moratuwa included:

-    Prof. Ruwan Gopura, Dean/Faculty of Graduate Studies
-    Dr. G.V.I. Samaradivakara, Director/International Relations
-    Prof. Buddhika Jayasekara, Director/Research
-    Dr. V. Logeeshan, Senior Lecturer/Department of Electrical Engineering
-    Ms. Y.S. Karunarathne, Assistant Registrar/External Affairs, Publicity, and International Student Promotion Division

Potential collaborative work identified:

1. Student Exchange: Opportunities for student exchange programs between the University of Moratuwa and Yun Tech were discussed, allowing students to gain international exposure and collaborate on research projects.
2. Research Collaboration: Prof. Arun Kumar Sangaiah mentioned that he is working closely with the Ministry of Technology on various projects, opening up avenues for joint research projects between the two institutions.
3. Internships: Prof. Arun Kumar Sangaiah shared information about the International Internship Pilot Program offered by the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), Taiwan. The program aims to attract foreign researchers to intern in Taiwan, creating opportunities for collaboration and enriching Taiwan's research workforce. Internships can last up to three months between May 2024 and February 2025, with the starting date not later than December 2024. The application deadline is set for September 15, 2024. The areas covered in the internship include artificial intelligence, IoT, machine learning, computer science and engineering, IT, GIS, among others. More information is available on the programme's website: [https://iipp.tw/](https://iipp.tw/)
4. Research and Funding: Prof. Arun Kumar Sangaiah highlighted the abundance of research and funding opportunities available through NARlabs and the National Science and Technology Council, Taiwan.

It was decided to explore the possibility of obtaining scholarships, developing Joint Master's and Ph.D. programs, joint credits, split programs, faculty exchanges, and other collaborative initiatives through Prof. Arun Kumar Sangaiah’s contacts in India and Taiwan. He also agreed to share information on these opportunities, and also to sign a Memorandum of Understanding [MoU] with the University of Moratuwa, for future collaborations in between two institutions.

Following up the above discussion, he also delivered a guest talk on his ongoing research project, "Cognitive IoT on Vision Guided UAV on Paddy Agronomy," supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan, at an event organized by the IEEE Student Branch of the University of Moratuwa. The talk was focused on the development of a cognitive system with a deep learning architecture to investigate the use of vision-guided UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) for precision agriculture, aiming to automate agronomy tasks using UAVs without relying on GPS signals and employing deep learning for crop disease detection.