Dr. Sowmya V., Assistant Professor, Center for Computational Engineering and Networking (CEN), Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham,  Coimbatore campus, received the Women in AI leadership Award 2019 at the event RISING 2019, Women in Analytics and AI conference, which was held at Hotel Taj, Bangalore, on March 8, 2019. Recently, she was also selected as DLI (Deep Learning Instructor) University Ambassador of NVIDIA.

The one day conference “RISING 2019”, which was conducted by Analytics India Magazine, on International Women’s Day, was a place where women developers and professionals in the data science field met and supported each other.  It provided a wide range of opportunities to support tech-savvy women and make a positive impact bothin India and globally. The conference brought India’s leading women data scientists and tech leaders on a platform to start exciting conversations with experts working in the field of AI and machine learning.

Celebrating the importance of women in artificial intelligence, the conference recognized the achievements of technology leaders who have made an incredible impact in the tech community by developing AI solutions with its inaugural Women in AI Leadership Awards 2019. The awards recognized the most influential women technology leaders in India who have demonstrated considerable experience in data science and AI leadership, who have advanced AI development in organizations and have become leaders and role models in the analytics industry.

Nominations were for women in AI Leadership who celebrated excellence in AI leadership and innovation. Leading organizations and individuals submitted nominations for the highest achievers in tech leadership and nominated people who have made powerful contributions and demonstrated expertise in AI and driving business values. Nominations from individuals who believed they have been at the forefront of disruption and have played a key role in helping use AI as a driver for growth and business value were also accepted. All submissions were assessed by a panel of editors and industry veterans, and awardees were selected after a careful review and benchmarked against the best-in-class performance standards.

Dr. Sowmya’s contributions towards this award are as follows:

1. NVIDIA – Deep Learning Instructor (DLI) University Ambassadorship. This award was given after the technical one-to-one interview with the onsite team of NVIDIA conducted @ Bangalore.
2. Literature Review Paper based on her Ph.D. thesis work, titled ” Significance of Processing Chrominance Information for Scene Classification: a Review”, published in the Artificial Intelligence:Review, SCI indexed Springer publication with impact factor 3.814.
3. Her M.Tech Project based Paper publication titled “Deep Learning Architectures for Land Cover Classification Using Red and Near-Infrared Satellite Images” in the “Multimedia Tools and Applications” SCI indexed Springer publication with impact factor 1.541.
4. Invited talks on “Deep Learning” in various institutions:
   1. Invited talk on “Deep Learning” in Two days IEEE workshop on Machine Learning held at Kalasalingam University on 2-3 February, 2018.
   2. Invited talk on “Deep Learning for Biomedical Application” in ICMR Sponsored Seminar on Deep Learning Techniques and Tools for Medical Application organized by Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Mepco Schlenk Engineering College, Sivakasi on January 17, 2018.
   3. Delivered a lecture on “Deep Learning for Medical Image Processing” in “TEQIP Sponsored Artificial Intelligence for Biomedical Applications” organized by TKM College of Engineering, Kollam, on December 14, 2017.
5. Elective Course Mentor “Deep Learning for Visual Recognition” being offered by her to M.Tech students of CEN from 2017 till date.
6. Below are her 2018 M.Tech Projects
   1. Single Plane Scene Image Classification Using Deep Convolution Features
   2. Convolution and Recurrent Neural Networks for Disease Diagnosis
   3. Deep Learning Architecture for Land Cover Classification Using Red and Near-Infrared Satellite Images
   4. Dimensionality Reduction for Hyperspectral Image Classification Using Deep Learning and Kernel Methods
   5. Randomized Methods for Dimensionality Reduction of Hyperspectral Image Classification
   6. Effect of Denoising on Hyperspectral Image Classification Using Deep Networks and Kernel Methods
   7. Spatio-Spectral Compression and Analysis of Hyperspectral Images Using Tensor Decomposition Techniques
   8. Deep Rectified System for High-Speed Tracking in Images (DRSHTI)
7. Book Chapter – “Scene Classification using Transfer Learning”, Recent Advances in Computer Vision, Springer, pp: 363-399, 2019.

Receiving the award Dr. Sowmya shared her thoughts on the success, “I would like to render my heartfelt gratitude to our Chancellor Amma for her bountiful blessings, management and the CEN Center family under the mentorship of Prof. K. P. Soman, who are all the sole reasons behind this award. I thank each and every one of them personally for their support and encouragement. I always used to feel CEN Center as my own home. I enjoy each and every second spent at the CEN Center. I seek all of their blessing to march forward and contribute to the growth of students community through our esteemed institution.”