To initiate a discussion regarding research opportunities in Signal Processing during this pandemic, IEEE SPS BUET Student Branch Chapter arranged a webinar based on the theme “Research & Innovation Challenges during Covid-19”. This is part of a TechTalk Webinar Series organized in collaboration with IEEE BUET Student Branch WIE Affinity Group, IEEE BUET Student Branch & IEEE Bangladesh Section. The topic for this first episode of TechTalk was: “Emotion, Mood state and Information processing on COVID-19 pandemic based on Time Series Analysis”. 125 enthusiastic participants from 16 different countries joined the webinar.
The workshop was initiated at 5:00 pm as Suhee Sanjana Mehjabin, Chairperson, IEEE BUET Student Branch WIE Affinity Group welcomed everyone to the webinar. She introduced the speakers to everyone by reading out their bio to familiarize everyone with their research background. After that she requested the moderator for the session, Dr. Celia Shahnaz, to commence the talk. The moderator shed some light on the topic for the session and thanked the instructors for their valuable time. She emphasized on the importance of using technology to tackle the ongoing pandemic and discussed how signal processing applications can be effective in a pandemic like COVID-19. After that she requested the first speaker Dr. Gita Pendharkar to go ahead with her presentation. Dr. Gita presented her work on monitoring and assessing the gait in stroke, Parkinson’s and diabetic patients. She discussed how signal processing in real-time can contribute towards increasing mobility for physically challenged patients. She talked about how diversity and inclusion are different from each other and the importance of implementing both of these concepts equally in our daily life. Her talk came to an end with a Question-Answer session where she answered inquisitive queries from the participants. Dr. Celia thanked Dr. Gita for presenting her wonderful work and insightful talk. She then moved the webinar forward by requesting the next speaker Dr Sachinandan Mohanty to take the floor and start his talk.
Dr Sachinandan Mohanty presenting his slides.
Dr. Sachinandan discussed his research on how mood states affect human decision making process and information processing ability. He talked about how this correlation can be utilized in the COVID-19 situation. He further focused on how psychological studies and signal processing can work in synchronization to battle pandemic situations. After that he answered some questions from the participants and that brought his presentation to an end. In closing, the moderator thanked everyone for joining and utilizing their time with a fruitful discussion about expectations, challenges and possible solutions arising due to this pandemic situation in research and innovation sectors.
Part of the participants
After the session ended, Suhee Sanjana Mehjabin provided the participants a feedback form. The program ended with a screenshot of the group view of the participants on zoom which was considered as a group photo.