Curtin Sarawak academic presents talk at Indian institute, explores possible research collaboration

Miri – 29 March 2012 – Associate Professor Dr. Ashutosh Kumar Singh of Curtin University, Sarawak Malaysia (Curtin Sarawak) was recently invited to present a talk to students of the prestigious National Institute of Technology (NIT) in Kurukshetra, India.

Dr. Ashutosh is the head of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in Curtin Sarawak’s School of Engineering and Science.

His talk covered recent advancements in the verification and testing of digital circuits and how digital devices have come to dominate almost every aspect of our lives, including communications and modern gadgetry using embedded systems.

It also included an overview of various commercially available tools and their applicability, as well as an outlook on future challenges, such as designs for verifiability, and possible new directions in electrical and communication engineering.

While at NIT, Dr. Ashutosh met with its Director, Professor Anand Mohan, and its Dean, Professor Anil Kumar Gupta, to discuss possible collaboration between Curtin Sarawak and the NIT, particularly in the areas of publications, joint Higher Degree by Research (HDR) supervision, research grant submissions. They also discussed the possibility of Curtin Sarawak sending HDR students to NIT.

NIT is a well-known technical university located in the state of Haryana, India. It offers courses in various engineering and technology disciplines at both undergraduate and postgraduate level which are geared towards producing high-quality technical personnel for the advancement of research in the emerging areas of science and technology.

According to Dr. Ashutosh, the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Curtin Sarawak is presently collaborating with many renowned universities worldwide such as University of Bristol in the United Kingdom; Hong Kong Polytechnic University; and the Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University in India.

He said the Department is keen to strengthen its research capacity, focusing on three main areas of research – renewable energy, signal processing and computer-aided design.

Awards and accolades the Department has won in the past include top prizes in the Sarawak Open Source Competition in 2006 (1st and 2nd), 2007 (1st), 2010 (2nd and 3rd) and 2011 (1st and consolation prize); second prize in the 2007 Scope International ICT Competition; semi-finalist in the 2008 MSC Malaysia–Ericsson CR Innovation Awards; and top prize in the Think Big Business Plan Competition 2010.

Its students have also participated in competitions such as the 2007 PanaGEEK Competition, 2008 National Level Freescale SMARTCar Competition, Malaysia Robot Contest (RoboCon 2009), Freescale Smart Car Competition 2010, and other state and national level competitions.

Dr. Ashutosh (3rd left, front row) posing with postgraduate students of NIT.