Salman Abdul Baset is a Ph.D. candidate in the computer science department at Columbia University. His area of research is peer-to-peer communication systems. He is one of the four recipients of Marconi Young Scholar 2008 award for promising research in communications.
About the Author
STEP Lecture Series: Wireless Electricity
February 20, 2010
The third talk of the STEP Lecture Series will be given by Dr. Aristeidis Karalis on Thursday, February 25, 2010 at 6:00pm PST. The talk has been organized in collaboration with Air University, FAST-NU Islamabad, LUMS Department of Computer Science, MCS, and NUST School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (SEECS), and will be streamed live. A brief Q&A session will follow the talk. Undergraduate and graduate students with non-engineering backgrounds are also encouraged to attend.
Title: Wireless Electricity
Where:
Air University
FAST-NU Islamabad
LUMS Department of Computer Science (Room 10-404 SSE),
MCS
NUST SEECS
When: February 25, 2010, at 6:00 pm Pakistan Standard Time (8:00am EST)
Abstract:
Consider the plethora of modern devices which vitally depend on short-lived, environmentally unfriendly, costly batteries or whose performance and mobility are restricted by their attachment to a cord. Imagine now a world where these apparati can instead receive their power wirelessly. We have developed a technology, based on STRONGLY-COUPLED resonant induction, enabling power (from mW to KW) to be transmitted across medium-range distances (from cm to m) very efficiently (typically from 20% to 95%). The exact achievable distance depends on the size of the device, the targeted efficiency (maximum tolerated wasted power) and, in general, the particular application. Moreover, far-field radiation interference can be employed to further increase the achievable efficiency or reduce the produced radiation. Our power transmission technology utilizes low frequencies and the harmless magnetic field, thus it can comply with international safety regulations. This technology has been implemented into real-world electronic devices by WiTricity Corporation, and relevant pre-recorded demos will be shown.
Bio:
Aristeidis Karalis is a founder of WiTricity Corp. (2007), and was a member of the MIT research team that developed both the theoretical basis and experimental validation of this novel method for wireless energy transfer. Aristeidis is a Post-Doctoral Associate in the Research Laboratory of Electronics at MIT. He received his Sc.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT in 2008. He received his M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT and his B.Sc. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens, Greece. Aristeidis is a co-author of nine scientific articles and six patents. He was awarded the Paris Kanellakis Fellowship and the Ioannis S. Latsis Fellowship as a student at MIT.
Acknowledgments: STEP is very grateful to Dr. Shahab Baqai at LUMS for his continued support and help in organizing the lecture series. Special thanks to Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC) for facilitating the video broadcast of this talk.
The second talk of the STEP Lecture Series will be given by Dr. Sonesh Surana on November 12, 2009 at 8:30pm PST. The talk has been organized in collaboration with LUMS Department of Computer Science, NUST School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (SEECS), and Air University, and will be streamed live. A brief Q&A session will follow the talk. The talk will be aimed at a general audience. Undergraduate and graduate students with non-engineering backgrounds are also encouraged to attend.
Title: Enabling Sustainable Rural Wireless Telemedicine
Where: LUMS Department of Computer Science, Auditorium A-16, NUST SEECS, Air University
When: November 12, 8:30pm Pakistan Standard Time (7:30am Pacific daylight time)
Abstract:
With one ophthalmologist per over 100,000 people in India, there is a critical need to improve the utilization of eye doctors. In this talk, we discuss our work in deploying a long distance wireless network that enables high quality video-based telemedicine between rural eye clinics and centrally located doctors at the Aravind Eye Hospitals. In particular, we take a close look at the issues of financial and operational sustainability.
Bio:
Dr. Sonesh Surana focuses on the design and implementation of low-cost information and communication technologies (ICT) and related power infrastructure for developing regions. He received his PhD in Computer Science with the TIER research group at UC Berkeley in 2009. As part of TIER, he co-developed new WiFi-based long-distance technology enabling inexpensive targeted rural broadband coverage, and demonstrated high bandwidth point-to-point links as long as 380 Kms, a new world record. He also led the deployment of this technology for a live video-based rural telemedicine network at the Aravind Eye Hospital in South India, managing a range of non-profit, government, university and private stakeholders. This network, now financially and operationally sustainable, provides coverage to 500,000 people in areas with no other option for eye care. It has enabled over 100,000 remote patient examinations in three years, and 20,000 of those patients have received their sight back due to early diagnosis. He has done ICT work in Romania, Rwanda, India and Venezuela. He advises several non-profit development organizations and is also the co-founder of QVSense Inc, a company focused on building photovoltaic power management hardware solutions.
Acknowledgments: STEP is very grateful to Dr. Shahab Baqai at LUMS for his continued support and help in organizing the lecture series. Special thanks to Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC) for facilitating the video broadcast of this talk.
Correction: An earlier version of this post mistakenly posted the time for the talk as 7:30PM Pakistan Standard Time. The correct time for the talk in Pakistan is 8:30PM.
Image credits: http://berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2006/06/06_telemedicine.shtml
STEP Lecture Series is an initiative to bring interactive talks by distinguished researchers, academics, and entrepreneurs to universities in Pakistan via video conferencing. The series aims to help bridge the ‘knowledge divide’ by introducing students in Pakistan to the emerging trends and cutting edge research, and in the process, inspiring these students to take on challenging problems. The talks will also be recorded and made available on STEP website for later viewing.
The first talk in this series titled, New Approaches to Modeling and Control of Complex Dynamics, will be given by Dr. Adrien Treuille of Carnegie Mellon University on October 15, 2009 at 7:30 PM Pakistan Standard Time (9:30 AM EDT). The talk will be streamed live to LUMS Department of Computer Science, Mil College of Signals (MCS), and Air University. Below is the abstract of the talk and a short biography of Dr. Treuille.
Title: New Approaches to Modeling and Control of Complex Dynamics
When: October 15, 2009 at 7:30 PM Pakistan Standard Time.
Where: LUMS Department of Computer Science, Mil College of Signals, and Air University
Abstract: Complex phenomena such as animal morphology, human motion, and large fluid systems challenge even our most sophisticated simulation and control techniques. Read the rest of this entry »
The Case for Making Class I-XII Textbooks Online
September 30, 2009
In this article, I make the case that grade I-XII textbooks, prescribed by the provincial and federal textbook boards, should be made available on the Internet for free. I discuss the reasons why this is necessary and the benefits that will accrue from such an effort.
Outdated and Incorrect Curriculum
In a household survey conducted by Gallup Pakistan in May 2009, 70% of the respondents said that they send their children to government-run schools. These schools are often faulted for imparting incomplete, incorrect, and rot education to children. The school textbooks prescribed by the provincial and federal textbook boards are part of the problem. The description of the relevant material in science and math textbooks is at times inadequate whereas the social sciences, religious, and Pakistan studies textbooks have been used by the successive governments to further their political agendas.
Making textbooks available online will allow educational experts both inside and outside Pakistan to easily scrutinize their content for clarity, correctness, and completeness. The feedback received from educational experts will greatly help to improve the quality of these textbooks. Read the rest of this entry »
