Kanwal Aftab’s Post

I am delighted to announce that I have been awarded a fully funded scholarship by School of Computer Science University College Dublin (UCD) to pursue my PhD . My research focus will be on "Computer vision-based indoor multimedia geolocation". With my work experience in computer vision and machine learning, I'm excited to contribute to this field and advance the state of the art. I'm especially grateful to all the positive influences surrounding me who helped me to stay focused and motivated me to pursue my passion.

I am delighted to announce that our research paper titled “Intelligent Fisheries: Cognitive Solutions for Improving Aquaculture Commercial Efficiency Through Enhanced Biomass Estimation and Early Disease Detection” has been published in the internationally renowned journal, Cognitive Computation (Impact Factor: 5.4) by Springer. This achievement would not have been possible without the invaluable contributions of my coauthors: Dr. Linda Tschirren, Boris Pasini, Peter Zeller, Bostan Khan, and Muhammad Moazam Fraz. Writing is form of art and academic writing in particular demands a unique skillset. Not everyone possesses it, but for researchers, the ability to communicate findings through clear writing and detailed experiments is equally important. As a first-time academic writer, I discovered just how much refinement goes into crafting a successful journal article. I am incredibly grateful to you, Linda, for your endless patience. Your line-by-line revisions, insightful guidance, and dedication to teaching me the ropes were instrumental in polishing these essential researcher skills. I hope with more practice one day I will overcome my apprehension towards writing and develop the same level of enjoyment I experience with coding and conducting experiments. We extend our sincere gratitude to Innosuisse for funding this project. We also thank all the #AWACS team members from ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences for their unwavering support and providing the necessary resources throughout our research journey. Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/dCCeGuXf OR download free PDF using the below link: https://lnkd.in/dXip5irj

Today marks the end of an important chapter in my life. I presented my masters thesis defense to distinguised faculty of computer vision experts at National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) . With mixed emotions, I submitted my thesis book to the central library of NUST University, a place where I had spent almost all of my weekends for the past three years (19-Oct-2020 to 03-Nov-2023). I'm not exaggerating at all. My fellow students who are working 9-5 jobs would understand what it's like to manage grades in a relative grading system, especially when NUST is the top preference for most of the youth in Pakistan. But overall it has been incredible learning experience at SEECS NUST. I am grateful to have met mentors who have been incredibly helpful throughout this process. I would like to express my special thanks to Linda Tschirren for her invaluable support, from helping me select the topic to sponsoring my semester exchange at ZHAW, and for being there at every step of this journey. I wanted to convey my appreciation to you during my Final defense presentation, but did not wanted to get emoo. You are a wonderful person, and you lead an amazing team.I am deeply thankful to Innosuisse for funding the project and to AWACS team members at ZHAW Institut für Umwelt und Natürliche Ressourcen IUNR for providing resources, including data collection, data annotation, domain knowledge, and support, especially to the AWACS work Package 2 and 3 lead Pasini Boris. In additional I am so grateful to Peter Zeller at Urban Blue, Switzerland , Adeel Pirzada and Mudasar Ali Arshad PanaceaLogics for continuous guidance and support.

A year ago, I had the privilege of being present at the beautiful Grüental campus of ZHAW University, nestled alongside a breathtakingly crystal clear lake. I was briefed on the concept and purpose of the AWACS project. At that moment, so many doubts flooded my mind, questioning how we could possibly accomplish so much within a limited timeframe. Fast forward to the present day I feel so proud of such a dedicated and hardworking AWACS team. Witnessing the exceptional quality and quantity of data collected in the underwater footage leaves me utterly impressed. Every single word uttered by Peter Zeller Linda Tschirren year ago holds newfound clarity and meaning for me.

My first presentation infront of international audience at 10th meeting of IG Aquaculture by Swiss Food Research. Not many people have the privilege to work under someone as supportive and caring as u Linda Tschirren Thank you for giving me the opportunity and guiding me at every step. Thank you Peter Zeller for having the confidence in me to represent Urban Blue and AWACS Location: Berner Fachhochschule BFH, HAFL #Bern#Switzerland

Thank you Adeel Pirzada and PanaceaLogics for organising and sponsoring week long trip to Dubai especially to attend #Expo2020 Dubai where we Mudasar Arshad Usman Imtiaz witnessed best innovations from around the world. Expo 2020 is rare opportunity to interact with different cultures and come across unique perspectives all in single setting. I learnt what humanity can do together, got inspired by the marvellous architectures, jaw dropping technology and magical energy of exploring different cultures, their history and got chance to taste flavors of the world. I witnessed the future of technology with AI, space technology, augmented reality, and robotics. This experience made me fall in love with my field even more and has inspired me to a deeper level.