Dear all Greetings Pl. find an invite for the presentation on ASSISTECH: Assistive Technology Solutions for Mobility & Education of Visually Impaired on 21st Oct at IIT Madras from 4.00 p.m. to 5.30 p.m. *at *Lecture Hall CS25, Dept. of CSE, IIT Madras, Chennai – 600036. Location map: https://goo.gl/maps/xnVpcox3tz88BCjg9 The formal PDF invite is at http://ieeecs-madras.managedbiz.com/pgms/2019/mm-191021-assistech.pdf To facilitate logistics, please pre-register at http://bit.ly/2m9sfl5 With regards HR Mohan Chairman, ACM India Chennai Chapter Chair - Spl Events & Chair (2006-2015), IEEE Computer Society, Madras INVITATION ========== *Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai* *ACM Chennai Professional Chapter* *IEEE Computer Society Madras Chapter* * Cordially invite you for a presentation on * *ASSISTECH: Assistive Technology Solutions for Mobility & Education of Visually Impaired* *by* *Prof. M. Balakrishnan **Dept. of CSE, IIT Delhi* *on Monday, 21st Oct 2019 from 4.00 p.m. to 5.30 p.m. * * at* *Lecture Hall CS25, Dept. of CSE, IIT Madras, Chennai – 600036* Located in the 1st floor of the Computer Science & Engineering Dept, adjacent to the CSE Dept. Office. Location map: https://goo.gl/maps/xnVpcox3tz88BCjg9 *Programme * *4.00 p.m. : Tea & Fellowship :: 4.30 p.m. : Presentation* *About the Presentation: *Inclusion of marginalized communities is considered a major developmental objective for all societies in this millennia. Inclusion of people with disabilities, born or acquired later, constitutes a very different challenge as it cannot be handled just by policies and political will. It requires major technology intervention. In this talk we present the work of ASSISTECH, IIT Delhi in developing solutions aimed at independent mobility and education of visually impaired in India and other low income countries. ASSISTECH has had some success in disseminating the technology solutions that have been developed in the laboratory. First, we would focus on uniqueness of our context and how these solutions innovatively address our needs including affordability. Further, we also talk about the challenges in translational research and dissemination that is critical for taking any proof-of-concept beyond the walls of a laboratory. *About the speaker:* M. Balakrishnan is a Professor in the Department of Computer Science & Engineering at IIT Delhi. He obtained his B.E.(Hons.) in Electronics & Electrical Engg. from BITS Pilani in 1977 and Ph.D. from EE Dept. IIT Delhi in 1985. He worked as a Scientist in CARE, IIT Delhi from 1977 to 1985 where he was involved in designing and implementing real-time DSP systems. For the last 30 years, he is involved in teaching and research in the areas of digital systems design, electronic design automation and embedded systems. He has supervised 12 Ph.D. students, 3 MSR students, 173 M.Tech/B.Tech projects and published nearly 110 conference and journal papers. Further, he has held visiting positions in universities in Canada, USA and Germany. At IIT Delhi, he has been the Philips Chair Professor, Head of the Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Dean of Post Graduate Studies & Research, Deputy Director (Faculty) and Deputy Director (Strategy & Planning). At IIT Delhi, he has initiated a number of programmes/activities to promote research, start-ups as well as outreach to the community. ASSISTECH, a laboratory and research group founded by him along with Prof. P.V.M. Rao (Mech Engg), is involved in developing a number of assistive devices targeted towards mobility and education of the visually impaired. He has been a recipient of ACM Eugene Lawler Award for 2018 and three National awards for his work in the disability space. SmartCaneTM is a mobility aid for visually impaired developed by his group and currently it is used by thousands of users in India and other low-income countries. http://assistech.iitd.ac.in/ *To facilitate logistics, please pre-register at http://bit.ly/2m9sfl5 <http://bit.ly/2m9sfl5>*