Programming Session Fall 2019 Final
2019-12-06 17:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
We will be holding our final programming session of the Fall 2019 Semester.
Day & Time: Friday, December 6, 2019
5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Speaker: Dr. Andrew Rudder
Organizers: IEEE Toronto WIE, Humber Student Branch
Location: Humber College North Campus, Room F304
Contact: IEEE Humber

Raspberry Pi Workshop Final
2019-12-06 13:30 - 15:30 (America/New_York)
We will be finishing our Smart Mirror project.
Day & Time: Friday, December 6, 2019
1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Organizers: IEEE Toronto WIE, Humber Student Branch
Location: Humber College North Campus, Room J233A
Contact: IEEE Humber

Omni Directional Robotic Project Fall 2019 Session 00
2019-12-02 17:00 - 18:00 (America/New_York)
WIE Toronto will be looking into robotics basics.
Day & Time: Monday, December 2, 2019
5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Organizers: IEEE Toronto WIE, Humber Student Branch
Location: Humber College North Campus, Room N213
Contact: IEEE Humber

IEEE Toronto Centennial Workshop: Building An ASP.NET Core Application
2019-12-01 10:30 - 12:30 (America/Toronto) | Room A3-11 Centennial College, Progress Campus 941 Progress Ave., Toronto, Ontario, M1G 3T8
Sunday December 1st, 2019 at 10:30 a.m. Thiago do Nascimento Fontes and Kelvin Trinh will be presenting “IEEE Toronto Centennial Workshop: Building An ASP.NET Core Application”.
Day & Time: Sunday, December 1st, 2019
10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Speakers: Thiago do Nascimento Fontes, Kelvin Trinh
Organizers: Magnetics Chapter, IEEE Toronto Centennial College Chapter, WIE IEEE Toronto
Location: Room A3-11
Centennial College, Progress Campus
941 Progress Ave., Toronto, Ontario, M1G 3T8
Contact: Reza Dibaj
Abstract: ASP.NET Core is a cross-platform, high-performance, open-source framework for building modern, cloud-based, Internet-connected applications. A huge number of developers have used this technology to develop amazing websites. In our event, we start from scratch to develop a mini-project using ASP.Net Core to show every step in a hands-on approach. We will build a simple, yet realistic ASP.NET Core application and showcase the feature of Entity Framework Core.

Software Security and White-box Cryptography
2019-11-30 14:30 - 15:30 (America/Toronto) | Centennial College 941 Progress Avenue Toronto, Ontario Canada M1G 3T8 Room Number: PR A3-15
Saturday November 30th, 2019 at 2:30 p.m. Dr. Sk Md Mizanur Rahman, professor in the department of Information and Communication Engineering Technology, School of Engineering Technology and Applied Science, Centennial College, will be presenting “Software Security and White-box Cryptography”.
Day & Time: Saturday November 30th, 2019
2:30 p.m. ‐ 3:30 p.m.
Speaker: Dr. Sk Md Mizanur Rahman
Professor, Department of Information and Communication Engineering Technology, School of Engineering Technology and Applied Science, Centennial College
Organizers: IEEE Toronto Systems Chapter
Location: Centennial College
941 Progress Avenue
Toronto, Ontario
Canada M1G 3T8
Room Number: PR A3-15
Contact: Dr. Mehrdad Tirandazian
Abstract: Traditionally, cryptographic implementations are mainly designed to resist black-box attack without considering grey-box or white-box attacks. In a black-box attack model, an adversary tries to deduce the cryptographic key by knowing the algorithm and analyzing only inputs and outputs without the execution being visible. It is assumed that the adversaries know what family of cryptographic algorithm they are targeting (e.g., AES, DES, RSA, etc.), but all other details (e.g. execution time, power consumption, memory accesses) are unavailable to them. In fact, a black-box attacker treats a cryptographic implementation as a mathematical function. On the other hand, a white-box attacker is a much more powerful type of adversary and is able to analyze all parts of the implementation. Rather than just study inputs and outputs, a white-box attacker can see everything that goes on inside the implementation. For example, if the attackers are targeting cryptographic software running on, say, a PC or mobile phone, then they can execute that software inside a debugger and examine memory and register values during the execution. In a grey-box attack scenario, it is assumed that an attacker has limited knowledge of the security assets and methods (more that a black-box attacker) but does not have access to source code or detail design information. Therefore, based on the severity of an attack, the above attack models can be categorized as white-box > grey-box > black-box. In this presentation, a brief discussion will be given on white-box implementations of the existing cryptographic algorithms.
Biography:
Dr. Sk Md Mizanur Rahman is a fulltime professor in the department of Information and Communication Engineering Technology, School of Engineering Technology and Applied Science, Centennial College. Prior to his current appointment, he worked as an Assistant Professor for five years in the Information Systems Department at the College of Computer and Information Sciences, King Saud University. He also worked for several years in cryptography and security engineering in the high-tech industry in Ottawa, Canada. In addition, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher for several years at the University of Ottawa, University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT), and University of Guelph, Canada. He completed a Ph.D. in Engineering (Major: Cybersecurity Risk Engineering) in the Laboratory of Cryptography and Information Security, Department of Risk Engineering, University of Tsukuba, Japan, in 2007. The Information Processing Society Japan (IPSJ) awarded Dr. Rahman its Digital Courier Funai Young researcher Encouragement Award for his excellent contributions to IT security research. He is awarded a Gold Medal for distinction in his undergraduate and graduate programs. He has published approximately one-hundred peer reviewed journal and conference research articles. Also, he has a granted industrial patent (US Patent) on cryptographic key generation and protection. Dr. Rahman’s primary research interests are cryptographic protocol design, white-box cryptography, software and network security, reverse engineering and ethical hacking, privacy enhancing technology, sensor and mobile ad-hoc network security, cloud and the Internet of Things (IoT) security, machine learning in information security.

Programming Session Fall 2019
2019-11-29 17:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
These Sessions are to evolve our members’ programming and critical thinking ability.
Day & Time: Friday, November 29, 2019
5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Speaker: Dr. Andrew Rudder
Organizers: IEEE Toronto WIE, Humber Student Branch
Location: Humber College North Campus, Room F305
Contact: IEEE Humber

Women in Engineering Fall 2019
2019-11-29 15:00 - 16:00 (America/New_York)
WIE Toronto will be discussing future projects.
Day & Time: Friday, November 29, 2019
3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Organizers: IEEE Toronto WIE, Humber Student Branch
Location: Humber College North Campus, Room J233A
Contact: IEEE Humber

Raspberry Pi Workshop Fall 2019
2019-11-29 13:30 - 15:30 (America/New_York)
We will be programming and displaying the date and time for our Smart Mirror project.
Day & Time: Friday, November 29, 2019
1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Organizers: IEEE Toronto WIE, Humber Student Branch
Location: Humber College North Campus, Room J233A
Contact: IEEE Humber

National Engineering Month 2020 Meeting Fall 2019
2019-11-28 17:00 - 18:00 (America/New_York)
The WIE Toronto Team will continue to prepare for the National Engineering Month competition.
Day & Time: Thursday, November 28, 2019
5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Organizers: IEEE Toronto WIE, Humber Student Branch
Location: Humber College North Campus, Room F305
Contact: IEEE Humber

IEEE Toronto Section Annual General Meeting 2019
2019-11-16 18:00 - 22:30 (America/Toronto) | Room Brûlé C, 21 Old Mill Rd, Toronto, ON, Canada
On behalf of the IEEE Toronto Section, you are cordially invited to join us in our annual IEEE Toronto Section AGM/Dinner event. The AGM is a special occasion to celebrate the achievements of the Toronto Section, made possible by its dedicated volunteers and members.
Date: Saturday, November 16, 2019
Time: 6:00 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.
Location: Room Brûlé C, 21 Old Mill Rd, Toronto, ON, Canada
FREE Registrations (by Oct. 25): Please fill out the registration HERE – space is limited and we anticipate a high demand.
– Each Chapter/Affinity group should register two representatives for the AGM (typically the Chair and Vice-Chair or other team member) and two guests of your choice.
– Each student branch should register two students representatives for the AGM and two guests of your choice, in addition to the Branch counsellor and one guest.
– Please fill out a single registration form for you and your guest.
– You may also register for free if you have received a personal invitation from the Section Officers.
– Since space is very limited please do not register unless you are committed to attend.
PAID registrations: Additional tickets may be available in limited supply; please contact Maryam Davoudpour for special requests.
We look forward to seeing you all on November 16, 2019!

SWE Speaks November 2019: A Journey of Successful Women’s Leadership
2019-11-13 17:30 - 20:00 (America/Toronto) | 245 Church St Toronto, Ontario Canada M5B 1Z4
Wednesday November 13th, 2019 at 5:30 p.m. SWE Speaks will feature Tracy Holmes, P.Eng., President of Jenike & Johanson Ltd, a globally respected Bulk Solids Handling Consulting Engineering firm.
Day & Time: Wednesday November 13th, 2019
5:30 p.m. ‐ 7:50 p.m.
Speaker: Tracy Holmes, P.Eng.
President of Jenike & Johanson Ltd
Organizers: SWE, IEEE Toronto (WIE, Measurement/Instrumentation-Robotics), Computer Science Department of Ryerson University
Location: 245 Church St
Toronto, Ontario
Canada M5B 1Z4
Building: George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre
Room Number: ENG 288
Register: https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/209036
Contact: Ayda Naserialiabadi
Abstract: Are you looking around for female mentors and leaders to inspire your career? Are you excited to talk to women in engineering about their career paths?
Our next SWE Speaks on November 13th features a Tracy Holmes, P.Eng., President of Jenike & Johanson Ltd, a globally respected Bulk Solids Handling Consulting Engineering firm.
Agenda:
5:30 pm – registration
6:00 pm – speaker and Q&A
7:00 pm – networking
All Engineers, EITs, P.Geo’s, professionals in engineering-related fields (that includes you technicians, software folks, GIS specialists, etc!) and new grads are welcome. We welcome people of all genders and supporters of women in engineering fields.
Come make new connections and renew old ones. SWE Toronto is pleased to be co-hosting the evening with IEEE WIE. SWE Toronto and IEEE Women in Engineering help our members develop and reach their career goals through learning about others’ journeys and connecting our membership together. SWE Toronto’s mission statement is to support and contribute to the continual professional success of women in engineering. IEEE Women in Engineering’s mission statement is to facilitate the recruitment and retention of women in technical disciplines globally.
Biography: Tracy has consulted to a wide spectrum of clients in Canada and overseas. She has published numerous papers and lectures frequently on the storage and flow of bulk solids across Canada. Tracy received her Bachelor of Applied Science in Civil Engineering from University of Waterloo in Canada.

Setting in with Programming – Python – Workshop 3
2019-11-11 13:30 - 15:30 (America/Toronto) | Lassonde Building, Ottawa Rd, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada
Monday November 11th, 2019 at 1:30 p.m. Enas Tarawneh will be presenting a Python workshop, “Setting in with Programming – Workshop 3”.
Day & Time: Monday November 11th, 2019
1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Speaker: Enas Tarawneh
Organizers: IEEE WIE, WICSE
Location: Lassonde Building (LAS-3033)
Contact: Hina Tabassum
Pre-requisites: Workshop 1 and 2
Registration Link: http://bit.ly/2OiCSPO
Snacks will be served.
Workshop Description: This workshop will cover (1) creating ROS processing nodes (includes creating classes, functions) (2) passing messages between nodes (includes abstracting the problem) (3) capture the images from the webcam and (4) apply different image processing in separate nodes and display continuous processing results.
Note: Bring your own laptop with a python installation (2.7, 3.3-3.6) and Speech Recognition Package installation. Installation guidelines will be sent to registered attendees.
Biography: Enas Tarawneh is a PhD student at York University in the department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. She works in the Vision, Graphics and Robotics (VGR) Laboratory as a research assistant. Her most recent research involves the development and evaluation of a cloud-based avatar (intelligent agent) for human-robot interaction that is part of a project funded by VISTA. She holds an OGS and VISTA doctoral scholarship. Prior to this, Enas worked as an academic Lead, instructor and e-learning coordinator in the Institute of Applied Technology in UAE in which she received an award for “Distinguished Curriculum Support” and another for “Excellence in E-learning coordination”. Most importantly Enas, is a wife and mother of three, that believes that open-mindedness and positivism is the best accomplishment and the source of true happiness.

Agile Methodology Framework Case Study
2019-10-17 18:30 - 21:00 (America/Toronto) | Eric Palin Hall (Room EPH 216), 87 Gerrard St E, Toronto, ON M5B 2M2, Canada
Thursday October 17th, 2019 at 6:30 p.m. Rafi Ahmed, Telecom IT Consultant, will be presenting “Agile Methodology Framework Case Study”.
Day & Time: Thursday October 17th, 2019
6:30 p.m. ‐ 9:00 p.m.
Speaker: Rafi Ahmed, M.B.A., M.Res., B.Sc. Telecom IT Consultant
Organizers: IEEE Toronto Computer Chapter
Location: Eric Palin Hall, Room EPH 216
Ryerson University
87 Gerrard St E, Toronto, ON M5B 2M2
RVSP: RSVP is required for this event. Please visit https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/203806 for more details and to register
Fees: IEEE Members: Free
Non-Member (Professional): $10 + 13% HST
Contact: Dennis Cecic, P. Eng., SMIEEE
Chair, IEEE Computer Society (Toronto Chapter)
Abstract: Are you looking to deliver your projects with high quality, higher customer satisfaction, increased project control, reduced risk and faster ROI and are unable to decide whether Agile or Waterfall methodologies are right for you? In this talk we will discuss how to align your initiatives with your organization’s strategy by defining a problem using the Diamond E framework, and how to execute an initiative by choosing the right methodology for execution (Agile, Waterfall or Hybrid). We will also discuss how organizations can achieve their objective of having complete visibility from defining strategic initiatives to execution of those strategic initiative; from top level in the organization all the way to bottom.
The theory will be followed by an actual case study for one of the largest telecom operators in the Middle East and how it was able to launch a world class marketplace within a record time of 9 months.
Biography:
Rafi has 25+ years of IT experience in delivering small to very large-scale projects. He has held several executive roles in various organizations. Rafi has worked as Digital Transformation Lead, DevOps Lead, Cloud Architect, Business Architect & IT Transformation, Enterprise Architect, Solution Architect, Quality Assurance/ Business Analyst / Software designer with an exceptional record of delivering cost effective, high performance technology solutions to meet challenging business demands. He has extensive qualifications in all facets of information systems methodology from conceptual design through documentation, implementation, user training, quality review, and enhancement. He has worked extensively with Fortune 1000 companies.

Automotive Radar – A Signal Processing Perspective on Current Technology and Future Systems
2019-10-11 16:30 - 17:30 (America/Toronto) | Bahen Centre, Room BA 2175
Thursday March 5th, 2020 at 4:00 p.m. Dr. Markus Gardill, IEEE Distinguished Microwave Lecturer, will be presenting an IEEE Distinguished Lecture “Automotive Radar – A Signal Processing Perspective on Current Technology and Future Systems”.
Day & Time: Thursday March 5th, 2020
4:00 p.m. ‐ 5:00 p.m.
Speaker: Dr. Markus Gardill
IEEE Distinguished Microwave Lecturer
Organizers: IEEE Toronto Electromagnetics & Radiation Chapter
Location: Bahen Centre, Room BA 1180
University of Toronto – St. George Campus
40 St George St, Toronto, ON M5S 2E4
Contact: George V. Eleftheriades, FRSC, FIEEE
Abstract: Radar systems are a key technology of modern vehicle safety & comfort systems. Without doubt it will only be the symbiosis of Radar, Lidar and camera-based sensor systems which can enable advanced autonomous driving functions soon. Several next generation car models are such announced to have up to 10 radar sensors per vehicle, allowing for the generation of a radar-based 360° surround view necessary for advanced driver assistance as well as semi-autonomous operation. Hence the demand from the automotive industry for high-precision, multi-functional radar systems is higher than ever before, and the increased requirements on functionality and sensor capabilities lead to research and development activities in the field of automotive radar systems in both industry and academic worlds.
Current automotive radar technology is almost exclusively based on the principle of frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) radar, which has been well known for several decades. However, together with an increase of hardware capabilities such as higher carrier frequencies, modulation bandwidths and ramp slopes, as well as a scaling up of simultaneously utilized transmit and receive channels with independent modulation features, new degrees of freedom have been added to traditional FMCW radar system design and signal processing. The anticipated presentation will accordingly introduce the topic with a review on the fundamentals of radar and FMCW radar. After introducing the system architecture of traditional and modern automotive FMCW radar sensors, with e.g. insights into the concepts of distributed or centralized processing and sensor data fusion, the presentation will dive into the details of fast-chirp FMCW processing – the modulation mode which is used by the vast majority of current automotive FMCW radar systems. Starting with the fundamentals of target range and velocity estimation based on the radar data matrix, the spatial dimension available using modern single-input multiple-output (SIMO) and multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radar systems will be introduced and radar processing based on the radar data cube is discussed. Of interest is the topic of angular resolution – one of the key drawbacks which e.g. render Lidar systems superior to radar in some situations. Consequently, traditional and modern methods for direction of arrival estimation in FMCW radar systems are presented, starting from traditional monopulse-like algorithms to modern frameworks for superresolution DoA estimation. The presentation will then introduce the great challenge of FMCW radar system interference. While FMCW radar interference is a challenge which can be handled using adaptive signal processing in today’s systems, it will become a severe problem with the increasing number of radar-sensors equipped vehicles in dense traffic situations in the near future and a solution to the expected increase in interference is still an open question.
It is this problem of interference, together with some added functionality, which motivated the proposal of alternative radar waveforms such as pseudo-random or orthogonal-frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) radar for automotive radar systems. Although not yet of great interest from an industrial perspective, the fundamentals and capabilities of both technologies will be introduced in the remainder of the anticipated presentation.
Biography:
Markus Gardill (S’11-M’15) was born in Bamberg, Germany in 1985.
He received the Dipl.-Ing. and Dr.-Ing. degree in systems of information and multimedia technology/electrical engineering from the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany, in 2010 and 2015, respectively.
In 2010, he joined the Institute for Electronics Engineering at the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg as a research assistant and teaching fellow.
From 2014 to 2015 he was head of the team Radio Communication Technology.
In late 2015 he joined the Robert Bosch GmbH as an R&D engineer for optical and imaging metrology systems and leading the cluster of non-destructive testing for the international production network.
In 2016 he joined the automotive radar business segment of InnoSenT GmbH, where he is currently head of the group radar signal processing & tracking.
His main research interest include radar and communication systems, antenna (array) design, and signal processing algorithms. His particular interest is spatio-temporal processing such as e.g. beamforming and direction-of-arrival estimation with a focus on combining the worlds of signal processing and microwave/electromagnetics.
Dr. Gardill is an IEEE Young Professional. He is member of the IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society (IEEE MTT-S) and currently serves as co-chair of the IEEE MTT-S Technical Committee Digital Signal Processing (MTT-9).
He regularly acts as reviewer and TPRC member for several journals and conferences, will act as associate editor of the Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques beginning with 2020 and serves as Distinguished Microwave Lecturer (DML) for the DML term 2018-2020 with a presentation focussing automotive radar systems.

Wireless Positioning and Sensing Network (WPSN™) for Hyper-Accurate Indoor & Outdoor Location Tracking System with Applications in the Critical and Massive IoT
2019-10-08 15:00 - 16:00 (America/Toronto) | Progress Campus 941 Progress Ave, Scarborough, ON M1G 3T8 Room L1-12
Tuesday October 8th, 2019 at 3:00 p.m. Peyman Moeini, B. Eng., MASc, PMP, P.Eng., will be presenting “Wireless Positioning and Sensing Network (WPSN™) for Hyper-Accurate Indoor & Outdoor Location Tracking System with Applications in the Critical and Massive IoT”.
Day & Time: Tuesday, October 8, 2019
3:00 p.m. ‐ 4:00 p.m.
Speaker: Peyman Moeini, B. Eng., MASc, PMP, P.Eng.
Founder and CEO of Peytec
Organizers: IEEE Toronto Instrumentation & Measurement Chapter, Women in Engineering
Location: Progress Campus
941 Progress Ave, Scarborough, ON M1G 3T8
Room L1-12
Contact: Dr. Maryam Davoudpour
Abstract: Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN’s) are the building blocks of Internet-of-Things (IoT) and Industrial IoT in the physical layer; however, they lack a fundamental aspect; WSN’s are not designed to be located. There has been several research papers published that addresses the addition of localization capability in various Wireless Sensor Networks such as Zigbee, BLE’s, LoRa modules, and NB-IoT. In virtually all of the mentioned networks, by adding the localization capability other network and tags advantages such as latency, battery life, scalability, and reliability will be negatively affected; in addition, the localization accuracy obtained would vary significantly depending on the sample rate and method of localization. Most localization methodologies used to locate the position of a moving tag with the mentioned WSN’s utilize Received Signal Strength (RSSI) which is a range free methodology which often has poor localization accuracy and it is not repeatable nor reliable. To address this problem a groundbreaking Wireless Positioning and Sensing Network (WPSN™) is designed developed where not only a localization accuracy of 10 cm is maintained but also latency, reliability, scalability, and battery life of the tags are not sacrificed to maintain and sustain the 10 cm localization accuracy.
Biography:
Peyman Moeini, B. Eng., MASc, PMP, P.Eng., is an entrepreneur engineer who has launched several successful Internet of Things (IoT) & Artificial Intelligence (AI) products in various fields such as agriculture, manufacturing, logistics, freight, retail, and mining. He has won more than 30 innovation and entrepreneurship awards in the IoT&AI fields. Peyman has extensive knowledge and experience in the IoT&AI spaces. Through his career, Peyman has developed an AI algorithm that made the time efficiency of software 500 times faster for the exact same results! He holds several patents in this space and is the founder and CEO of Peytec, a Smart Industrial IoT&AI company that builds and sells hyper-accurate “Indoor GPS” and Sensing Systems. Through his initiatives, Peyman is on a mission to help make Canada be the global leader in IoT&AI space.

Analog Photonic Systems: Features & Techniques to Optimize Performance
2019-10-07 16:30 - 17:30 (America/Toronto) | Sidney Smith Hall – Room SS 2108
Monday October 7th, 2019 at 4:30 p.m. Dr. Edward Ackerman, Vice President of R&D for Photonic Systems and IEEE Fellow, will be presenting “Analog Photonic Systems: Features & Techniques to Optimize Performance”.
Day & Time: Monday October 7th, 2019
4:30 p.m. ‐ 5:30 p.m.
Speaker: Dr. Edward Ackerman
Vice President of R&D for Photonic Systems, Inc. of Billerica, Massachusetts
IEEE Fellow
Organizers: IEEE Toronto Electromagnetics & Radiation Chapter
Location: Sidney Smith Hall – Room SS 2108
University of Toronto – St. George Campus
100 St George St, Toronto, ON M5S 3G3
Contact: George V. Eleftheriades, FRSC, FIEEE
Abstract: Both the scientific and the defense communities wish to receive and process information occupying ever-wider portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. This can often create an analog-to-digital conversion “bottleneck”. Analog photonic channelization, linearization, and frequency conversion systems can be designed to alleviate this bottleneck. Moreover, the low loss and dispersion of optical fiber and integrated optical waveguides enable most of the components in a broadband sensing or communication system, including all of the analog-to-digital and digital processing hardware, to be situated many feet or even miles from the antennas or other sensors with almost no performance penalty. The anticipated presentation will highlight the advantages and other features of analog photonic systems (including some specific systems that the author has constructed and tested for the US Department of Defense), and will review and explain multiple techniques for optimizing their performance.
Biography:
Edward Ackerman received Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from Drexel University in 1994. From 1989 through 1994 he was employed as a microwave photonics engineer at Martin Marietta’s Electronics Laboratory in Syracuse, New York. From 1995 to July 1999 he was a member of the Technical Staff at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. Since 1999 he has been Vice President of R&D for Photonic Systems, Inc. of Billerica, Massachusetts. Dr. Ackerman is a Fellow of the IEEE.

Setting in with Programming – Python – Workshop 2
2019-10-07 13:30 - 15:30 (America/Toronto) | Lassonde Building, Ottawa Rd, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada
Monday October 7th, 2019 at 1:30 p.m. Enas Tarawneh will be presenting a Python workshop, “Setting in with Programming – Workshop 2”.
Day & Time: Monday October 7th, 2019
1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Speaker: Enas Tarawneh
Organizers: IEEE WIE, WICSE
Location: Lassonde Building (LAS-3033)
Contact: Hina Tabassum
Pre-requisites: Workshop 1
Registration Link: http://bit.ly/2Y171HP
Snacks will be served.
Workshop Description: This workshop will cover the (1) use and application of existing packages (2) file manipulation (3) GUI input/output (4) speech recognition package (5) use microphone or file for input (6) output audio capture result through play or file (7) output text result through terminal and GUI.
Note: Bring your own laptop with a python installation (2.7, 3.3-3.6) and Speech Recognition Package installation. Installation guidelines will be sent to registered attendees.
Biography: Enas Tarawneh is a PhD student at York University in the department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. She works in the Vision, Graphics and Robotics (VGR) Laboratory as a research assistant. Her most recent research involves the development and evaluation of a cloud-based avatar (intelligent agent) for human-robot interaction that is part of a project funded by VISTA. She holds an OGS and VISTA doctoral scholarship. Prior to this, Enas worked as an academic Lead, instructor and e-learning coordinator in the Institute of Applied Technology in UAE in which she received an award for “Distinguished Curriculum Support” and another for “Excellence in E-learning coordination”. Most importantly Enas, is a wife and mother of three, that believes that open-mindedness and positivism is the best accomplishment and the source of true happiness.

Professional Development Conference for Immigrants (PDCI)
2019-10-06 09:00 - 17:00 (America/Toronto) | Humber College North Campus Residence 203 Humber College Boulevard Toronto, ON M9W 6V3
After four successful years of holding sold-out seminars for immigrants, North Star Success Inc. has partnered up with Humber College to host an amazing one-day conference, PDCI: An opportunity for networking with and learning from successful immigrants.
Day & Time: Sunday, October 6, 2019
9:00 a.m. ‐ 5:00 p.m.
Speakers: Dr. Abuelaish (5-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee), Mohamad Fakih (Founder of Paramoun Fine Foods), Kundan Joshi (Entrepreneur of the Year), Sathish Bala (Founder of DesiFest) and Bobby Umar (5-time TEDx speaker), and more!
Organizers: North Star Success Inc., Humber College, IEEE Toronto
Location: Humber College North Campus Residence
203 Humber College Boulevard
Toronto, ON M9W 6V3
Register: www.northstarsuccess.com/pdci
Contact: Dr. Maryam Davoudpour
Description: PDCI (Professional Development Conference for Immigrants) aims for three major initiatives:
1) NETWORKING and OPEN EXCHANGE of INFORMATION: Stop struggling for success in Canada! PDCI means open exchange of information and resources. Network with and get direct advice from the most successful immigrants, whether in corporate jobs or in business.
2) PRIZES for PREPARED MINDS: Looking for excitement? During the panel discussions, the moderator of the panel will pose a question to the audience and whoever gives the best answer (judged by the panelists) will win big cash prizes!
3) RECOGNITION of CHAMPIONS: Let’s acknowledge the Champions! A handful of successful immigrants who have chosen to support our cause will be recognized and given awards for their achievements and contribution.

Setting in with Programming – Python – Workshop 1
2019-09-16 13:30 - 15:30 (America/Toronto) | Lassonde Building, Ottawa Rd, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada
Monday September 16th, 2019 at 1:30 p.m. Enas Tarawneh will be presenting a Python workshop, “Setting in with Programming”.
Day & Time: Monday September 16th, 2019
1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Speaker: Enas Tarawneh
Organizers: IEEE WIE, WICSE
Location: Lassonde Building (LAS-3033)
Contact: Hina Tabassum
Registration Link: http://bit.ly/2y9bKaY
Snacks will be served.
Workshop Description: Beginner lesson (assumes no knowledge in programming). This workshop will cover (1) input/output, (2) variables (3) numbers (4) string (5) lists /arrays (6) if-else (7) loops
Note: Bring your own laptop with a python installation (2.7, 3.3-3.6) and Speech Recognition Package installation. Installation guidelines will be sent to registered attendees.
Biography: Enas Tarawneh is a PhD student at York University in the department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. She works in the Vision, Graphics and Robotics (VGR) Laboratory as a research assistant. Her most recent research involves the development and evaluation of a cloud-based avatar (intelligent agent) for human-robot interaction that is part of a project funded by VISTA. She holds an OGS and VISTA doctoral scholarship. Prior to this, Enas worked as an academic Lead, instructor and e-learning coordinator in the Institute of Applied Technology in UAE in which she received an award for “Distinguished Curriculum Support” and another for “Excellence in E-learning coordination”. Most importantly Enas, is a wife and mother of three, that believes that open-mindedness and positivism is the best accomplishment and the source of true happiness.

Opportunities, Challenges and Implementations of Silicon Integration and Packaging in mmWave Radar and Communication Applications
2019-08-09 10:00 - 11:00 (America/Toronto) | Room BA 1200, Bahen Centre for Information Technology 40 St George St Toronto, Ontario M5S 2E4
Friday August 9th, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. Dr. Xiaoxiong Gu, Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE EMC Society, will be presenting “Opportunities, Challenges and Implementations of Silicon Integration and Packaging in mmWave Radar and Communication Applications”.
Day & Time: Friday August 9th, 2019
10:00 a.m. ‐ 11:00 a.m.
Speaker: Dr. Xiaoxiong Gu (IBM)
Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE EMC Society
Organizers: IEEE Toronto Electromagnetics & Radiation Chapter, IEEE EMC Society
Location: Room BA 1200
Bahen Centre for Information Technology
40 St George St, Toronto, ON M5S 2E4
Contact: Prof. Piero Triverio
Abstract: Co-design and integration of RFIC, package, and antennas are critical to enable multiple aspects of 5G communications (backhaul, last mile, mobile access) and are particularly challenging at mmWave frequencies. This talk will cover various important aspects of mmWave antenna module packaging and integration for base station, backhaul, and user equipment applications, respectively. We will first present a historical perspective on Si-based mmWave modules and approaches for antenna and IC integration including trade-offs. We will focus on the challenges, implementation, and characterization of a 28-GHz phased-array module with 64 dual polarized antennas for 5G base station applications. We will then introduce a software-defined phased array radio based on the 28-GHz hardware. The highly re-configurable phased array radio features beam shaping/steering control as well as data TX/RX function control from a single Python-based software interface. Second, we will present a W-band phased-array module with 64-element dual-polarization antennas for radar imaging and backhaul application. The module consists of a multilayer organic chip-carrier package and a 16-element phased-array TX IC or a 32-element RX IC chipset. Third, we will describe a compact, low-power, 60-GHz switched-beam transceiver module suitable for handset integration incorporating 4 antennas that supports both normal and end-fire directions for a wide link spatial coverage.
Biography: Xiaoxiong Gu received the Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of Washington, Seattle, USA, in 2006. He joined IBM Research as a Research Staff Member in January 2007. His research activities are focused on 5G radio access technologies, optoelectronic and mm-wave packaging, electrical designs, modeling and characterization of communication, imaging radar and computation systems. He has recently worked on antenna-in-package design and integration for mm-wave imaging and communication systems including Ka-band, V-band and W-band phased-array modules. He has also worked on 3D electrical packaging and signal/power integrity analysis for high-speed I/O subsystems including on-chip and off-chip interconnects. He has been involved in developing novel TSV and interposer technologies for heterogeneous system integration.
Dr. Gu has co-authored over 80 peer-reviewed publications and holds 9 issued patents. He was a co-recipient of IEEE ISSCC 2017 Lewis Winner Award for Outstanding Paper and IEEE JSSC 2017 Best Paper Award (the world’s first reported silicon-based 5G mmWave phased array antenna module operating at 28GHz). He was a co-recipient of the 2017 Pat Goldberg Memorial Award to the best paper in computer science, electrical engineering, and mathematics published by IBM Research. He received an IBM Outstanding Technical Achievement Award in 2016, four IBM Plateau Invention Awards in 2012 ~ 2016, the IEEE EMC Symposium Best Paper Award in 2013, two SRC Mahboob Khan Outstanding Industry Liaison Awards in 2012 and 2014, the Best Conference Paper Award at IEEE EPEPS in 2011, IEC DesignCon Paper Awards in 2008 and 2010, the Best Interactive Session Paper Award at IEEE DATE in 2008, and the Best Session Paper Award at IEEE ECTC in 2007. Dr. Gu is the co-chair of Professional Interest Community (PIC) on Computer System Designs at IBM. He is a Senior Member of IEEE and has been serving on different program committees for MTT-S, EPEPS, ECTC, EDAPS and DesignCon. Dr. Gu was the General Chair of IEEE EPEPS 2018 in San Jose, CA. He is also a Distinguished Lecturer for IEEE EMC Society in 2019-2020.

IEEE Toronto Centennial Workshop: Distributed Machine Learning, The Second Step
2019-07-30 14:30 - 15:30 (America/Toronto) | Room B3-09 Centennial College, Progress Campus 941 Progress Ave., Toronto, Ontario, M1G 3T8
Tuesday July 30th, 2019 at 2:30 p.m. Reza Dibaj, Chair of Magnetics Chapter in the IEEE Toronto Section, will be presenting “IEEE Toronto Centennial Workshop: Distributed Machine Learning, The Second Step”.
Day & Time: Tuesday July 30th, 2019
2:30 p.m. ‐ 3:30 p.m.
Speaker: Reza Dibaj
Chair of Magnetics Chapter, IEEE Toronto Section
Organizers: Magnetics Chapter, IEEE Toronto Centennial College Chapter, WIE IEEE Toronto
Location: Room B3-09
Centennial College, Progress Campus
941 Progress Ave., Toronto, Ontario, M1G 3T8
Contact: Reza Dibaj
Abstract: At the beginning of the workshop, we quickly recap what we did in the previous session and knowing more about the definition of good features in our datasets. To continue our journey that we have started in the previous workshop, we will dive deeper into ML by applying our Decision Tree algorithm on a classical iris dataset. We will thoroughly practice training and testing data, using a step-by-step hands-on. Finally, we will use visualization tools to show what is happening under the hood in a decision tree and how it works as one of the most interpretable algorithms in ML.

IEEE Toronto Centennial Workshop: Distributed Machine Learning, Basic Concepts
2019-07-23 14:30 - 15:30 (America/Toronto) | Room B3-09 Centennial College, Progress Campus 941 Progress Ave., Toronto, Ontario, M1G 3T8
Tuesday July 23rd, 2019 at 2:30 p.m. Reza Dibaj, Chair of Magnetics Chapter in the IEEE Toronto Section, will be presenting “IEEE Toronto Centennial Workshop: Distributed Machine Learning, Basic Concepts”.
Day & Time: Tuesday July 23rd, 2019
2:30 p.m. ‐ 3:30 p.m.
Speaker: Reza Dibaj
Chair of Magnetics Chapter, IEEE Toronto Section
Organizers: Magnetics Chapter, IEEE Toronto Centennial College Chapter, WIE IEEE Toronto
Location: Room B3-09
Centennial College, Progress Campus
941 Progress Ave., Toronto, Ontario, M1G 3T8
Contact: Reza Dibaj
Abstract: Machine Learning is an indispensable part of data science and there is no need to have a thorough programming background to benefit from it. Machine Learning (ML) and statistical techniques have provided a new era that enables us to convert the data to information, and transform the information into actionable knowledge. SciKit and TensorFlow are two states of the art libraries that can be used in Python and this seminar will open the gate to know their bases. The first seminar is about “Hello World!” Machine Learning program, using python language and SciKit learn library.

Data Mining and Machine Learning with Application to Medical Data
2019-07-17 12:15 - 13:15 (America/Toronto) | TRI-UC, Basement Lecture theatre 550 University Ave., Toronto, M5G 2A2
Wednesday July 17th, 2019 at 12:15 p.m. Prof. Steven Wang, Professor in Statistics at York University, will be presenting “Data Mining and Machine Learning with Application to Medical Data”.
Day & Time: Wednesday July 17th, 2019
12:15 p.m. ‐ 1:15 p.m.
Speaker: Prof. Steven Wang
Professor in Statistics
Department of Mathematics and Statistics York University
Organizers: IEEE Toronto Robotics, IEEE Toronto WIE, EMB, UHN
Location: TRI-UC, Basement Lecture theatre
550 University Ave., Toronto, M5G 2A2
GoToMeeting: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/435099981
Contact: Prof. Azadeh Yadollahi
Abstract: In this talk, we will discuss some applications of data mining and machine learning to medical data. We will discuss a variety of topics: genetic analysis, signal processing method for ECG and EEG, personalized medicine, autoimmune disease and human microbiome analysis. We will also share our experience on data including issues related to data cleaning and missing values.
Biography: Dr. Steven Wang is a professor in Statistics at the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. He received his Ph.D. in Statistics from the University of British Columbia in 2001 and did one year Postdoc on Data Mining at the Pacific Institute of Mathematical Sciences. He joined York University in 2002 and currently a full professor in Statistics. His research included statistical theory, data mining, optimization and machine learning. With his co-inventors, he has applied a Canadian and US patent for deep learning method. In the past 10 years, his research is focused on machine learning and medical data.
Poster: See Poster

MIMO Signalling: Knowing the Classics Can Make a Difference
2019-06-06 10:00 - 11:00 (America/Toronto) | Room BA-2135, University of Toronto
Thursday June 6th, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. Prof. Wing-Kin (Ken) Ma, Chinese University of Hong Kong, will be presenting an IEEE Signal Processing Society Distinguished Lecture “MIMO Signalling: Knowing the Classics Can Make a Difference”.
Day & Time: Thursday June 6th, 2019
10:00 a.m. ‐ 11:00 a.m.
Speaker: Prof. Wing-Kin (Ken) Ma
Chinese University of Hong Kong
Organizers: IEEE Signal Processing Chapter Toronto Section
IEEE Communications Chapter Toronto Section
Location: Room BA-2135, University of Toronto
http://map.utoronto.ca/building/080
Contact: Mehrnaz Shokrollahi, Yashodhan Athavale, Michael Zara,
Abstract: In this talk the speaker will share two stories of how his research was benefitted by learning from the basics. The first story concerns physical-layer multicasting, a topic that has been dominated bybeamforming and optimization techniques. We will see how the classical concept of using channel coding to fight fast fading effects gives spark to rethink multicasting, and how that leads to a stochastic beamforming approach that goes beyond what beamforming achieves. The second story considers one-bit massive MIMO precoding, an emerging and challengingtopic. Current research on this topic mostly focuses on optimization, often in a sophisticated, if not complicated, manner. We will see how the traditional idea of Sigma-Delta modulation for DAC of temporal signals can be transferred to the spatial case, leading to one-bit massive MIMO precoding solutions that are simple and have quantization error well under control.
Biography: Wing-Kin (Ken) Ma is a Professor with the Department of Electronic Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. His research interests lie in signal processing, optimization and communications. His mostrecent research focuses on two distinct topics, namely, structured matrix factorization for data science and remote sensing, and MIMO transceiver design and optimization. Dr. Ma is active in the Signal Processing Society. He served as editors of several journals, e.g.,Senior Area Editor of IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing, Lead Guest Editor of a special issue in IEEE Signal Processing Magazine, to name a few. He is currently a member of the Signal Processing for Communications and Networking (SPCOM) Technical Committee. He received Research Excellence Award 2013– 2014 by CUHK, the 2015 IEEE Signal Processing Magazine Best Paper Award, the 2016 IEEE Signal Processing Letters Best Paper Award, and the 2018 IEEE Signal Processing Best Paper Award. He is an IEEE Fellow and is currently an IEEE SPS Distinguished Lecturer.

Assessment of Egocentric Spatial Orientation using Virtual Reality for Diagnosis and Monitoring Alzheimer’s Disease
2019-05-24 12:15 - 13:15 (America/Toronto) | TRI-UC, Basement Lecture theatre 550 University Ave., Toronto, M5G 2A2
Friday May 24th, 2019 at 12:15 p.m. Prof. Zahra Moussavi, Director of the Biomedical Engineering Program at University of Manitoba and Canada Research Chair, will be presenting “Assessment of Egocentric Spatial Orientation using Virtual Reality for Diagnosis and Monitoring Alzheimer’s Disease”.
Day & Time: Friday May 24th, 2019
12:15 p.m. ‐ 1:15 p.m.
Speaker: Zahra Moussavi
Director of the Biomedical Engineering Program
Professor & Canada Research Chair
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
University of Manitoba
Organizers: IEEE Toronto WIE, IEEE Toronto, IEEE Toronto Engineering in Medicine and Biology Chapter, UHN
Location: TRI-UC, Basement Lecture Theatre
550 University Ave., Toronto, M5G 2A2
GoToMeeting: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/543203653
Contact: Dr. Maryam Davoudpour
Abstract: Memory and cognitive declines are associated with normal brain aging but are also precursors to dementia, in particular the so called the pandemic of the century, Alzheimer’s disease. While currently there is no cure or “vaccine” against dementia, based on brain’s plasticity, there are hopes to delay the onset or to slow the progression of disease.
Alzheimer’s disease is multi-facet condition; thus, the key to its management is in multi- disciplinary approaches. The clinical diagnosis of neurodegenerative disorders, in general, is based on an extensive evaluation of cognition and behavioral performance along with functional status, which provides a variable grade of accuracy especially at early stages of the disease. In this talk, I will review diagnostic objective methods that can assist Alzheimer’s diagnosis. In particular, I will elaborate on the application and research outcomes of virtual reality egocentric spatial assessment for and its potentials for a differential diagnosis of Alzheimer’s versus other types of dementia.
Biography: Zahra Moussavi is a professor, a Canada Research Chair, and the founder and director of Biomedical Engineering Graduate Program at University of Manitoba. Her current research focuses are on medical devices instrumentation and signal analysis for sleep apnea management and Alzheimer’s diagnosis and treatment using virtual reality, rTMS and EVestG technologies. She is the recipient of several awards including the “Canada’s Most Powerful Women (Top 100)” and “Manitoba Distinguished Women” in 2014 and IEEE EMBS Distinguished Lecturer, 2014 and 2019. She has published more than 259 peer-reviewed papers in journals and conferences, and has given 94 invited talks/seminars including 2 Tedx Talks and 9 keynote speaker seminars at national and international conferences. Aside from academic work, on her spare time, she writes science articles for public; also has developed and offered memory fitness programs for aging population.
Poster Link: Click here

ComSoc Industry Visit: Siemens RUGGEDCOM
2019-05-23 10:00 - 13:00 (America/Toronto) | Siemens Ruggedcom, 300 Applewood Crescent, Concord, ON L4K 4E5, Canada
IEEE Toronto ComSoc Chapter in partnership with IEEE Toronto Industrial Relations are inviting all interested to a unique opportunity to visit Siemens RUGGEDCOM Facility at 300 Applewood Crescent, Concord, ON L4K 4E5.
RUGGEDCOM is a Canadian based company that is a subsidiary of Siemens. RUGGEDCOM networking products are designed to meet, even surpass internationally recognized industry standards for fast, reliable, standardized communications in numerous mission-critical industrial applications around the world.
During the visit we will get to take a factory tour, meet with an R&D engineer and tour the R&D lab. RUGGEDCOM will host us for a lunch afterwards.
Day & Time: Thursday May 23rd, 2019
10:00 a.m. ‐ 1:00 p.m.
Organizers: IEEE Toronto ComSoc
Transportation: The location is not far from Vaughan Metropolitan Centre (TTC). registered individuals are welcome to coordinate their own transportation to the location.
Meeting point: We plan to meet inside the building entrance at 10am.
Register: https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/198904
Location: Siemens Ruggedcom, 300 Applewood Crescent
Concord, Ontario, Canada L4K 4E5
Contact: Toronto_Chapter@comsoc.org

The Wow Dinner Toronto 2019
2019-05-21 17:30 - 20:00 (America/Toronto) | Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen St W, Toronto, ON M6J 1J6, Canada
The WOW Dinner is the world’s leading #womenintech dinner promoting diversity & inclusion in tech and related industries. The inspirational global series of networking events coming to Toronto on May 21, 2019 at the Gladstone Hotel, and coincides with the Collision Conference held just blocks away. The event welcomes people of all genders and orientation. Expect an evening of great conversation with a vibrant group and an eclectic mix of innovators, amazing food and inspiring speakers!
Day & Time: Tuesday May 21st, 2019
5:30 p.m. ‐ 8:00 p.m.
Organizers: Newhaus Communications, Green Capulet, IEEE Toronto WIE
Price: All IEEE members can get tickets for $50.
Register: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/the-wow-dinner-toronto-for-women-in-tech-tickets-59334500087
Location: The Gladstone Hotel

Blockchain Ecosystem TO: Public Launch Event for IEEE Toronto Blockchain
2019-04-23 18:00 - 20:00 (America/Toronto) | WeWork, 100 University Ave, Toronto, ON M5J 1V6, Canada
This is an open, free event taking place at WeWork, and organized by the IEEE Toronto to launch our NEW local Blockchain Group during Blockchain Week in Toronto. The IEEE is the largest technical association in the world. You can find more about IEEE Blockchain at https://blockchain.ieee.org/
The event is designed for anyone interested in networking with actual blockchain “builders”, not just engineers. It won’t be technical, we’ll get to network and enjoy some good conversation and learning.
We’ll have an introduction to both the Greater Toronto ecosystem (there are many great blockchain initiatives and organizations in our city) and to concrete examples of ACTUAL realizations with a real world impact using Blockchain / Distributed Ledger technologies.
Day & Time: Tuesday April 23rd, 2019
6:00 p.m. ‐ 8:00 p.m.
Organizers: IEEE Toronto Consultants Network
Location: WeWork
100 University Avenue
Toronto, ON M5J 1V6
Contact: Greg Boutin
RVSP: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/blockchain-ecosystem-to-public-launch-event-for-ieee-toronto-blockchain-tickets-59136197960
Agenda: 6-6.30pm: Networking (food and drinks provided)
6.30-7.40pm: Engaging 10-to-15-minute presentations by blockchain entrepreneurs and experts in Toronto (to be detailed shortly on this page)
7.40-8pm: More networking and wrap-up (we may head to a local bar after that if there is interest)

IEEE Humber Winter Coding Sessions #14
2019-04-19 17:00 - 19:00 (America/Toronto) | Humber College North Campus, Room F310
We will be having our weekly programming session Friday April 19 at 5:10 pm in room F310. Snacks and Codes will be served!
We will continue our format of splitting off into groups for the first hour to help the new members catch up, the second hour will be preparation for IEEE Xtreme, and the 3rd hour will be dedicated to whatever interests the group that day (so bring your questions and ideas)! We will also continue our smart city project discussions!
Bring your laptop with you!
Day & Time: Friday April 19th, 2019
5:10 p.m. ‐ 7:00 p.m.
Speaker: Andew Rudder
Humber College Professor
Organizers: IEEE Toronto WIE, Humber Student Branch
Location: Humber College North Campus, Room F310
Contact: IEEE Humber

Improving Speech Understanding in the Real-World for Hearing Devices: Solutions, Challenges and Opportunities
2019-04-18 16:00 - 17:00 (America/Toronto) | Room BA 1230, University of Toronto
Thursday April 18th, 2019 at 4:00 p.m. Dr. Tao Zhang, Director of Signal Processing Research Department, will be presenting “Improving Speech Understanding in the Real-World for Hearing Devices: Solutions, Challenges and Opportunities”.
Day & Time: Thursday, April 18th, 2019
4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Speaker: Dr. Tao Zhang
Director of Signal Processing Research Department
Starkey Hearing Technologies
Organizers: IEEE Signal Processing Chapter Toronto Section
Location: Room BA 1230, University of Toronto
Contact: Mehrnaz Shokrollahi
Yashodhan Athavale
Michael Zara
Abstract: The cocktail party problem has remained to be one of the most challenging problems for hearing aids even after decades of extensive research. In this talk, we will review our research on the cutting-edge single-microphone speech enhancement with emphasis on deep learning-based approaches. We will introduce and discuss our research on the multi-microphone speech enhancement with an emphasis on robust and real-time algorithms. We will present our latest research on the multimodal speech enhancement by considering brain signals (i.e. EEG) and microphone signals in a single joint-optimization framework. Finally, we will discuss the challenges and opportunities in deploying these algorithms in practice. We will present our perspectives on future research directions especially in the areas of individualizations and customizations using big data and machine learning.
Biography: Tao Zhang received his B.S. degree in physics from Nanjing University, Nanjing, China in 1986, M.S. degree in electrical engineering from Peking University, Beijing, China in 1989, and Ph.D. degree in speech and hearing science from the Ohio-State University, Columbus, OH, USA in 1995. He joined the Advanced Research Department at Starkey Laboratories, Inc. as a Sr. Research Scientist in 2001, managed the DSP department from 2004 to 2008 and the Signal Processing Research Department from 2008 to 2014. Since 2014, he has been Director of the Signal Processing Research department at Starkey Hearing Technologies, a global leader in providing innovative hearing technologies. He has received many prestigious awards including Inventor of the Year Award, the Mount Rainier Best Research Team Award, the Most Valuable Idea Award, the Outstanding Technical Leadership Award and the Engineering Service Award at Starkey.
He is a senior member of IEEE and the Signal Processing Society and the Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. He serves on the IEEE AASP Technical Committee and the industrial relationship committee and the IEEE ComSoc North America Region Board, He is an IEEE SPS Distinguished Industry Speaker, the IEEE SPS Industry Convoy for the Unites States (Region 1-6) and the Chair of IEEE Twin-cities Signal Processing and CommunicationChapter.
His current research interests include audio, acoustic, speech signal processing and machine learning; multimodal signal processing and machine learning for hearing enhancement, health and wellness monitoring; psychoacoustics, room and ear canal acoustics; ultra-low power real-time embedded system design and device-phone-cloud ecosystem design. He has authored and coauthored 120+ presentations and publications, received 20+ approved patents and had additional 30+ patents pending.
