Dr. Sethuraman "Panch" Panchanathan is responsible for conceptualizing, promoting and implementing strategic research initiatives at Arizona State University (ASU). He oversees the strategic investment of TRIF/Proposition 301 funds, the indirect cost return funds and the Promoting Research Identification, Development and Execution (PRIDE) team. He is a foundation chair in Computing and Informatics in the School of Computing and Informatics and the director of the Research Center for Cognitive Ubiquitous Computing (CUbiC) at ASU. He is also an associate professor in the Department of Basic Medical Sciences at the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix in partnership with ASU, and an affiliate professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering.
Panch’s research interests are in the areas of Human-centered Multimedia Computing; Content-based and Compressed Domain Indexing and Retrieval of Images and Video; Multimedia Communication; Face/Gait Analysis and Recognition; Haptic User Interfaces; Confidence Measures for Medical Decisions; Medical Image Processing; Genomic Signal Processing; Media Processor Designs and Ubiquitous Computing Environments for Individuals with Disabilities. CUbiC’s flagship project CARES designs diagnostic rehabilitative assistive technologies for individuals with physical, cognitive and neural impediments. The flagship iCARE project for individuals who are blind and visually impaired won the Governor’s Innovator of the Year-Academia Award in November 2004. Panch has published over 300 papers in refereed journals and conferences and has mentored over 100 graduate students, post-docs, research engineers and research scientists who occupy leading positions in academia and industry.
Panch was the founding director of the School of Computing and Informatics and instrumental in founding the Biomedical Informatics Department at ASU. He was also the chair of the Computer Science and Engineering Department. He was a member of the Electronic Health Steering Committee appointed by the Governor of Arizona. He is the editor-in-chief of IEEE Multimedia Magazine and associate editor of seven other journals. He has been a chair of many conferences, program committee member and organizer of special sessions in several conferences, invited speaker and panel member in conferences, universities and industry. He is a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the Society of Optical Engineering (SPIE).
Panch has a B.S. in Physics from the University of Madras, a B.E. in Electronics and Communication Engineering from the Indian Institute of Science, a M.Tech in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology and earned a Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Ottawa, Canada.