Circuits and Systems Group

Professor of ECE-NTUA Paul Peter Sotiriadis among the top 2% of highly cited scientists in the world

Stanford University and Elsevier have published the ranking of the 2% of the most influential researchers in the world in all scientific disciplines for 2022, retrieving data from the SCOPUS database and using a range of parameters for the harmonization of each scientist's research contribution and influence. As a result, a list of the top scientists from all scientific subjects (as well as those ranked in the top 2% in their main subfield discipline) was compiled.

Twenty-nine (29) Professors from the ECE of the NTUA are included in the lists.

The first list refers to all years analyzed (1788-2022) and includes the following 27 Professors of ECE-NTUA:

Afrati Foto*, Antonopoulos Antonios, Avramopoulos Hercules, Doukas Haris, Fikioris George, Fotakis Dimitris, Georgilakis Pavlos, Hatziargyriou Nikos, Hristoforou E., Kladas Antonios, Kollias Stefanos*, Korres Georgios, Manias Stefanos*, Maragos Petros, Nikita Konstantina, Panagopoulos Athanasios, Papathanassiou Stavros, Papavasiliou Anthony, Papavassiliou Symeon, Psarras John, Sotiriadis Paul, Topalis F., Tsalamengas John*, Tzafestas Spyros (†), Uzunoglu Nikolaos*, Varvarigou Theodora, Vournas Costas*

A second list referring to the year 2022, only, includes the following 16 Professors and 1 EDIP of ECE-NTUA:

Antonopoulos Antonios, Doukas Haris, Fotakis Dimitris, Georgilakis Pavlos, Hatziargyriou Nikos*, Korres Georgios, Kyriakopoulos Grigorios (EDIP), Manias Stefanos*, Maragos Petros, Marinakis Vangelis, Nikita Konstantina, Papathanassiou Stavros, Papavasiliou Anthony, Papavassiliou Symeon, Tzafestas Spyros (†), Voulodimos Athanasios, Vournas Costas*

(Retired/emeritus professors are marked with * and deceased with †)

Paper by ECE-NTUA Ph.D. Candidate V. Alimisis, Diploma Students A. Kamperi and N. P. Eleftheriou and Prof. P. P. Sotiriadis received the Best Runner-Up PhD Symposium Paper Award in the Springer FAIEMA 2023 Conference

We are pleased to announce that the paper entitled "A Low-Power Analog Bell-shaped Classifier based on Parallel-connected Gaussian function circuits" received the Best Runner-Up PhD Symposium Paper Award in the Springer 1st International Conference on Frontiers of Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, and Multidisciplinary Applications; 25th - 26th September 2023, Athens, Greece.

The Award-Winning paper was co-authored by Vassilis Alimisis (Ph.D candidate, ECE-NTUA), Argyro Kamperi (Diploma Student, ECE-NTUA), Nikolaos P. Eleftheriou (Diploma Student, ECE-NTUA), and Paul P. Sotiriadis (Professor, ECE-NTUA, Fellow IEEE).

ABSTRACT: In this study, a novel approach is presented for developing ultra-low power analog classifiers capable of effectively handling multiple input features while maintaining high levels of accuracy and minimizing power consumption. The proposed methodology is built upon a Voting model that leverages Gaussian likelihood functions. To evaluate the performance of the proposed methodology, a comparison is conducted against the widely used analog Bell-shaped classifiers. Real-life breast cancer dataset is employed for this comparison. The models are trained and the results are processed using the Python programming language. The hardware design and result processing utilize Cadence IC Suite, implementing the TSMC 90 nm CMOS process technology.

IEEE JETCAS Special Issue on Unconventional Computing Techniques for Emerging Technology Applications - Guest Edited by Professor Pavlos P. Sotiriadis

Congratulations to Professor Pavlos P. Sotiriadis, of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering of the NTUA, for leading the Guest Editorial team of the recent IEEE Journal on Emerging and Selected Topics in Circuits and Systems (JETCAS) Special Issue on Unconventional Computing Techniques for Emerging Technology Applications, and to ECE-NTUA recent Ph.D. graduate, Dr. Nikos Temenos for coordinating the effort.

The Special Issue was dedicated to the latest developments in the interdisciplinary field of unconventional computing, focused on three main directions: 1) Novel Techniques and Approaches in Unconventional Computing, 2) Circuits, Systems, and Architectures for Approximate and Stochastic Computing, and, 3) In- and Near-Memory Processing with an emphasis on Memristive Devices Utilization.

The announcement of the Special Issue created excitement in the international research community, attracting more than 70 high quality contributions. Of these, 36 were rigorously selected for the Special Issue. Research groups from major universities, research companies, and national research labs around the world contributed their latest research results. The following is a partial list of affiliations of the contributors:

Universities: Arizona State University, Bar-Ilan University, Concordia University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Indian Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, McGill University, National Chung Hsing University, National Taiwan University, National Technical University of Athens, Northeastern University, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Texas A&M University, Politecnico di Torino, The George Washington University, Tohoku University, Tsinghua University, TU Wien, Universidade de Lisboa Instituto Superior, University of California San Diego, University of Edinburgh, University of Stuttgart, TU Dortmund, Washington University.

Major research companies: IBM Zurich Research Laboratory, Intel Corporation.

National research labs: National Institute of Standards and Technology USA, NCSR Demokritos Greece

The IEEE Journal on Emerging and Selected Topics in Circuits and Systems (JETCAS) is a premier journal of the IEEE Circuits and Systems Society. With a high Impact Factor (~5.9), JETCAS covers the entire field of interest of the theory, analysis, design, tools, and implementation of circuits and systems. This includes theoretical foundations, applications, and architectures, as well as the circuits and systems implementation of algorithms for signal and information processing. JETCAS has a particular focus on emerging areas in the field.

Relevant Links:

Table of Contents

https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=10078362

Guest Editorial “Unconventional Computing Techniques for Emerging Technology Applications”

https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=10078359

IEEE Circuits and Systems Society

https://ieee-cas.org/

Speech of Professor Hari on Autonomous Navigation

On 2nd of June 2023 Professor K. V. S. Hari, from Department of ECE, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, presented his research on Experiments in Autonomous Navigation for Unstructured Environments. The event took place at the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering of the National Technical University of Athens. The presentation was followed by a very interesting conversation considering the future of the autonomous navigation and potentional uses. Our Research Team and all the attendees would like to thank and congratulate Professor Hari for his interesting speech and we are looking forward to continuing this interaction in the future. An abstract of his speech and information about the speaker follow below:

ABSTRACT: The emergence of autonomous navigation systems have spurred many innovations in the design of sensing, computing, communication and control systems. The design of autonomous navigation systems in unstructured environments is a challenging problem. For example, in an opencast or open-pit coal mine, large vehicles are driven on muddy roads with no lanes and roadside markers. Such environments pose a unique challenge to the design of autonomous systems. Similarly, urban environments where there is heavy traffic congestion with a large variety of vehicles and associated varied user behavior pose a challenge to designing autonomous navigation systems. In this talk, we will present two case studies. The first case study presents the design of a forward collision avoidance system for large vehicles using only a single webcam. This work was supported by VOLVO. The second case study presents the design of a sensing system to collect data for Indian road traffic and apply deep learning tools for detecting vehicles and predicting their trajectories. This work is supported by WIPRO.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER: K V S Hari is a Professor in the Department of ECE, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. He holds a PhD (Systems Science) from U C San Diego, an MTech (Radar and Communication Engineering) from IIT Delhi and a B.E (ECE) from Osmania University College of Engineering, He has been a visiting faculty at Stanford University and Affiliate Professor at KTH- Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm. His research interests are in Signal Processing and Deep Learning with applications to 5G wireless communications, dual function radar and communication systems, autonomous navigation, neuroscience, and affordable MRI systems.
He is a co-author of the IEEE 802.16 standard on wireless channel models and has conducted drone-ground wireless channel modelling experiments. He is part of the UK-India Future Networks Initiative (UKI-FNI) and currently leads the British Telecom India Research Centre (BTIRC), IISc. He served as the Chair, Standardisation Committee, Telecom Standards Development Society, India.
He was an Editor of EURASIP’s Signal Processingjournal and is currently the Editor-in-Chief (Electrical Sciences) of Sadhana, the journal of the Indian Academy of Sciences published by Springer. He is a Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering, Indian National Science Academy and IEEE. He was on the Board of Governors, IEEE Signal Processing Society as VP-Membership(2020-22). He is the General Co-Chair of ICASSP 2025 scheduled in Hyderabad, India.
More details at http://ece.iisc.ac.in/~hari

ECE-NTUA Undergraduate and Graduate students attended and volunteered for the international MIT Global Startup Workshop 2023

ECE-NTUA undergraduate and graduate students played a key role in the successful organization of the prestigious MIT Global Startup Workshop 2023, which was held in Athens last week. According to Bill Aulet, a renowned entrepreneurship educator from MIT, this was the most successful GSW in the series since its launch in 1998. The workshop brought together entrepreneurs, students, investors, and other stakeholders from various fields to foster the entrepreneurial ecosystem of the host region. With over 1,300 attendees, almost 400 of whom were students, the event featured tailored workshops, keynote speakers, and panel discussions with distinguished technology entrepreneurs and investors in fields ranging from artificial intelligence to fusion reactors. The atmosphere was exhilarating, and the students had the opportunity to network and engage with these experts, gaining invaluable insights into the world of startups. Overall, the workshop provided a unique opportunity for the students to learn from the best and take a step closer to their shared dream of becoming successful entrepreneurs.

The MIT Global Startup Workshop (MIT GSW) is an international annual conference that brings together entrepreneurs, students, investors, and stakeholders from around the world to accelerate the entrepreneurial ecosystem of the host region. It shares the entrepreneurial practices that empowered over 30,000 companies to launch from MIT affiliates, with a cumulative annual revenue of nearly $2 trillion. Organized by a diverse group of graduate students at MIT, the conference receives robust support from the MIT entrepreneurial ecosystem and has attracted participants from over 70 countries.