Remote Sensing & Deep Learning:

An Amalgamation for Sustainable Urban Settlements


Event Information

  • Day 1 – Tutorial Sessions
    • Date: 23rd Oct 2024
    • Time: 09:30 am – 3:30 pm
    • Venue: SEECS Smart Classroom

  • Day 2 – Keynote & Symposium:
    • Date: 24th Oct 2024
    • Time: 2:00 pm – 5:10 pm
    • Venue: SEECS Seminar Hall

About the Workshop

This workshop aims to explore the integration of remote sensing technologies and deep learning techniques to address the challenges of sustainable urban development, with a specific focus on slum detection and segmentation. As urbanization continues to accelerate globally, there is a critical need for advanced tools to effectively monitor, manage, and plan urban environments—especially in informal settlements—to ensure sustainability, resilience, and inclusivity. Remote sensing provides valuable spatial and temporal data on urban landscapes, while deep learning enables the automated analysis and extraction of meaningful insights from this data, including the identification and mapping of slum areas.
The workshop will introduce participants to the foundational concepts of remote sensing and deep learning, highlighting their applications in urban planning, land-use classification, environmental monitoring, infrastructure management, and the detection and segmentation of slums. Attendees will gain the knowledge and skills to harness the combined potential of these technologies to inform data-driven decisions that promote the sustainability of urban settlements, including informal areas often overlooked in conventional urban planning. Additionally, the workshop will address future research opportunities and the challenges associated with integrating these technologies to advance urban sustainability, with particular emphasis on improving the understanding and monitoring of slum developments to support more inclusive and equitable urban planning efforts.

Speakers

Prof. Dr. Andreas Dengel

Prof. Andreas Dengel is a Professor of Computer Science at TU Kaiserslautern and Executive Director of the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI). He heads the Smart Data and Knowledge Services research area and the Deep Learning Competence Center at DFKI. His research focuses on machine learning, AI, pattern recognition, and document analysis. With over 600 peer-reviewed publications and more than 500 supervised theses, he has made significant contributions to the field. Andreas has received numerous national and international prestigious awards, including the Alcatel/SEL Award for Technical Communication, the Outstanding Achievement Award from the International Conference on Document Analysis and Recognition (ICDAR), and the Pioneer Spirit Award for startup mentorship. He was honored with the “Gründungsförderer des Jahres” (Start-up Promoter of the Year) in 2015 for his role in fostering innovation. In 2019, he was recognized as one of the most influential scientists in 50 years of AI research in Germany by the BMBF. His contributions were further acknowledged with the “Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon” from Japan’s Emperor Naruhito in 2021 and the Order of Merit of Rhineland-Palatinate in 2022. Andreas is also a Fellow of IAPR and an AI Ambassador for Rhineland-Palatinate.

Dr. M. Usman Hashmi

Dr. M. Usman Hashmi is a distinguished scholar and educator in the field of Telecommunication and Networks. With a notable academic journey that includes a Ph.D. in Telecommunication and Networks, where his research focused on “Cross Layer Time Synchronization in Wireless Sensor Networks,” Dr. Hashmi has consistently excelled in his academic pursuits. His dedication to academic excellence is evident in the numerous accolades he has received, including Gold Medal. In his professional career, Dr. Hashmi has assumed various academic roles, including Senior Assistant Professor, FYP Coordinator and Cluster Head (IT) at Bahria University, Islamabad Campus, where he is actively involved in teaching, research thesis supervision, and curriculum development. His extensive list of publications in reputable journals and conferences, along with his involvement in funded research projects, reflects his commitment to advancing knowledge in the field of WSN, IoT, Smart Cities, Embedded Systems, Industry 5.0, V2X etc. Dr. Hashmi’s technical expertise, mentorship of students, and dedication to innovation have made a significant impact in the academic and research community.

Dr. Muhammad Khurram Ehsan

Dr. Muhammad Khurram Ehsan received the B.S. degree in Computer Engineering from Comsats Institute of Information Technology in 2006. He had completed his MS in Electrical communication engineering and the Ph.D. degree in Engineering with specialization in statistical signal processing/Wireless Communication from the University of Kassel, Germany, in 2010 and 2016, respectively. He had been visiting lecturer from July 2016 to June 2018 in REMENA Program, University of Kassel, Germany. He joined Bahria University as Assistant Professor in September 2017 Since July, 2022, he has been an Associate Professor with the Faculty of Engineering, Bahria University, Pakistan. His research interests include statistical modeling, data analysis, and Intelligent radio enabled systems that include wireless sensor networks and Artificial Intelligence of things. He has published number of articles at the intersection of wireless communications and machine learning in the reputed international journals of IEEE, Elsevier and Springer etc. As a Reviewer, he is closely working with IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems, Elsevier journal of Network and Computer Applications, IEEE System Journal, and also with IET Communication.

Dr. Muhammad Naseer Bajwa

Dr. Muhammad Naseer Bajwa is an Assistant Professor at the National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad, specializing in Machine Learning and Python. With over a decade of experience in academia and research, he previously worked as a Research Assistant at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI). Dr. Bajwa earned his Doctor of Engineering (Dr.-Ing) in Deep Learning from RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau, graduating magna cum laude, and holds an MS in Computer Engineering from King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals. His expertise spans deep learning, multirate communication networks, and artificial intelligence.

Dr. Junaid Younas

Dr. Junaid Younas is an Assistant Professor at the National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad. Prior to joining NUST he worked as a Scientific Researcher at the Technische Universität Kaiserslautern, focusing on Object Detection and Convolutional Neural Networks. Dr. Younas completed a PhD in Computer Science from the RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau in 2022, conducting research on AI-based methods and wearable applications to support formal education. With expertise in computer vision and Artificial Intelligence he has contributed to groundbreaking research, including publications on stamp segmentation and movement recognition using low-cost IMUs.

Trainers

Mr. Abdalla Mohamed
Ms. Azka Basit
Mr. Muhammad Salman Akhtar

Event Timeline

Day 1

TimeTrainerTopic

09:30 am – 11:00 am
Mr. Abdalla MohammedSimulation in Robotics with the Unreal Engine
11:00 am – 11:15 amTea Break
11:15 am – 12:45 pmMr. Muhammad Salman AkhtarAnalyzing Remote Sensing Imagery using ArcGIS software
12:45 pm – 02:00 pmLunch
02:00 pm- 03:30 pmMs. Azka BasitSegmentation in Low Resolution Satellite Imagery

Day 2

TimeSpeakerTopicAffiliation

02:00 pm – 02:05 pm
Recitation of Holy Quran
02:05 pm – 02:15 pmDr. Muhammad Imran MalikWelcome and IntroductionAssociate Professor / HoD Computer Science, Faculty of Computing NUST-SEECS
02:15 pm – 02:45 pmProf. Dr. Andreas DengelRemote Sensing: Combining Bird Eye and Grass Root View for Earth ObservationProfessor, RPTU / Scientific Director, DFKI Germany
02:45 pm – 03:15 pmDr. Muhammad Naseer BajwaTrustworth AI for Sustainable Smart CitiesAssistant Professor, NUST-SEECS
03:15 pm- 03:30 pmTea Break
03:30 pm- 04:00 pmDr. Usman HashmiLeveraging Remote Sensing and Smart City Technologies for Slum Detection and Socio-Economic GrowthSenior Assistant Professor, Bahria University
4:00 pm – 4:30 pmDr. Junaid YounasData Preservation for Slum Mapping Using BlockChainAssistant Professor, NUST-SEECS
04:30 pm – 05:00 pmDr. Muhammad Khurram EhsanData Modeling for Sustainable Urban Settlements Using Wireless Sensor NetworksAssociate Professor / HoD Computer Science, Bahria University
05:00 pm – 05:10 pmClosing Ceremony

Organizers

Dr. Muhammad Imran Malik
Dr. Faisal Shafait

Collaborators

Moments Captured