Event Info

  • 23rd October 2024
  • 10:00 am to 3:30 pm
  • Kohsar University, Murree

Abstract

Workshop on Digital Forestry brings together an esteemed panel of national and international experts to explore the cutting-edge advancements in forest management through digital technologies. With a growing emphasis on sustainability and precision forestry, the event will cover key areas such as remote sensing, data analytics, artificial intelligence, and geospatial technologies. Participants will gain insights into how these tools are transforming forest inventory, monitoring biodiversity, mitigating climate change impacts, and optimizing forest operations. The workshop will also focus on interdisciplinary collaboration, integrating ecological, technological, and social perspectives to foster resilient forest ecosystems. Attendees will have the opportunity to engage with leading researchers, policymakers, and industry professionals, contributing to a collective effort toward shaping the future of forestry in a digital age.

Speakers

Prof. Dr. Adrian Ulges

Prof. Dr. Adrian Ulges graduated from TU Kaiserslautern. He received a diploma in computer science in 2005. In 2009, he completed his Ph.D in computer science. He has remained an active researcher at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) in Kaiserslautern Germany from 2005 till 2011. His research interests are in machine learning, computer vision, and multimedia analysis. He worked with Google as an intern in 2005, at Mountain View and as a visiting scientist in 2011 in Zurich. Since 2013, he has been a full professor at RheinMain University of Applied Sciences (HSRM), with interests in applied mathematics and machine learning. Adrian’s work has been awarded a Google Research Award in 2010, and his publication record includes over 30 peer-reviewed papers.

Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schwanecke

Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schwanecke received his Master’s degree in Mathematics and Computer Science from the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in 1997. From 1997 to 2000 he worked as a research assistant at TU Darmstadt from where he received his Ph.D in 2000. Subsequently, he held a postdoctoral position for one year at the Max-Planck Institute for Computer Science in Saarbrücken. From 2001 to 2003 he worked as a researcher at Daimler AG in Ulm. Since October 2003, he has been a full professor for Computer Science in the Faculty of Design -Computer Science- Media at RheinMain University of Applied Sciences.

Dr. Momina Moetesum

Dr. Momina Moetesum is currently the Head of Software Engineering Department at the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (SEECS). She completed her Ph.D. in Computer Science with a specialization in Artificial Intelligence in 2021. During her PhD, she conducted pioneering research in developing AI models to analyze human handwriting for the identification of neurological diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. Currently, her research focuses on applying AI for sustainable solutions in agriculture and climate change. She is also working in ethical AI for a better society.

Dr. SamiUllah Dawar

Dr. SamiUllah Dawar is an Assistant Professor/Head at the Department of Forestry and Range Management, University of Kohsar. He has worked on multispectral, Lidar, InSAR, stereopair aerial photographs and stereoair high-resolution satellite imagery for the generation of canopy height model (CHM) and for volume and above-ground biomass (AGB) estimation. His research includes forestry and remote sensory data.

Prof. Dr. Faisal Shafait

Prof. Dr. Faisal Shafait has 15+ years of research and teaching experience in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning with a primary focus on computer vision and document image analysis. He completed his PhD in Computer Engineering from Rheinland-Pfälzische Technische Universität Kaiserslautern-Landau (RPTU), Germany in 2008 with highest distinction. Currently, he is working as a Professor and is heading the Department of Computing at the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (SEECS), NUST, Pakistan as well as the Deep Learning Lab (DLL) under National Center of Artificial Intelligence (NCAI), NUST, Pakistan. Dr. Shafait has made a significant international reputation in the field of Artificial Intelligence by earning 10,900+ citations with i10 and h indices of 159 and 52 (Google Scholar) respectively. He received the prestigious IAPR/ICDAR Young Investigator Award by the International Association of Pattern Recognition (IAPR) in 2019 and has recently been included in the list of the World’s Top 2% Scientists compiled by Stanford University.

Dr. Syed Mahmood Nasir

Dr. Syed Mahmood Nasir has spent decades as a forestry practitioner from grass roots to policy level, as a Board member of WWF- Pakistan, Islamabad Wildlife Management Board and other NGOs, private, semi-government, and government organizations. Dr Mahmood has been a forester and has represented Pakistan in multiple international conferences and has trained multiple generations of foresters while spearheading new innovations in the field One of the latest contributions has been to arrange visits of trainee mid-career forest officers to the National Center for Artificial Intelligence (NCAI) located at the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) with follow up visit of the NUST researchers to the Forest Services Academy, Ghora Gali.

Event Timeline

TimeSpeakerTopicAffiliation

10:00 – 10:15
Opening
10:15 – 10:30 Welcome Note by Vice Chancellor, Kohsar University, Murree
10:30 – 11:00Prof. Dr. Adrian UlgesAI FundamentalsProfessor, HRSM, Germany
11:00 – 11:30Prof. Dr. Ulrich SchwaneckeImage Super ResolutionProfessor, HRSM, Germany
11:30 – 12:00Tea Break
12:00 – 12:20Dr. Momina MoetesumApplications of Artificial Intelligence in ForestryAssistant Professor / HoD Software Engineering, Faculty of Computing NUST-SEECS, Islamabad
12:20 – 12:40Dr. SamiUllah DawarDigital ForestryAssistant Professor / HoD Forestry and Range Management, University of Kohsar
12:40 – 13:00Prof. Dr. Faisal ShafaitAI-ForestWatchProfessor, NUST-SEECS | Director DLL-NCAI, Islamabad
13:00 – 14:00Lunch Break
14:00 – 14:20Dr. Sayed Mahmood NasirChallenges in Forest MonitoringDirector, The Nature Clicks Institute | Former IG of Forests, Ministry of Climate Change
14:20 – 14:40Tahir SaeedPhD Student, NUST
14:40 – 15:00Huzaifa JawadAI-Driven Forecasting for Carbon Stock Estimation Using Remote Sensing ImageryBS Student , NUST
15:00 – 15:20Closing Ceremony

Collaborators

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