Prof Peter Kennedy, University College, Dublin, Ireland

Talk Title: “An Academic's Experience of University-Industry Collaboration in Fractional-N Frequency Synthesizer Design”

Abstract: This talk describes the experience over a decade of a model for collaboration between the nonlinear circuits research group at University College Cork/Dublin and the frequency synthesizer design team at Analog Devices Limerick. It illustrates how both parties have played to their strengths, accommodating very different timescales, areas of expertise and underlying drivers, while managing their disparate needs for academic publications, intellectual property protection and commercial exploitation. The collaboration has delivered publications at a standard that the academic partner could not have achieved alone and commercial solutions beyond the historical core competence of the company.

Biography:

Michael Peter Kennedy is Professor of Microelectronic Engineering at University College Dublin, Ireland and an IEEE Fellow. He received his Ph.D. degree from the University of California, Berkeley, the D.Eng. degree from the National University of Ireland, and an honorary DSc in Engineering from the Queen’s University of Belfast. He has published and lectured on a range of topics in the field of nonlinear circuits and systems including oscillators, chaos, neural networks, mixed-signal testing, phase-locked loops, delta-sigma modulation and frequency synthesis. He was awarded the IEEE Third Millennium Medal, the IEEE Circuits and Systems Society Golden Jubilee Medal, and the RIA Parsons Medal. He has licensed frequency synthesis technology and provided consultancy services to a number of semiconductor companies and co-founded Ireland’s SSCS Chapter, the Microelectronics Industry Design Association and the Microelectronic Circuits Centre Ireland.

Biography:

Tahir Rashid is Manager of Design Engineering at Cirrus Logic. He received his BEng in Electronic Engineering from the University of Hull in 1992. After completing his studies, he joined the Cooled Infrared Imaging Research Group at DRA Malvern where he spent 3 years developing Smart Silicon readout circuits. In 1997 he joined STMicroelectronics, working within their Standard Linear Division, he specialised in high precision, micro-power circuits. In 2005, he joined Wolfson Microelectronics (acquired by Cirrus Logic in 2014), where over the last 21 years he been involved in the development of numerous audio and power management IC’s for the world’s top mobile and consumer brands.

Dr Alison Burdett, TSC-Connected Care, UK

Talk Title: “Challenges and collaborations in wearable vital sign sensor development”

Abstract: This talk will outline some of the technical challenges encountered during the development of a system for wireless monitoring of vital signs in hospitalized patients, and will describe how some of these challenges were solved through academia-industry collaboration.

Biography:

Alison has over 35 years of experience in electronic engineering and semiconductor design, particularly in the field of ultra-low power wireless communication for medical applications.  She is currently CTO at TSC-Connected Care, a specialist medical device business focused on solutions for remote monitoring and medication safety. Dr. Burdett is a Chartered Engineer, a Fellow of the Institute of Engineering and Technology (FIET) and a Senior Member of the IEEE.  She has served in various roles within the IEEE including membership of the Technical Programme Committee for the IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC), serving as European Regional Chair 2012 – 2014 and Technical Program Chair for ISSCC 2018; Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and Systems (TBioCAS) 2008-2025; Associate Editor in Chief of the IEEE Open Access Journal of Circuits and Systems (OJ-CAS) 2019-2023; Conference co-chair for ISCAS 2025.

Dr Saumya Reni, University of Westminster, UK

Talk Title: " The Imaging Landscape of Point-of-Care Diagnostics: Charting the Path of the Last Two Decades- Is Neuromorphic the Right Destination?"

Abstract: Over the last twenty years, Point-of-Care (POC) diagnostics have evolved from centralized laboratory infrastructure to decentralized, smartphone-centric solutions, striving to democratize healthcare in low-resource settings. However, despite significant advancements in embedded systems and computer vision, traditional frame-based imaging paradigms remain bottlenecked by high power consumption, redundant data processing, and bandwidth latency. This talk critically examines the historical trajectory of POC imaging and proposes a potential paradigm shift toward neuromorphic event-based vision. By mimicking biological retinal dynamics capturing only temporal contrast changes rather than static frames neuromorphic sensors offer microsecond resolution, high dynamic range, and extreme power efficiency. We will explore whether this bio-inspired approach addresses the persistent constraints of remote diagnostics or if the complexities of event-based processing pose a new barrier to entry. This session aims to determine if neuromorphic engineering is merely a novel alternative, or truly the "right destination" for the next generation of global health diagnostics.

Biography:

Dr. Saumya Kareem Reni is the Director of the Applied DSP and VLSI Research Group and a Senior Lecturer in the School of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Westminster, London. She holds a PhD in Image Processing for Biomedical Applications, with her research situated at the intersection of machine learning, biomedical imaging, and point-of-care diagnostics. Dr. Reni’s work focuses on integrating AI-based image processing algorithms into automated parasite detection systems, with the goal of minimizing manual intervention while ensuring high clinical reliability and interpretability. She has designed low-power, smartphone-integrated imaging platforms that enable field-based medical diagnosis, reducing dependence on high-end laboratory microscopes, an innovation that supports accessible healthcare solutions in resource-limited environments. A Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Dr. Reni is also a dedicated advocate for Women in Engineering, promoting diversity, mentorship, and leadership within STEM. Her contributions reflect a strong commitment to advancing trustworthy, explainable, and impactful AI technologies for global health applications.

Associate Prof Erivelton Nepomuceno, Maynooth University, Ireland

Talk Title: “Energy-efficient digital chaotic systems for encryption and pseudo-random number generator”

Abstract: The growing prevalence of Internet of Things (IoT) devices demands cryptographic schemes that can reduce energy consumption, while tolerating a reduction in security. One such approach is chaos-based cryptography. Traditional chaotic maps operate on real numbers, complicating their use in a binary-based cryptographic system. To address this limitation, this paper proposes a Boolean-algebra-based digitized logistic map. This map closely approximates the chaotic behaviour of the logistic map and passes the majority of the NIST SP 800-- 22 test suite at a significance level of 0.01, indicating that the digital map is an effective Pseudo-Random Number Generator (PRNG), suitable for lightweight cryptography.

Biography:

Erivelton Nepomuceno received his BEng and PhD in Electrical Engineering from UFSJ (2001) and UFMG (2005) respectively. He is an Associate Professor at the Hamilton Institute and Centre for Ocean Energy Research and the Department of Electronic Engineering at Maynooth University. He was a visiting Research Fellow at the Technological Institute of Aeronautics in Brazil (2005), Imperial College London (2013/14), Saint Petersburg Electrotechnical University in Russia (2019), and City, University of London (2020/21). Erivelton is a Senior Member of IEEE, Associate Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Journal on Emerging and Selected Topics in Circuits and Systems and Chair of IEEE Nonlinear Circuits and Systems TC - 2025-2027.  He was founder-coordinator of the Technical Committee on System Identification and Data Science for the Brazilian Association of Automatic Control. He served as Deputy EiC of IEEE Latin America Transactions (2019-2023) and IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems II: Express Briefs (2021-2023) and Mathematical Problems in Engineering (2020-2023). He serves as an Associate Editor for 1) Journal of Control, Automation and Electrical Systems; 2) International Journal of Network Dynamics and 3) Nonlinear Science. His research interests include Computer Arithmetic, Chaotic Cryptography, Green Computing, Ocean Energy, Sustainable Circuits and Systems, and System Identification. He has published 98 journal papers, 207 conference papers/book chapters/editorials, and he has reviewed 432 papers for 66 journals.