UMSS24 Keynote Speaker Announced

This year’s annual UMaine Student Symposium (UMSS), a celebration of student research and creative work, will be held at the New Balance Field House on Friday, April 12th, 2024. Graduate and undergraduate students from across all disciplines, from both UMaine and UMaine Machias are invited to submit their abstracts. The UMSS23 organizing committee is thrilled to announce this year’s keynote speaker, Sreeram “Ram” Dhurjaty, PhD, Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (SMIEEE).

Dhurjaty’s UMSS24 keynote address is entitled “Consequences of Approximations in Science and Engineering.” All of us approximate. Engineering and science are full of approximations. When we approximate adequately, we reach our goals. Depending on the context in which they are made, improper approximations can be disastrous and can have tragic, even life-threatening, consequences. In this talk, Dr. Dhurjaty will illustrate, with simple examples, both adequate and inadequate approximations and their consequences.

Ram has an impressive educational background, having earned degrees from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay and Yale University. His work experience spans various roles, including his current position as President of Dhurjaty Electronics Consulting LLC, and his past roles at Kodak and other companies, where he contributed significantly to the development of innovative medical devices and systems.

Ram’s contributions to the field of electrical engineering are remarkable. As an architect and R&D manager at Kodak, he played a crucial role in the development of wireless film-cassette-sized digital radiography systems, which became a multi-million-dollar business. He also led the electronics/electrical team for a radiographic laser printer and contributed to the development of several other medical devices and systems, such as computed radiography systems, fetal heart monitors, and portable X-ray systems. Ram has kept his productivity high since leaving Kodak with his work on hand-cranked defibrillators for the Indian market and other analog electrical engineering work as a consultant.

Ram holds 17 patents in various fields, including laser modulation, X-ray,  hardcopy devices, digital and computed radiography, and defibrillators. He has published extensively and has been invited to present his work at numerous conferences and workshops. Furthermore, he is a Senior Member of IEEE, and active in various health and radiography professional societies.

Dhurjaty’s talk will begin at 2:00 pm in the New Balance Field House. The UMaine Student Symposium is free and open to the public. For more information regarding UMSS please navigate to umaine.edu/umss. Judging and sponsorship opportunities are also available. We hope to see you on Friday, April 12th.