Love at first sight

Two years ago, Prof. Dr. Bhaskar Choubey transferred from the UK's renowned Oxford University to the University of Siegen. He is involved in research and teaching in the field of circuit technology and imaging sensor systems.

Bhaskar Choubey spent five years as a professor at the elite Oxford University. Together with his wife and son, he lived in the British university city where he had already spent half his life. The student from India came to study at Oxford straight after finishing undergraduate in his home country as a Rhodes scholar. Then, in early 2018, he made a great leap in his personal and professional life: Bhaskar Choubey transferred from Oxford to the University of Siegen where he took on the Chair of Analog Circuit Technology and Imaging Sensor Systems. Since then, he has lived in an apartment directly next to the Hölderlin Campus. Every two weeks he flies to the UK to see his family. Choubey says he chose Siegen very deliberately. He points out that the university enjoys an excellent reputation all over the world in his field of sensor technology.

And Bhaskar Choubey also feels at home in Siegen. For him it was like love at first sight, and it started many years ago, says the professor: "As a student, my wife and I travelled by rail around Germany. On the way from Cologne to Frankfurt, we had a two-hour stop in Siegen before the next train. It was New Year's Eve, all the shops were shut, and the streets were deserted. We took a walk through the town, it had been snowing and everything was white: the houses, the roads, the castle. It was just enchanting!" Years later, when the call from the University of Siegen came, he saw it as an exciting challenge. The threat of Brexit also played a part in his decision. "Recently, the UK has changed massively. As I had always wanted to carry out research in Germany, I decided it was now or never."

One focus of Bhaskar Choubey's research is the further development of optical sensors to improve the image quality of phone cameras. He is also working on making cameras smart. His approach is to integrate AI into cameras using tiny chips or microsystems. This will produce not only top-quality photos, but also make it possible to extract smart information from the pictures. The technology could for example help manage and organize the vast numbers of photos on phones. They would no longer sink without trace among thousands of elements in the internal memory under meaningless names like IMG_20200126.jpg. Instead, the camera would automatically allocate a useful label such as an event.

"Our photos contain so much information about ourselves and our world that we've collected but can't do anything with. If your camera could filter out and intelligently process this information, it would give you completely new possibilities," explains Choubey. Smart sensor systems like this could also offer vast benefits in other areas, such as medical instruments or road traffic. Pedestrian traffic lights equipped with intelligent cameras could detect that an older person is crossing the road and extend the green phase accordingly. Intelligent speed cameras could instantly evaluate their images and identify vehicle owners. "Cameras wouldn't just record images, they would take decisions or tell stories," says Choubey.

Together with his team, the circuit technology designer is developing and building the necessary electronic components. Although tiny, they combine various functions and technologies on a single chip. "Germany and the UK are world leaders in designing microsystems like this. And there's a vast demand for well-trained engineers in this field," says Prof. Choubey. That is why he is currently developing a concept for an English-language Master program in Electronics Design. What's more, in cooperation with the Fraunhofer Institute in Duisburg, he is putting together a joint research group.

And in his personal life, Bhaskar Choubey is also feeling more and more settled in Siegen. He is currently planning to buy a house where his family can join him. His wife is still working as an A&E medic in Oxford, but she is already busily learning German. Choubey is confident his family will also love Siegen. "I've noticed that a lot of locals don't see Siegen in a very positive light. I can't think why. There's so much green, great walking trails, a lovely town center and plenty of important industry. Siegen hasn't got any problems at all - quite the opposite. It just needs to sell itself better."

Contact:
Prof. Dr. Bhaskar Choubey
e-mail: Bhaskar.Choubey@uni-siegen.de
Tel.: 0271 – 740 2466

The team at the Chair of Analog Circuit Technology and Imaging Sensor Systems: Tongjun Liu, Swaroop Badekara, Prof. Dr. Bhaskar Choubey, Christian Schilmöller, Dr. Amir Shadmani, Soumya S. Panda, Rachel Schneider (v.l.).