Dr. Santosh Kumar Panda

Dr. Santosh Kumar Panda is a distinguished scholar with a Ph.D. in Computer Science & Engineering from National Institute of Technology Rourkela. His research specializes in computer vision and image processing, with a focus on developing deep learning techniques to enhance images captured in low-light conditions for nighttime visual surveillance.

His work has broad applications in surveillance, autonomous driving, defence systems, and medical imaging. He is committed to advancing intelligent visual systems through research and innovation.

Dr. Santosh Kumar Panda recently joined UPES as faculty, where he is currently teaching Applied Machine Learning. Prior to this, he served as a Research Fellow on the Multi-Feature Aggregation for Low-Light Image Enhancement project funded by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, under the INSPIRE scheme at National Institute of Technology Rourkela.

He also worked as a Teaching Assistant for four years at NIT Rourkela, teaching courses such as Operating System Lab, Basic Programming, Network Programming using Rust, and AI/ML Lab.

Additionally, he interned at National Informatics Centre during his Master's program.

Computer Vision | Deep Learning | Image Processing | Low-Light Image Enhancement | RGB-Thermal Fusion | Object Detection | Medical Imaging | Augmented Reality | Virtual Reality | Image Segmentation

Dr. Santosh Kumar Panda believes in a hands-on, application-driven teaching approach where students actively engage with real-world problems. He emphasizes critical thinking, interactive learning, and research-based discussions to bridge theory with practice.

By integrating modern tools and emerging technologies, he fosters innovation, curiosity, and problem-solving skills that prepare students for both academia and industry.

Applied Machine Learning: Foundations of supervised and unsupervised learning, neural networks, and real-world projects using Python, NumPy, Pandas, Matplotlib, Scikit-learn, and TensorFlow.

Awarded research fellowship for the Multi-Feature Aggregation for Low-Light Image Enhancement project funded by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, under the INSPIRE scheme.

Dr. Santosh Kumar Panda has published impactful research in reputed journals such as IEEE Sensors Journal and IEEE Sensors Letters, focusing on computer vision and sensor technologies.

He has presented findings at international conferences hosted by institutions such as Indian Institute of Technology Jammu, Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology Bhopal, and Indian Institute of Information Technology Kottayam.

He contributes to open-source platforms through GitHub-based tools for image enhancement and classification, mentors students in research projects, serves as a peer reviewer for journals and conferences, and has delivered invited talks including the IEEE GRSS Summer School on Digital Agricultural Technologies.

Email: santosh.panda@ddn.upes.ac.in