ACS Student, Parth Brahmbhatt on his recent research presentation in Los Angeles

The Faculty of Graduate Studies caught up with Applied Computer Science and Society student, Parth Brahmbhatt, to hear about his recent presentation at the Complex Adaptive Systems conference in Los Angeles this past November.

Please tell us a little about the Applied Computer Science and Society program and what interested you about the program.

Applied Computer Science and Society program encourages research and innovation that results in the betterment of society. Applied Computer Science is a small department when it comes to Graduate Studies, but the amount of research done in the department is notable. We have 5 professors for Graduate Studies in the department, each one of them is excellent in their respective research areas.

One thing that interested me in the program was the size of the department versus the research going on. And, my professor Dr. Sergio Camorlinga has a research profile that instantly made me think of how I could excel working under him.

Could you tell us about the conference you attended and your presentation?

The conference I attended was an international conference, Complex Adaptive Systems 2016, held in Redondo Beach, Los Angeles. This conference facilitated different stakeholders working in the field of Complex System innovations, such as industry experts, innovators, government representatives, and researchers. It was a unique experience for me to communicate with the experts in the field. It gave me a deeper perspective of the area. My presentation was “Epidemiology-Based Task Assignment Algorithm for Distributed Systems” and examined the problem of task assignment in the field of distributed systems and its probable solution that can be found in the field of Epidemics. In short, we studied the 2003 epidemics and spread of SARS. We developed an algorithm based on SARS and applied it to the field of Distributed Systems.

What inspired your research?

Well, I have always been one who asks the questions: why are things as they are and how do we make it better?  In my childhood, I heard a saying that said “Only two kinds of people can gift something new to the planet. One is a mother and the other is the researcher or scientist.” Well, nature did not allow me to be a mother, so I chose to researcher.  Moreover, I had a personal loss of someone, resulting from the absence of basic healthcare facilities back in India. Thus, I have a dream of making health care available to everyone by the means of technology.

For the first part of my research, I studied the global challenges for point-of-care (POC) technologies in the emergency departments (in other words, smart emergency departments) in 12 countries with different income groups. Overall, my research is based on overcoming one technical aspect of transferring data and assigning the task to the devices in a network without any human interference.

Are there any practical implications of your research that you can share?

My dream is to apply my research to POC devices in smart emergency departments in order to reduce the time healthcare workers spend on basic tasks like monitoring the status of patients. For now, the realistic implications could be in areas like mobile communication or banking since the algorithm is designed to automate the assignment of task among the computers without any human interference or initiation.

What has been your experience as a grad student and what are your future plans after completing your Master’s degree?

My experience as a graduate student has been spectacular at the University. Everyone here at the University is so supportive and encouraging. We have resources that are available 24/7; we even use labs on holidays. Outside of my studies, the different workshops by Graduate Studies, different groups, and recreational facilities are wonderful. But, what I love most about the University are the professors. They are humble, easily approachable, and are willing to talk. When I started with my graduate studies I did not know anything about the process of research, or even how to do research. I am really thankful to the University for providing me the platform and my guide, Dr. Sergio Camorlinga, to shape me into what I am today.

Well, one thing is for sure, I am settling down here in Winnipeg. I have applied for a Ph.D at UofM. Hopefully it works out well for me. Or else, I have some ideas that can result into a research-based start-up.

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