Sandeep Bhat
About Me
What I do @ UCSB
I am a Ph.D student in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at University of California, Santa Barbara. I work in Biological Image Processing in the Systems BioImaging Lab with Prof. Michael Liebling. The above image is of my space in the lab and the image below is of our Microscope room. For the very "latest" click on Archived News.
My Past...in a nutshell
I was born on in Kumta, a small town on the west coast of Karnataka, India. Later my parents moved to Bangalore. My dad is an Accounts Officer in A.G's Office Bangalore. My mom works at Indian Bank. They always expected me to do well at school but never pressurised me too much. Having very supportive and understanding parents has helped me become what I am today. I have a younger brother, who like all brothers is annoying and lovable at the same time, he is pursuing his MBA in IIM Lucknow currently.
I did all of my academic learning until 2003 in Bangalore. Then I joined Ittiam Systems in Bangalore and worked there in the Media Processing Group till 2007. While in Ittiam, I fell in love with Malavika. We got married in 2006. In 2007, we both decided to quit our jobs and come to UCSB for our PhD. Back in school, we have been living in Goleta since September 2007.
What I like to do....other than work ;)
I love photography. I was bitten by the shutter bug back in 2005 and I've been an ardent photographer ever since. 2006 - 2008 did see a slow down in my photography. I have made a come back in 2009 with my newly acquired DSLR, Nikon D90. Read more about it here....
I love to play squash and am pretty good at it (Skand, my ex-squash partner and Jonathan my current squash partner can back me up ;)). An hour of squash is better than running, cycling, walking, swimming. No wonder it was voted "the world's healthiest sport" (Forbes Magazine). I used to play intermittently during my working years in Ittiam. But I have taken to playing it more regularly here at UCSB. Checkout world no. 1, Nick Matthew, telling you how to play squash.
If you are serious about squash, like me, then you care about what squash gear you use. Choosing squash equipment is a confusing and demanding task. You need to find the things that are just right for you (and in your budget ;)). Here are some details on my what I use for playing Squash:
I buy all my squash gear on squashproshop OR amazon. I've always had a pleasant customer service experience from both and would definitely recommend them.
- Dunlop Blackmax Titanium: Been using this racquet for over 2 years now, not broken the strings or the frame. It has held up really well to all my abuse. Unfortunately it's no longer made or sold and the replacement model, Blackstorm Titanium, is "fragile".
- Technifibre Dynergy Tour: I recently (Jul 2011) bought this racquet after a brief stint with Head Flexpoint 130 racquet. The Head racquet broke in only 4 games and after several email exchanges with squashproshop.com I got a refund for it. After reading online reviews for a stiff, durable racquet, Ibought this Technifibre racquet. I am glad to say that it's the best racquet I've ever used. It looks great, plays great and feels durable. Worth every cent !!! If you like teardrop shaped racquets like me, then buy Technifibre or BlackKnight. Both have great selection of stiff, powerful and durable racquets around the $100-150 range, unlike Head, Dunlop or Prince.
- Technifibre X-one Biphase String: Power, playability and durability, deadly combination :) Provides good "feel" for the ball. Great overall string that is used by several Pro players.
- Dunlop Pro Double Yellow Balls: They take quite some beating before giving up.
- Karakal PU Super Grip: Love their tacky feel. Plays well in my sweaty palms.
- Tournagrip Overgrips: Great way to keep the handle dry without having to shell out $$ for replacement grips. I reverse them after about 7-8 uses (one month) and they last me another 5-6 uses. .
- ASICS Gel-Rocket 5 Shoes: Not very expensive. Very comfortable to wear and play, even in hot, humid conditions and provides good traction in all parts of the court.
- Fog Tech Anti-fog solution: For someone who wears prescription glasses, fogging of specs is a very common problem. This worked like a charm to solve that problem and I don't have to wipe my glasses even once during an hour long squash session.
- http://www.squashgame.info/ is a great place for information on squash gear.
If you have any questions regarding any of the above equipment don't hesistate to email me. Cheers :)
I love to work out. During my freshman year in college, I was 6'1", 141 lbs (skin and bones). Then I took to weight training and when I left college I was 158 lbs (mostly muscle). I hardly used to workout as a Software engineer and hit a high of 178 lbs (hardly muscle :)). Then I took to working out again and have never quit since. Now I hover around 170 lbs (good amount of muscle) and push hard everyday to loose another couple of pounds....
I am a movie buff. Once I came to the US, I thought my TV and movie watching days were over; P2P is highly monitored on UCSB networks ;) and we don't have a TV here. But then I discovered Netflix. This and a whole bunch of sites that allow you to watch TV shows and movies for free has kept my movie craze going....
I love reading comics. I am into my late twenties now and I can still admit that I like reading comic books better than reading novels. I am a bit of an artist myself, so I am all the more fascinated by the colorful comics. I grew up reading Asterix, Tintin, Archies, Phantom, Tinkle and a whole bunch of Amar Chitra Katha comics. I still read them when I am back home. Lack of time has made me love comic strips even more. Calvin & Hobbes is my all time favorite. In addition I am regular reader of Dilbert & PhDComics.
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I love to RJ.
My new found passion is programming as a Radio Jockey for the India
Show on KCSB 91.9 fm.
I have always had a good knowledge base of Hindi and South Indian
(particularly Kannada) songs and it's fun to put it to good use. I've
got good feedback for the shows that I've done so far and I hope to
keep it up for as long as I am at UCSB....
You can listen to the webcast of the show at www.kcsb.org/webcast
Resume
You can download a PDF version of my resume here.Education
In chronological order:
1984 - 1994
Kindergarten
to 7th Standard, St. Thomas English School, Rajajinagar,
Bangalore. 1st rank for the school in 7th Standard Public Exam
(96.00%)
1994 - 1997
High School, M.E.S.
Kishore Kendra, Malleshwaram, Bangalore. 30th Rank
for the Karnataka Secondary Education Board (92.64%)
1997 - 1999
Pre-University, M.E.S.
College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Malleshwaram,
Bangalore. (92.83 %)
1999 - 2003
Bachelor of Engineering (B.E), R.V.
College of Engineering, Bangalore. 1st Rank for the
college and 2nd rank
in ECE for the Vishweshwaraiah
Technological University. (87.68
%)
2007 - 2008
Master of Science (M.S), ECE, University
of California, Santa Barbara. Emphasis in Signal Processing
particularly Image Processing. (3.77
GPA)
2008 - Present
Ph.D, ECE, University of
California, Santa Barbara.
Working in Biological Image Processing, particularly in addressing
imaging challenges in studying dynamic processes in embryonic zebrafish
(whew!).
Work Experience
Senior Development Engineer at Ittiam Systems Pvt. Ltd, India in the Media Processing group from July 2003 to August 2007. While at Ittiam, I worked on the following projects:
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Design and implementation of a Media Engine and Media System Framework similar to Linux gStreamer, for development of Multimedia Player and Recorder on TI’s DaVinci platform.
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Design and development of a Media System, capable of handling multiple file formats, Video and Audio formats for Audio, Video and image playback and Audio, Video recording. These were developed on TI’s DM270 platform and have hence been re-used in DM320 and DaVinci platforms. The work has involved development of algorithms for distributed processing on dual core processors (DM270, DM320 and DaVinci), Audio-video syncing algorithms, FF/REW mechanism, Power management algorithms, Data Buffering schemes for slower media and networks. This product has hence been deployed in several handheld video player recorders for customers like Creative, Microsoft and Thomson (RCA).
-
Design and development of Network Security Camera that uses MPEG 4 standard for video recording based on TI’s DM270 platform.
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Design and development of Video email application for Set Top Box using eCOS on TI’s DM270 platform.
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Design and development of Hard Disk and Compact Flash Drivers on TI’s DM320 and DM270 platforms.
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Development of On Screen Display (OSD) Drivers for TI’s DSC 25, DM270 and DM320 platforms.
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Development of EXIF and JFIF image parsers for PC, DSC 25, DM270 and DM320 platforms.
I was also responsible for making software releases to several customers (Korean, Taiwanese and American). I was also sent onsite once (Thomson, Indianapolis, USA) to assist the customer with their product development.
Project Trainee
at Control Systems Group, Indian
Space Research Organisation, Satellite Centre, Bangalore from
March 2003 to June 2003.
Experience
includes hardware design for VMS (vibration measurement system) on
board a satellite. The project involved the development of hardware
logic using Actel FPGA to interface the components on the processor
card used in Vibration Analysis and Satellite control. The logic
circuits were realized using VHDL.
Research and Teaching
I
have been working with Prof. Michael Liebling, in the area of
Biological Image Processing since Summer 2008. You can read
more
about it on my Research
page.
TA for ECE160, Multimedia Systems, Spring 2008 and 2009.
TA for ECE152, Digital Design Principles, Summer 2008.
Received the ECE Fellowship Stipend in Spring 2009 for outstanding work
as a TA.
Participated as a mentor in the UCSB Research Mentorship program, Summer 2009, 2010 and 2011
site info
Tools and resources I used for creating this website.
© 2009-2010 Sandeep
Bhat | Original design by Andreas Viklund
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