Canadian prof visits agri varsity

The Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), organised a two-day visit of Dr Kenneth Blair Kent, Professor, Faculty of Computer Science, University of New Brunswick (UNB), Fredericton, Canada to PAU, Ludhiana. Dr Kent is currently Barrett Chair in Entrepreneurship for Digital Transformation, Director of the IBM Centre for Advanced Studies-Atlantic UNB and Honorary Professor at the Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences, Germany.

During his visit to the PAU, Dr Kent delivered an insightful lecture on the “Set-up of Centre for Advanced Studies - Atlantic Labs at UNB” and interacted with the faculty regarding the establishment of a similar centre at the PAU for the newly established School of Digital Innovations for Smart Agriculture (S-DISA). Dr Kent will be helping in formulating the course contents for new programmes, MTech in artificial intelligence and data science in agriculture and PG diploma in robotics and mechatronics in agriculture. He also delivered a talk on “Entrepreneurship for Digital Transformation” to the students of the College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology. He visited Gurdev Singh Khush Labs, University Museum, Skill Development Centre and the facilities, laboratories and infrastructure of the College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology (COAET), including the research hall, precision agriculture lab, research farms, university data centre and biogas facility.

Vice-Chancellor Dr Satbir Singh Gosal said visits from esteemed experts like Dr Kent provided the faculty and students international exposure.