Dr. Nirmal Kaur: Associate Professor at UIET, PU, India

Dr. Nirmal Kaur is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University Institute of Engineering and Technology (UIET), Panjab University, Chandigarh. With over 20 years of teaching and research experience, Dr. Kaur has made significant contributions to the fields of Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Sentiment Analysis, and Distributed Computing. She has been the Principal Investigator for multiple high-impact research projects, including the development of multimodal emotion detection systems and cybersecurity challenges for women users. In addition to her research, Dr. Kaur has mentored numerous Ph.D. and M.Tech. students, guiding them to success in diverse areas such as deepfake detection, energy-efficient scheduling, and multimodal emotion recognition. Her work is internationally recognized, and she has published extensively in top-tier journals and conferences.

Online Profiles

Citations & Impact Metrics

  • Total Citations: 329

  • h-index: 11

  • i10-index: 11

These metrics reflect Dr. Kaur’s significant contribution to her research field, with numerous citations highlighting the impact and relevance of her work in areas like emotion detection, deepfake identification, and distributed computing.

Education

Dr. Kaur earned her Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering from I.K. Gujral Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar, in November 2017. Her doctoral research focused on energy-efficient scheduling techniques in distributed computing systems. She was supervised by Prof. Dr. Savina Bansal, a distinguished researcher in the field. She holds an M.Tech. in Computer Science and Engineering from Baba Banda Singh Bahadur Engineering College, Punjab, where she achieved distinction and was a top scorer in her batch. She completed her B.Tech. in Computer Science and Engineering at Punjabi University, Patiala, in 2003. Throughout her academic career, Dr. Kaur has demonstrated excellence, both in terms of research output and academic achievement.

Research Focus

Dr. Kaur’s research primarily focuses on advanced applications of Machine Learning and Deep Learning, particularly in emotion detection across various modalities, including text, audio, video, and multimodal data. She has made pioneering contributions to the detection of deepfakes in multimedia content, using cutting-edge techniques in computer vision and audio signal processing. Additionally, Dr. Kaur is deeply engaged in distributed computing research, working on energy-efficient scheduling algorithms for heterogeneous systems, cloud computing, and task scheduling. Her work not only advances theoretical frameworks but also focuses on real-world applications, such as improving cybersecurity, enhancing multimedia forensics, and contributing to energy-aware computing systems in large-scale environments.

Experience

Dr. Kaur’s academic career spans over two decades. She is currently serving as an Associate Professor at UIET, Panjab University, since 2024. Prior to this, she was an Assistant Professor at the same institution from 2011 to 2024, where she contributed extensively to teaching and research. Before joining UIET, Dr. Kaur worked as an Assistant Professor at Bhai Gurdas Institute of Engineering and Technology, Sangrur, and Swami Vivekanand Institute of Engineering and Technology. During her career, she has taught various undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Computer Science and Engineering. Her expertise lies in Deep Learning, Distributed Computing, Artificial Intelligence, and Cybersecurity. In addition to her teaching, Dr. Kaur has actively participated in departmental administration and has been a member of several academic committees.

Research Timeline & Activities

  • 2023-2025: Dr. Kaur is leading the “Development of Multimodal and Multilingual Emotion Detection System,” funded by IIT Mandi iHub & HCI Foundation. This project aims to enhance emotion detection systems by incorporating multiple languages and data modalities.

  • 2020-2021: Principal Investigator for a research project sponsored by the National Commission for Women, Govt. of India, focused on cybersecurity challenges and cybercrimes against women in Punjab. The project successfully examined the specific issues faced by women users in cyber space.

  • 2016-Present: Dr. Kaur has been mentoring Ph.D. candidates, guiding their research on topics like deepfake detection, energy-aware scheduling in cloud environments, and human pose estimation.

  • Ongoing: Actively working on deepfake detection algorithms, multimodal emotion recognition, and developing energy-efficient scheduling algorithms for heterogeneous computing environments. Dr. Kaur is also reviewing articles for top-tier journals and contributing to the academic community through invited talks and workshops.

Awards & Honors

Dr. Kaur has been recognized with several prestigious awards throughout her academic career. She was awarded the Best Research Award from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, UIET, in 2017, in recognition of her outstanding contributions to research. She has also received a Best Paper Award for her work presented at the 4th International Conference on Machine Intelligence and Signal Processing, NIT Raipur, 2022. In addition to these accolades, she was honored with a scholarship by the Punjab Government for her academic performance in matriculation. Dr. Kaur’s research contributions in emotion detection and cybersecurity have earned her recognition both within India and internationally.

Top Noted Publication

Dr. Kaur has authored and co-authored several influential papers, with some of her top publications including:

  • Review of Audio Deepfake Detection Techniques: Issues and Prospects

    • Authors: A. Dixit, N. Kaur, S. Kingra

    • Journal: Expert Systems, 40(8), e13322

    • Cited By: 48

    • Year: 2023

  • Emergence of Deepfakes and Video Tampering Detection Approaches: A Survey

    • Authors: S. Kingra, N. Aggarwal, N. Kaur

    • Journal: Multimedia Tools and Applications

    • Cited By: 35

    • Year: 2022

  • LBPNet: Exploiting Texture Descriptor for Deepfake Detection

    • Authors: S. Kingra, N. Aggarwal, N. Kaur

    • Journal: Forensic Science International: Digital Investigation, 42, 301452

    • Cited By: 32

    • Year: 2022

  • Major Convolutional Neural Networks in Image Classification: A Survey

    • Authors: N. Kumar, N. Kaur, D. Gupta

    • Conference: International Conference on IoT Inclusive Life (ICIIL 2019)

    • Cited By: 25

    • Year: 2020

  • A Survey of Routing Protocols in Wireless Sensor Networks

    • Authors: N. Kaur, S. Verma, D. Kavita

    • Journal: IJET, 7(4.12), 20-25

    • Cited By: 24

    • Year: 2018

Strength for the Best Innovator Award

Dr. Nirmal Kaur’s innovative contributions span several important areas in the fields of Computer Science and Engineering. The following strengths highlight why she is considered an exceptional innovator in her field:

1. Pioneering Work in Deepfake Detection

Dr. Kaur’s innovative research in deepfake detection has led to significant advancements in multimedia forensics. Her approach integrates both audio and video signal processing, helping to address critical issues in identifying manipulated content. By developing cutting-edge techniques for detecting deepfake videos and audio, she has set new standards for accuracy and reliability in this fast-evolving domain.

2. Multimodal Emotion Detection Systems

Dr. Kaur has made groundbreaking strides in the development of multimodal emotion detection systems. By combining various data modalities like text, audio, and video, her research allows for a more comprehensive and nuanced understanding of human emotions. This work has broad applications in areas such as sentiment analysis, human-computer interaction, and mental health monitoring.

3. Energy-Efficient Scheduling in Distributed Computing

Her research on energy-efficient scheduling techniques for distributed computing systems has been transformative. Dr. Kaur’s work focuses on improving the energy consumption of heterogeneous systems, ensuring that computational tasks are optimized for power usage without compromising performance. This has far-reaching implications for cloud computing and large-scale data center management.

4. Cybersecurity Challenges for Women Users

Dr. Kaur’s work on cybersecurity, particularly focusing on the challenges faced by women users in the digital space, has addressed a critical gap in the understanding of gender-specific cybercrimes. By leading the National Commission for Women’s project, she has not only identified key security issues but also proposed actionable solutions to protect vulnerable users from online harassment and cybercrimes.

5. Mentorship and Leadership in Research

Dr. Kaur’s dedication to mentoring and guiding students is another area where she demonstrates her innovation. By supervising numerous Ph.D. and M.Tech. candidates on cutting-edge research topics such as multimodal emotion recognition, deepfake detection, and cloud computing, she has fostered a new generation of innovators. Her leadership in research has helped cultivate a robust academic and research environment that encourages creativity and critical thinking.

Nirmal Kaur, Computer Science, Best Innovator Award