About the Talk:
Automation and coding are often perceived as textbook skills employed solely for technical tasks in the workplace. However, this perception couldn’t be further from reality. A closer examination of those skilled in automation reveals that it is, in fact, a way of life. Coding simplifies tasks in various scenarios, and this talk focuses on one such unique opportunity presented by the pandemic: organising an online convocation.
The task at hand involved stitching together over 200 videos in a specific sequence, each requiring a particular background and the student’s photo. The specifications provided are vague, leaving the designer to accommodate them within the code. In such cases, we often compromise efficiency for perfection. However, the precise definitions of these terms are not set in stone, and it’s crucial to recognise that one size does not fit all.
Through this interactive session, Dr Janakiraman Viraraghavan will elucidate the intangible aspects of automating such tasks and highlight some good coding principles—a must-have skills for software development.

About the Speaker:
Dr Janakiraman Viraraghavan has been an Assistant Professor in the Integrated Circuits and Systems group of the Department of Electrical Engineering at IIT Madras since 2016. He earned his PhD in Microelectronics in 2011 from the Department of Electrical and Communication at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. He was associated with the Semiconductor Research and Development Centre at IBM India Pvt Ltd, from 2011 until he moved to GLOBALFOUNDRIES, India in 2015, where he worked on early technology development of Embedded DRAM and Non-Volatile Memory design, respectively. He graduated with a BE degree from the Electronics and Communication Engineering Department of Rashtreeya Vidyalaya College of Engineering in 2003. His research interests include hardware implementation of artificial intelligence algorithms and statistical analysis in VLSI. Dr Viraraghavan received the Young Faculty Recognition Award from IIT Madras in 2019 and the Faculty Partnership Award from IBM in 2024. He has been serving as an Associate Editor for the Open Journal of Circuits and Systems since 2020.