Biometrics Vision and Computing Research Group (BVC-RG)

Main research focus and other areas of research interest of the RG: The research areas in BVC are biometrics recognition, computer vision, IoT and machine / deep learning

 

Title of most recent research project: Computer vision architectures and deep learning algorithms for iris segmentation

 

A maximum of seven (7) other current or completed research projects:

  • AI-IoT in Health care
  • COVID-19 prediction
  • Deep learning architectures for real-time weed control and herbicide application
  • Automated softbiometics identification
  • Face biometrics evaluation
  • Deep Learning based body attributes’ estimation
  • Fusion in softbiometrics verification

Name of the Coordinator: Engr. Prof. Ogechukwu N. Iloanusi

UNN email address of the coordinator: Ogechukwu.iloanusi@unn.edu.ng

Current webpage of the RG: https://biometricsvision.com/

UNN email address of RG:

Phone number of the coordinator: 0903-054-4121

Base Faculty/Institute/Center of the RG: Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering

Department of the Coordinator: Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering

List and brief profiles of members (one paragraph per member) with their UNN website url to their detailed CVs (hyperlinks are OK)

  • Ogechukwu N. Iloanusi

Ogechukwu N. Iloanusi (Ph.D.) is a Full Professor at the Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Nigeria. She holds a B.Eng.(1999) in Electronic Engineering; M.Eng (2003) and Ph.D. (2011) in Digital Electronics and Computer Engineering from the same Department. She joined the Faculty in October 2005 and has taught ten undergraduate and six postgraduate courses since then. She is the first female Head of Department and Professor in the Faculty of Engineering, UNN. Her research interests include biometric recognition, signal processing, artificial intelligence, computer vision, machine/deep learning and recently educational research. She has completed supervision of 23 postgraduate students and 122 undergraduate students. She is the Director of research in the Biometrics Vision and Computing group (BVCLab). She was a Visiting Scholar at West Virginia University from 2009 to 2010; a Commonwealth Visiting Fellow at University of Southampton in 2012; a Visiting Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2013 and an Assistant Guest Professor at the University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA, from 2016 to 2017. She also authored the book titled – Fundamentals of Biometrics (2016) with other two co-authors. She has over 50 journal and conference publications and has attended over 20 conferences and workshops internationally in countries in Africa, North America, Europe and the Middle East. You can view more about Ogechukwu Iloanusi on LinkedIn and Google scholar.

  • Ijeoma J. F. Ezika

Ijeoma J. F. Ezika (Ph.D.) is a Lecturer at the Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, University of Nigeria. She completed her Ph.D. in fault tolerant computing in 2017, participated in several engineering education trainings and fellowships before fully venturing into the field of engineering education research in 2020. She recently secured the fifty thousand pounds (£50,000) Impact grant funding from the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAE) UK to establish the engineering education research group at the University of Nigeria Nsukka, redesign selected courses and provide capacity building for engineering staff and students. She is also a recipient of the RAE/Lloyds register foundation 2021 Safety Champions in Engineering Education (SCEE) fellowship award. During the SCEE fellowship, she was exposed to contemporary issues and practices in engineering education, while collaborating with her country team to develop strategies for leading and managing change. Ijeoma participated in a semester-long teaching fellowship at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA in 2022. While at MIT, she was exposed to a variety of activities, trainings, and network of people within Boston and beyond. Specifically, she was able to complete a course on Advancing Learning Through Evidence-Based STEM Teaching.

  • Edwin A. Umoh

Engr. Dr Edwin A. Umoh, holds the degrees of B.Eng (Electrical and Electronics Engineering) (1995), M.Eng (Electronics) (2011) from Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, PhD in Electronic Engineering (Digital Electronics and Computers) (2019) from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and a certificate in Data Science and Machine Learning from the SACE/SETA – accredited Favour Institute, South Africa (2021). He is a member of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, Nigerian Institution of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (NIEEE), MISEE, MIAENG and a Registered Electrical Engineer with the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN). Dr Umoh is a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the Institute’s Control System Society (IEEE – CSS), and Consultant Networks Group (IEEE – CNG) respectively. He is a Chief Lecturer in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Technology, Federal Polytechnic, Kaura Namoda, Zamfara State. Dr Umoh has published widely in national and international journals and had attended conferences within and outside Nigeria, with more than 70 published works to his credit, in addition to best paper awards. He has co-authored and produced chapters in textbooks. Dr Umoh has chaired national conferences and chaired/co-chaired tracks on emerging technologies while participating in the technical planning committees of international conferences, particularly of the IEEE and her affiliates around Africa.  He has had the honour of being the overall best Postgraduate scholar in the University of Nigeria, Nsukka during the 2018/2019 session, and was the first electrical and electronics engineer from the Nigerian Polytechnic sector to be elevated to the grade of senior membership of the IEEE, USA. Dr Umoh is a past Head of the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Technology, and the current Dean of the School of Engineering Technology. His research interests include Chaos, digital signal processing, cryptosystems, energy and environment, fuzzy modelling and control, and nonlinear electronics circuits. His hobbies include playing badminton and leisurely reading.

  • Ugogbola Ejiogu

Mrs. Ugogbola Ejiogu is a Ph. D., candidate of the department of Electronics Engineering, University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) and a member of Biometric Vision and Computing Laboratory, UNN. She obtained her B. Sc., in the Department of Computer Science, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in 2010 and M. Sc., in Information Management Technology Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria, in 2016. Since 2014, she has been a member of the Laboratory of Indus- trial Electronics, Power Devices & New Energy Systems (LIEPNES), University of Nigeria, Nsukka, where she is presently a Research Assistant working on Innovative Electronic access control systems as well as Additive Manufacturing (3D Printing) Technology. Ms. Ejiogu’s research interest includes: Computer vision and Image Processing, Pattern Recognition, Biometrics, Machine Learning, Electronic Access Control and Additive Manufacturing systems. She is a consultant for the Foundation of Innovative Electronics and New Energy Systems (FIENES), Abuja, Nigeria. Ms. Ejiogu is a member of the Nigeria Additive Manufacturing Stakeholders Group and Women in 3D Printing (Wi3DP). Email: ugochi.ejiogu.pg80723@unn.edu.ng or ugochi.ejiogu@liepnes.net.

  • Emmanuel Nnadozie

Engr. Emmanuel C. Nnadozie, is a Lecturer at the Department of Mechatronic Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Nigeria. He is currently rounding off his Ph.D in the Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, University of Nigeria. His research interests include deep learning and computer vision, and their diverse applications. His Ph.D research is on real-time plant detection and agrochemical application using deep learning and computer vision techniques. He is a DAAD scholar and ERASMUS+ awardee. He was a Visiting Researcher at Precision Agriculture Lab, Technical University of Munich, Germany, and the Image Processing Lab, University of Valladolid, Spain.

 

10 key publications of the RG from 2019 till date

  • Ugochi U.C. Ejiogu and Ogechukwu N. Iloanusi (2023), Real Time Iris Segmentation Quality Evaluation using Medoids, Pattern Recognition, 2023, 109290, ISSN 0031-3203, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.patcog.2022.109290 (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031320322007695 )
  • C. Nnadozie, O. Iloanusi, O. Ani, K. Yu (2022), Cassava Detection from UAV Images Using YOLOv5 Object Detection Model: Towards Weed Control in a Cassava Farm, doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.11.16.516748
  • A. Umoh and O. N. Iloanusi, (2022) “A Topology for Fingerprint Image Encryption based on HDWT-SVD and Hyperchaos,” 2022 IEEE Nigeria 4th International Conference on Disruptive Technologies for Sustainable Development (NIGERCON), April 5 – 7, 2022, pp. 1-5, doi: 10.1109/NIGERCON54645.2022.9803161. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/9803161
  • J. F. Ezika, I. Ndu, T. C. Chukwueke and O. N. Iloanusi, (2022) “Assessing Opportunities for Self-Study and Out-of-Class Activities in a Prescriptive High Contact-Hour Engineering Curriculum,” in IEEE Transactions on Education, doi: 10.1109/TE.2022.3170826. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/9772768
  • Chukwuemeka Obasi, Ijeoma Ndu, Ogechukwu N. Iloanusi (2020),A Framework for Internet of Things-Based Body Mass Index Estimation and Obesity Prediction, in: 2020 Conf. e-Health Bioeng., October 29 – 30, 2020. Iasi, Romania: pp. 1–4.  https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9280202
  • Edwin A. Umoh, Ogechukwu N. Iloanusi, and Uche A. Nnolim (2020), “A Novel Image Multi-Encryption Architecture based on Hybrid Keystream Sequence Interspersed with Haar Discrete Wavelet Transform,” IET Image Processing, Volume 14, Issue 10, 21 August 2020, p. 2081 – 2091. 1049/iet-ipr.2019.0991
  • Ogechukwu N. Iloanusi & Ugochi C. Ejiogu (2020) Gender classification from fused multi-fingerprint types, Information Security Journal: A Global Perspective, Volume 29, Issue 5, pages 209 – 219.. https://doi.org/10.1080/19393555.2020.1741742
  • Edwin A. Umoh and Ogechukwu N. Iloanusi (2020) “Synchronized Dynamics of Hyperchaotic Flows via an Improved Finite-Time Adaptive Controller Design,” International Journal of Engineering Research in Africa, May 20 2020. https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/jera.48.49
  • Umoh, E. A., & Iloanusi, O. N. (2019). Robustness analysis of a hyperchaos-based digital image encryption algorithm under noise attacks, International Journal of Engineering Research in Africa, 43, 71–83. doi: https://www.scientific.net/JERA.43.71
  • N. Iloanusi, C. Mbah, U. Ejiogu, S. Ezichi, J. Koburu and I. J. F. Ezika (2019). Gender and Age Group Classification from Multiple Soft Biometrics Traits, International Journal of Biometrics, Int. J. Biom., Vol. 11, no. 4, pp. 409–424, 2019. Doi: https://www.inderscienceonline.com/doi/abs/10.1504/IJBM.2019.102883
  • Ogechukwu N. Iloanusi and Charles Mbah (2019), “Gender Estimation from a Hybrid of Face, Upper and Full Body Images at Varying Body Poses,” in 2019 18th IEEE International Conference on Machine Learning And Applications (ICMLA 2019), Boca Raton, Florida, USA, pp. 1944–1949. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/8999169

O. Iloanusi, U. Ejiogu, I. Okoye, I. J. F. Ezika, S. Ezichi, C. Osuagwu and E. Ejiogu (2019), “Voice Recognition and Gender Classification in the Context of Native Languages and Lingua Franca,” in the 6th IEEE International Conference on Soft Computing & Machine Intelligence (ISCMI), Johannesburg, South Africa, November 19-20, 2019, pp. 175–179. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9004306