Computer vision and video analytics
Surveillance analytics, anomaly recognition, fire and smoke detection, and multi camera tracking.
Academic leader · Researcher · Entrepreneur
Prof. Dr. Usama Ijaz Bajwa
Dean, Faculty of Computing
Lahore University of Biological and Applied Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan
Academic leader, artificial intelligence researcher and technology entrepreneur working in computer vision, medical imaging, natural language processing and large language models.
UB
23+ yearsAcross universities and industry
60+Journal publications
49 million+Pakistani rupees in research funding
2022 and 2023Winner, Best University Teacher Award
About
I am Dean, Faculty of Computing at the Lahore University of Biological and Applied Sciences, where I lead the faculty's academic direction, research and industry engagement. I have more than 23 years of experience across universities and industry, including a tenured professorship at COMSATS University Islamabad and leadership of product and machine learning teams at Persivia.
My research covers computer vision, medical imaging, natural language processing, biometrics, video analytics and large language models. I lead the Machine Perception and Visual Intelligence Research Group, and my work has been supported by more than 49 million Pakistani rupees in research funding.
I am a Certified Entrepreneurial Coach, a Program Evaluator for the National Computing Education Accreditation Council, and a Director of the Artificial Intelligence Education Foundation. I have co-founded two technology companies, and outside work I enjoy philately, numismatics, swimming, trekking and travel.
Research
My group works at the point where machines learn to see, read and reason. Current and past work spans the following areas.
Medical image processing
Brain tumor analysis from magnetic resonance images, lung nodule detection, and COVID 19 detection.
Biometrics and information security
Face, fingerprint and iris recognition, and multi biometric access control.
Natural language processing
Language processing for Urdu, including sentiment analysis, spelling correction and named entity recognition.
Large language models
Retrieval augmented chatbots and clinical data extraction in healthcare settings.
Agri informatics
Weed and crop classification and plant disease detection.
Research group: Machine Perception and Visual Intelligence Research Group
Leadership and Service
Dean, Faculty of Computing
Leading curriculum design and accreditation alignment with the Higher Education Commission and the National Computing Education Accreditation Council standards, faculty recruitment, and laboratory development. The strategic direction applies computing and artificial intelligence to real world healthcare and applied science problems.
National and professional service
Program Evaluator, National Computing Education Accreditation Council. Director, Artificial Intelligence Education Foundation, since October 2023. Chairperson, Board of Studies, Faculty of Computing. Certified Entrepreneurial Coach, TAKE UP Project, European Union Erasmus+ Program.
Conference leadership
Program Chair of the International Conference on Frontiers of Information Technology from 2014 to 2023 and Program Co-Chair in 2024.
Academic boards and selection boards
Board and council member at several universities in Pakistan, including COMSATS University Islamabad, University of Education Lahore, Government College University Lahore, Lahore Garrison University, University of Sialkot, Green International University and Kinnaird College for Women University. Subject expert on selection boards and thesis evaluator at leading universities.
- Lifetime Registered Engineer, Pakistan Engineering Council
- Member, Association of Commonwealth Universities
- Member, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
- Technical Consultant, Soliton Technologies
- Technical Consultant, National Testing Service
Experience
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July 2026 to present
Dean, Faculty of Computing
Lahore University of Biological and Applied Sciences, Lahore
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February 2024 to August 2025
Persivia Inc.
Persivia and Soliton Technologies, Pakistan
- Group Head of Product, June 2024 to August 2025. Led a cross functional product organization, defined the product vision and a rolling roadmap, and set up productivity metrics and governance across teams.
- Engineering Manager, Artificial Intelligence Team, June 2024 to June 2025. Directed machine learning engineers on retrieval augmented chatbots, query building and clinical data extraction.
- Consultant, February 2024 to May 2024.
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2003 to June 2026
COMSATS University Islamabad
Lahore Campus and Abbottabad Campus
- Tenured Professor, May 2023 to June 2026
- Tenured Associate Professor, April 2019 to April 2023
- Assistant Professor, 2011 to 2019, at the Abbottabad Campus until 2015 and then at the Lahore Campus
- Lecturer and Assistant System Analyst, 2003 to 2011
- Associate Head of Department, August 2017 to January 2021. Head of the Machine Perception and Visual Intelligence Research Group and, earlier, the Information Security and Image Processing Research Group.
- Coordinator, Graduate Programs
- Program Head, Computer Science undergraduate program
- Chairperson, COMSATS International Model United Nations 2019
- Convener, Industry Liaison, Pak China Business Forum, 2016 to 2019
- Faculty Advisor, Character Building Society
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January 2019 to November 2020
Co-Founder, Agriasan Pvt Limited
An online platform connecting farmers, agriculture university professors, researchers, students, and suppliers of fertilizers and machinery.
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April 2008 to December 2011
Co-Founder, Technology Nucleus Pvt Ltd
Biometric systems for large scale applications, match on card technology, on board diagnostics protocols, video encoder implementations, and automation solutions.
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June 2008 to October 2010
Team Lead, Automatic Personal Identification Biometrics System for Large Scale Applications
Muhammad Ali Jinnah University, Islamabad. Funded by the National ICT R&D Fund, now IGNITE.
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2004 to 2007
Research, Visiting Researcher and Research Groups
Visiting Researcher at the Medical Imaging Research Unit, University of South Wales, from May to November 2007. Moderator of research groups at the Centre for Advanced Studies in Engineering, Islamabad, and Muhammad Ali Jinnah University.
Education and Awards
Education
- Doctor of Philosophy, Digital Image Processing, 2013Centre for Advanced Studies in Engineering, Islamabad, and University of Engineering and Technology, Taxila
- Master of Science, Digital Image Processing, 2006Centre for Advanced Studies in Engineering, Islamabad, and University of Engineering and Technology, Taxila
- Master of Science, Computer Science, 2001Hamdard University, Karachi
- Bachelor of Science, Mathematics and Physics, 1998University of the Punjab, Lahore
Awards and fellowships
- Best University Teacher AwardWinner in 2023 and 2022, and first runner up in 2021, across seven campuses of COMSATS University Islamabad
- Best Teacher Award, 2017Department of Computer Science
- Research Productivity AwardsEvery year from 2011 to 2017
- Higher Education Commission fellowshipsDoctoral scholarship and the International Research Support Initiative Program fellowship
- Ministry of Science and Technology scholarship, 2000Eighth position in the national test
Research Funding
| Project or grant | Source | Amount | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Video Analytics Lab, National Center in Big Data and Cloud Computing (Co Principal Investigator) | Planning Commission, Government of Pakistan | 43.284 million Pakistani rupees | 2018 |
| A Multi-Biometric Access Control System for Highly Secured Environment (Co Principal Investigator) | National Research Program for Universities, Higher Education Commission | 6 million Pakistani rupees | 2022 |
| Academic Hardware Grant | NVIDIA | 2,400 United States dollars | February 2022 |
| Final year project funding, National Grassroots ICT Research Initiative | IGNITE, formerly National ICT R&D Fund | Two awards | 2018 and 2020 |
Talks and Media
Keynotes and invited talks
- Moderator, closing panel"Beyond the Demo: What It Takes for Artificial Intelligence to Matter", 4th International AI Championship, Artificial Intelligence Education Foundation, Lahore, 24 October 2026
- Presentation, online"Emerging Trends in E-Learning, Digital and Interactive Technologies for Learning in Pakistan", 19th National and 13th International Conference on e-Learning and e-Teaching, 27 August 2026
- Keynote, "The AI Wave"International Conference on Computing and Innovation, Riphah International University, 8 December 2025
- Talk, "Mastering Research Writing and Ethical Scholarship"Lahore Garrison University, 5 August 2025
- Keynote on Generative Artificial Intelligence5th International Conference of Computer Science and Allied Technologies, Lahore Garrison University, 22 November 2023
- Keynote on Brain Tumour Image Segmentation1st International Conference on Machine Perception and Artificial Intelligence, Islamia University Bahawalpur, 17 June 2022
Media
- Persivia Perspective podcastMindsets shaping artificial intelligence adoption in healthcare, 13 June 2025
- Persivia Perspective podcastTop technologies for healthcare providers in 2025 and the growing role of artificial intelligence, 3 March 2025
- Geo Pakistan Morning Show, Geo NewsLive interview on the importance and challenges of artificial intelligence for Pakistan and its education sector, 7 February 2025
- Geo NewsSegment on the International Day of Education about artificial intelligence in teaching, 24 January 2025
Teaching and Supervision
Teaching
Ethics in Technology for first semester undergraduates. Previously Digital Image Processing, Operating System Concepts and Fundamentals of Computer Programming, and graduate courses in image processing and computer vision.
Research supervision
Eight doctoral theses, including two as cosupervisor and two in progress, and 28 Master of Science theses across medical imaging, video analytics, biometrics and natural language processing.
Student projects
More than 40 undergraduate final year projects, including award winning work such as Wheat Guard, Spectre, ARIA and Sentinel.
The complete supervision record is on my university profile.
Selected Publications
More than 60 journal publications across artificial intelligence, healthcare, computer vision, natural language processing, biometrics and security. The complete and current list is on Google Scholar.
View on Google ScholarContact
I welcome conversations about research collaboration, industry partnerships, student supervision, speaking invitations and media requests.