Page 5 - Eureka! Spring 2010

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The mathematical VINeyARD p + By Susan Hickman

ohn Oommen enjoys a glass of artificial intelligence and pattern master’s of engineering in India, he
Jwine with his dinner as much recognition since he joined Carleton pursued a master’s in science and a
as the next person. But now that he University’s School of Computer Sci- doctorate in electrical engineering at
has met with representatives of the ence in 1981. He is also one of only a Purdue University in Indiana.
Chilean Wine Industry (CWI), what handful of scholars to attain the rank Initially, Oommen and Astudillo Research news
swirls in his glass has taken on new of Fellow of the Institute of Electrical intend to apply pattern recognition
meaning. and Electronic Engineers (IEEE)—for strategies to determine the type of
Mathematically minded for as long his work in artificial intelligence and grape best suited for a specific loca-
as he can remember, and the first pattern recognition—and, since 2006, tion, based on characteristics of the
person ever to attain the rank of Fel- he has been one of Carleton’s select soil and the types of grapes grown in
low of the International Association of Chancellor’s professors. neighbouring vineyards. Their project
Pattern Recognition (IAPR) in Ontario, The foundations of a paper he co- will also help the wine producer decide
Oommen is confident that he and his authored with Astudillo, which won whether a wooden barrel or a stainless
Chilean graduate student steel container, for example,
César Astudillo can auto- is optimal for a specific
mate some wine production grape and wine.
processes, and assist in Oommen and Astudillo’s
many wine- and grape-relat- project will also provide
ed decision processes for the the CWI with a system that
wine industry in Chile. His can simulate the art of
toolkit includes techniques wine tasting.
he has learned and devel- “The system will make
oped for other applications. decisions about the qual-
“Pattern recognition prin- ity of the wine, just as an
ciples,” explains Oommen of experienced winemaker
Carleton University’s School would,” Oommen explains,
of Computer Science, “have “thus augmenting the
been applied to such issues decision of the wine taster,
as breast cancer tumours, helping streamline and
the classification of species, automate the wine tasting
speech recognition and process, and hopefully as-
spam determination, but sisting in training the next
have rarely been used for generation of wine tasters.”
wine-related problems.” As Astudillo completes
Thus, when the CWI del-
egation came to Canada last Oommen (right) and his graduate
November to look for solu- student, César Astudillo (left), with their
tions to having to move their Best Paper Award won at last year’s
grape plantations further annual conference on Artificial Intel-
ligence in Melbourne, Australia.
south due to global warm-
ing, Oommen, with seed
money from Interim Dean of Science the Best Paper Award at last year’s his doctoral studies this year and re-
John Armitage, stepped in to help. annual conference on Artificial Intel- turns to Chile as a professor instructor
Along with his student, Astudillo, ligence in Melbourne, Australia, will in Talca’s computer science depart-
originally from the University of Talca enable future work with the CWI. ment, Oommen foresees an ongoing
in Chile, he presented to the Chilean “The idea is very simple,” he ex- collaboration.
team, which included the ambassador plains. “Pattern recognition can be used “We can go on to look at market-
of Chile, the Chilean scientific attaché for numerous problems. It essentially related problems,” suggests Oommen,
and a chief scientist from Agriculture involves making well-founded infer- “and develop a system that can advise
Canada, some potential solutions and ences based on measurements called how best to combine grapes and wines
ideas for future collaborative efforts features. The inferences are based on into a blend that satisfies customers
to improve wine production in the formal mathematical principles, which from specific locations. There is a huge
South American country. involve numbers, symbols or the struc- market for wine in China and India and
Oommen’s research has been ex- ture of the patterns being recognized.” I am quite confident that in the future,
tremely productive in academia and Oommen became fascinated by we can develop a system for the CWI
in industry collaborations for more the field of pattern recognition while that can advise on the optimal com-
than 30 years. He has reaped some studying electrical engineering in bination of grapes and wines to best
of the highest awards in his field of India in the 1970s. After obtaining his satisfy the good taste of customers.”

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