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I²CS Research Lab · IIIT Kottayam

Dr. Minu A Pillai

Assistant Professor, Department of ECE · I²CS Research Lab, IIIT Kottayam

Institutional Profile & Academic Record



Dr. Minu A Pillai — Assistant Professor (ECE), I²CS Research Lab, IIIT Kottayam

Dr. Minu A Pillai

Assistant Professor
Indian Institute of Information Technology Kottayam
Valavoor P.O, Pala
Kottayam - 686635, Kerala, India.
Email: minupillai@iiitkottayam.ac.in
Hello at: + 91 - 4822202218
Research Areas
  • Intelligent Instrumentation: smart sensing systems that combine physical models with machine learning, including deep learning based acoustic source localization using sensor arrays for underwater and structural monitoring
  • AI for Vibration Energy Harvesting: physics-informed neural networks, data-driven modelling and reinforcement learning to design and optimise piezoelectric harvesters, for example for railway-track vibrations
  • Self-powered sensing: battery-free sensor nodes for structural and railway health monitoring
  • Signal processing inspired deep learning for audio and speech
  • MEMS, smart structures and acoustic energy harvesting
Education
  • PhD in Instrumentation, National Institute of Technology Tiruchirappalli, 2018 - Thesis area: acoustic energy harvesters with duct resonators and piezoelectric unimorphs
  • M.Tech in Process Control and Instrumentation, National Institute of Technology Tiruchirappalli, 2010
  • B.Tech in Applied Electronics and Instrumentation, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala, 2007
Experience
  • Assistant Professor (Grade II), Department of ECE, IIIT Kottayam - Nov 2023 to present
  • Ad-hoc Faculty, Department of ECE, IIIT Kottayam - Nov 2022 to Nov 2023
  • Assistant Professor, Department of Instrumentation, Cochin University of Science and Technology - Dec 2021 to Nov 2022
  • Post-Doctoral Fellow, Department of Electronics, Cochin University of Science and Technology - Nov 2018 to Nov 2021
  • Ad-hoc Faculty, Department of Electrical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Calicut - July 2018 to Nov 2018
  • Assistant Professor, Applied Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering, Baselios Mathew II College of Engineering, Sasthamcotta, Kollam – July 2010 to May 2012
  • Lecturer, Applied Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering, Baselios Mathew II College of Engineering, Sasthamcotta, Kollam – Feb 2008 to Aug 2008
Honours and Achievements
  • Qualified GATE 2008 in Instrumentation with All India rank 197 and percentile score 94.93.
  • Received Academic Proficiency prize from National Institute of Technology Tiruchirappalli for securing third rank for M.Tech in Process Control and Instrumentation.
  • Article entitled “A Review of Acoustic Energy Harvesting” received International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing Most Downloaded Article Award, 2014 from Springer.
  • Ph.D. Technical Education Quality Improvement Program Phase II (TEQIP-II) Fellowship (2012-2017) funded by World Bank.
  • University Post-Doctoral Fellowship funded by Cochin University of Science and Technology.
Research Supervision
  • Guiding PhD scholars in piezoelectric vibration energy harvesting for railway track borne vibrations and hardware for AI
  • Supervised several B.Tech project and honours students in piezoelectric vibration energy harvesting, signal processing and machine learning
  • Mentors external summer interns through the I2CS Research Lab, IIIT Kottayam
Publications

The complete list of publications is available on Google Scholar:

https://scholar.google.co.in/citations?hl=en&user=5J66eBgAAAAJ

Recent Journal articles
  1. M. K. Aparna Nair, S. Kala, A. Muhammed, S. Nalesh, M. A. Pillai, A. Kumar, "Towards Implementing Compression and Decompression Techniques on FPGA for Deep Neural Networks," IETE Journal of Research, pp. 1–9, 2026.
  2. K. Rashida, M. A. Pillai, M. H. Supriya, "Direction of Arrival Estimation using Deep Learning: A Novel CNN-Based Approach for Marine Acoustic Monitoring under Varying Noise Conditions," Thalassas: An International Journal of Marine Sciences, vol. 41, no. 3, pp. 1–14, 2025.
Book chapter
  1. Aparna Nair M K, M. A. Pillai, Nalesh S, Kala S, "Hardware Ecosystem for AI: GPU, TPU, and Beyond," in Chips and Intelligence: Low Power VLSI Design with Artificial Intelligence, 2025.
Selected conference papers
  1. A. G. Abraham, M. Mathew, M. A. Pillai, "Reinforcement Learning based Design Optimization of a Piezoelectric Cantilever Beam Vibration Energy Harvester," IMECE-India 2026, Chennai, Sept 2026.
  2. M. Mathew, M. M. S. Rifai, M. A. Pillai, "Numerical Investigation of Geometry Effects in Piezoelectric Cantilever Beam Vibration Energy Harvesters," IEEE Int. Conf. on Recent Advances in Electronics, 2026.
  3. A. G. Abraham, M. A. Pillai, E. Deenadayalan, "Physics-Informed Neural Network Based Approach for the Analysis of Vibration Energy Harvesting using Piezoelectric Bimorph Cantilever Beams with a Tip Mass," XX VETOMAC, 2025.
  4. A. G. Abraham, M. A. Pillai, E. Deenadayalan, "Comparative Analysis of Regression Models for Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting using Unimorph Cantilever Beams with a Tip Mass," PICC 2025, Oct 2025.
  5. K. Rashida, M. A. Pillai, M. H. Supriya, "Leveraging Overcomplete Autoencoder for Improved Direction-of-Arrival Estimation using Sensor Array," J. Acoust. Soc. Am., vol. 157, A207, 2025 (meeting abstract).
Dataset
  • G. Nair, M. A. Pillai, "A Dataset for Geometry-Driven Variations in Piezoelectric Stepped Cantilever Beam Energy Harvester," TechRxiv, 2024. doi: 10.36227/techrxiv.171838061.10624447/v1
Courses Taught
  • Digital Signal Processing and its Applications (theory and lab)
  • Advanced Digital Signal Processing
  • Signals and Systems
  • Electromagnetic Theory
  • Solid State Devices
  • Digital Design and Electric Circuits (theory and lab)
  • FPGA based System Design
  • Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS)
  • Electronic Measurements and Instrumentation
  • PhD courses: Signal Processing for Ultrasonics; Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting Technologies
Professional Activities
  • Served on the organising and technical programme committees of national and international conferences, including as Technical Program Committee Chair, Publication Chair and Session Chair
  • Reviewer for international journals and IEEE conferences in electronics, signal processing and instrumentation
  • Delivered invited talks and served as a resource person in faculty development programmes on energy harvesting, sensors and signal processing
  • Organised workshops, faculty development and short-term training programmes at IIIT Kottayam
  • External expert on the Board of Studies and research assessment committees of other institutions, and Doctoral Committee member for PhD scholars
  • Contributed to curriculum design of B.Tech ECE electives and PhD courses at IIIT Kottayam
Memberships

IEEE; Life Member, Institute of Smart Structures and Systems (ISSS)

Join My Research Group

I am looking for motivated PhD scholars and summer interns who enjoy working where physics, data and machine learning meet. You will model a real device, train models on real data, and validate them through simulation and experiments.

Who should apply
  • PhD: M.Tech/M.E./M.Sc. in Electronics, Instrumentation, Electrical, Mechanical (vibration/mechatronics), Physics or related fields. Apply through the IIIT Kottayam PhD admission portal (https://phd.iiitkottayam.ac.in/) under the areas Intelligent Instrumentation and AI for Vibration Energy Harvesting.
  • Interns (I2CS Research Lab, summer): B.Tech/M.Tech students comfortable with MATLAB or Python and curious about sensors, signals or energy harvesting.

Interested? Email me at minupillai@iiitkottayam.ac.in with your CV, a short note on which research area interests you, and any project or code you are proud of.

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