Purdue ECE PhD student earns honor at prestigious ASCE Conference
Abhishek Subedi, a PhD candidate in Purdue University’s Elmore Family School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, was named second runner-up in the Best Student Paper Competition at the 2025 ASCE Engineering Mechanics Institute (EMI) Conference.
The award was presented by the Structural Control and Health Monitoring Committee in recognition of Subedi’s paper, “Automated Text and Defect Detection in Radiographic Images of Pipeline Welds: A Noise-Robust Approach for Enhanced Inspection.”
Subedi is a member of Purdue’s Smart Informatix Laboratory, led by Mohammad Jahanshahi, associate professor of civil and construction engineering and electrical and computer engineering (courtesy). His research focuses on applying computer vision and machine learning to improve the safety and reliability of critical infrastructure.
Subedi’s paper proposes a more robust, automated method for detecting text and defects in radiographic images of pipeline welds — an important task in the maintenance and inspection of pipelines. By reducing the impact of image noise and improving the accuracy of defect detection, the approach has the potential to streamline inspection processes and help prevent structural failures.
The EMI Conference is one of the leading international forums for researchers in engineering mechanics, and the student paper competition recognizes emerging scholars conducting impactful, interdisciplinary work.