Meghna Asthana, a PhD student in computer vision science at the University of York, was selected as one of the 75 India UK Achievers award winners earlier this year. The awards recognise and celebrate the work of 75 Indian students and alumni who have pursued a British programme of study, and marks the 75th anniversary of India’s independence.

The award is given to a current or former Indian student in the UK who has achieved excellence in their field, as well as inspired and encouraged others to achieve.

Asthana said, “My experience at York has provided me with the opportunity to foster lasting relationships with experts in various domains of scientific research. This award is a special one for me as it signifies the strong bond between two countries I call home. I believe, winning this award has propelled me to continue collaborating on more high impact and high stakes projects, changing lives around the world for the better.”

The young woman is a researcher in the field of computer vision, an area of science that aims to further machine learning in the understanding or extraction of useful information from images. Her expertise ranges from satellite imagery for climate change and surveillance, to ocean floor videography for species detection.

As a Data Science for Social Good Fellow at The Alan Turing Institute, Asthana has also provided her expertise to non-for-profit organisations and government bodies in areas such as clean energy, climate change and public safety, which is crucial to creating an infrastructural shift from non-renewable to renewable energy as part of the Net Zero Strategy: Build Back Greener by 2050.

Her portfolio consists of a myriad of government, non-profit and academic projects, with partners including the German Centre for Artificial Intelligence, UNICEF, NASA, LSE, Data Science Institute, and the Sports Innovation Challenge at Imperial College London for Disability Sports & Paralympics.

The award winners were celebrated at special event in London on Wednesday, 25 January, where the University of York was as a sponsor.