NDSU graduate student Sunoj Shajahan, a doctoral candidate in agricultural and biosystems engineering, received the American Society of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineers’ Superior Paper Award. He was recognized with a certificate during the society’s annual international meeting held July 29-Aug. 1 in Detroit.
The article, published in 2017, was titled “Identification and Counting of Soybean Aphids from Digital Images Using Shape Classification.” In the paper, an image processing-based method of assessing the number of aphids, while differentiating from the exoskeletons and leafspots, from the digital image of soybean leaves was developed for rapid quantification of pest infestation.
Of the 300 articles published in the society’s three peer-reviewed journals during the previous year, about 5 percent are selected for the annual superior paper award. The papers are judged on timeliness, value, originality and benefits to society.
Shajahan, who is from Coimbatore, India, was the corresponding author for the article. Other authors include Saravanan Sivarajan, postdoctoral fellow and associate professor at Sri Shakthi Institute of Engineering and Technology, India; Mohammadmehdi Maharlooei, assistant professor at Shahid Bahonar University, Iran; Sreekala G. Bajwa, NDSU professor and chair of agricultural and biosystems engineering; Jason P. Harmon, NDSU associate professor and program leader of entomology; John Nowatzki, NDSU Extension specialist; and Igathinathane Cannayen, NDSU associate professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering.
Cannayen is Shajahan’s doctoral major adviser. Shalahan’s doctoral dissertation is about software tools development for image color calibration, volume estimation and sunflower dimension measurements.
Before joining NDSU, Shajahan earned his master’s degree in agricultural processing and food engineering from Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore. India.
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