Researchers of Indian origin are benefitting Purdue University, Indiana, through their research, turning results that are being patented, holding the potential of generating new financial and other resources. In just the first few weeks of March 2026, several of them were featured in the University’s website. These researchers include:
- Somali Chaterji who leads a team that has developed AGILE3D, the first adaptive 3D object detection system
- Vaneet Aggarwal, Dipesh Tamboli, and Vineet Punyamoorty who have developed technology that protects privacy during AI photo editing.
- The National Academy of Inventors recognized Professor Arun Ghosh of the College of Science where he is the Ian P. Rothwell Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology.
Somali Chaterji: Purdue University, Indiana’s Associate Professor of agricultural and biological engineering Somali Chaterji, leads a team that has developed AGILE3D, a cutting-edge 3D object detection system with the potential to help companies manufacturing autonomous vehicles, industrial robotics, delivery robots and drones.
The University announced this development in a March 11, 2026 news release.
“AGILE3D is the first adaptive, contention- and content-aware 3D object detection system tailored for embedded GPUs, or graphics processing units,” Chaterji is quoted saying in the article, adding, “The system can dynamically adjust detection strategies based on real-time hardware constraints and varying input data.”
The system developed by Chaterji and her team is broadly applicable wherever a robot or vehicle needs fast 3D perception on a tight onboard computer budget, she said. It is most applicable to autonomous driving.
“Beyond cars, AGILE3D can benefit delivery robots and drones, industrial/mobile robotics, augmented reality/virtual reality perception, and outdoor autonomy in digital agriculture and forestry, especially when the platform relies on an embedded GPU and must keep latency predictable for smoother, safer operation,” she is quoted saying.
“During comprehensive evaluations, AGILE3D achieved state-of-the-art performance, maintaining high accuracy across varying hardware contention levels and latency budgets of 100 to 500 milliseconds,” Purdue said in the news release.
The Purdue Innovates Office of Technology Commercialization has applied for a patent. Meanwhile, Chaterji continues to make further improvements to the system.
Vaneet Aggarwal, Dipesh Tamboli & Vineet Punyamoorty:
This team has developed the patent-pending system, used before and after photos are uploaded to an AI editing platform.
“Results of validation testing show that we can preserve editing quality while dramatically reducing what AI models can learn about your identity,” Aggarwal is quoted saying in the Purdue news release of March 12. “This is a critical step toward trustworthy generative AI,” he added.
Aggarwal, a University Faculty Scholar and the Reilly Professor of Industrial Engineering, worked with Tamboli who is a doctoral alumnus, and Punyamoorty who is a doctoral candidate in computer and electrical engineering.
“Our system allows users to mask sensitive regions on their photo, like the face, from an AI editing service,” Tamboli says in the news release. “Those regions are masked locally on the user’s device using a detailed outline of the region.”
Only the masked image is sent to the AI editing service.
“After the image is edited by AI, our system reintegrates the sensitive region back into the edited image using geometric alignment and blending,” he said.
According to the team, their Purdue system is the first solution that delivers full privacy with sensitive data never leaving the user’s device; High-quality edits; Compatibility with any commercial generative AI model; and Photorealism.
“It’s privacy by design,” Aggarwal said. “With our system, the AI platform never sees the face, but the final edited image still looks completely natural.”
Their work is published in the peer-reviewed journal IEEE Transactions on Artificial Intelligence.
Arun Ghosh: The NAI in its recognition of Ghosh as a Fellow said, “Ghosh is a leader in the field of structure-based drug design and discovery, guiding a research group in multidisciplinary research projects in the areas of synthetic organic, bioorganic, and medicinal chemistry. One highlighted achievement was the design and discovery of a potent HIV protease inhibitor, a key medication in the fight against HIV/AIDS approved by the FDA in 2006 and now used in over 120 countries.”
Ghosh is described by Purdue as a “prolific inventor, boasting a large portfolio with an abundance of technology encompassing both U.S. and foreign patents. His patents span multiple areas of research including HIV/AIDS, Alzheimer’s disease, and SARS/COVID-19.”
Ghosh said his recognition by the NAI “underscores the importance of advancing chemistry and drug discovery research to save lives and improve health outcomes. I am humbled by the honor and very grateful for my colleagues and collaborators and the support of Purdue for fostering an environment that encourages innovation and supports transformative research.”