Beena Ahmed

Associate Professor Beena Ahmed is a faculty member in the School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications at the University of New South Wales (UNSW). She received her B.Sc. Engineering in Electrical Engineering from the University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan in 1993 and her Ph.D. from UNSW in 2004. Prior to joining UNSW in 2017, she served as an Assistant Professor at Texas A&M University at Qatar.

Dr. Ahmed's research focuses on applying signal processing, machine learning, and remote monitoring technologies to healthcare and therapeutic applications. Her work spans several key areas:

• Developing algorithms to track cognitive ability in the elderly using paralinguistic features
• Creating systems to recognize speech production errors for patients undergoing speech therapy
• Adapting automatic speech recognition for people with speech impairments
• Using wearable physiological sensors to identify correlates of mental stress
• Developing biofeedback mobile games to teach relaxation skills
• Detecting malignant oral cancer tumors using fluorescence imaging
• Monitoring sleep disorders with minimally invasive sensors

Dr. Ahmed's publications demonstrate a strong trend toward interdisciplinary research that bridges engineering with healthcare, with increasing focus on machine learning applications in medical diagnostics and therapeutic interventions. Her recent work shows particular emphasis on oral cancer detection, cognitive assessment through speech analysis, and remote speech therapy applications.

Among her notable achievements, Dr. Ahmed was named a Superstar of STEM by Science and Technology Australia in 2019 and received the Texas A&M University at Qatar Teaching Award in 2017. She has secured numerous research grants totaling millions of dollars from various funding bodies including the Australian Research Council and Qatar National Research Fund.

Dr. Ahmed is actively involved in mentoring students and has supervised numerous research projects focused on biomedical signal processing, speech technology, and healthcare applications. Her work bridges engineering with healthcare, creating innovative solutions for real-world medical challenges.