Balaji Ramachandran, Ph.D., joined the Geomatics Program, Department of Applied Sciences at Nicholls State University in Aug of 2004. He developed the only Geomatics Program in the State of Louisiana. Dr. Ramachandran’s areas of interest include GIS, RS, UAS, Laser Scanning, Spatial Data Mining, Mobile and Pervasive Computing, Wearable Computing, Data Fusion, Digital Twin, Holographic Computing and GEOAI/ML/ DL. His research Drishti, a wireless pedestrian navigation system for the blind and disabled was featured in the Technology Section of the New York Times. The above work is applied for patent under the title “Pedestrian navigation and spatial relation device” and is currently pending (PGPUB# 20050060088). He has several publications in peer reviewed journals and conference proceedings. He is very active in various professional societies and organizations. He is currently an Associate Professor of Research in Geomatics. In this new role he will be working with BALANCED Media Technology (BMT) to develop the Coastal Data Refinery, an AI based Geospatial platform for the Nicholls Coastal Center.
SYNERGISTIC ACTIVITIES
Member of Engineering Advisory Board, St. Charles Public School Board, 2007 – 2010
Founding member and Vice President of Pelican Chapter of The Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) 2015 – 2022
Academic Director, Unmanned Systems Technical Section, Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) 2016 – 2020
Subject Matter Expert-National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) 2017 – Present
Board of Director, Surveying and Geomatics Educators Society (SaGES) 2017-2019
President, Surveying and Geomatics Educators Society (SaGES) 2022 – 2025
Subject Matter Expert– Louisiana Governor’s Watershed Initiative (LWI) 2020-Present
Subject Matter Expert– Louisiana Advanced Aviation and Drone Advisory Committee (LAADAC) 2021-Present
Vice President, ASPRS-Gulf South Region 2024-Present
