
The two-day second International Conference on Metaheuristics in Engineering and its Applications (Metasoft-2024) concluded at Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan Deemed-to-be University (SOA) in Bhubaneswar on January 11 with experts expressing the view that metaheuristic algorithms could be deployed to get quicker results in research within reasonable time with good accuracy.
Metaheuristic algorithms are computational intelligence paradigms often used for sophisticated solving optimisation problems.
The conference, which was organised in hybrid mode by the Department of Computer Application of Institute of Technical Education and Research (ITER), faculty of engineering and technology of SOA, was attended by academics, researchers, research scholars and students from across the globe, stated a press release from the institute.
Prof Aryabartta Sahu, Professor of IIT, Guwahati, graced the inaugural ceremony as the chief guest while Prof Chandrasekhar Perumalla of IIT, Bhubaneswar, attended as the guest of honour. Prof. Pradipta Kumar Nanda, Vice-Chancellor of SOA, presided.
Prof Sahu underlined the importance of the conference, saying metaheuristic applications helped researchers to get results quickly with good accuracy. The conference had received 157 high quality research papers, he said.
Prof Perumalla focused on multi-disciplinary engineering research, saying the organisation of such conferences was the need of the hour.
Prof Nanda said that SOA had been encouraging the organisation of more such international conferences. “SOA has developed a research eco-system,” he said.
The inaugural session was also addressed by Prof PK Sahu, Dean of ITER; Prof Kaberi Das, Head of Department, Department of Computer Application; and Prof Bichitrananda Patra, Programme Chair. Prof Debabrata Singh, Convenor of Metafest 2024, proposed the vote of thanks.
The keynote speakers at the conference, besides Prof Sahu and Prof Perumalla, included Prof Bibhudatta Sahoo, Professor at the National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, Prof Sujata Dash, Professor at Nagaland University, Dimapur and Prof Debabrata Samanta, Assistant Professor at Rochester Institute of Technology, Kosovo who spoke on the second day. Prof PK Patra, Dean, Research and Industrial Consultancy (SRIC), presided.