Dr Ekta Sharma

Dr Ekta Sharma
NameDr Ekta Sharma
Email Addressekta.sharma@unisq.edu.au
Job TitleLecturer (Mathematics)
QualificationsBSc Delhi, MSc Delhi, MPhil Delhi, PhD USQ
DepartmentSchool of Mathematics, Physics and Computing
AffiliationsCentre for Astrophysics
ORCIDhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-3692-382X
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Biography

Dr Ekta Sharma is an early career research academic at UniSQ. She is an author and a trailblazing artificial intelligence (AI) researcher in atmospheric (air quality) and space satellite sustainability (national intelligence community). Her primary field of research (FOR) code is Atmospheric Sciences (370100), 4611 (Machine Learning), 4602 (Artificial Intelligence) and Satellite Communications (400606).

Her work has been commended by the Deputy High Commissioner of the Australian High Commission to India for her innovative AI approach to early warning systems and air quality. With a success rate of 4%, she was the sole Queensland recipient of a National Intelligence Grant from the Office of National Intelligence (Canberra), enabling her to contribute to significant strategic projects for the Australian Government.

She has worked in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine (STEMM) in Asia, Europe, and Australia. Her bachelor's and dual master’s in operations research and mathematical sciences allow her to implement AI processes effectively and sustainably. Dr Sharma has developed data-driven solutions for organisations such as the Australian Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG), Office of National Intelligence (ONI), Bureau of Meteorology, and Swiss Telecom. She has authored seven non-profit books focused on empowering women and promoting gender diversity that have been launched globally on Women's International Day since 2018.

She has received competitive grants from the Department of Defence, Office of National Intelligence, The Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute (AMSI), and the ECR Joint Fellowship from India-Australia for air quality.

Awards:

2025: ECR Joint Fellowship Award from India-Australia in air quality.

2024: Women In AI Asia Pacific (APAC) award, Top Six Trailblazer Women in AI in Australia by 'Day of AI', AI Trailblazer by 'The Choice'.

2023: Women in Technology Award for Inspiring Excellence in Research and Education, Queensland Women in STEMM.

2022: VC award for excellence in Doctoral Research, Commendation, Deputy High Commissioner of the Australian High Commission to India.

2019: BHP-sponsored Choose Maths grant from AMSI.

Employment

PositionOrganisationFromTo
Lecturer (Mathematics) & Researcher (Artificial Intelligence)University of Southern Queensland2024
Vice-Chancellor's Research Fellow for Women in STEMMUniversity of Southern Queensland20222024
Learning AdvisorUniversity of Southern Queensland20182019
National Intelligence Community Research Fellow (AI)Australian Government20222024
Artificial Intelligence ResearcherDefence Science and Technology Group, APR20202021
Scientist, Institute of Data Analysis and Process DesignZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences20112012
Area Manager (Mathematics)Luchsinger Mathematics Aktiengesellschaft Switzerland20082009
Academic Consultant Institute of Management Studies, India20032007

Expertise

Applied Artificial Intelligence in atmospheric (air quality) and space satellite sustainability

Teaching

ENM1500 - Introductory Engineering Mathematics

ENM1600 - Engineering Mathematics

CSC6003 - Machine Learning

MAT5300 - Applied Operations Research A

MAT6400 - Applied Operations Research B

MAT2200 - Operations Research 1

MAT3201 - Operations Research 2

Fields of Research

  • 370102. Air pollution processes and air quality measurement
  • 370103. Atmospheric aerosols
  • 370106. Atmospheric radiation
  • 370108. Meteorology
  • 400606. Satellite communications
  • 400607. Signal processing
  • 400608. Wireless communication systems and technologies (incl. microwave and millimetrewave)
  • 461103. Deep learning
  • 461105. Reinforcement learning

Professional Membership

Professional MembershipYear
The Clean Air Society of Australia and New Zealand (CASANZ)
ARC Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers (ACEMS)
Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute (AMSI)
The Australian and New Zealand Association of Mathematical Physics (ANZAMP)
Australian Data Science Network (ADSN)
National Tertiary Education Union
IEEE
BSc
Delhi
2001
MSc
Delhi
2003
MPhil
Delhi
2006
PhD
USQ
2022

Current Supervisions

Research TitleSupervisor TypeLevel of StudyCommenced
Future-proofed Artificial Intelligence for Disasters ManagementAssociate SupervisorDoctoral2024

Completed Supervisions

Research TitleSupervisor TypeLevel of StudyCompleted
Artificial Intelligence Methods for Prediction of Atmospheric Visibility and Air Quality to Support Aviation and Health SectorsAssociate SupervisorMasters2024
Project titleDetailsYear
Australia India Women Researchers' STEM Collaboration with India, $9,000Artificial Intelligence and Climate Change: Leveraging Machine Learning for Sustainable Urban Air Quality, Dr E. Sharma (lead)2025
NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, $26,089AIDFAN - AI-based data Fusion and Air Quality Nowcasting, Prof R. Deo, Dr E. Sharma, Dr S. Ghimire & S. Karalasingham. 2024
University of Southern Queensland, $10,000Early Career Researcher Grant 2024
Office of National Intelligence, Australian Government, $349,962Internet of Space Things - Power-efficient Coded-Modulation Schemes for Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Satellite Communication. Dr E. Sharma (Awarded NIPG Fellow) & Prof R. Deo. 2022
Department of Defence, $26,000Efficient Algorithms for AI-enabled Communication- Australian Postgraduate Research Internships, Prof R Deo, Dr E Sharma & Defence Lead.2020
Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute (AMSI-Optimise) with Curtin UniversityContributing to the health of the mathematics pipeline in Australia from school through university2019
DateNameAwarding organisationUnderpinning research
2025Australian Women Researchers Award for STEM Collaboration with IndiaAustralia India Institute and funded by the Australian Government Department of Education.
2024Winner: Women In AI Asia Pacific (APAC) award, Category: Climate Women In AI Asia Pacific
2024Top Six Trailblazer Women in AI in AustraliaDay of AI
2024Artificial Intelligence Trailblazer The Chirp
2023Winner: Women in Technology Award for Inspiring Excellence in Research and EducationWomen in Technology
2022Finalist, Queensland Women in STEMM Queensland Museum with Australian Government
2022VC award for excellence in Doctoral Research, CommendationUniversity of Southern Queensland
2019BHP-sponsored Choose Maths award from AMSIAMSI funded by BHP
2022Media Articles The National Tribune, APAC Network, SBS, Ipswich and Mirage News, Australian Postgraduate Research Group, ABC Southern Queensland, UK Higher Education Academy UniSQ VC Newsletter, LinkedIn, and University News.

A hybrid air quality early-warning framework: an hourly forecasting model with online sequential extreme learning machines and empirical mode decomposition algorithms

Sharma, Ekta, Deo, Ravinesh C., Prasad, Ramendra and Parisi, Alfio V.. 2020. "A hybrid air quality early-warning framework: an hourly forecasting model with online sequential extreme learning machines and empirical mode decomposition algorithms." Science of the Total Environment. 709, pp. 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135934

Deep Air Quality Forecasts: Suspended Particulate Matter Modeling With Convolutional Neural and Long Short-Term Memory Networks

Sharma, Ekta, Deo, Ravinesh C., Prasad, Ramendra, Parisi, Alfio and Raj, Nawin. 2020. "Deep Air Quality Forecasts: Suspended Particulate Matter Modeling With Convolutional Neural and Long Short-Term Memory Networks." IEEE Access. 8, pp. 209503-209516. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2020.3039002

Artificial Intelligence and Clean Air: Development of Novel Algorithms with Machine Learning and Deep Learning

Sharma, Ekta. 2022. Artificial Intelligence and Clean Air: Development of Novel Algorithms with Machine Learning and Deep Learning. PhD by Publication Doctor of Philosophy. University of Southern Queensland. https://doi.org/10.26192/q7q7w

Novel hybrid deep learning model for satellite based PM10 forecasting in the most polluted Australian hotspots

Sharma, Ekta, Deo, Ravinesh C., Soar, Jeffrey, Prasad, Ramendra, Parisi, Alfio V. and Raj, Nawin. 2022. "Novel hybrid deep learning model for satellite based PM10 forecasting in the most polluted Australian hotspots." Atmospheric Environment. 279, pp. 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2022.119111

Artificial Intelligence-Empowered Doppler Weather Profile for Low-Earth-Orbit Satellites

Sharma, Ekta, Deo, Ravinesh C., Davey, Christopher P and Carter, Brad D.. 2024. "Artificial Intelligence-Empowered Doppler Weather Profile for Low-Earth-Orbit Satellites." Sensors. 24 (16). https://doi.org/10.3390/s24165271

Half-hourly electricity price prediction with a hybrid convolution neural network-random vector functional link deep learning approach

Ghimire, Sujan, Deo, Ravinesh C., Casillas-Perez, David, Sharma, Ekta, Salcedo-sanz, Sancho, Barua, Prabal and Acharya, U. Rajendra. 2024. "Half-hourly electricity price prediction with a hybrid convolution neural network-random vector functional link deep learning approach." Applied Energy. 374. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2024.123920

Towards next-generation federated learning: A case study on privacy attacks in artificial intelligence systems

Sharma, Ekta, Deo, Ravinesh C, Davey, Christopher P., Carter, Brad D. and Salcedo-sanz, Sancho. 2024. "Towards next-generation federated learning: A case study on privacy attacks in artificial intelligence systems." 2024 IEEE Conference on Artificial Intelligence (CAI 2024). Singapore 25 - 27 Jun 2024 United States. IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers). https://doi.org/10.1109/CAI59869.2024.00259

Poster: Cloud Computing with AI-empowered Trends in Software-Defined Radios: Challenges and Opportunities

Sharma, Ekta, Deo, Ravinesh C., Davey, Christopher P., Carter, Brad D. and Salcedo-sanz, Sancho. 2024. "Poster: Cloud Computing with AI-empowered Trends in Software-Defined Radios: Challenges and Opportunities." 2024 IEEE 25th International Symposium on a World of Wireless, Mobile and Multimedia Networks (WoWMoM 2024). Perth, Australia 04 - 07 Jun 2024 United States. IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers). https://doi.org/10.1109/WoWMoM60985.2024.00054

Atmospheric Visibility and Cloud Ceiling Predictions With Hybrid IIS-LSTM Integrated Model: Case Studies for Fiji's Aviation Industry

Raj, Shiveel, Deo, Ravinesh C., Sharma, Ekta, Prasad, Ramendra, Dinh, Toan and Salcedo-sanz, Sancho. 2024. "Atmospheric Visibility and Cloud Ceiling Predictions With Hybrid IIS-LSTM Integrated Model: Case Studies for Fiji's Aviation Industry." IEEE Access. 12, pp. 72530-72543. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2024.3401091

End-to-end learning of adaptive coded modulation schemes for resilient wireless communications

Davey, Christopher P., Shakeel, Ismail, Deo, Ravinesh C., Sharma, Ekta, Salcedo-sanz, Sancho and Soar, Jeffrey. 2024. "End-to-end learning of adaptive coded modulation schemes for resilient wireless communications." Applied Soft Computing. 159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asoc.2024.111672

An advanced deep learning predictive model for air quality index forecasting with remote satellite-derived hydro-climatological variables

Ahmed, Abul Abrar Masrur, Jui, S. Janifer Jabin, Sharma, Ekta, Ahmed, Mohammad Hafez, Raj, Nawin and Bose, Aditi. 2024. "An advanced deep learning predictive model for air quality index forecasting with remote satellite-derived hydro-climatological variables." Science of the Total Environment. 906. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.167234

A high dimensional features-based cascaded forward neural network coupled with MVMD and Boruta-GBDT for multi-step ahead forecasting of surface soil moisture

Jamei, Mehdi, Ali, Mumtaz, Karbasi, Masoud, Sharma, Ekta, Jamei, Mozhdeh, Chu, Xuefeng and Yaseen, Zaher Mundher. 2023. "A high dimensional features-based cascaded forward neural network coupled with MVMD and Boruta-GBDT for multi-step ahead forecasting of surface soil moisture." Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence. 120. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engappai.2023.105895

Deep Image Analysis for Microalgae Identification

Soar, Jeffrey, Lih, Oh Shu, Wen, Loh Hui, Ward, Aleth, Sharma, Ekta, Deo, Ravinesh C., Barua, Prabal Datta, Tan, Ru-San, Rinen, Eliezer and Acharya, Rajendra. 2023. "Deep Image Analysis for Microalgae Identification." Lecture notes in computer science. Switzerland . Springer. pp. 280-292

Modelling and Real-time Optimisation of Air Quality Predictions for Australia through Artificial Intelligence Algorithm

Sharma, Ekta, Deo, Ravinesh C., Prasad, Ramendra and Parisi, Alfio V.. 2019. "Modelling and Real-time Optimisation of Air Quality Predictions for Australia through Artificial Intelligence Algorithm." AMSI Optimise 2019. Perth, Australia 17 - 21 Jun 2019 Perth, Australia.

Connecting community online and through partnership: A reflective piece

Pickstone, Leigh, Sharma, Ekta, King, Rachel, Galligan, Linda and Langlands, Trevor. 2022. "Connecting community online and through partnership: A reflective piece." International Journal for Students as Partners. 6 (2), pp. 114-120. https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v6i2.4825

Deep learning CNN-LSTM-MLP hybrid fusion model for feature optimizations and daily solar radiation prediction

Ghimire, Sujan, Deo, Ravinesh C., Casillas-Perez, David, Salcedo-sanz, Sancho, Sharma, Ekta and Ali, Mumtaz. 2022. "Deep learning CNN-LSTM-MLP hybrid fusion model for feature optimizations and daily solar radiation prediction." Measurement. 202, pp. 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.measurement.2022.111759

Kernel Ridge Regression Hybrid Method for Wheat Yield Prediction with Satellite-Derived Predictors

Ahmed, A. A. Masrur, Sharma, Ekta, Jui, S. Janifer Jabin, Deo, Ravinesh C., Nguyen-Huy, Thong and Ali, Mumtaz. 2022. "Kernel Ridge Regression Hybrid Method for Wheat Yield Prediction with Satellite-Derived Predictors." Remote Sensing. 14 (5), pp. 1-24. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14051136

Air quality monitoring based on chemical and meteorological drivers: Application of a novel data filtering-based hybridized deep learning model

Jamei, Mehdi, Ali, Mumtaz, Malik, Anurag, Karbasi, Masoud, Sharma, Ekta and Yaseen, Zaher Mundher. 2022. "Air quality monitoring based on chemical and meteorological drivers: Application of a novel data filtering-based hybridized deep learning model." Journal of Cleaner Production. 374, pp. 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.134011

Spatiotemporal Hybrid Random Forest Model for Tea Yield Prediction Using Satellite-Derived Variables

Jui, S. Janifer Jabin, Ahmed, A. A. Masrur, Bose, Aditi, Raj, Nawin, Sharma, Ekta, Soar, Jeffrey and Chowdhury, Md Wasique Islam. 2022. "Spatiotemporal Hybrid Random Forest Model for Tea Yield Prediction Using Satellite-Derived Variables." Remote Sensing. 14 (3), pp. 1-18. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14030805