PUC engineering prof’s grant can benefit homeland security, law enforcement efforts

A Purdue University Calumet engineering professor has received a $167,400 United States Air Force research grant to develop a system for keyword spotting for use in monitoring telephone communication that can advance homeland security and law enforcement efforts.

Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Kaliappan Gopalan of Munster received the grant to develop a system for detecting the presence of keywords in a continuous stream of speech. The process involves locating and identifying spoken keywords that are part of extraneous speech and noise.

Keyword spotting has various applications.

“Using a system of keyword spotting in monitoring telephone conversations of sleeper cells and other terrorist suspects can be effective in detecting potential threats to the safety and security of our nation,” Gopalan said. “Similar applications occur in the law enforcement industry in the surveillance and monitoring of criminal suspects and prison inmates.”

In telephone calls, keyword spotting has been used to reduce or eliminate human interface in operator-assisted telephone calls and in directing callers to an appropriate service or department.

“I also hope to use the grant to help develop a speech-based system for the Air Force to determine the presence of keywords in communication between pilots and ground crew members,” Gopalan said.

His research will involve recognizing specific words through a fusion of different voice characteristics.

“This is a very prestigious grant,” Purdue Calumet Professor, Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Interim Head of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Chenn Zhou said. “It will provide opportunities of involvement for electrical and computer engineering students in the exciting field of speech and audio processing for forensic and emergency response applications.”

A Purdue Calumet faculty member since 1985, Gopalan holds a baccalaureate degree from the University of Madras (India), master’s degree from Indian Institute of Technology (Kanpur) and a Ph.D. from Akron (Ohio) University.

News Release Date: April 7, 2008