Meet the Leaders

Dr. Pankaj Shivdayal Wasnik
Principal Research Scientist

Naoyuki Onoe
Associate Director

Dr. Nirmesh J. Shah
Research Scientist
Principal Research Scientist
Associate Director
Research Scientist
At Sony, we strive to create a world where the diversity of our people shines, making them feel at home.
We enthuse them to find their wings and fly toward their dreams of future research and innovation
Dr. Dr. Pankaj Wasnik’s deep-rooted interest in research on Computer Vision and Biometrics domain have anchored his career to touch great heights. Today, Dr. Pankaj Wasnik, is a senior researcher carrying out state-of-the-art AI/ML research at Sony Research India. He has 10+ years of experience in delivering innovative, high-performing solutions to complex business needs. He aims to create end to end innovative solutions through rigorous R&D while working at Sony.
His research feats have been authored and co-authored into several publications and patents. Not only that, many of his research works are published in well-known conferences such as CVPR, ICB, and BTAS. His contributions to the Biometric domain are commendable, as he has been a reviewer of 2 well-known IEEE transaction journals and multiple conferences.
His pool of knowledge comes from several institutions that have been an integral part of his research journey. He has a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the Dept. of Information Security and Communication Technology, NTNU, Norway, and Masters in Medical Image Analysis from IIT Kharagpur. He received his bachelor’s in Instrumentation Engineering from SGGSIE&T, Nanded.
He is a significant addition to Sony Research India.Here, with the help of Computer Vision and Signal Processing researchers, he is leading many important projects in the Media Analysis group
Sony’s vision to establish a research division in India to promote and provide innovation for the Indian society inspired him greatly and motivated him to be a part of this path-breaking journey. He is excited to be a part of this new R&D organization in India. He strongly believes that setting up such advanced R&D labs in India would provide unique research and development opportunities for him to soar professionally and personally.
Apart from being a researcher, he is a roadster. Whenever time permits, he drives away on his motorcycle, exploring the many natural beauties of India. The longest road trip he took was to the Himalayas where he rode for almost 1500 kms experiencing the most mesmerising views on the surface of the earth. Time with his family is precious to him and he enjoys listening to old hindi songs, classic rock. He is also a cinephile.
Dr. S. K. Agrawal carries core research expertise to develop affordable handheld healthcare devices and aims to build easy-to-use digital healthcare devices using cutting-edge AI technology for the common man, thereby reducing the gap between patients and doctors in urban and rural areas.
Sachin holds a Ph.D. in Artificial Intelligence and a Master's degree in Signal Processing and has extensive experience in research, innovation, and the domain of patents. He applies innovation jointly with artificial intelligence (AI) /machine learning (ML) to commercial products and is an expert in ‘Intelligent Innovation for Monetization’.
His knowledge extends to digital devices, wearables, mobile phones, multimedia, wireless, telecom, advertising, healthcare, and entertainment sectors. He has reviewed various research papers for international conferences and journals. He has developed core technology products with 3 innovative patents as World’s First Inventor, 20 patented technology concepts, and 20 research papers under his belt.
His core competencies lie in Competitive Business Strategy, and Trending Market Product Features and has been awarded nationally and internationally. He is a subject matter expert on various AI/ML-based committees.
In his time away from work, Sachin enjoys painting portraits of Lord Ganesh and has a portfolio of more than 100 pieces of art. He also looks forward to travelling to new cities, exploring their culture, picking up on their local languages and practising their customs.
A peek into their World of Wonder. The #SonyWOW internship is a world in itself where interns blend into Sony’s curiosity to dream, create and innovate with care, learning to bring reality closer to people.
“Working at a company like Sony specially in its R&D division is a dream come true. You are part of an organization which is loved and revered by millions of people around the world. I have been given the opportunity to work with other research scientists on state-of-the-art technologies on deep learning and computer vision domain and publish research papers in top conferences. At Sony Research India, the work culture is awesome, and the resources are immense. The thing that I love most is that your ideas matter here. You are provided with full support and autonomy to brainstorm and materialize your own ideas and bring fruitful results on the table. The leaders here are extremely helpful and always motivate you to bring the best in yourself. The thing that drives me and excites me most is that my research work here when implemented in products and services will help millions of consumers of Sony. What else does one want as a computer vision researcher?”
“Interning at Sony Research India has been a fruitful, learning experience. From thinking about platforms in a simple frontend/backend architecture, I got to learn a lot about how to build end-to-end systems at the production level, and their orchestration and deployment on the cloud. I got the opportunity to work on real-life projects challenging daily life issues. I got exposure to practices followed at the industry level."
“Sony is one of those companies I’ve always looked at in reverential awe. The firm is known for its quality products and for having a strong foothold in various industries - ranging from consumer electronics to movies and music labels, throughout the world. Applying for this internship is probably one of the smartest decisions I made, and I’ve found my niche here in Sony Research India. Here we’re given the responsibility and the credit for taking key engineering decisions that directly affect the quality of the products we develop, at a production level. New ideas are always encouraged here, and this makes it a perfect environment for a young engineer, like myself, to try and come up with innovative ideas to build better products. We’re also surrounded by excellent scholars, scientists, and researchers, who constantly guide us to become better engineers and researchers. The experience and the exposure that I’ve received working here in Sony Research India is something that I’m very grateful for. Thank you, Sony!"
“From my childhood, I have been a huge fan of Sony products, mostly their quality, ranging from TVs, cameras, headphones to PlayStations. It's a dream come true to intern at Sony Research India. It is the Sony culture to empower, to offer equal opportunity, to collaborate, and to express mutual respect. As a Data Science Intern working in cutting-edge technologies like Big Data, Machine Learning, AWS, I am extremely fortunate to work with great minds. It gave me the freedom to be able to create powerful and engaging solutions that will be used by millions of people all over the world. There is excellent Guidance and Mentorship here to help you achieve your goals. Every day, I am delighted to be surrounded by the #SonyWOW culture with challenges and immersive projects."
“I still remember the day I received the offer for working at Sony Research India. From that day till now, it has been a wonderful journey here. I got the opportunity to work on real life projects under guidance of such experienced people. Also, one thing which amazed me was the way in which I am allocated tasks during my internship, starting with easy level tasks of projects and then slowly the level was increased. Adding to it the amazing aspect of working at Sony is that the personal life of employees is always taken care off and if there is emergency or need of a leave, the process is super smooth. Ranging from working on Recommendation Systems of OTT Platform to celebrating festivals or any occasion, Sony Research India provides opportunity and experience in all aspects."