About
Dr. Simant Prakoonwit, BEng, MSc, PhD, DIC, MIEEE, FHEA, is an Associate Professor (AI in Medicine and Healthcare). He also serves as the Deputy Director of the MSc Programme in Medical Technology, Innovation and Design. His current research focuses on developing next-generation AI technologies for medical device innovation, healthcare applications, and intelligent systems that bridge the gap between academic research and clinical practice. See Biography for more details.
Research
Research interests
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Medicine and Healthcare
- Machine Learning
- Biomedical Engineering
Current research
Selected Examples of Funded Projects
PI: Principal Investigator
CoI: Co-Investigator
Current projects
- (PI) Funder: Innovate UK KTP with industry partner, AI for image moderation and AI customer assistant
- (PI) A novel artificial intelligence technique for the design of vehicle electrical systems (pending)
Completed projects
- (PI) Funder: Innovate UK AKT (Accelerated Knowledge Transfer) with industry partner, AI-Enabled Image Moderation for a Trustworthy Image-sharing Platform (Selected by Innovate UK to be one of the top 10 AKT project case studies)
- (CoI) Funder: Innovate UK Smart Grant. Believable Agent Behaviour (BAB) for Data-Driven Real-Time VR with industry partner - Using AI (deep learning neural networks) to simulate and visualise 3D virtual characters in Unity game engine.
NB: in charge of the whole AI part of the project.
- (PI) Funder: SME, Industry partnered PhD studentship, Interactive visualisation guided hybrid artificial intelligence system for insurance fraud detection
- (PI) Funder: SME, Industry partnered PhD studentship, Intelligent Interactive Immersive Simulation and Visualisation System for Radiography Training
- (PI) Funder: SME, Industry partnered PhD studentship, Artificial intelligence-assisted virtual reality system for blockchain network
- (PI) Funder: SME, Industry partnered PhD studentship, Novel artificial intelligence method for chain decision in blockchain technology
- (PI) Funder: SME, Artificial intelligence framework for the insurance industry
- (PI) Funder: Guide Dogs UK, Improving orientation, mobility and wellbeing for the visually impaired using AI for assistive technology
- (PI) Funder: SME, Industry partnered PhD studentship, Intelligent Transportation Analytical Model for SMEs Coach Operators
- (CoI) Funder: SME company, Industry partnered PhD studentship, An Intelligent Safety Transport Framework for Hired Coaches for School Transport
- (PI) Funder: UoB, Simulation of 3D constricted human airways model and intelligent 3D multiview X-ray scanning for security applications
- (PI) Funder: UK Ministry of Defence (DSTL), AI 3D multiview X-ray scanning for security applications
- (PI) Funder: UK Ministry of Defence (DSTL), AI Object 3D X-ray Modelling/Simulation/Imaging
- (CoI) Funder: NHS, UK, A Computational Biomechanical Analysis of Lateral Epicondylitis
- (PI) Funder: Brunel University, Intelligent stereo-vision Positioning Systems for Blind and Visually Impaired
- (CoI) Funder: HEFCE 2x ORS studentships.
- (CoI) Funder: Home Office Police Scientific Development Branch, 3D X-ray Reconstruction for Security Applications.
Publications
(Coming soon)
Teaching
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Biomedical Engineering
Medical Device Invention
Global Healthcare Innovation and Design
Biography
Dr. Simant Prakoonwit is an Associate Professor (AI in Medicine and Healthcare) at the University of Southampton's School of Healthcare Enterprise and Innovation, Faculty of Medicine, where he also serves as the Deputy Director of the MSc Programme in Medical Technology, Innovation & Design. He specialises in using artificial intelligence and machine learning to solve complex challenges in medicine, healthcare and industry.
With a BEng in Electronic Engineering (Medical Electronics) from Thailand’s Chulalongkorn University, he was awarded a prestigious British Government Scholarship to pursue his postgraduate studies at Imperial College London. There, he earned an MSc in Communications and Signal Processing, a DIC (Diploma of Imperial College) in Engineering Applied to Medicine, and a PhD in AI and Computer Vision Applied to Medicine.
Following his PhD, Dr. Prakoonwit held a Postdoctoral Research Associate position at Imperial’s Department of Bioengineering, working on advanced projects funded by the UK Home Office, developing AI-driven security and medical screening technologies. Imperial College patented the work.
Throughout his career, Dr. Prakoonwit has held many academic and leadership positions at several UK universities, including Brunel University, the University of Reading and Bournemouth University. His leadership roles have included Undergraduate Programme Director, Head of Education and Postgraduate Academic Director, where he had strategic oversight of 21 MSc programmes and over 300 students.
As a researcher, Dr. Prakoonwit has almost 70 peer-reviewed publications and 19 funded projects working closely with a diverse range of partners like SMEs, InnovateUK, the NHS and the Guide Dog. His projects involve developing AI for biomedical technologies, AI for various business applications, particularly for SMEs, and biomedical simulations.
He has supervised 16 PhD students (12 as 1st Supervisor and 4 as 2nd Supervisor) and 3 postdoctoral researchers, many of whom have achieved significant recognition, including the Institute of Directors (IoD) Student of the Year Award.
Dr. Prakoonwit’s contributions to the field have been recognised with several awards, including the IEEE Innovation and Creativity Prize for the work on human airways modelling.
He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) and Member of IEEE (MIEEE). He also regularly contributes to international conferences and serves on numerous technical and scientific committees. He has examined over 20 PhD theses at institutions including Imperial College London, Swansea University, and the University of Surrey, and serves as an external examiner for degree programmes at universities across the UK, China, and South Africa.
His current research at Southampton focuses on developing next-generation AI technologies for medical device innovation, healthcare applications, and intelligent systems that bridge the gap between academic research and clinical practice.