Engineer Spotlight

Sensing a Revolution

Sebastien Christian, has always had a passion for understanding how people build an inner, sharable model of the world through our senses, and how we use this model to describe the world we inhabit. It was this passion that led him to work as a speech and language pathologist with deaf children and those suffering from psychotic disorders, refining his understanding of sensor-based meaning creation and sharing, with emphasis on hearing. Then, leveraging his M.S. degree in quantum physics, M.S. degree in neuroscience, and a third degree in semantics, he created the first independent private R&D lab dedicated to bringing AI-driven innovations to people with sensing and cognitive disabilities. In 2013, Sebastien completed a full prototype of his “machine hearing” project, which led him to found OtoSense, a machine hearing platform focused on machine monitoring in the industrial and transportation verticals. OtoSense was acquired in April 2019 by Analog Devices, where, today, Sebastien leads OtoSense in the product development group.

On your ADI technology claim to fame ...
I helped develop OtoSense AI, an artificial intelligence dedicated to sensing interpretation, starting with the interpretation of sound and vibration. It is able to learn from data and interaction with humans about how to detect anomalies and name events, at the edge, in real time, offline. It can be deployed in your living room or on a rover on Mars.

On how it improves people’s lives ...
This technology improves people’s lives across the board! It has been validated for machine monitoring, streamlining work for maintenance professionals and reducing the risk of having people close to a machine that’s near a catastrophic failure. This same technology has been successfully tested in healthcare (cough monitoring for COPD patients, sleep apnea detection, chest sounds monitoring, elderly monitoring), building monitoring (increasing the safety of occupants by monitoring emergency areas and places where no camera could be installed), and a long list of upcoming applications.

On the engineering problems OtoSense solves ...
This tech really solves two major concerns: Real-time edge interpretation and AI for sensing interpretation. For real-time edge interpretation, sound and vibration are dense data, hundreds of kilobytes per second per sensor. You can’t send all the data from all the sensors to a remote cloud to do real-time analytics. The interpretation must happen at the edge, continuously, faster than the speed at which data arrives. For AI for sensing interpretation, it usually takes hours for a good engineer to browse through sensor data, analyze it, and report on findings. It usually takes a lifetime for technicians or engineers to fully understand a machine perfectly, and oftentimes, when these professionals are at their best, they retire! OtoSense can learn from these domain experts, every day, about any number of machines, and progressively become an expert itself.

On helping customers stay ahead of what’s possible ...
Today, it’s impossible to correctly maintain all machines, which leads to an inefficient and expensive system of scheduled and reactive maintenance. We’re bringing the possibility to embed a technician in the machine itself, constantly listening and assessing the machine’s behavior and health. This is ahead of what many in the industry believe is possible.

On the wow factor ...
When the technology is presented to customers, the “wow” effect arises when they realize that after a few minutes running, OtoSense can tell the usual from unusual, and interact with human experts to name the event, in real time, without any connection to a remote server.

On how this technology leverages ADI expertise ...
Sensing interpretation relies on sensing data, where Analog Devices excels. From sensing modalities along the signal chain conversion to digital, and digital processing capabilities, OtoSense outperforms the competition not just because of its algorithms, but also thanks to the precision and robustness of the signal it receives from the signal chain.

On working and staying at ADI ...
I love the fact that at ADI any engineer with an idea can give it a try, propose it, push it, expose it to the real world. This freedom, even though it must be dealt with carefully, has been part of ADI DNA since its creation and has proven its tremendous value. I believe we are the unique company able to deliver on the massive business of sensing interpretation, across all industries, controlling all its core aspects.

On what he looks for in young engineers ...
When I talk with new engineers, I look for a commitment to deliver, as a team, the experience the customer is expecting, even more than delivering an individual contribution to it. I also look for integrity, creativity, positive problem-solving attitude.

On advice to aspiring engineers ...
Don’t aim at being just a good engineer. There are technical revolutions waiting to be sparked everywhere and a changing world to adapt to. Spearhead this evolution.

On his passion outside of ADI ...
I love sailing and flying. Both are about moving in fluids with a lot of embedded electronics.