invited speakers
Click on a picture to jump to that talk.Title: Higher Education and Emerging Technologies
Professor & Pro-Rector Academics
GIK Institute of Engineering Sciences & Technology, Pakistan
This invited talk examines how emerging technologies are reshaping higher education—curriculum design, research culture, and institutional readiness—so universities can prepare graduates for AI-enabled, digitally connected communities.
Prof Dr Syed Muhammad Hassan Zaidi, is the chief academic officer overseeing academic and research pursuits of the University, ensuring the growth and prosperity of its students, faculty and allied academic staff. Dr Zaidi is an illustrious researcher and practitioner in IT education, with credentials as a scholar of remarkable vision and commitment. He acquired his MS and PhD from the University of South Florida, USA (1988-1993).
Prior to joining GIKI, he spent three decades at Pakistan’s leading university, NUST, wherein he has the distinction of being the founding head of the NUST IT wing NIIT, which subsequently transformed to NUST School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (NUST-SEECS). He served in various academic leadership positions as Principal, Dean, and Head of Academics for 21 years and transformed it into the premier institution of NUST.
During his distinguished academic research career spanning over three decades, he has published over 100 research papers in prestigious international journals/conferences. He is the recipient of several coveted honours and awards, which notably include: NCR National IT Excellence Award for Research and Development and Gold Medal for the year 2000 – 2001; NCR National Excellence Award for IT Education in the year 2003; HEC Best Teacher Award in the year 2004. In September 2006, Charlotte Research Institute (CRI), USA conferred on him the status of “Duke Energy Distinguished Research Visiting Scholar. Dr Zaidi has the distinction of pioneering and co-chairing the US-Pakistan International Symposium on High-Capacity Optical Networks and Enabling Technologies (HONET), a regular annual event since Dec 2004. He has also won two President Gold medals for being proclaimed the BEST Researcher of the Year and the Best Teacher in Information Technology. On 14th August 2008, he won the President’s Pride of Performance Award for his meritorious services in the field of Information Technology at the National/International Level.
His current research interests include: High speed networks including Photonics and 6G, IoT using Machine/Deep Learning, Cyber security, Quantum Internet and Quantum Machine Learning.
Title: Smart Cities and Communities
CEO, Silicon Village
Islamabad, Pakistan
This invited talk explores practical pathways for building smart cities and communities—connecting technology, infrastructure, and people to improve quality of life through scalable, inclusive digital solutions.
Mr. Abid Kabir Cheema is CEO of Silicon Village, Islamabad, Pakistan. Biography details will be updated when available.