Speaker Biography:
Dr. Mohammad Shahidehpour is a University Distinguished Professor at Illinois Institute of Technology (Illinois Tech). He also serves as the Galvin Chair Professor and Director of the Robert W. Galvin Center for Electricity Innovation at Illinois Tech. He is a Fellow of IEEE, AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science), NAI (National Academy of Inventors), CSEE (Chinese Society for Electrical Engineering) and the Aspen Academy. He is also a Laureate of Khwarizmi International Award and an elected member of the US National Academy of Engineering. He is listed as a highly cited researcher on the Web of Science (ranked in the top 1% by citations demonstrating significant influence among his peers).

Speaker Biography:
Izzet Kale is Professor Emeritus of Applied DSP and VLSI Systems and Honorary Director of the Applied DSP and VLSI Research Group (ADVRG) at the University of Westminster, which he founded in the late 1980s. He previously served as Institute and Research Director, Head of Engineering, and held academic and industry roles including Dean of Engineering at EMU and technical advisory positions for major corporations in Europe, the US, and Japan. His work has contributed to numerous next‑generation ICs, systems, and products in consumer electronics, biomedical instrumentation, and space applications, notably through collaborations with the European Space Agency. A long‑standing IEEE volunteer for nearly four decades, he is the Past Chair of the IEEE UK and Ireland Section (2022–23).
Kale is internationally recognized for over 40 years of contributions to low‑ and ultra‑low‑power DSP and mixed‑signal VLSI systems across sensors, communications, embedded systems, biomedical diagnostics, and satellite payloads. He has led more than 40 national and international applied R&D projects, authored over 390 papers, 11 patents, and 3 books, and supervised 44 PhD completions. His editorial roles include Associate Editor of the RIN Navigation Journal and membership on the IEEE Circuits and Systems Magazine board. He has chaired numerous conferences, including ISCAS 2025 in London, which achieved record participation. His current work focuses on efficient low‑power DSP algorithms, processors, Sigma‑Delta modulators, and intelligent sensor systems for biomedical and space applications.

Speaker Biography:
Burak Kantarci is a Professor in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Ottawa, where he holds the University Research Chair in AI-Enabled Secure Networking for Smart Critical Infrastructures. He is the Founding Director of the Smart Connected Vehicles Innovation Centre (SCVIC) and leads the NEXTCON Research Laboratory. His research focuses on AI-native networking, edge intelligence, trustworthy artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, network resilience, digital twins, and intelligent communication systems for critical infrastructures. He has authored/co-authored more than 300 peer-reviewed publications, holds multiple patents, and has led numerous collaborative research initiatives with industry and government partners. Dr. Kantarci serves as an IEEE Communications Society Distinguished Lecturer and an IEEE Systems Council Distinguished Lecturer. He is an Associate Editor of several leading IEEE journals, including IEEE Transactions on Network and Service Management, IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials, and IEEE Networking Letters. He also previously served as an Associate Editor for IEEE Internet of Things Journal and IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics. He is the recipient of the IEEE ComSoc Communications Software Technical Committee Technical Achievement Award (2023), the IEEE Canada J. M. Ham Outstanding Engineering Educator Medal (2026), the Ontario Minister's Award of Excellence in Innovation and Entrepreneurship (2021), the George S. Glinski Award for Excellence in Research, the King Charles III Coronation Medal (2025), and multiple IEEE Best Paper Awards. Dr. Kantarci is passionate about advancing trustworthy AI-native communication systems that bridge fundamental research and real-world impact through close collaboration with academia, industry, and government.

Speaker Biography:
Prof. Dr. Adnan Yazici is a Full Professor of Computer Science and Chair of the Department of Computer Science at the School of Engineering and Digital Sciences, Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Tulane University, USA, and previously served on the faculty of the Department of Computer Engineering at Middle East Technical University (METU), Türkiye, for 25 years. Prof. Yazici has authored more than 300 international scientific publications and three Springer books: Fuzzy Database Modeling, Fuzzy Logic in its 50th Year: New Developments, Directions, and Challenges, and Uncertainty Approaches for Spatial Data Modeling and Processing: A Decision Support Perspective. His research interests include artificial intelligence, multimodal wireless sensor networks, data science, machine learning, intelligent database systems, fuzzy systems, and algorithm design and analysis. He received the IBM Faculty Award in 2011 and the Parlar Foundation Young Investigator Award in 2001 in recognition of his research contributions. He has also played leading roles in organizing major international conferences, including serving as Conference Chair of the 23rd IEEE International Conference on Data Engineering (ICDE 2007), the 38th International Conference on Very Large Data Bases (VLDB 2012), and the 23rd IEEE International Conference on Fuzzy Systems (FUZZ-IEEE 2015). Prof. Yazici currently serves on the editorial boards of IEEE Transactions on Fuzzy Systems and Advances in Computational Intelligence, and is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Information Systems (Elsevier). His current research focuses on trustworthy AI, multimodal learning, explainable AI, healthcare analytics, and intelligent sensing systems for real-world applications.