Keynote Speakers
Prof. Keith Ross
NYU Abu Dhabi, UAE
Biography: Keith Ross has served as a Professor of Computer Science at NYU Abu Dhabi since September 2023. His distinguished academic leadership includes a decade as the Dean of Computer Science, Data Science, and Engineering at NYU Shanghai, and ten years as the Leonard J. Shustek Professor at NYU Tandon. Prior to his tenure at NYU, he spent 13 years as a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and 5 years at the Eurecom Institute. He holds a Ph.D. in Computer and Control Engineering from the University of Michigan and is recognized globally as both an ACM Fellow and an IEEE Fellow, alongside receiving multiple prestigious best paper awards.
Professor Ross’s current research initiatives focus on Artificial Intelligence, specifically advancing reinforcement learning, deep learning, and reasoning mechanics within large language models. He has also published extensively across internet privacy, peer-to-peer networking, internet measurement systems, stochastic modeling, queuing theory, and Markov decision processes.
He is widely known as the co-author (with James F. Kurose) of *Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach Featuring the Internet*, published by Pearson (9th Edition, 2025). As the world's most widely adopted textbook on computer networking, it has been translated into fourteen languages. He is also the author of the research monograph, *Multiservice Loss Models for Broadband Communication Networks* (Springer, 1995). As an entrepreneur, Professor Ross co-founded and led Wimba in 1999—an online learning multimedia platform where he served as CEO and CTO until 2001. Wimba was subsequently acquired by Blackboard in 2010.
Prof. Pietro Manzoni
Polytechnic University of Valencia, Spain
Biography: Pietro Manzoni is a Professor of Computer Engineering at the Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain. He received his Master’s degree in Computer Science from the Università degli Studi of Milan in 1989, and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the Politecnico di Milano in 1995. His extensive international background includes research stints at Bellcore Labs (New Jersey, USA), the International Computer Science Institute (ICSI) in Berkeley (California, USA), and a visiting professorship at the University of Bologna, Italy.
His current research concentrates on pioneering intelligent sensing framework designs and data-driven systems utilizing TinyML-enabled edge sensors for localized inference and autonomous decision-making. His investigations address efficient data compilation, processing, and localized dissemination mechanics across large-scale IoT networks, specifically optimizing for environmental intelligence. A cornerstone of his methodology involves creating resilient communication topologies via LPWAN infrastructures and Publisher/Subscriber models within resource-constrained deployments.
Professor Manzoni coordinates the Computer Networks Research Group (GRC), is a Senior Member of the IEEE, a Technical Board Member of the IEEE Technical Committee on Hyper-Intelligence, a Founding Member of the IEEE Special Interest Group (SIG) on the Metaverse, and an active member of the ACM SIGCAS.
Prof. Omer F. Rana
Cardiff University, UK
Biography: Professor Omer Rana is a Professor of Performance Engineering and serves as the Dean of International for the Middle East at Cardiff University. His research focus lies at the intersection of highly scalable distributed computing topologies—encompassing both cloud infrastructures and edge paradigms—and intelligent data-driven application architectures.
He leads research looking into how specialized computational orchestration methods can optimize resource allocation, performance balancing, and runtime decision-making across complex distributed networks. Professor Rana maintains an extensive record of steering international research projects, serving on editorial advisory boards, and leading program steering committees for premiere computer science conferences. Detailed publications and research project indicators are available on his profile page: Cardiff University Faculty Profile.
Prof. Mohamed-Slim Alouini
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, KSA
Biography: Mohamed-Slim Alouini, was born in Tunis, Tunisia. He earned his Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in 1998 before serving as a faculty member at the University of Minnesota and later at Texas A&M University at Qatar. In 2009, he became a founding faculty member at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), where he currently is the Al-Khawarizmi Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the holder of the UNESCO Chair on Education to Connect the Unconnected. Dr. Alouini is a Fellow of the IEEE, OPTICA, and SPIE and his research interests encompass a wide array of research topics in wireless and satellite communications. He is currently particularly focusing on addressing the technical challenges associated with the deployment of information and communication technologies (ICT) in underserved and disaster-prone areas.
Invited Speakers
Prof. Manzoor Khan
Nokia Bell Labs, Murray Hill, USA
Biography: Dr. Manzoor Khan is the Director of the AI and Autonomous Systems Department at Nokia Bell Labs in Murray Hill, USA, where he directs cross-functional research and development teams across the United States, Germany, and Belgium. Honored with the prestigious title of "Top 100 Innovators of New Jersey," Dr. Khan possesses a rich background spanning corporate industrial labs and academia. He previously held a faculty position within the College of IT at UAE University, and served as the Research Director and Dozent at the Distributed Artificial Intelligence Laboratory of the Technical University Berlin, Germany.
Dr. Khan has spearheaded numerous large-scale transnational R&D frameworks, serving as the strategic lead for several of Germany's flagship technology programs. His core research specializations include Agentic AI, Physical AI, and autonomous AI governance infrastructures. A recipient of multiple best paper awards, he has authored an extensive catalogue of peer-reviewed articles, journal publications, and technical book chapters.
Dr. Norbert Tihanyi
Technology Innovation Institute, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Biography: Dr. Norbert Tihanyi earned a Bachelor’s degree in Security Engineering, a Master’s degree in Safety Engineering, and a second Master’s degree (with Honors) in IT Engineering. He completed his Ph.D. in Information Science and Technology at Eötvös Loránd University in 2020. Currently, he is an official Public Body Member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and functions as a Lead Researcher at the Technology Innovation Institute (TII) in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Dr. Tihanyi’s primary research domains reside in advanced cryptanalysis, hardware and embedded device security, software assurance, and prime number theory applications tied to cryptographic key derivation models.
Dr. Aamna AlShehhi
Khalifa University
Biography:
Dr. Aamna AlShehhi is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering at Khalifa University, where she leads the MedXAI Research Team. Prior to joining Khalifa University, she served as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and as an Honorary Research Associate at Imperial College London, contributing to pioneering research in healthcare technologies and artificial intelligence.
Her research focuses on the development and application of artificial intelligence, machine learning, signal processing, digital biomarkers, the Internet of Things (IoT), large language models, and Agentic AI to enable early disease detection, enhance clinical decision-making, and support personalized healthcare. She is particularly interested in advancing AI-driven solutions for neurodegenerative and rare diseases through the integration of multimodal data, including neuroimaging, electronic health records, wearable sensor data, and genomics.
She actively collaborates with leading international institutions, including MIT, Harvard Medical School, Purdue University, and EPFL, to translate cutting-edge research into practical healthcare solutions. Through her interdisciplinary research, Dr. AlShehhi aims to bridge the gap between AI innovation and clinical implementation, advancing the future of intelligent, personalized, and accessible healthcare.