Conference

Speakers

Professor Thrishantha Nanayakkara leads the Morph Lab at Imperial College London's Dyson School of Design Engineering. His research delves into the synergy between brain, body, and environment, utilizing soft robotics to explore embodied intelligence. A prolific scholar with over 150 publications, he has held positions at esteemed institutions like Harvard, MIT, and Johns Hopkins. Notably, he established a bio-inspired robotics lab at the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, contributing to humanitarian landmine detection efforts. His work has secured over £5 million in research funding, advancing our understanding of human-robot interactions and the role of mechanical intelligence in perception and action.

Dr. Grace Lewis is a Principal Researcher at the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute (SEI) where she conducts applied research on how software engineering and software architecture principles, practices, and tools need to evolve in the face of emerging technologies. She is the principal investigator for the Automating Mismatch Detection and Testing in Machine Learning Systems project that is developing toolsets to support these two activities, in addition to other projects that are advancing the state of the practice in software engineering for machine learning (SE4ML). She is also the lead for the Tactical and AI-Enabled Systems (TAS) applied research and development team at the SEI that is creating and transitioning innovative solutions, principles, and best practices for (1) architecting and developing systems to support teams operating at the tactical edge in resource-constrained environments, (2) engineering AI software systems, and (3) using AI/ML at the edge for improved capabilities and mission support. She is currently the First Vice President of the IEEE Computer Society and the Society Representative on the Future Direction Committee on AI Coalition. Dr. Lewis holds a BSc in Software Systems Engineering and a Post-Graduate Specialization in Business Administration from Icesi University in Cali, Colombia; a Master in Software Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University; and a PhD in Computer Science from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

Madhusanka Liyanage, IEEE Senior Member (2020), is an Assistant Professor/Ad Astra Fellow and Director of Graduate Research at the School of Computer Science, University College Dublin, Ireland. He is also acting as a Docent/Adjunct Professor at the Center for Wireless Communications, University of Oulu, Finland, and Honorary Adjunct Professor at the Department of Electrical and Information Engineering, University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka. He received his Doctor of Technology degree in communication engineering from the University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland, in 2016. From 2011 to 2012, he worked as a Research Scientist at the I3S Laboratory and Inria, Sophia Antipolis, France. He was also a recipient of the prestigious Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Individual Fellowship and Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Fellowship during 2018-2020. During 2015-2018, he has been a Visiting Research Fellow at the CSIRO, Australia, the Infolabs21, Lancaster University, U.K., Computer Science and Engineering, The University of New South Wales, Australia, School of IT, University of Sydney, Australia, LIP6, Sorbonne University, France and Computer Science and Engineering, The University of Oxford, U.K. He is also a senior member of IEEE. In 2020, he received the "2020 IEEE ComSoc Outstanding Young Researcher" award by IEEE ComSoc EMEA. In 2021, he was ranked among the World's Top 2% Scientists (2020) in the List prepared by Elsevier BV, Stanford University, USA. Also, he was awarded an Irish Research Council (IRC) Research Ally Prize as part of the IRC Researcher of the Year 2021 awards for the positive impact he has made as a supervisor. He is also currently an expert consultant at European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA). In 2021, Liyanage was elevated as Funded Investigator of Science Foundation Ireland CONNECT Research Centre, Ireland. Moreover, he is an expert reviewer at different funding agencies in France, Qatar, UAE, Sri Lanka, and Kazakhstan. Dr. Liyanage's research interests are 5G/6G, SDN, IoT, Blockchain, MEC, mobile, and virtual network security. More info: www.madhusanka.com .

Professor Thrishantha Nanayakkara leads the Morph Lab at Imperial College London's Dyson School of Design Engineering. His research delves into the synergy between brain, body, and environment, utilizing soft robotics to explore embodied intelligence. A prolific scholar with over 150 publications, he has held positions at esteemed institutions like Harvard, MIT, and Johns Hopkins. Notably, he established a bio-inspired robotics lab at the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, contributing to humanitarian landmine detection efforts. His work has secured over £5 million in research funding, advancing our understanding of human-robot interactions and the role of mechanical intelligence in perception and action.

IEEE Fellow Mary Ellen Randall is serving as the 2025 IEEE President-Elect and is set to officially assume the presidency on 1st of January 2026.
A dedicated IEEE leader, Randall has made significant contributions to the organization through various leadership roles, including IEEE Treasurer, Director of IEEE Region 3, Chair of IEEE Women in Engineering, and Vice President of IEEE Member and Geographic Activities. In 2016, she founded the IEEE MOVE program, which provides disaster relief and promotes STEM education, highlighting her commitment to community service and technological advancement.
As a member of the IEEE-Eta Kappa Nu honor society, Randall has received several prestigious awards, including the 2020 IEEE Haraden Pratt Award for her exceptional volunteer service.
Beyond IEEE, Randall is a trailblazer in technology and innovation. In 2000, she founded Ascot Technologies in Cary, North Carolina, where she serves as the award-winning CEO. Her company specializes in developing enterprise applications that utilize mobile data delivery technologies, showcasing her expertise in pushing the boundaries of technological innovation.