Meet Our Speakers

Leaders in AI, robotics, and digital innovation

Keynote Speech Title: Smart Infrastructure for Sustainable Cities

Professor Bamidele Adebisi MBE

Professor in Intelligent Infrastructure Systems and Director of Smart Communities and Innovations at the Department of Engineering, Manchester Metropolitan University (UK)

Bamidele is a Professor in Intelligent Infrastructure Systems and serves as the Director of Smart Communities and Innovations at the Department of Engineering, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. He also holds the position of Director and Board Member at the African Hydrogen Partnership Trade Association (AHP), Mauritius, and is a key member of the leadership team at the Manchester Fuel Cell Innovation Centre, UK. He has an extensive publication record and has delivered numerous talks and participated in panel discussions on topics including clean energy, smart cities and communities, Industry 4.0, the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and cyber-physical systems. He has contributed to several multi-partner, multi-country, multi-million-pound projects funded by government bodies, international agencies, and corporate entities. He was a senior partner in the establishment of one of the largest knowledge-driven low-carbon districts in Europe, incorporating sustainable urban mobility and integrated infrastructures and processes through Triangulum, a €29M European Union Horizon 2020-funded, award-winning five-year smart cities project. The University campus was used as a testbed (Living lab) to prove that low-carbon, cost-efficient sustainable energy solutions are possible. He was also the Lead Researcher of NIceEnergi - Nigeria Intelligent Clean Energy Marketplace, a renewable energy project funded by the Department for International Development (DFID). It piloted a green energy market platform in Abuja, Nigeria. Bamidele has a proven track record in securing industry-related grants through Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP), with two projects receiving the UK Best of the Best KTP Projects of the Year Awards in September 2020 and November 2024. He was honoured with The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2025 King's New Year Honours list for his services to Knowledge Transfer. Professor Adebisi is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and a Chartered Engineer

Keynote Speech Title: Energy Edge Intelligence for Sustainable Cities

Sabita Maharjan

Full Professor at the Department of Informatics, University of Oslo (since September 2022)

Sabita Maharjan [SM'19] is a Full Professor at the Department of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway from September 2022. She received her Ph.D. degree in Networks and Distributed Systems from the University of Oslo and Simula Research Laboratory, Norway, in 2013. She worked as a Research Engineer in Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R), Singapore in 2010. She was a Visiting Scholar at Zhejiang Univeristy (ZU), Hangzhou, China in 2011, and a Visiting Research Collaborator in University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (UIUC), USA in 2012. From 2014-2016 she worked as a Postdoctoral researcher at Simula Research Laboratory (SRL), Norway. From 2017-2022, She worked as a Senior Research Scientist at SRL and SimulaMet, Norway and as an Associate Professor at the University of Oslo, Norway. Professor Maharjan is a recipient of the IEEE TCGCC Outstanding Young Researcher Award 2020. She is the Highly Cited Researcher for 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 according to Web of Science- which is an accolade given in recognition of the exceptional research performance demonstrated by multiple highly cited papers that rank in the top 1% of citations for field and year- worldwide.
Professor Maharjan’s academic services include her role as the - Vice Chair of the IEEE Communications Society Technical Commidee on Green Communications and Computing (TCGCC) SIG on Green AI - Editor for IEEE Transactions on Green Communications and Networking (IEEE TGCN) - Associate Editor for the IEEE Internet of Things Journal (IoT-J) - Associate Editor for the IEEE Open Computer Society Journal, and - Guest Editor for top-tier journals such as IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications (IEEE JSAC), IEEE Trans. on Green Communications and Networking (IEEE TGCN), IEEE Access.
Professor Maharjan is the General Co-Chair of the IEEE VTC Spring 2025 to be held in Oslo Norway in June 2025, the Technical Program Commidee Chair of IEEE SmartGridComm 2024 held in Oslo Norway in Sept. 2024; and the Symposium Chair for the Green Communication Systems and Networks Symposium in the IEEE Globecom 2024- held in Capetown, South Africa in December 2024. In the past, she has contributed actively in the technical program commidees of conferences including top conferences like IEEE INFOCOM and IEEE IWQoS. Her current research interests include Energy informatics, vehicular networks, 5G Beyond and 6G, network security, Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence for networks.

Keynote Speech Title: Agentic AI domain using Voyage Companion – our AI Travel Tech startup

Sydney Eneremadu

Founder, Voyage Companion | Conversational AI & Generative AI Innovator (Edinburgh, Edinburgh, City of, United Kingdom)

Sydney Eneremadu is a builder at the forefront of Generative AI, Agentic AI, and Conversational AI. He founded the European Chatbot Summit and Africa Chatbot & Conversational AI Summit, creating platforms that unite leading minds innovating in dialogue systems, virtual agents, voice interfaces, and GenAI applications. Through his company, Voyage Companion, Sydney is transforming the TravelTech industry by using AI to personalise experiences, streamline operations, and empower tour operators. His work focuses on connecting global AI ecosystems, supporting early-stage founders, and fostering collaboration among researchers, developers, and applied AI professionals. Sydney is passionate about driving impactful initiatives in Conversational AI, Agentic AI systems, Large Language Models (LLMs), and community-building, actively seeking opportunities to co-create solutions that advance the field.

Keynote Speech Title: From Vision to Impact: Bridging AI Innovation and Real- World Outcomes in Sustainable Cities.

Omololu Makinde, PhD Profile

Head of MLOps & Generative AI at Ofcom’s AI Centre of Excellence

Omololu (Lolu) is a strategic AI and Machine Learning leader with experience delivering enterprise-scale AI strategies, platforms, and products across government, consulting, and fintech. He has a proven track record of defining and executing AI transformation roadmaps, building and leading high-performing global teams, and delivering production-grade solutions that generate measurable business value. Currently heading MLOps and Generative AI initiatives at OFCOM’s AI Centre of Excellence, Lolu has delivered a 50% uplift in operational efficiency through intelligent automation. His expertise spans AI transformation, large-scale ML deployment, and Generative AI (LLMs, RAG, LangChain) implementation on cloud-native platforms including Azure, AWS, and Databricks. Lolu blends hands-on technical depth with board-level strategic vision, ensuring AI innovation is tightly aligned with organisational priorities, regulatory frameworks (e.g., GDPR), and stakeholder impact. He is recognised for his ability to navigate complex governance environments while accelerating AI adoption at scale.

Keynote Speech Title: Evolution Towards 6G through AI/ML Integration

Dr Dejan Vukobratović

Professor at the University of Novi Sad (Serbia).

Dr Dejan Vukobratović received a PhD.degree in electrical engineering from University of Novi Sad, Serbia, in 2008, where he is currently a Full Professor. During 2009- 2010, he was Marie Curie postdoctoral fellow at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK, after which he was supported by 3-year Marie Curie Reintegration Grant. He has published more than 50 journal papers and 100 conference papers in top-tier IEEE journals and conferences. He received a best paper award at IEEE MMSP 2010 and IEEE SmartGridComm 2017. He was TPC Co-Chair of IEEE VTC Spring 2020 (Antwerp) and IEEE SmartGridComm 2022 (Singapore), Symposia Chair on IEEE SmartGridComm 2021 (Aachen) and IEEE International Conference on Communications 2023 (Rome), he was General Chair for BalkanCom 2021 (Novi Sad), IEEE CSCN 2024 and FCN 2025 (Belgrade). His research group was involved in a number of EU and national projects (H2020 C4IIoT, H2020 COLLABS, H2020 SENSIBLE, HE REMARKABLE), and he was the coordinator of the H2020 project INCOMING. His research interests include wireless communications, signal processing, machine learning and information theory applied in mobile cellular systems (5G and beyond 5G) and IoT communications.

Keynote Speech Title: Practical Demonstration of AI Innovation in Emqopter

Dr Nils Gageik

Founder & Managing Partner • Chief Engineer, Emqopter GmbH

Dr Nils Gageik graduated with a degree in computer engineering from RWTH Aachen University in 2010. From 2010 to 2016, he was the first research assistant at the newly established Chair of Aerospace Computer Science at the University of Würzburg and received his doctorate summa cum laude for his thesis on ‘Autonomous quadcopters for indoor exploration’. Mr Gageik received the University Sponsorship Award from the Main-Franconian Business Association in 2014 and the Faculty of Computer Science Award and the Lower Franconian Memorial Foundation Award in 2016. In 2016, Mr Gageik founded the company Emqopter, which he has been building up with his team as managing partner and chief engineer ever since. Mr Gageik has already been responsible for the implementation of dozens of projects in the fields of research & teaching, logistics and inspection using autonomous flying robot technology and is a multiple inventor.

Keynote Speech Title:

Professor Sam Goundar

Professor of Computer Science position at the University of Central Asia/ Head of Department

Professor Dr. Sam Goundar is an internationally recognised academic with more than 35 years of teaching and research experience across thirteen universities in eleven countries. He is currently Professor of Computer Science and Head of Department at the University of Central Asia, Senior Lecturer in Information Technology at RMIT University, Australia (ranked 123rd QS, 251st THE), and Visiting Professor of Data Science at SRM University, Chennai, India. Throughout his distinguished career, Professor Goundar has held academic positions at leading institutions, including the University of Fiji, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, British University Vietnam, University of the South Pacific (Fiji), Victoria University of Wellington (New Zealand), and the University of Waikato (New Zealand). He has also served as a Research Fellow at the United Nations University and was invited as Visiting Professor and Researcher at Hassan 1st University, Morocco, and Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia. Professor Goundar is Editor-in-Chief of three international journals: the International Journal of Blockchains and Cryptocurrencies (IJBC), the International Journal of Fog Computing (IJFC), and the International Journal of Creative Computing (IJCrC). He is also Editor-in-Chief (Emeritus) of the International Journal of Cloud Applications and Computing (IJCAC), Section Editor of Education and Information Technologies (EAIT), and Guest Editor for the Journal of Risk and Financial Management (JRFM) Special Issue on Digital Banking and Financial Technology. With expertise spanning cloud and fog computing, blockchain, fintech, and creative computing, Professor Goundar is widely regarded as a thought leader shaping the future of emerging digital technologies in both academia and industry.

Keynote Speech Title: From Classroom to Practical Use Cases – Bringing AI Innovation into Application in Emqopter

Marvin Bihl

General Manager (Finance), Emqopter GmbH

Marvin Bihl began his career in audit, consulting, and financial services before a chance meeting at a start-up beer garden in 2017 sparked a new path. There, he discovered Emqopter and was immediately fascinated by the potential of flying robots in civil applications. Just two weeks later, he joined the team and today serves as General Manager (Finance) at Emqopter, one of the leading drone technology companies in Europe. At Emqopter, Marvin has been part of groundbreaking developments in aerial robotics, including the world’s first fully autonomous urban Delivery Drone, which made headlines in 2018 as the first unmanned aerial system to operate regularly in unregulated urban airspace in Germany. In 2023, the company reinforced its pioneering role with the launch of the world’s first universal Drone Port. Emqopter’s portfolio covers a wide range of innovations—from AI sensor-based flight assistance systems and teaching platforms to the Quanipulator, a flying robot equipped with a gripper arm. With a strong focus on autonomy, digitalisation, and sustainability, the company enables safer, more efficient, and cost-effective solutions for industrial applications. Marvin’s work is driven by the belief that the airspace above us holds enormous untapped potential for the logistics of the future.