Speakers – one6G Summit 2024

Confirmed Speakers

one6G Summit 2024 will gather over 30 international experts from industry, policy, and academia who will come together to discuss the key drivers and technological pillars that will shape 6G. Meet the speakers and moderators of the 2024 edition!

Nancy Alonistioti

Chair, one6G; Associate Professor, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

Nancy Alonistioti is the chair of one6G Association and an associate professor at the Department of Informatics and Telecommunications at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA). She holds a BSc and a PhD in Informatics and Telecommunications. She has over 20 years of experience in numerous national and European projects, including project/technical management experience. She currently leads the SCAN group activities at the National Kapodistrian University of Athens. She is also a member of the ETSI Experts group and the Greek standardization group ELOT (5G, smart city autonomic communications). Nancy is a highly cited author. She authored over 200 publications in mobile networks, IoT, NGI, SDN/NFV, autonomic communications, and reconfigurable mobile systems. She also co-authored 4 WO Patents.

Hans-Peter Bernhard

Principal Scientist, Silicon Austria Labs; Senior Scientist, Johannes Kepler University Linz

Hans-Peter Bernhard is a Principal Scientist, the Head of the Research Unit Wireless Communications and 6G Research at Silicon Austria Labs, and a Senior Scientist at the Institute of Communications and RF Systems at the Johannes Kepler University Linz. Hans-Peter holds an MSc and a PhD from the Vienna University of Technology. He was an Assistant Professor at the Vienna University of Technology until 1998, and then he joined the Johannes Kepler University Linz as Lecturer in 1999. From 1992 to 2018, he owned and operated an IT company focused on health topics. In 2014, Hans-Peter joined Johannes Kepler University Linz as a Senior Scientist, and in 2028, he joined the Silicon Austria Labs. He was a Guest Researcher at the Prague Academy of Science and the University of Cambridge. He has organized/co-organized several special sessions at ETFA, WFCS, IEEE-IM, and WF-IoT and served as Conference General Chair for WFCS2021, Organizing Chair for EWSN2022 and Guest Editor of IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics and IEEE Access.

Hao Bi

Senior Director of Communication System Design, MediaTek

Hao is an industry-recognized innovation and standardization leader with instrumental technical contributions toward the development of wireless communication technologies. He has broad expertise and has taken various research and standards leadership roles in driving innovation and standardization of air interface, radio access network, and packet core network from 3G CDMA through 4G LTE to 5G NR. He has successfully conceived and developed multiple key features with profound standards and market traction, led large multi-site engineering teams, and delivered strategic innovations shaping the evolution of cellular communication systems. Currently, as Senior Director of Communication System Design at MediaTek, he is leading 6G research and standards at the intersection of communication and computing, immersive multimedia, and artificial intelligence.

Monique Calisti

CEO, Martel Innovate;
President, Digital for Planet

Monique Calisti is the CEO of Martel Innovate and the president of Digital for Planet. She is a passionate entrepreneur and ICT expert with consolidated experience in research and innovation funding, strategic consulting, training, communication, social media marketing, and business development of sustainable and innovative software solutions across several industry segments. She is a member of the board of directors of the European AI, Data and Robotics Association, a director of the European Next Generation Internet Outreach Office, and the coordinator of the European Next Generation Internet of Things Coordination and Support Action. Monique holds a PhD in Artificial Intelligence from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne and a PhD in Telecommunications Engineering from the University of Bologna.

Narcís Cardona

Vice-Chair, one6G; Director of iTEAM, Technical University of Valencia (UPV)

Narcís Cardona is the Director of the Research Institute of Telecommunications and Multimedia Applications (iTEAM) at the Technical University of Valencia (UPV). In 1990, he received his MSc in Communications Engineering from ETSI Telecommunications, Technical University of Catalonia, and in 1995, a PhD in Telecommunications from the Technical University of Valencia. Narcís authored several research books and more than 200 publications in the most relevant international journals and conferences in the field of communications. He holds ten patents. His research interests include mobile channel characterization, broadcast cellular hybrid networks, and body area networks.

Konstantinos Chalkiotis

Vice President of Access Technologies and Spectrum, Deutsche Telekom

Konstantinos Chalkiotis has over 20 years of work experience in telecommunications. He is currently a Vice President for Access Technologies and Spectrum at Deutsche Telekom, bringing experience from his previous roles at Deutsche Telekom. He is also an Alternate Board Member for Deutsche Telekom in NGMN (Next Generation Mobile Networks). Konstantinos holds a Ph.D. in Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens. He participated in the development of IEEE C95.1/2005 and published 2 books and over 30 articles in peer reviewed scientific journals.

Luca de Nardis

Associate Professor, Sapienza University of Rome

Luca De Nardis is an associate professor at the DIET Department of the Sapienza University of Rome. He was previously an assistant professor at the same institution and a postdoctoral fellow at the EECS Department of the University of California at Berkeley. Luca De Nardis authored over 130 publications in international peer-reviewed journals and conferences on topics including UWB radio technology, indoor and outdoor positioning and cognitive wireless networks. He held several editor positions for international journals published by Hindawi, Springer, and MDPI, and he is currently an editor for the IEEE Journal of Indoor and Seamless Positioning and Navigation. He was recently a General Co-Chair of the CROWNCOM 2020 conference and a Technical Co-Chair of the 5G-MeMU 2023 workshop at ACM SigComm. Since 2002, he has been participating in EU-funded projects focusing on Ultra Wide Band communication systems, cognitive radio and networks, and indoor and outdoor positioning. He has been an IEEE member since 1998.

Albena Dimitrova Mihovska

Chief Technology Officer, SmartAvatar

Albena Mihovska has a PhD degree in EEng (2008) from Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark. She has a strong academic research track record as an associate professor at Aalborg University (2008-2017) and Aarhus University (2017-2023), Denmark. She is a Senior Research Expert at the Research, Innovation & Development Consortium (RDIC), Sofia, Bulgaria. Furthermore, she holds positions of the CTO, SmartAvatar BV, The Netherlands; and Research Director at CTIF Global Capsule (CGC) Foundation, Skagen, Denmark. She is the one6G WG3 Vice-Chair and a Board Member of EUROMERSIVE. Her research interests lie in 6G connectivity for applications across vertical market segments. She is an ITU-T Focus Group on Metaverse (FGMV) Expert, and has been active within the ITU-T standardization since 2011. She serves on the committees of several prominent IEEE events and has more than 200 peer-reviewed research publications, including several books on 6G.

Joseph Eichinger

Chair, one6G WG4; Head of 6G Research and Prototyping, Huawei Munich Research Center

Josef Eichinger joined Huawei Technologies in 2013 to strengthen the 5G Research team in Munich. He started his professional carrier as technical expert in the field of industry energy and electronic systems. After the study he joined Siemens AG 1994 and was working in development of high frequency radar systems, optical networks and as researcher on radio technologies as HSPA and LTE. He changed to Nokia Siemens Networks 2007 as LTE Product Manager and was head of LTE-Advanced FastTrack Programs until 2012. Currently he is leading research on 5G and 6G enabled industrial communication in Huawei Munich Research Center. The focus are 5G/6G for industry 4.0, vehicle-to-vehicle communication and hospitals. Complementary to the research and standardization he is also responsible for the prove of the new concept by trials and live experiments e.g. Industrial Control in the Cloud, Robot as a Service, Tele-operated Driving, etc. Since April 2018 he is also member of the 5G-ACIA steering board and leading the Huawei delegation. Josef is also founding member of one6g.org and chairing the one6G WG4 Evaluation, Testbeds and Pilots because of his the long expierences with prototypes and test systems.

Sergi Figuerola

Director, i2CAT

Sergi Figuerola is the CTIO of the i2CAT Foundation and the founding member and CTO of 5GBarcelona. He holds an MSc and a PhD in Telecommunication Engineering from the Theory and Signal Communications Department of the UPC, PDG-2019 from IESE, and an MSc in Project Management from La Salle (URL). He is also a Board Member of the Spanish Digital Association AMETIC and the Catalan Telecom Association Telecos.cat. At i2CAT, he leads different strategic transversal roles and supervises different areas, such as Innovation Business Development for the Public and Private sectors, Knowledge and Technology Marketing, Digital Innovation Management Office, and the different R&D areas (5G/6G/SNS, IA, CyberSecurity, SpaceComm, MediaNetworks, IoT). In the last 20 years, he has acted as Project Coordinator, (i.e. 5GCity 5GPPP H2020), Technical Manager (FP7 GEYSERS), and Work Package Leader in several EC-funded projects. His main research interests are related to 5G/6G, Next Generation Internet, New Space, and Open Innovation.

Hugo Herrero Antón de Vez

Director of Innovation and Strategy, Alma IT Systems

Hugo Herrero Antón de Vez, Director of Innovation and Strategy, Alma IT Systems Hugo is an active surgeon and the Director of Innovation and Strategy at Alma IT Systems. Specializing in model-guided medicine within computer-assisted surgery and personalized medicine, he combines his medical expertise with system architecture to advance digital transformation in healthcare. His research on precision medicine and workflow optimization and his contributions to international conferences and journals highlight his major role in integrating technology with medical practice. Hugo is committed to a human-centered healthcare system, promoting value-based, patient-centered models and digital democratization to drive innovative solutions in the field.

Nigel Jefferies

Chairman, Wireless World Research Forum

Nigel is the Chairman of the Wireless World Research Forum, a global partnership between industry and academia to develop a research agenda for mobile communications. Previously, he was a Standards Development Manager at Huawei Technologies, Head of Academic Relationships for Vodafone Group Research & Development, and a Principal Mathematician at Racal Research Ltd. He has led several research projects, including the European-funded IST project SHAMAN, which studied the security of future mobile systems. He also ran the Secure Applications Steering Group for Mobile VCE. Other collaborative research projects on various aspects of security for mobile communications, in which Nigel has been involved include 3GS3 in the UK-funded LINK program and ASPeCT and USECA in the European ACTS programme. His research interests include cryptography, security of systems, and applications of mathematics to telecommunications. Nigel was a member of the UK government’s 5G advisory committee. He received a PhD in functional analysis from Goldsmith's College, London, and an MA in mathematics from Queen's College, Oxford. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE, a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications, and a Chartered Mathematician.

Aryan Kaushik

Assistant Professor, University of Sussex

Aryan has been an assistant professor at the University of Sussex, UK, since 2021. Before that, he has been with University College London, UK (2020-21), University of Edinburgh, UK (2015-19), and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong (2014-15). He has also held visiting appointments at Imperial College London, UK (2019-20), University of Bologna, Italy (2024), University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg (2018), Athena RC, Greece (2021), and Beihang University, China (2017-19, 2022). He has been an External PhD Examiner internationally, e.g., at the Carlos III University, Spain, in 2023. He has been an Invited Panel Member at the UK EPSRC ICT Prioritisation Panel in 2023 plus Proposal Reviewer for the EPSRC since 2023, and a member of the One6G Association. He is an Editor of three upcoming books by Elsevier on Integrated Sensing and Communications, Non-Terrestrial Networks, Electromagnetic Signal and Information Theory, and several journals, such as IEEE Open Journal of the Communications Society (Best Editor Award 2023), IEEE Communications Letters (Exemplary Editor 2023), IEEE Internet of Things Magazine (including the AI for IoT miniseries), IEEE Communications Technology News (initiated the IEEE ComSoc Podcasts series), and several special issues such as in IEEE Wireless Communications Magazine, IEEE Network Magazine, IEEE Communications Standards Magazine, IEEE Open Journal of the Communications Society, IEEE Internet of Things Magazine, etc. He has been an invited/keynote and tutorial speaker for over 70 academic and industry events, and conferences globally, such as at IEEE ICC 2024, IEEE GLOBECOM 2023 and 2024, IEEE VTC-Spring 2023 and 2024, IEEE ICMLCN 2024, IEEE WCNC 2023, IEEE MeditCom 2023 and 2024, one6G Summit 2023 and 2024, EuCNC & 6G Summit 2023, and many other events worldwide. He has been chairing Organizing and Technical Program Committees of many flagship IEEE conferences, such as IEEE ICC 2024 and 2025, IEEE WCNC 2023 and 2024, and IEEE ICMLCN 2024, etc. He has also been the General Chair of 16 workshops for IEEE ComSoc conferences, such as IEEE ICC 2024, IEEE GLOBECOM 2023, IEEE WCNC 2023-24, IEEE PIMRC 2022-24, among others.

Matti Latva-aho

Director of the 6G Flagship, University of Oulu

Matti Latva-aho received the M.Sc., Lic.Tech. and Dr. Tech (Hons.) degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Oulu, Finland in 1992, 1996 and 1998, respectively. From 1992 to 1993, he was a research engineer at Nokia Mobile Phones, Oulu, Finland, after which he joined the Center for Wireless Communications (CWC) at the University of Oulu. Matti was the director of CWC during the years 1998-2006 and the head of the Department for Communication Engineering until August 2014. Currently, he is a professor of wireless communications at the University of Oulu and the director of the National 6G Flagship Program. He is also a Global Fellow at Tokyo University. Matti has published over 500 conference and journal papers in the field of wireless communications. He received the Nokia Foundation Award in 2015 for his achievements in mobile communications research. Matti is also an IEEE Fellow.

Thierry Lestable

Chief Researcher, Artificial Intelligence & Digital Science Research Center (AIDRC), Technology Innovation Institute (TII)

Thierry is a chief researcher heading Telecom (B5G/6G) & Cybersecurity units within the Artificial Intelligence & Digital Science Research Center (AIDRC) at the Technology Innovation Institute (TII) in Abu Dhabi, UAE. His main topics of interest are next-generation mobility systems and sustainable and cognitive cities whilst driving applied research/innovation in technologies such as generative AI for telecom and cybersecurity, semantic communication, reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS), positioning, mMIMO, SW vulnerabilities detection & self-healing, network intrusion detection and adversarial attacks. Thierry has nearly three decades of experience in the telecom, mobility and energy industries, steering industrial innovation, from spark of ideas to prototypes, products, standards, and systems, rolling out networks, whilst leading new businesses within organizations, such as Alcatel, Samsung, and Sagemcom. He received an Engg. Degree from Supélec (France) in 1997, and a PhD from Supélec/Paris Sud-Orsay in 2003. He authored over 40 international publications and 20 patents, edited a Wiley Book on Advanced Channel Coding, co-authored two Wiley Books on B3G/4G systems (WWRF collection), and was a Telecom Expert for the European Commission, Eureka Cluster CELTIC, and the French National Research Agency (ANR).

Joao Lopes

Principal Engineer, NXP Semiconductors

Joao is a Principal Engineer, acting as the Technical Project Manager for 6G System Innovation at the NXP Semiconductors CTO office. He was previously a Senior Staff Engineer at Qualcomm in the Qualcomm Standards and Industry Organizations department, with focus on Industrial IoT. In that sense, he is a TSN - Time Sensitive Networking - 802.1 WG Voting Member, the founder and former OPC Foundation UAFX Prototyping WG Chair, also having contributed to several technical documents from the 5G-ACIA. Joao is interested in industrial automation and real-time communication, both wired and wireless.

David Lund

President of PSCE; Coordinator of BroadEU.Net

David is currently the President of Public Safety Communication Europe (PSCE), and a member since 2013. David has also been a Board Member of the 6G Infrastructure Association (6G-IA) since March 2021, contributing to the continued innovation in Smart Networks and Services (SNS-JU). He currently coordinates the BroadEU.net program, a partnership of 16+ EU governments/agencies supporting the technological development toward the EU critical communication system, EUCCS. This builds upon the success of the BroadWay Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP). David has a 25+ year research and innovation background that maintains a leading-edge capability in Cyber Security and Resilient Communications, the core fundamental factors required to achieve Trustworthy Communication. David gained a PhD in Communication Systems in 2001, specializing in Information Theory, the mathematical foundation of Coding (Error Control) and Cryptography.

Pietro Michiardi

Head of the Data Science Department, EURECOM

Pietro Michiardi is a full professor and the head of the Data Science Department at EURECOM. In his work, he focuses on methodological advances in machine learning, Bayesian Inference, generative modeling, and representation learning. Pietro is interested in developing a theoretical understanding of methods that learn from data in methodological aspects of computationally efficient inference approaches and their application to industrial domains, such as automotive, telecommunications, and financial industries. In the past, Pietro worked on a wide range of research topics, including computer networks and their performance evaluation, applied cryptography, applied game theory, distributed systems, and data management systems. Pietro holds an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Turin and an M.S. in Computer Science from EURECOM. He also holds a PhD in Computer Science from Telecom ParisTech and an HDR (Habilitation) from UCA. He has published over 170 research papers to date.

Andreas Mueller

Chief Expert and Project Director, Bosch; General Chair, 5G-ACIA

Andreas Mueller is a renowned expert at the forefront of connectivity research and 5G/6G innovation. As the leader of Bosch's strategic 6G activities across diverse business units and sites, he spearheads holistic transformative endeavors aligned with business imperatives. With his profound expertise in communication technologies for the IoT, he also serves as the chief expert in this field. Andreas has held the position of General Chair of 5G-ACIA, a leading organization driving and shaping industrial 5G, since its establishment in 2018. Andreas’ pivotal contributions also include coordinating and advancing Bosch's Industrial 5G undertakings over the last couple of years, focusing on key areas, such as private networks, Open RAN, AI/ML, and edge computing. Equipped with a robust background in telecommunications and vertical industry applications, Andreas is uniquely positioned to drive the transformative 5G/6G-enabled revolution across various sectors.

Robert Mueller

Technical Manager, DENSO

Robert Mueller is a Technical Manager at DENSO AUTOMOTIVE Deutschland GmbH. He served in several standardization groups, namely IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.15, and 3GPP RAN1. He is also the co-founder of a successful startup. As the leader of the 6G connectivity research at DENSO AUTOMOTIVE Deutschland, he brings a wealth of expertise and experience to the realm of IEEE and 3GPP wireless communication systems. With over 10 years of experience in Broadband HF- Technology and mmWave/THz Channel Modeling, he has been pursuing differently integrated sensing and communication approaches for several years. His journey into the world of connectivity began with the Dipl. Ing degree in Electrical Engineering from BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg 2007 and a Master of Science degree from TU Berlin 2009. His professional research career started with a position at the Technical University of Ilmenau for mmWave channel measurements and modelling. Later, he headed the mmWave and Broadband Technology Team at Fraunhofer IIS for several years. With more than 10 years of experience in the field of PHY-Layer and Mac-Layer standardization for wireless communication systems, Robert's current research focuses on broadband joint and integrated sensing and communication systems, with the main focus on the requirements of ISAC systems in dynamic environments, such as V2X communication.

Massimo Neri

CTO, Martel Innovate

Massimo is the Chief Technology Officer and the Head of the Lab at Martel, responsible for leading company-wide technological choices and strategy. He has been a one6G Board Member since 2023. Over the years, Massimo has developed a comprehensive technical leadership background, also owning and managing an Italian SME company for more than ten years, where he led the delivery of cloud, IoT, and mobile software projects to enterprises, including start-ups. Massimo has been a scientific and technical coordinator in multiple EC & ESA projects focusing on satellite communications and smart applications. He authored more than 40 peer-reviewed publications, including journal papers, book chapter contributions, and articles in international conference proceedings. Massimo holds a PhD in Telecommunication Engineering from the University of Bologna, Italy, and an Executive MBA from SDA Bocconi Management School in Milan, Italy. He has also been a Research Associate for the LTE Standardization group at Qualcomm Inc., San Diego.

Ana Pérez-Neira

Professor, Technical University of Catalonia; Director, CTTC

Ana Pérez-Neira is a full professor at the Technical University of Catalonia and the Director of CTTC (Technological Center of Telecommunications of Catalonia). Between 2010 and 2014, Ana served as vice-rector for research at the Technical University of Catalonia. Her research is in signal processing for communications, focused on satellite communications. She has been an associate editor of the IEEE TSP and OJSP journals. She has been a member of the EURASIP Board of Governors (BoG), IEEE SPS Director-at-large for R8, member of the IEEE SPS BoG, and Vice-President for conferences. She is an IEEE and EURASIP fellow and a member of the Real Academy of Science and Arts of Barcelona, and the Real Academy of Engineering. She was also the General Chair of ICASSP 2020 and 2026. Ana has received the ICREA Academia Award and the Narcis Monturiol Medal.

Ramjee Prasad

Professor Emeritus, Aarhus University; Founder and President, CTIF Global Capsule

Ramjee is a Professor Emeritus of Future Technologies for Business Ecosystem Innovation (FT4BI) at the Department of Business Development and Technology at Aarhus University, Herning, Denmark and the Founder and President of the CTIF Global Capsule (CGC). He is also the Founder and Chairman of the Global ICT Standardization Forum for India, established in 2009. He is an Honorary Professor at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, and the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, and an Adjunct Professor at Birla Institute of Technology, Sindri, Jharkhand, India. On March 15, 2016, he was honored “Tor Vergata” by the University of Rome, Italy, as a Distinguished Professor of the Department of Clinical Sciences and Translational Medicine. On January 10, 2023, he received the Pravasi Bhartiya Samman Puraskaar (Emigrant Indian Honor Award by the Indian President). He is also a recipient of the prestigious Distinguished Alumni Award under the category ‘Excellence in Teaching and Research in Engineering and Technology’ for 2023, by the Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi MESRA, RANCHI, Jharkhand, India. On March 26, 2023, he received the “Pioneering Visionary Award” from the Bihar Jharkhand Association of North America (BAJANA) in New Jersey, USA. In 2010, he received the Order of the Knight of Dannebrog from the Danish Queen for the internationalization of top-class telecommunication research and education. He has received several international awards, such as the IEEE Communications Society Wireless Communications Technical Committee Recognition Award in 2003 for making a contribution in the field of “Personal, Wireless and Mobile Systems and Networks,” Telenor’s Research Award in 2005 for impressive merits, both academic and organizational within the field of wireless and personal communication, 2014 IEEE AESS Outstanding Organizational Leadership Award for “Organizational Leadership in developing and globalizing the CTIF (Center for TeleInFrastruktur) Research Network”, among others. He has been the Project Coordinator of several EC-funded projects, namely, MAGNET, MAGNET Beyond, eWALL. He published over 50 books, 1000 plus journal and conference publications, and more than 15 patents. He also supervised 150+ PhD graduates and 250+ Masters students. Several of his students are today’s worldwide telecommunication leaders themselves. Ramjee is the IEEE, IET, IETE, and WWRF Fellow.

Hans Schotten

Professor, University of Kaiserslautern; Scientific Director, DFKI

Hans Schotten is a full professor and the director of the Institute for Wireless Communication and Navigation at the University of Kaiserslautern. He is also a scientific director and a member of the management board of the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), where he heads the department for intelligent networks. Before joining academia, he has held industry positions in Ericsson and Qualcomm. Since 2018, Hans has been the chairman of the German Information Technology Society ITG and a member of the supervisory board of the VDE. His research interests are in mobile and industrial communications, network security, and AI. Hans received his Diploma and PhD in Electrical Engineering from the RWTH Aachen University in 1990 and 1997, respectively.

Mohammad Shikh-Bahaei

Chair, one6G WG1; Professor, King’s College London

Mohammad Shikh-Bahaei has been engaged in research in the area of wireless communications for 27 years, both in academic and industrial organizations. He has worked for start-up companies on statistical signal processing for interference cancellation, network planning, and optimization of wireless networks. In 2000, he joined National Semiconductor Corp. (NSC), CA, USA (now part of Texas Instruments) and has worked within a team on the design of 3rd generation handsets based on UMTS standards, for which he has been awarded three US patents as inventor and co-inventor, respectively. He returned to the UK in March 2002 as a Lecturer at King’s College London and is now a full Professor of Telecommunications in the Department of Engineering. He is the chair of one6G Association’s Working Group 1 and its representative in the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), a Fellow of IET, a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and a Senior Member of IEEE.

Slawomir Stańczak

Professor, TU Berlin; Head of Wireless Communications and Networks, Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications

Sławomir Stańczak is a Professor of Network Information Theory at the Technical University of Berlin and the Head of the Wireless Communications and Networks Department at the Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute (HHI). He co-authored two books and over 200 peer-reviewed journal articles and conference papers in the fields of information theory, wireless communications, signal processing, and machine learning. Sławomir received research grants from the German Research Foundation and the Best Paper Award from the German Society for Telecommunications in 2014. He was an associate editor of the IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing from 2012 to 2015 and the chair of the ITU-T Focus Group on Machine Learning for Future Networks, including 5G, from 2017 to 2020. Since 2020, he has served as the chairman of the 5G Berlin Association, and since 2021, he has been the coordinator of the projects 6G-RIC (Research & Innovation Cluster) and CampusOS.

Rahim Tafazolli

Professor and Founder of the 5G/6G Innovation Center, University of Surrey

Rahim Tafazolli is a Regius Professor of Electronic Engineering, Professor of Mobile and Satellite Communications, Director of Institute of Communication Systems (ICS), and a Director and Founder of the 5G/6G Innovation Center at the University of Surrey. He has been active in research for over 30 years. Rahim has been a technical and strategic advisor to many mobile companies; he has recently served as a member of DCMS Task Force on “Diversification of Telecom equipment providers ecosystem”. He is a Fellow of Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng), IET (FIET), and WWRF (Wireless World Research Forum).

Itsuma Tanaka

President and CEO, DOCOMO Communications Laboratories Europe

Itsuma has 20 years of experience in the telecom industry, particularly in R&D, international telecommunication business, and HR domains. At DOCOMO R&D, he led 4G and 5G core network standardisation in 3GPP and GSMA. In GSMA, he was the chairman of IREG Packet WG and served as editor of various technical guidelines and specifications that are the basis of today’s telecom services. He holds an MBA from ESADE Business School in Barcelona and an MEng in Information Systems Engineering from Imperial College London.

Christoph Thuemmler

Chief Medical Officer, 6G Health Institute

Christoph Thuemmler is a professor of eHealth and a consultant physician and specialist for the care of the elderly. He studied medicine, political science, and education and gained his PhD in neurology from Heidelberg University. Upon obtaining his specialist training in general medicine in Germany, he worked in the NHS in Scotland where he completed specialist training in general internal medicine. He spent 15 years in the United Kingdom, where he became professor of eHealth at Edinburgh Napier University. Christoph’s research interests revolve around mobile radio connectivity and signal processing in the healthcare and MedTec contexts. During his tenure, he was an advisor to the EC at the EU-China Round table on the Internet of Things and convener of the eHealth vertical in the EC’s 5G PPP initiative. After relocating back to Germany he took up a clinical post as Head of the Clinic for Care of the Elderly at Helios Park-Klinikum Leipzig, Germany, a teaching hospital for the medical faculty of Leipzig University. In 2019, Christoph also became the director of one of the five national centers for care for the elderly and is one of the two directors of the certified Old Age Trauma Centre at Helios Park Klinikum Leipzig. After successfully implementing a private 5G Network at Helios Park-Klinikum Leipzig he took over the lead of the 6G Health Institute in Leipzig. In his clinical capacity he is the clinical lead for care of the elderly at Erzgebirgsklinikum, Saxony. Christoph published around 100 papers and reports and several books on the topic of eHealth and in particular the application of mobile radio technology in the health domain and in the eHealth vertical. Christoph has also been a longstanding IEEE Senior Member.

Wen Tong

CTO, Huawei Wireless

Wen is an industry-recognized leader in the invention of advanced wireless technologies. He is a Huawei Fellow and an IEEE Fellow. He was the recipient of the IEEE Communications Society Industry Innovation Award in 2014, and the IEEE Communications Society Distinguished Industry Leader Award for “pioneering technical contributions and leadership in the mobile communications industry and innovation in 5G mobile communications technology,” in 2018. He is also the recipient of the R.A. Fessenden Medal. In the past three decades, Wen has pioneered fundamental technologies from 1G to 6G wireless and WiFi with more than 550 awarded US patents. Before joining Huawei in 2009, Wen was a Nortel Fellow and the head of the Network Technology Labs at Nortel. He joined the Wireless Technology Labs at Bell Northern Research in 1995 in Canada. Wen is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

Issam Toufik

CTO, ETSI; Head of the 3GPP Mobile Competence Center

Issam is the CTO of ETSI and the Head of the 3GPP Mobile Competence Center (MCC). He has over 20 years of experience in the mobile communications sector, 14 of which are within the ETSI and 3GPP. For more than a decade, he was active in the 3GPP Radio Access Network (RAN) groups. As CTO of ETSI, he is responsible for all the operational aspects of ETSI’s standards development activities. He is also responsible for the operations of the 3GPP Project Coordination Group. He heads 3GPPs’ Mobile Competence Center (MCC), composed of an international team of 22 experts who comprehensively support the Project.

Nikolaos Tsampieris

Senior Manager of Innovation and Development at ERTICO – ITS Europe

Nikolaos Tsampieris, Senior Manager of Innovation and Development at ERTICO - ITS Europe Nikolaos is the Senior Manager of Innovation and Development at ERTICO - ITS Europe. He holds an MEng in Electronics and Computer Engineering, an MSc in Digital Communication Systems, and a PhD in Digital Signal Processing Techniques for Communication Systems. Nikolaos has extensive expertise in Communication Systems and Technologies, having assumed senior research and management positions in academia, telecommunications, and the defense industry. As ERTICO’s expert in 5G and digitalization, he oversees respective research and development efforts in 5G and beyond connectivity. He participates in the coordination and execution of several EU innovation actions and development proposals in 5G for Cooperative, Connected, Automated Mobility, and Transport and Logistics.

Patrick Waldemar

Vice President, Telenor Research & Innovation

Patrick Waldemar is the vice president of Telenor Research. He has over 20 years of management and education experience in strategic management, strategic marketing, and information technology. He holds a PhD in Telecommunications from the NTNU and an MSc in Management from the BI Norwegian Business School. He has experience in research and development, software development, and strategic management gained in the telecommunications and oil industries. Patrick joined Telenor in 2002, and over the last decade, he has been leading Telenor's research on next-generation network technologies focusing on 5G and 6G. Previously he was the head of development at Canal Digital.

Ku Wen

Chairman of the Board, China Communications Standards Association

Ku is the Chairman of the Board of China Communications Standards Association (CCSA), a Professor of Engineering, and a Doctor of Business Administration. He previously acted as Deputy Director General of the Department of Science and Technology of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, Deputy Director General of the Department of Science and Technology, Deputy Director General of the Telecommunications Administration, Director General of the Department of Science and Technology of the Ministry of Information Industry, Director General of the Department of Science and Technology, and Director General of the Department of Information and Communication Development of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Moderators

José Almodóvar Chico

R&D Consultant in Mobile Networks, TNO

José Almodóvar Chico is an R&D Consultant at TNO. He joined TNO in 2013 where he has been working mainly on network aspects of mobile communications. He has been the KPN’s SA1 delegate since 2015, where he has been a rapporteur for several work items (e.g., 5GLAN, REFEC). José holds a Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering from the Technical University of Delft, the Netherlands, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Telematics Engineering from the Carlos III University, Spain. Apart from the standardization activities, José is also involved in 5G activities in the Netherlands (e.g., 5Groningen). He has also been actively involved in several European R&D projects in the areas of IoT (iCore project), Wi-Fi (Wi5), satellite (Sat5G), and more recently, 5G for verticals (5GHEART).

Monique Calisti

CEO, Martel Innovate;
President, Digital for Planet

Ana García Armada

Professor, Carlos III University of Madrid

Ana García Armada is a Professor at the Charles III University of Madrid, Spain, where she leads the Communications Research Group. Ana has served in a variety of management positions including Head of Signal Theory and Communications Department, Vice-Dean of Electrical Engineering, and Deputy Vice-Chancellor of International Relations, among others. She has been a visiting scholar at Stanford University, Bell Labs and the University of Southampton. She has coordinated a large number of national and international research projects in wireless communications, as well as contracts with the industry. Ana has published more than 250 papers in international journals and conference proceedings, and she holds six granted patents. She is an IEEE Fellow. She was awarded the third place Bell Labs Prize 2014 for shaping the future of information and communications technology. She also received the IEEE ComSoc/KICS Exemplary Global Service Award in 2022.

Walter Weigel

Honorary Professor, Technical University of Munich

Walter Weigel is an honorary professor at the School of Computation, Information and Technology at the Technical University of Munich and a member of the IEEE-SA Board of Governors. He graduated from the Technical University of Munich, Germany with a Master's degree in electrical engineering in 1984 and a PhD degree (thesis about speech recognition) in 1990. From 1984 to 1991 he was an assistant at the Institute for Data Processing at the Technical University of Munich. Between 1991 and 2015, he held several positions within Siemens AG, including VP of external cooperations and head of standardization in corporate technology, VP of the research & concepts department of the mobile networks business unit as well as head of the business segment video processing for the semiconductor business unit (today, Infineon). From 2006 to 2011, Walter was the general director of the European Telecommunication Standards Institute ETSI. From 2015 to 2022 he was a VP and CSO of the European Research Institute of Huawei with headquarters in Leuven, Belgium. He has been a consultant for Huawei Technologies since 1. September 2023. He was a member of Innovationsdialog of the German Government, the Big Data Value Association Board of Directors, the Senate of Acatech (German Academy of Technical Sciences), the Board of the 5G Automotive Association, the Digital Manufacturing Executive Council of Digital Europe, and the Advisory Committee of CTIF Global Capsule (CGC) of Aarhus University.