Industry Track and Keynote Panels

Panel 1 – UAS Communications and Networking for Advanced Air Mobility

Globally, efforts are underway to integrate Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) into the civilian airspace. This integration is necessary and essential before the industry develops and deploys realworld commercial applications such as Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) using UASs. Traditionally, communication support to air traffic management (ATM) comes from satellite communications operating at the geostationary orbit level. Recently, an alternative hybrid paradigm of 4G/5G cellular communications operating on the ground, and aerial networks and communications operating in mid-air, is being investigated for UAS Traffic Management (UTM). All these communication paradigms differ in terms of performance factors, such as latency, resilience, and data rates that they can support.

The telecommunications industry is working towards cellular communication-supported services for UTM. Cellular networks offer wide-area, high-speed, and secure connectivity for Beyond Radio Line-of-Sight (BRLOS) use cases. In recent years, numerous field trials have been conducted using terrestrial LTE networks to provide connectivity to UASs. As we advance, 5G or Beyond 5G would be a natural choice for supporting UAS traffic management. On the other hand, aerial networks provide a solution for sharing information in mid-air among UASs, offering low latency and high data rates. However, establishing connectivity among the UASs without any supporting infrastructure is exceptionally challenging. Aerial ad hoc networks can complement satellite- and cellular-network-supported UAS navigation, command, and control. Specifically, a multi-layered architecture of integrated terrestrial, air, and satellite networks is promising for exploiting the advantages of different paradigms for networking and data exchange in AAM use cases. However, that integration is not trivial.

Additionally, especially with the current geopolitical landscape, resilience and security of these networks have become formidable requirements due to increasing threats and hostile actors. Therefore, these paradigms also have to be elaborated from the security and resilience perspectives. The panel will discuss the state of the art, challenges, standards, and regulatory aspects in efficient and resilient networking and communications enablers for AAM use cases.

Moderator:
Gürkan Gür, Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW)

Panelists:
1. Kamesh Namuduri, University of North Texas
2. Abdellah Chehri, Royal Military College of Canada (RMC)
3. Keven Gambold, Unmanned Experts
4. Antonios Lalas, Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH)

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Panel 2 – Sustainable AI and AI-Driven Sustainability towards 6G Systems

The convergence of 6G and AI makes sustainability a defining challenge and opportunity. While AI’s rising compute and energy demands threaten future networks, AI also enables energy-aware
operation and end-to-end optimisation from cloud to RAN. This panel addresses sustainable AI and AI for sustainability, showing how AI-native 6G can deliver performance gains alongside energy
efficiency, carbon reduction, and responsible resource use.

Moderator:
Dr Mir Ghoraishi, CEO of Gigasys Solutions, UK

Panelists:
1. Dr. Artur Hecker, Director of Networking Research and expert at the Advanced Wireless Technology Laboratory of Huawei Munich Research Centre, Germany

2. Dr Chiara Lombardo, Researcher at the University of Genoa, Department of Electrical, Electronic and Telecommunications Engineering, and Naval Architecture (DITEN), Italy

3. Dr Sebastian Robitzsch, Senior R&I Manager at InterDigital Europe Ltd, UK

4. Prof. Maziar Nekovee, Full Professor and Head of the Centre for Advanced Communications,
Mobile Technology, and IoT at University of Sussex, UK

Bios:

Dr Mir Ghoraishi (Moderator):
Dr Mir Ghoraishi is CEO and Founder of Gigasys Solutions, an innovative UK-based SME established in 2019, specialising in advanced wireless technologies and AI-driven network innovation. He holds a PhD in Wireless Communications from the Tokyo Institute of Technology and brings over 25 years of experience spanning academia, industry, and large-scale European collaborative R&D. He began his career in academia as an Assistant Professor at Tokyo Institute of Technology and later held senior research roles at the University of Surrey’s 5G Innovation Centre (5GIC), where he contributed to some of the world’s first large-scale 5G demonstrations, including advanced waveforms, beamforming architectures, and massive MIMO systems. He subsequently moved into industry, leading collaborative R&D, experimental validation, and the transition of advanced wireless innovations towards real-world deployment. Dr Ghoraishi has extensive experience in initiating, structuring, and coordinating complex multi-partner European projects. He recently coordinated the SNS JU project SNS BeGREEN, which advanced sustainability-by-design principles for 6G systems, and currently coordinates SNS iTrust6G, focusing on AI-native trust, security, and resilient service operation. His expertise includes O-RAN architectures, AI-driven network automation, and sustainable, secure 6G infrastructures. He is an active contributor to Europe’s 6G strategy and policy landscape, serving as Vice-Chair of the SNS Sustainability Working Group, International Stream Chair of the SNS Trials Working Group, and member of the 6G-IA Architecture Working Group and the NetworldEurope Steering Board. As an SME founder and experienced R&D leader, Dr Ghoraishi brings a practical perspective on embedding sustainability into next-generation networks—spanning energy-efficient system design, AI-enabled optimisation, and the role of collaborative innovation ecosystems in delivering greener and more resilient digital infrastructure.

Dr. Artur Hecker:
Dr. Artur Hecker (Dipl.inform. Universität Karlsruhe, Dr. ENST Paris) is Director of networking research and Expert at the Advanced Wireless Technology Laboratory of Huawei Munich Research Center, where he is responsible for research in mobile core networks and novel network technologies. The major subject of his research group is an efficient convergence of AI, IT and networking domains, i.e., clouds and networks, DC, enterprise and telco networking. Since Jan. 2024, he acts as Deputy TM of the European research project EXIGENCE, dedicated to measured ecodata exchange pertaining to ICT service usage. Between June 2021 and March 2025, Artur served as elected Chair of the Vision and Societal Challenges Working Group of the 6G-IA. Since March 2026, Artur serves as Chair of the Expert Advisory Group of Networld Europe, in which he has been very active for over a decade and elected Vice-Chair in March 2025. From 2006 to 2013, Artur was Associate Professor at Télécom ParisTech, where he was leading the Security and Networking research group. Overall, Artur looks back at 25+ years of entrepreneurial, academic and industry experience in networks, systems and system security research.

Dr Chiara Lombardo:
Dr Chiara Lombardo received her Ph.D. in Electronics, Informatics, Robotics and
Telecommunications Engineering at the University of Genoa in 2014. Chiara is currently
working as a researcher at the University of Genoa, Department of Electrical, Electronic and
Telecommunications Engineering, and Naval Architecture (DITEN) and was previously with the
CNIT S2N National Laboratory, where she is still involved in most of the research and technical
activities. She is currently the Technical Coordinator of the HORIZON-JU-SNS-2022 Research
and Innovation Action 6Green and has previously worked in several H2020 and FP7 projects,
including MATILDA, INPUT and ECONET. She has co-authored over 40 papers in international
journals, book chapters and international conference proceedings. Her current research
interests cover green networking, NFV, and edge computing.

Dr Sebastian Robitzsch:
Dr Sebastian Robitzsch has 18 years (incl. PhD) of experience in research, technology
development and standardisation of 3GPP and IETF-related system architecture technologies.
Sebastian is currently a Senior R&I Manager at InterDigital Europe Ltd and an ETSI delegate to
the ISG ISAC and an ITU delegate to the ITU-T FG AINN. He is author of 30+ peer-reviewed
publications, leads the proof-of-concepting activities at InterDigital and has been actively
collaborating in 10+ European and national-funded projects, specialising on system
architecture, networking innovations and protocol design. Sebastian is author of 45 patent
applications and author of 9 granted patents. Sebastian received his Ph.D. from University
College Dublin, Ireland, in 2013 and an M.Sc. equivalent (Dipl.-Ing. (FH)) from the University
of Applied Sciences Merseburg, Germany in 2008. In the past, Sebastian had been with Dublin
City University, Ireland, Nokia Research, Finland, Fraunhofer FOKUS, Germany and Deutsche
Telekom, Germany.

Prof. Maziar Nekovee:
Maziar Nekovee is a Full Professor and Head of the Centre for Advanced Communications,
Mobile Technology, and IoT, as well as the Managing Director of the 6G NetZero Lab at the
University of Sussex, UK. He serves as Chair of the NetworldEurope Technology Platform’s
Working Group on Enabling Technologies for Future Vertical Ecosystem Transformation and
is also Chair of the UK Telecoms Innovation Network (UKTIN), Academic Strategic Working
Group. Additionally, he co-leads the UK Government-funded Network Plus Consortium, “A
Green, Connected and Prosperous Britain,” which brings together the telecommunications,
energy, and mobility sectors to develop cross-sectoral technologies aimed at achieving a
sustainable future society. Before joining academia in 2017, Prof. Nekovee held senior roles
in industry, including as Head of Samsung’s European 5G Research Division and Group Leader
at BT (British Telecom) Research. His research expertise spans current (5G) and future mobile
communication technologies (6G, 7G) and applied AI, with transformative applications across
vertical sectors such as energy, automotive, health, and more recently, space and satellite
communications. Prof. Nekovee has authored over 200 highly cited papers and a bestselling
book, and in the past decade, he has delivered more than 100 keynotes, panels, and invited
talks. He holds a PhD in Physics and an MEng in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from
Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands. His accolades include the Royal Society
Industry Fellowship, the Samsung Electronics Best Practice of Research Award, and the BT
Innovation Award.