Speakers 2026
Keynote Speaker Ⅰ
Prof. Luiz Moutinho MAE
University of Suffolk, UK
Biography: Professor Luiz Moutinho MAE is world-renowned expert in Futures Research, Emerging Technologies, Neuroscience, and AI & Management. He is the Founding Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Modelling in Management and edits 5 other journals, as well as being in the editoral boards of another 47. He has given keynote speeches in 63 countries worldwide, having had 41 books published.
Speech Title: Intelligence of Things
Keynote Speaker Ⅱ
Prof. Huosheng Hu FIET
University of Essex, UK
Biography: Huosheng Hu (Life Senior Member, IEEE) received the M.Sc. degree in industrial automation from Central South University, Changsha, China, in 1982, and the Ph.D. degree in robotics from the University of Oxford, Oxford, U.K., in 1993.,He is a Professor Emeritus with the School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, University of Essex, U.K. His research interests include autonomous robotics, human–robot interaction, multi-robot collaboration, embedded systems, pervasive computing, sensor integration, intelligent control, and networked robotic systems. He has published over 600 peer-reviewed articles in journals, books, and conference proceedings.,Prof. Hu is a Fellow of the Institute of Engineering and Technology, a Fellow of the Institution of Measurement and Control, and a Chartered Engineer in the U.K. He currently serves as Executive Editor of the International Journal of Mechatronics and Automation (Inderscience Publishers) and previously held the position of Editor-in-Chief for both the International Journal of Automation and Computing and MDPI Journal of Robotics.
Speech Title: The Rise of Embodied AI Robots - An Evolutionary Journey
Keynote Speaker Ⅲ
Prof. Kay Chen Tan FIEEE
Hong Kong Polytechnic University, China
Biography: Kay Chen Tan is currently the Head and Chair Professor (Computational Intelligence) of the Department of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He has co-authored eight books and published over 300 peer-reviewed journal articles. Prof. Tan served as the Vice-President (Publications) of the IEEE Computational Intelligence Society, USA, from 2021 to 2024. He was the Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Transactions on Evolutionary Computation from 2015-2020 and IEEE Computational Intelligence Magazine from 2010-2013. Prof. Tan has been invited as a Plenary/Keynote speaker for over 80 international conferences, such as the 2020 IEEE World Congress on Computational Intelligence. He has served as an organizing committee Chair/Co-Chair for over 50 international conferences, including the General Co-Chair of 2019 IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation, and the General Co-Chair of 2016 IEEE World Congress on Computational Intelligence, etc.
Prof. Tan has received several research awards, such as the 2024 IEEE Computational Intelligence Magazine Outstanding Paper Awards, the 2020 IEEE Transactions on Cybernetics Outstanding Paper Awards, the 2019 IEEE Computational Intelligence Magazine Outstanding Paper Awards, the 2016 IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems Outstanding Paper Awards, and the 2012 Outstanding Early Career Award presented by the IEEE Computational Intelligence Society. Prof. Tan is an IEEE Fellow and currently serves as the Chief Co-Editor of the Springer Book Series on Machine Learning: Foundations, Methodologies, and Applications.
Speech Title: Advancing Machine Intelligence via Evolutionary Transfer Learning and Optimization
Keynote Speaker Ⅳ
Prof. Shane Xie FIEEE FEngNZ FRSNZ
University of Leeds, UK
Biography: Prof Shane (Sheng Q) Xie, Ph.D., FRSNZ, FEngNZ, FIEEE, FASME, FIMechE and FAAIA, is the Chair of Robotics and Autonomous Systems and Director of the Rehabilitation Robotics Lab at the University of Leeds, and he was the Director of the Rehabilitation and Medical Robotics Centre at the University of Auckland, New Zealand (NZ, 2002-2016). He has >30 years of research experience in healthcare robotics and exoskeletons. He has published > 500 refereed papers and 8 books in rehabilitation exoskeleton design and control, neuromuscular modelling, and advanced human-robot interaction. He has supervised >15 postdocs, 100 PhDs and 80 MEs in his team with funding of >£30M from five countries since 2003. His team has invented three award-winning rehabilitation exoskeletons. He is an expert in control of exoskeletons, i.e. impedance control, adaptive control, sliding mode control, and iterative learning control strategies. He has received many distinguished awards including the New Zealand Science Challenge Award, the David Bensted Fellowship Award, and the AMP Invention Award. He is an elected Fellow of Royal Society of New Zealand, Fellow of Engineering New Zealand, Fellow of IEEE, ASME, IMechE and AAIA. He was the Technical Editor for IEEE/ASME Transaction on Mechatronics, Associate Editor for Mechatronics Elservier and Editorial member of many top journals in Mechatronics and Robotics.
Speech Title: Advanced Robotics for Effective Stroke Rehabilitation Treatment in a Home Environment
Abstract: Stroke and neurological diseases have significant impact on our society, robotic technologies have shown potential for delivering effective care and presented many opportunities for the healthcare industry. The talk will cover the recent development of robotics for stroke rehabilitation, the research gaps and the need for new technologies in neuroscience, robotics and artificial intelligence. The talk will introduce a EPSRC-funded project on intelligent reconfigurable exoskeletons tailored to meet patients’ needs, deliver effective diagnosis and personalised treatment, and monitored remotely by rehabilitation therapists. Examples of some of the current ongoing research work at the Leeds Centre for Assistive/Rehabilitation Robotics will be presented including peanumatic Peano muscle, DEA, soft exoskeleton, bilaterial robot, neuromuscular and brain computer interfaces. The focus is on the enabling technologies for those whose strength and coordination have been affected by amputation, stroke, spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy and ageing.