Title: From Digital Twins to Cognitive Twins: Closing the Metacognitive Loop in Distributed Sensor Networks
Speaker: Prof. Ian Akyildiz
Abstract: For decades, distributed sensor networks have operated as deterministic systems—blindly forwarding data according to static protocols engineered for worst-case scenarios. We have reached a scalability wall where the density of sub-THz MIMO arrays and the fragility of holographic links render manual optimization obsolete. The future of sensing is not in collecting more data, but in instilling intelligence within the network fabric itself. This talk introduces the transition from Digital Twins—static, virtual replicas—to Cognitive Twins: living, learning representations of the physical environment that reside within the network. We achieve this through the Cognitive Goal-Oriented Stack (CGOS) , an architecture where three distributed agents collaborate: a World Model that predicts environmental and network state evolution; a Strategic Intent Agent that extracts the semantic goal behind sensor readings; and a Reflexive Physical Agent that adapts waveform and beamforming parameters at light-speed. These agents are unified by a distributed Metacognitive Loop, enabling the network to observe its own performance, reason about failures, and rewrite its own operational rules in real time. This framework transforms a static sensor grid into an autonomous nervous system capable of true zero-touch optimization—from deep-sea monitoring to extraterrestrial swarms. The era of connecting sensors is ending. The era of thinking networks has begun.
Bio: Ian F. Akyildiz (Life Fellow, IEEE) received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Erlangen–Nürnberg, Germany, in 1978, 1981, and 1984, respectively. Since Fall 2020, he has served as a Distinguished Professor, as well as the Founder and Director of the Center for Robotics and Wireless Communications in Challenging Environments at the University of Iceland. Additionally, since August 2020, he has been the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of the International Telecommunication Union Journal on Future and Evolving Technologies (ITU J-FET). Dr. Akyildiz has been a member of the Advisory Board at the Technology Innovation Institute (TII) in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, since June 2020. He is also the Founder and President of Truva Inc., a consulting firm based in Georgia, USA, a position he has held since 1989. From 1985 to 2020, he was the Ken Byers Chair Professor in Telecommunications, the Past Chair of the Telecom Group in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and the Director of the Broadband Wireless Networking Laboratory at the Georgia Institute of Technology. From 2017 to 2020, Prof. Akyildiz was awarded a Megagrant by the Russian government, enabling him to establish the ‘Wireless Networks’ research laboratory. Today, the lab is well-established and conducts cutting-edge research in its field. An IEEE Fellow (since 1996) and ACM Fellow (since 1997), Dr. Akyildiz has received numerous prestigious awards, including the Humboldt Research Award (Germany) and the TUBITAK Award (Turkey). As of October 2025, his Google Scholar metrics include an h-index of 145 and over 155K citations. His current research focuses on AI-Native Future Networks, Networking 2030, the Metaverse, Holographic and Extended Reality (XR) Communications, 6G/7G Wireless Systems, Terahertz Communication, and Underwater Networks.
Title: The Bottlenecks in Advancing Foundation Models for Internet of Things (IoT) Applications
Speaker: Prof. Tarek Abdelzaher
Abstract: Advances in self-supervised AI revolutionized modern machine intelligence, but important challenges remain when applying these solutions in IoT contexts – specifically, on lower-end distributed embedded devices with multimodal specialized sensors, where ample training data are not readily available. The talk discusses the bottlenecks in advancing self-supervised machine intelligence services and foundation models for Internet of Things (IoT) applications. We argue that, at training time, the key bottlenecks are data-related. Embedded computing relies on scarce sensor data modalities, unlike those commonly addressed in mainstream AI, necessitating solutions for efficient learning from scarce sensor data. At inference time, the bottlenecks are computational, calling for improved resource economy and novel scheduling policies. Further ahead, the convergence of AI around large language models (LLMs) introduces additional model-related challenges in embedded contexts. The paper discusses novel research directions in addressing these bottlenecks, covering data-, resource-, and model-related challenges in the IoT domain.
Bio: Tarek Abdelzaher received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Michigan in 1999. He is currently a Sohaib and Sara Abbasi Professor and Willett Faculty Scholar at the Department of Computer Science, the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. He has authored/coauthored more than 450 refereed publications in edge AI, IoT, real-time computing, sensor networks, and control. He served as an Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Real-Time Systems, and has served as Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing, IEEE Transactions on Parallel and Distributed Systems, IEEE Embedded Systems Letters, the ACM Transaction on Sensor Networks, and the Ad Hoc Networks Journal, among others. Abdelzaher’s research interests lie broadly in understanding and influencing performance and temporal properties of networked embedded, social, and software systems in the face of increasing complexity, distribution, and degree of interaction with an external physical environment. Tarek Abdelzaher is a recipient of the IEEE Outstanding Technical Achievement and Leadership Award in Real-time Systems (2012), the Xerox Award for Faculty Research (2011), as well as over a dozen best paper awards. He is a fellow of IEEE and ACM.
Title: 6G NTN Communication and Edge Computing for Satellite IoT
Speaker: Prof. Symeon Chatzinotas
Abstract: NTN is regarded as one of the most important milestones in the 6G era, aiming at providing ubiquitous network coverage. Such coverage will largely benefit IoT applications, which often have to operate in remote areas, far from the centers of huma activity e.g. environmental monitoring, energy grid plants and transport networks. In this talk, we will dive into advance communication and edge computing capabilities that are envisaged to support such satellite IoT dervices. Starting from connectivity, we will investigate the state of the art in NTN direct to X, highlighting current capabilities and open challenges in RAN and architecture layers. Subsequently, we focus on space edge computing with a particular emphasis on neuromorphic AI and semantic communications.
Bio: Symeon Chatzinotas is currently Full Professor / Chief Scientist I and Head of the research group SIGCOM in the Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust, University of Luxembourg. In parallel, he is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Electronic Systems, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, an Eminent Scholar of the Kyung Hee University, Korea and a Collaborating Scholar of the Institute of Informatics & Telecommunications, National Center for Scientific Research “Demokritos”.In the past, he has been a Visiting Professor at EPFL, Switzerland and University of Parma, Italy and contributed in numerous R&D projects for the Institute of Telematics and Informatics, Center of Research and Technology Hellas and Mobile Communications Research Group, Center of Communication Systems Research, University of Surrey.
He has received the M.Eng. in Telecommunications from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece and the M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Electronic Engineering from University of Surrey, UK in 2003, 2006 and 2009 respectively.
He has authored more than 800 technical papers in refereed international journals, conferences and scientific books and has received numerous awards and recognitions, including the IEEE Fellowship and an IEEE Distinguished Contributions Award. He has served in the editorial board of npj Wireless Technology, IEEE Transactions on Communications, IEEE Open Journal of Vehicular Technology and the International Journal of Satellite Communications and Networking.