Eddie Custovic is a qualified engineer with undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications in electronics and business. He is a business owner, entrepreneur, thought leader, mentor, philanthropist and global citizen. A highly result-driven individual with standout leadership capabilities, Eddie's multicultural background, multilingualism, and "borderless" approach to work have enabled him to take a politically and culturally sensitive perspective on life, volunteer roles, and professional career.

Eddie is an academic and industry project manager in the School of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, La Trobe University, Australia, and the founder/director of the La Trobe Innovation & Entrepreneurship Foundry (LIEF). LIEF is an inter-disciplinary innovation think tank and R&D lab that has worked with industry, government, and local communities to provide sustainable and effective solutions. Eddie is a longtime IEEE volunteer and currently serves on numerous IEEE boards, including: Publication Services & Products, Industry Engagement, Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Young Professionals. Outside of his day-to-day roles, Eddie founded the Bosnia & Herzegovina Futures Foundation that empowers youth through education and technology access as well as leadership development. He also advises numerous organizations on innovation, technology, and R&D. He is extremely passionate about STEM education and has led several federal government and NGO initiatives to help youth from low socioeconomic backgrounds overcome challenges in undertaking higher education. Eddie is a certified Level 1 Partnership Broker and has successfully developed, negotiated, and steered numerous partnerships to success.

Hossam is a project manager at Optus with 8 years of hands-on experience in delivering ICT infrastructure and security projects. He previously worked at multinational companies such as Vodafone, Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent, handling multiple vendors and third party providers. He has broad experience in project management and he is PMP®, PRINCE2®, AgilePM®, and ITIL® Certified. Hossam was the winner of IEEE MGA Leadership Award for chairing the IEEE Day Global Team.

Dr. Bonissone is an independent consultant specialized in using analytics for Industrial Internet applications. He is currently an Advanced Analytics advisor for Stanley Black Decker. Recently, he defined and shaped new projects for GE Oil & Gas, prior to their integration with Baker Hughes Inc. During the previous two years, he was an Advanced Analytics Advisor for Schlumberger. A retired Chief Scientist at GE Global Research, where he worked for 34 years, he has been a pioneer in fuzzy logic, AI, and Computational Intelligence I since 1979. He is a Fellow of the IEEE, AAAI, and IFSA, and a Coolidge Fellow at GE. From 2010 to 2015, he was President of the Scientific Committee of the European Centre of Soft Computing.

He served as Editor-in-Chief of the Int’l Journal of Approximate Reasoning for 13 years. He is in the editorial board of 5 journals and Editor-at-Large of the IEEE CIM. He has co-edited 6 books and has 160+ publications with an H-Index of 48 and an i10-index of 155. He received 73 patents issued from the USPTO. He was an Adjunct Professor at RPI in Troy NY for 22 years, where he supervised 5 PhD & 33 MS theses.

Jenifer is a Mechatronic Engineer and International Enterprises MBA candidate. Currently she is the Territory Manager of the Caribbean for Parker Hannifin, where she is in charge of business development and distribution channel management in the region, focused on different Parker technologies, such us Automation, Electromechanical and Hydraulics among many others. Previously, she worked for Ingersoll Rand as applications engineer in Colombia, and subsequently as sales coordinator in the Caribbean.

She is a senior member of IEEE, has been an active volunteer for 15 years, and currently is the IEEE Puerto Rico and Caribbean Section Chair, as well as part of the Women in Engineering Committee. Recently she was appointed as the Industry Engagement Adhoc Committee Chair in Region 9. She was awarded with the MGA GOLD Achievement award in 2010, and more recently with the Region 9 Theodore W. Hissey award in 2017, and with the Region 9 Discretionary Award for her contributions to WIE, YP, and student activities in 2019.

Dr. Robert S. Fish is a faculty member in the Department of Computer Science at Princeton University. He is also President of the IEEE Standards Association, a member of the Board of Governors of the IEEE Communications Society (ComSoc), and President of NETovations, LLC, a consulting company focused on the creation of communications and networking technology innovation. From 2007 to 2010, he was Chief Product Officer and Senior VP at Mformation, Inc. a company specializing in carrier software for mobile device management. From 1997 to 2007, Rob was Vice President and Managing Director of Panasonic US R&D laboratories. Prior to this, he was Executive Director, Multimedia Communications Research at Bellcore/Telcordia after starting his career at Bell Laboratories. Besides his many publications, Dr. Fish has been awarded 17 patents. He received his Ph.D. from Stanford University. Dr. Fish is Steering Committee chair and Co-founder of ComSoc’s Consumer Communications and Networking Conference. He is the former chair of ComSoc’s GLOBECOM and ICC Management and Strategy Committee. Dr. Fish was the recipient of ComSoc’s MMTC Distinguished Service Award. Rob has also been Chair of IEEE-SA’s Global Committee, and was a founding member of the IEEE-SA Corporate Advisory Group. He co-edited a series in IEEE Communications Magazine on IEEE standards in communications and networking. Dr. Fish and his organizations have initiated and managed standards development activities in IEEE, ISO/IEC JTC1, 3GPP, OMA, IETF, ATSC, CableLabs, OSGi, etc. In 2016, Dr. Fish was awarded the Standards Medallion of the IEEE Standards Association.

Roger Fujii has been an IEEE volunteer for 35 years. He is President of Fujii Systems, a executive management consulting firm to major corporations for large systems development. As Vice President/General Manager (retired) at Northrop Grumman, led a $1.086B engineering division responsible for achieving financial objectives for over 100 contracts, managing a 2,200 employee workforce, and delivering (R&D, engineering, manufacturing) specialized satellite and aircraft communication systems (F22/F35).

He developed the industry standard on the methodology for certifying critical software systems for all US nuclear weapon system software (Minutemen, Peacekeeper, Tomahawk Cruise Missile), radiation therapy devices and NASA manned space missions.

He was a guest professor at Xiamen University, China. Lectured at UCLA and Sacramento State University.

He published papers/books (chapter author), developed international standards, managed conferences, and served in IEEE/Society leadership and special committees. Served as 2016 Computer Society (CS) President, CS 1st Vice President, CS Vice President of Standards Activity Board, and CS Board of Governors. Served as IEEE Division VIII Director to Board of Directors. Lead the US Delegation to ISO/IEC International Software Engineering standards. Chairs IEEE Std 1012, Standard for System, Software and Hardware Verification and Validation. Currently chairs the IEEE Financial Transparency Group analyzing financial transparency issues and concerns.

Fujii is an IEEE Fellow, Golden Core member, and graduate of UC Berkeley (BS/MS EECS) with thesis on “Optimizing Algorithm for Pattern Recognition of Handwritten Characters.” Have MBA certifications from Harvard, UCLA and Darden (Virginia). Served on National Academy of Sciences National Research Council - “Oversight of Space Shuttle Flight Software.”

Francisco R. Martinez is the CEO of Sistemas Azteca S.A. a company he founded in 1994 in Guadalajara, Mexico dedicated to integrating automatic data systems based on barcode and RF technology (hardware/software). He is also a system integration consultant for electronics manufacturing companies. He received the B.S.E.E. degree from the University of Guadalajara (1982) and had a Managing Diploma from ITESO University in 2008. His career includes experience as practicing engineer and designer in the electro medical industry and plant manager for the plastics industry. He has been a professor in the University of Guadalajara and ITESO University. He has been a speaker in conferences related to automatic data collection for engineers and students. In 1998 he was recognized as outstanding engineer by the governor of the State of Jalisco, Mexico.

Mario is a Communication Systems Engineer at MaxLinear Inc. in Irvine, California, where he is responsible for the development of algorithms and system-on-chip architectures for high-performance broadband and networking semiconductor products. He received the Ph.D. degree from the Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Toronto in 2017, where his research focused on the design of error-correction decoders for low-power integrated circuits targeting multiGigabit/second 5G wireless systems and quantum cryptography over optical fiber. His research has been published in several peer-reviewed, high-impact factor journals from IEEE, Nature, and Elsevier.

As an IEEE volunteer, Mario is actively involved in the development of products, services, and events that deliver an engaging IEEE member experience. He has played an instrumental role in growing the visibility and sustainability of the IEEE Young Professionals program, spearheading the development of the strategic multi-year business plan, while also helping launch the IEEE Entrepreneurship initiative and its flagship N3XT global entrepreneurship summit. He currently serves as an IEEE Technical Expert, providing commentary to the press on trending topics such as IoT, security, and blockchain, most recently to media outlets such as ComputerWorld, Bitcoin Magazine, IoT Time, Tech Arena, and CoinCentral. He is a guest contributor to IEEE The Institute and Transmitter blogs, and a key player on the team behind the new IEEE Mobile App.

Dejan is a distinguished technologist at Hewlett Packard Labs, Palo Alto, CA, USA [1998–]. His areas of technical expertise include operating systems, distributed systems, and systems management. He worked in the OSF Research Institute, Cambridge, MA, USA [1994–1998] and Institute “Mihajlo Pupin”, Belgrade, Serbia [1983–1991].

Dejan was a managing director of the Open Cirrus Cloud Computing testbed (2007–2011), with the academic and industrial sites in the US (6), Europe (3), and Asia (6). Dejan has published over 170 papers and two books; he has 25 granted patents and over 50 patent applications.

Dejan is an IEEE Fellow (2010), ACM Distinguished Engineer (2008), and USENIX member. He was president of the IEEE Computer Society and is currently on the IEEE Board. He has been on many conference program committees and journal editorial boards. He started two conferences (IEEE ASAP and USENIX WIESS).

He received his Ph.D. from University of Kaiserslautern, Germany (1993) and M.Sc./B.Sc. from Belgrade University, Serbia (1983/86).

Khaled is currently the Emerging Technologies & Innovation Manager at Etisalat (United Arab Emirates). He is a technology commercialization and innovation expert with a BSc in Computer & Systems Engineering from Ain Shams University (Cairo, Egypt). Khaled has previously worked for Google, Government of Dubai and HP, ands has over 13 years of ICT corporate experience. He is also certified from the University of California - Berkeley, for mentoring innovative technology startups. Khaled was an international speaker at the 5G World Summit in England, 5G Asia Summit in Singapore, Digital Participation Summit in Germany, and Network Virtualization Europe in Spain.

Ed Palacio is President and a founding partner of P&L Technical Management Solutions (PLTMS). Previously, Ed was Vice President of Program Management and Business Operations for ITT Exelis Electronic Systems, a US$1.5-billion Strategic Business Unit and a leading supplier of Electronic Warfare, Communications, Radar, and Electronic Support Measure Systems. In this position, he was responsible for Program Management excellence throughout all of Electronic Systems’ multiple locations. Before joining ITT as part of its acquisition of EDO, Ed was Sector Vice President for EDO Corporation’s Electronic Warfare Sector. This sector consisted of three business entities with annual sales of more than US$350 million.

Ed has more than 37 years of experience in directing the development and production of complex electronic systems with a history of successful performance. He has proven expertise in corporate strategy formulation, organizational construct, international teaming, and major program pursuit and capture. He has held profit and loss responsibility at the Business Unit and Sector levels, as well as functional lead positions in Program Management, Engineering, and Operations.

Ed holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the Cooper Union School of Engineering and Science. He also holds two master's degrees, in Electrical Engineering and Technology Management, from Polytechnic Institute of New York, USA. He is a Program Management Institute certified Project Management Professional (PMP) as well as a Lean Six Sigma Greenbelt. Ed also teaches graduate-level Product Development, Project Management, and Global Operations Management courses at the State University of New York, Stony Brook campus, USA.

Glenn Parsons is an internationally known expert in mobile backhaul/fronthaul and Ethernet technology. He is a standards advisor with Ericsson Canada, where he coordinates standards strategy and policy for Ericsson, including network architecture for 5G radio transport networks.

Previously, he has held positions in development, product management, and standards architecture in the ICT industry. Over the past number of years, he has held several management and editor positions in various standards activities including IETF, IEEE, and ITU-T.

He has been an active participant in the IEEE-SA Board of Governors, as well as the Standards Board and its Committees since 2004. He is currently involved with 5G transport standardization in MEF, IEEE and ITU-T and is chair of IEEE 802.1. He is a Technical Editor for IEEE Communications Magazine and Editor-in-Chief for IEEE Communications Magazine Standards Supplement. He graduated in 1992 with a B.Eng. degree in electrical engineering from Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Sohaib Sheikh is a London-based Digital Consultant with multidisciplinary, cross-sector, global consultancy experience. He has expertise in strategy, design, implementation, and commissioning of large-scale complex information and communications systems on high-profile, major international capital investment programs, particularly in the commercial property and sport sectors across the United Kingdom, Middle East, and Russia.

Sohaib is passionate about STEM education and technology management and has volunteered for international organizations such as IEEE, Engineers Without Borders, and Rotary International to promote both causes. Currently, he is a member of the IEEE Education Activities Board. He is also the Chair of the IEEE EMEA Education Activities Sub-Committee and was a member of the Board of Directors’ appointed 2017 IEEE Humanitarian Activities Committee. He has given plenary talks and delivered workshops at 40+ international events including the UNESCO World Science Forum, IEEE Sections Congress, and the World Engineering Education Forum.

Upon completion of his studies, Costas worked for a year at the Agence France-Presse (AFP), an international news agency as an Electrical Engineer and then for three years at the Societe Internationale de Telecommunications Aeronautiques (SITA), the world's leading service provider of integrated IT business solutions and communication services of the air transport industry. Then in 1991, Costas moved on to the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC), the major electricity provider of Cyprus, responsible for the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity in Cyprus. There he held various Engineering Specialist and Management positions in various departments acquiring experience and knowledge from different areas and disciplines. Costas currently holds the position of Acting Area Manager having under management more than 430 employees. In the recent years, he was the Manager for the Forward Planning, issuing of Terms for Electricity Supply and for the Methods and Programming Departments. Costas has successfully managed several projects including GIS and large Photovoltaic and Wind Farm plants. He has formed policy regarding renewable energy, grid connections and took part in many working groups and committees. Costas’ main interests include Renewable Energy, Smart Grids, Innovations and Start-ups.