Manuel Sierra Castañer

Advanced Technologies in Antenna Measurements: How to Combine the Reduction of Measurement Time with High Accuracy of the Antenna Measurement Processes?

Bio: Manuel Sierra Castañer was born in 1970 in Zaragoza (Spain). He obtained the degree of Telecommunication Engineering in 1994 and the PhD in 2000, both from the Technical University of Madrid (UPM) in Spain, where he is Full Professor since 2017. He has been visitor researcher in Tokyo Tech (September-December 1998) and EPFL (September-December 1999) during his PhD and visitor Professor in Tokyo Tech during the summers of 2012 and 2013. Currently, he is Fellow member of the IEEE and AMTA Societies. In 2024, he obtained the AMTA Distinguished achievement award. Since January 2016 he was member of the EurAAP (European Association on Antennas and Propagation) board of directors, and since 2019 to end of 2021 he was the EurAAP vice-chair. He was the General Chair of EuCAP2022 in Madrid. Currently, he is the Dean of the Telecommunications School of Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and has been EurAAP ambassador during the year 2023-24.

Ara Nefian

Computer Vision, Machine Learning/AI and Robotics in Planetary Science and Exploration

Abstract: Autonomous rovers will enable exploration, resource utilization, and ultimately colonization of new planetary bodies. Independently or together with astronaut crews, rovers investigate extreme environments characterized by strong illumination conditions, low gravity, unknown surface characteristics, and lack of localization infrastructure. This talk focuses on computer vision, machine learning/AI, and robotics approaches for mapping, rover navigation, and hazard avoidance suitable for current and future scientific and autonomous planetary exploration.

Bio: Dr. Ara Nefian's general interests are in the area of computer vision, machine learning, image classification and retrieval and robotics. He was on the science team for Curiosity mission on Mars and and on the science team for VIPER mission to the lunar south pole. He led at NASA Ames, the lunar crater detection project, the Lunar Mapping and Modeling, and the advanced rover navigation team for lunar exploration. In the past, he was with Intel Research Labs in Santa Clara, CA involved in several research projects including face and gesture recognition, audio-visual speech processing, web image clustering and bioinformatics. In 2005 Ara was part of the computer vision group within the Stanford racing team (Stanley) that won the DARPA Autonomous Navigation Grand Challenge. He co-authored more than 200 research papers and holds 20 US and international patents. Ara holds a BS from Politehnica University Bucharest (1993) and a MSEE and PhD from Georgia Institute of Technology (1999).

Vijay Janyani

Scalable and Energy-Efficient Optical Fiber Access Networks for Next-Generation Connectivity

Abstract: Energy efficient Optical fiber networks form the backbone of modern communication infrastructure, enabling ultra-high-speed data transmission to support the exponential growth of digital services, cloud computing, 5G/6G, and emerging digital ecosystems. This keynote explores the evolution of optical fiber access networks with a focus on Passive Optical Network (PON) architectures and GPON-based systems that play a crucial role in last-mile connectivity through FTTH and FTTx deployments. The talk highlights key challenges in fiber access networks, including scalability, energy efficiency, latency, and efficient bandwidth allocation, while addressing the need for optimized PON architectures to meet rapidly growing traffic demands. Emphasis is placed on the technological evolution from GPON to XG-PON, XGS-PON, and NG-PON2, and their role in enabling high-capacity and energy-efficient broadband access networks. Strategies for improving network capacity, reliability, and responsiveness through intelligent resource management and optimized optical fiber infrastructure will be discussed, providing insights into the development of scalable and sustainable next-generation broadband access systems.

Bio: Dr. Vijay Janyani received his Bachelor of Engineering and Master of Engineering from Malaviya National Institute of Technology Jaipur (erstwhile MREC Jaipur), India, and his Ph.D. in Electronics Engineering from the United Kingdom under the Commonwealth Scholarship. He is currently Professor in the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering at MNIT Jaipur, India, with over 32 years of teaching and research experience in photonics and optical communication. His research interests include optical fiber communication, GPON and next-generation PON networks, photonic crystal devices, optical materials and devices, and free-space optical communication. He has supervised 19 PhD scholars and published extensively in IEEE, Springer, and Elsevier journals and is also Editor of reputed publications. He has led several international collaborative research projects under UKIERI and Indo-Poland, Indo-Japan, and Indo-Egypt initiatives and served as Visiting Faculty at Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok. He has delivered keynote and invited talks internationally under SPIE and OSA lecturer programs and served as General Co-Chair of the IEEE ANTS 2023 conference held in Jaipur. He was Chair of the IEEE Rajasthan Subsection (2018–2019) and is a recipient of the Commonwealth Scholarship and AICTE Career Award for Young Teachers. He is a Senior Member of IEEE, OPTICA, and SPIE.