Omer Rana is a Professor of Performance Engineering and the International Dean for the Middle East at Cardiff University, UK. He is on the Strategic Advisory Group of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) International. His research interests include high performance distributed computing (particularly cloud and edge computing) and intelligent systems.

Rana has contributed to specification and standardisation activities via the Open Grid Forum and worked as a software developer with London-based Marshall Bio-Technology Limited prior to joining Cardiff University. At MBT he developed specialist software to support biotech instrumentation. He is the “cross-council projects” director for the UK National EdgeAI Hub. He co-leads the “cybersecurity and data science” theme in the UK-US Global Centre for Clean Energy and Equitable Transportation Solutions (CLEETS).

Rana holds a PhD in Neural Computing and Parallel Architectures from Imperial College (London University, UK). He is the associate Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Transactions on Services Computing and a member of the editorial boards of IEEE Internet Computing magazine and IEEE Transactions on Parallel and Distributed Systems.

His keynote speech at iCETiC ’25 will focus on “Bringing AI to the masses: the rising importance of edge infrastructure”.

Dr Biao Zeng (preferred name: Zeng) is an experimental psycholinguist and applied neuroscientist specializing in speech breathing and its role in naturalistic communication. He pioneered the "helicopter task"—an innovative method for examining respiratory patterns during spontaneous speech. Zeng leads the Speech Breathing Network, supported by the Wales Innovation Network, and is an Applied Psychology Research and Innovation Group member. His interdisciplinary research spans audiovisual speech perception (including British Sign Language), and he integrates emerging technologies such as virtual reality (VR), artificial intelligence (AI), eye-tracking, and brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) to advance education and rehabilitation for vulnerable populations.

His invited speech at iCETiC ’25 will focus on “What Do We Talk About When We Talk About AI? A Three-Tier Analysis of the Helicopter Task”.