IEEE Smart World Congress 2025 Panel
AI's Transformative Influence on Higher Education
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
August 18 - 22, 2025
You're Invited: AI's Transformative Influence on Higher Education
Join us for an illuminating panel discussion, "AI's Impact on Higher Education," where we dive deep into how generative AI is reshaping teaching, research, and the future of academia. Our distinguished panel features four accomplished experts, each bringing decades of hands-on university experience, groundbreaking research, and real-world industry insight spanning law and ethics, cutting-edge machine learning and cognitive computing, human-computer interaction, applied AI, intelligent vehicles, and next-generation IoT technologies. Whether you're a student, educator, researcher, or professional intrigued by the profound shifts in higher education, this session promises fresh perspectives and practical takeaways. Together, our panelists will explore timely and thought-provoking questions such as:
- How can universities leverage AI to revolutionize research endeavors?
- In what ways will AI transform learning, teaching, and assessment methods?
- How can faculty lead and innovate to serve a society increasingly shaped by AI technologies?
- What does the educational ecosystem of the future look like in an AI-driven world?
Don't miss this unique opportunity to gain insights from leaders at the forefront of both AI and higher education. Bring your curiosity, your questions, and your vision for the future. All are welcome!
Panel Chair
Dr. Zengxiang (Eric) Wang
Professor, Athabasca University
Canada
Biography
Eric Wang, professor of finance at Faculty of Business, His research
interests include option pricing, shareholder activism and its impact
on CEO compensation and stock returns, the response of corporate
director's compensation mix to firm's transition from junior stock
exchange to main exchange, agency conflicts in co-regulation, and
dynamics of Canadian oil price and its impact on exchange rate and
stock markets, financial fraud, and distance education and AI's impact
on higher education. He has published in education and management
journals such as Distance Education in China, IEEE SmartWorld,
Managerial Finance, International Review of Financial Analysis,
Journal of Management and Governance, Journal of Financial Crime, and
Journal of Management. He is currently interested in student
performance and ESG performance in the age of generative AI.
Professor Wang's website
Panelists
Dr. Georg Borges
Professor, Saarland University
Germany
Biography
Georg Borges is a Professor of Civil Law, Legal Informatics, German
and International Business Law and Legal Theory and the managing
director of the Institute for Legal Informatics at Saarland
University, Germany. From 2004 to 2014, he was Professor of Law at
Ruhr-University Bochum. Besides this, he was also a Judge at the
State Court of Appeals, Hamm Circuit. Since February 2023, he is
also a distinguished visiting professor at the University of
Johannesburg, Faculty of Law. Since September 2024, he is also a
visiting professor at Keio University, Tokyo. As an expert on IT Law
and on law and informatics, Prof. Borges has authored several books
and numerous articles in the field. Prof. Borges is involved in
numerous projects in the field of IT and legal informatics.
Currently, a focus of his interest is on the legal framework of AI.
Professor Borges's website
Richard Dixon
Interim Dean, Faculty of Business Athabasca University
Canada
Biography
Richard Dixon specializes in regulation, professional regulators,
strategic management and foresight, ethics, and energy research,
with practical experience in government, profit, and non-profit
fields.
Richard is the Interim Dean and the Co-Chair of the Management
Department and Academic Co-ordinator at Athabasca University's
Faculty of Business. At Athabasca University, he co-led the
development and taught North America's first AI-powered virtual
co-op. He was the 2024 recipient of the Craig Cunningham Memorial
Award for Teaching Excellence at Athabasca University.
Richard was the first Chief of Strategic Foresight in the Alberta
Energy Regulator. He provided Executive and Board members with
strategic decision-making knowledge, intelligence, and foresight.
Previously, Professor Dixon was the Centre for Applied Business
Research in Energy and the Environment's (CABREE) first Executive
Director and Adjunct Professor at the University of Alberta. He
taught graduate students, conducted extensive media commentary on
energy issues and led many energy studies. Before this role, Richard
led the Strategic Intelligence Unit in Alberta Environment,
identified emerging energy and environmental issues and developed
strategic responses for the Ministry and Government of Alberta. He
co-chaired the Emissions Trading Project in the Alberta government,
which won the Premier's Gold Award of Excellence. The Project was
the basis for developing North America's first mandatory carbon tax.
Richard is working on another degree, a Ph.D. in Strategic
Management and Ethics, from Walden University. His thesis focuses on
significant changes impacting Canadian professions and professional
regulators.
Professor Dixon's website
Dr. Hui Yu
Professor, University of Glasgow
UK
Biography
Hui Yu is a Professor with the University of Glasgow. He leads the
Visual Computing and Social Robot Group at the university. His
research interests lie in visual and cognitive computing and machine
learning with applications to 4D facial expression reconstruction
and tracking for social signal analysis, human-machine interaction,
as well as intelligent vehicle, and video analysis. Professor Yu's
research work has led to several awards and successful collaboration
with worldwide institutions and industries. He is the Associate Vice
President of the IEEE Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Society and a
Scientific Advisor for high-tech companies in the UK.
Professor Yu's website
Dr. Dhananjay Singh
Professor, Penn State University
USA
Biography
Prof. Dhananjay Singh is a Teaching Professor in the College of
Information Sciences and Technology at Penn State University, USA,
where he also serves as Director of the ReSENSE Lab, dedicated to
developing advanced technologies for smart communities. His research
interests encompass Informatics and Intelligent Systems,
Human-Computer Interaction, Intelligent Vehicles, Applied AI/Data
Sciences, and AI-powered Internet of Things (IoT). With over 20
years of distinguished experience in academia and industry, Dr.
Singh has held various leadership roles, including department chair,
dean, senior researcher, and entrepreneur at top institutions in
South Korea. Before joining Penn State, he was a Full Professor at
Saint Louis University, USA, and at Hankuk University of Foreign
Studies, Seoul, South Korea.
Prof. Singh holds a B.Tech. in Computer Science and Engineering from
VBS Purvanchal University, an M.Tech. in Information Technology
(Wireless Communication and Computing) from the Indian Institute of
Information Technology Allahabad (IIIT-A), and a Ph.D. in Ubiquitous
IT from Dongseo University, South Korea.
A Senior Member of IEEE, ACM, and the IHCI Society, Dr. Singh, is
highly active in the international academic community. He has served
and continues to serve as General Chair and Program Chair for
numerous international conferences and workshops, including IHCI
(2019–2025), ICA (2023–2025), GIECS 2025, IEEE Smart World Congress
2025, and several others. He, has delivered over 100 invited and
keynote talks worldwide and serves as Executive Director of IHCI
society, Associate editor for PLOS One Journal, The-Korean-Institute
of Information Scientists and Engineers (KIISE), Springer LNCS/ CSIS
Conference proceedings, and book series editor for Springer's
Blockchain Technologies. Dr. Singh is a co-inventor/author of more
than 25 granted patents, 3 books, 15 book chapters, 10 edited
conference proceedings, over 75 conference papers, and 50 scholarly
journal articles. For his significant contributions to technology
and education, he has received multiple best paper awards,
innovation awards, achievement awards, and the Bhartiya Ratna
Puraskar from the State Government of Uttar Pradesh at the 15th
Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention in Varanasi, India.
Professor Singh's website
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