Prof. Saurabh Sinha, IEEE Fellow

University of Canterbury, New Zealand

Saurabh Sinha obtained his B.Eng, M.Eng, and Ph.D. degrees in Electronic Engineering from the University of Pretoria (UP), South Africa (ZA). Prof Sinha is also a graduate of Wharton’s Advanced Management Program, University of Pennsylvania, USA (alum status). As an established researcher rated by the National Research Foundation, ZA, he has authored or co-authored over 140 publications in peer-reviewed journals, books and proceedings of international conferences. Prof Sinha served UP and the University of Johannesburg (UJ), ZA, for over 22 years – initially as an academic (at various tiers), and then as institute director, executive dean and deputy vice-chancellor. Prof Sinha moved to New Zealand in mid-2023, retaining visiting affiliations at both UJ (Business School and Engineering) and Princeton University (Engineering), USA. At the University of Canterbury, NZ, reporting directly to the vice-chancellor and principal, Prof Sinha leads the Faculty of Engineering as Executive Dean. Among his many achievements, Prof Sinha is a Fellow of the IEEE, recipient of a prestigious U.S. Fulbright grant, and has formerly served as IEEE Board of Director and Vice-President. He is registered as a Chartered Professional Engineer with Engineering New Zealand.

Prof. Kam Cheong Li
Dean of the School of Open Learning at Hong Kong Metropolitan University (HKMU);
The Director of HKMU’s Institute for Research in Open and Innovative Education.

Hong Kong Metropolitan University, Hong Kong

Prof. Kam Cheong Li is the Dean of the School of Open Learning at Hong Kong Metropolitan University (HKMU) and the Director of HKMU’s Institute for Research in Open and Innovative Education. He leads the university’s research in distance education and the development of big-data analytics.
In 2023, Prof. Li received two of the highest accolades in the field of distance education: the International Council for Open and Distance Education "Prize of Excellence" and the Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU) "Meritorious Service Award." Each of these prestigious awards is conferred to only one distinguished individual in a year.
Prof. Li served as Secretary-General of AAOU for three years and is currently an Executive Committee Member and an International Accreditation Board Member of the association. He has also been a Visiting Professor at Middlesex University in the United Kingdom for over a decade, advising the university’s Doctorate of Professional Studies programme. Additionally, he has been appointed Visiting Professor at several institutions in China, including Hebei Academy of Social Sciences and Hebei University of Economics and Business.
A prolific researcher, Prof. Li is the Editor-in-Chief of the Asian Association of Open Universities Journal and serves as an Editor for the "Innovation and Technology in Education" section of SN Computer Science.

Assoc. Prof. Hengtao Tang

University of South Carolina, China

Dr. Hengtao Tang is an Associate Professor and Program Director of Learning Design and Technologies at the University of South Carolina. His research lies at the intersection of self-regulated learning, multimodal learning analytics, and artificial intelligence in education. He examines how learners regulate their cognitive and metacognitive processes in intelligent online environments and how AI-driven adaptive supports can enhance their collaborative problem solving. Dr. Tang has published over 90 peer-reviewed journal and conference papers, with his research supported by organizations such as the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Education. His work has been recognized with several awards, including the USC Educational Foundation Research Award, Breakthrough Star Award, Garnet Apple Award, AECT Presidential Award, and the AERA Early Career Researcher Award.