University at Buffalo (UB)
2026 AI and Data Science
Symposium at UB: Physical AI
September 24-25, 2026
Grounding Intelligence and Autonomy in the Built and Natural World
AI's next frontier isn't just smarter models, it's AI that senses, adapts and acts in the physical world: in hospitals and clinics, across landscapes and through the networks that keep our infrastructure running. This year's symposium brings together AI researchers and domain experts across five tracks— Health Care and Medicine; Geography, Archaeology and Remote Sensing; Physical Networks and Critical Infrastructure; Bridging the Gap Between AI Experts and Domain Experts; and Education and Training— to explore how embodied, responsible AI can realize AI for good.
Peter Stone of UT Austin, Chief Scientist of Sony AI and a leading voice on building AI agents that adapt, interact and act, considers embodiment "essential" to intelligent systems.
Health Care and Medicine
Rodrigo Gameiro
Harvard
Nathalia Andrade
University at Buffalo
Kenneth Seastedt
University at Buffalo
Geography, Archaeology and Remote Sensing
Maurisio Forte
Duke
Physical Networks and Critical Infrastructure
Yulia Gel
Virginia Tech
Seyyedali Hosseinalipour
University at Buffalo
Souma Chowdhury
University at Buffalo
Education and Training
Tammy Kwan
Princeton
Thursday, September 24
| Time | Session Type | Title | Speaker |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8:30 - 9:00 AM | Breakfast | Continental Breakfast & Networking | |
| Health Care and Medical | |||
| 9:00 AM - 9:30 AM | Talk | Rodrigo Gameiro, Harvard | |
| 9:30 AM - 10:00 AM | Talk | From Innovation to Integration: AI and Emerging Technologies in Dentistry | Nathalia Andrade, UB |
| 10:00 AM - 10:30 AM | Talk | AI-Enabled Risk Prediction in Lung Cancer Surgery: From Multimodal Models to Clinical Translation | Kenneth Seastedt, UB |
| 10:30 - 10:45 AM | Coffee Break | Refreshments & Networking | |
| Geography, Archaeology and Remote Sensing | |||
| 10:45 - 11:15 AM | Talk | The Past Did not Happen Once: Agentic AI and the Potential Past | Maurisio Forte, Duke |
| 11:15 - 11:45 AM | Talk | Title TBD | Speaker TBD |
| 11:45 AM - 12:15 PM | Talk | Title TBD | Speaker TBD |
| 12:15 - 1:15 PM | Lunch | Lunch & Networking | |
| Keynote Speaker | |||
| 1:15 - 2:15 PM | Keynote | From *How* to Learn to *What* to Learn in Multiagent Systems and Robotics | Peter Stone, UT Austin |
| Physical Networks & Critical Infrastructure | |||
| 2:15 - 2:45 PM | Talk | Topology-Driven Diffusion for Adverse Spatio-Temporal Event Surveillance | Yulia Gel, VT |
| 2:45 - 3:15 PM | Talk | Federated Foundation Models over Resource-Constrained Networks | Seyyedali Hosseinalipour, UB |
| 3:15 - 3:45 PM | Talk | Learning over Graphs: Towards Restoring Critical Infrastructure Networks and Managing Robot Teams | Souma Chowdhury, UB |
| 3:45 - 4:00 PM | Coffee Break | Refreshments & Networking | |
| 4:00 - 5:30 PM | Interaction Session | Bridging the Gap between AI experts and Domain experts | |
| 5:30 - 6:00 PM | Networking | Closing Networking Reception | |
Friday, September 25
| Time | Session Type | Title | Speaker |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8:30 AM - 9:00 AM | Breakfast | Continental Breakfast & Networking | |
| Education and Training | |||
| 9:00 AM - 9:30 AM | Talk | Title TBD | Tammy Kwan, Princeton |
| 9:30 AM - 10:00 AM | Talk | Title TBD | Speaker TBD |
| 10:00 AM - 10:30 AM | Talk | Title TBD | Ranga/Karthik, UB |
| 10:30 - 10:45 AM | Coffee Break | Refreshments & Networking | |
| 11:45 AM - 12:45 PM | Panel Session | Panel Discussion | |
| 12:45 - 1:30 PM | Lunch | Closing Lunch & Networking | |
General Chair
Program Committee Chairs
Siwei Lyu
Director, IAD
Karthik Dantu
Founding Director, Center for Embodied Autonomy and Robotics
Souma Chowdhury
Co-Director, Center for Embodied Autonomy and Robotics
Ranga Setlur
Associate Directory (Community Engagement), IAD
Past Conferences
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