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. Attend to engage with the keynote topic:
From *How* to Learn to *What* to Learn in Multiagent Systems and Robotics
Health Care and Medicine
Geography, Archaeology and Remote Sensing
Physical Networks and Critical Infrastructure
Education and Training
Christopher Proctor
University at Buffalo
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 | AI Bias and Market Shortcuts | 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 | From Pixels to Practice: AI-Enabled Risk Prediction in Lung Cancer Surgery | 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 | Maurizio Forte, Duke |
| 11:15 AM - 11:45 PM | Talk | Can AI Help Build a Biodiversity Observing System for Earth? | Adam Wilson, UB |
| 11:45 AM - 12:15 PM | Talk | From More Data to Better Data: Embodied AI for Archaeological Remote Sensing | Charuvahan Adhivarahan, UB |
| 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 | Networking | Networking Reception and Robot Demos | |
| 4:00 - 6:00 PM | Interaction Session | Bridging the Gap between AI experts and Domain experts | Information Sheet |
Friday, September 25
| Time | Session Type | Title | Speaker |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8:30 - 9:00 AM | Breakfast | Continental Breakfast & Networking | |
| Education and Training | |||
| 9:00 - 9:30 AM | Talk | The Promise of AI in Education | Tammy Kwan, Princeton |
| 9:30 - 10:00 AM | Talk | Authoring Dialogic Identities in Collaboration with Artificial Intelligence | Christopher Proctor, UB |
| 10:00 - 10:30 AM | Talk | Enhancing Teacher Training with Simulated Classrooms | Srirangaraj Setlur/Karthik Dantu, UB |
| 10:30 - 10:45 AM | Coffee Break | Refreshments & Networking | |
| 10:45 AM - 12:15 PM | Industry Panel Session | Industry Panel Discussion: 1. Emerging use of AI in various industries | Paul Guerrier (MOOG), Ali Mehmani (Johnson Controls), Philip Schneider (ACV Auctions), TBD |
| 12:15 - 12:30 PM | Closing Statements | Closing Statements: Siwei Lyu, Karthik Dante, Souma Chowdhury, Srirangaraj Setlur | |
| 12:30 - 1:30 PM | Lunch | Closing Lunch and 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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