2026's Seminars
[LINGI2399] 2026-04-09 (10:45) : How LLMs will change IT jobs
At BARB94
Speaker :
Tim Paridaens (Deloitte)
Abstract : The rise of Large Language Models (LLMs) is poised to revolutionize the IT job landscape. In domains such as automated coding assistance, automated testing, customer support automation or cybersecurity advancements, LLMs already provide today advanced capabilities that efficiently support IT staff in their daily operations. The speaker will share Deloitte’s experience using LLMs to support IT functions and highlight measured gains and identified limitations.
[ELEN] 2026-04-08 (09:00) : From Beyond-Diagonal Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces to Analog Computing for Communications and Signal Processing
At Shannon Room
Speaker :
Bruno Clerckx (Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering - Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus)
Abstract : Modern systems rely on digital circuits, computing, and signal processors that operate on binary values, offering advantages such as precision, versatility, robustness. Yet, digital processors face major limitations as high power consumption and limited speed. Despite digital signal processing being widely adopted today, analog computing is attracting a renewed interest thanks to its ability to perform energy-efficient and massively parallelized computations.
The talk shows two promising avenues to devise new, faster, and more sustainable communication and signal processing architectures that marry the communication theoretic principles of modern digital communications with analog domain processing and computing paradigms such that information transmission, processing and computing are conducted faster with much lower computational complexity.
First, we introduce Beyond-Diagonal Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (BD-RIS), a general framework of reconfigurable intelligent surfaces where elements are inter-connected via tunable impedances. This enables engineered coupling, allowing waves to propagate between elements, enhancing RIS-aided communications with greater signal manipulation flexibility.
Next, we introduce the concept of Microwave Linear Analog Computer (MiLAC) as a very general model of a computer exploiting the propagation of analog signals in a microwave network, offering exceptionally low computational complexity - unimaginable with conventional digital computers. We show that MiLAC can perform computation, e.g. matrix inversion and linear minimum mean square error estimation, with low complexity directly in the analog domain and enable new future MIMO communications with 10⁴× lower computational complexity than digital processing.
The increasing research interest in those areas is reflected by the Special Interest Groups on BD-RIS https://sites.google.com/view/ieee-comsoc-rcc-sig-bdris and on Analog Computing https://sites.google.com/view/sig-analog-computing in the IEEE Communications Society.
Bio:
Bruno Clerckx is a Full Professor and the Head of the Communications and Signal Processing Group at Imperial College London, London, U.K. He received the MSc and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium, and the Doctor of Science (DSc) degree from Imperial College London, U.K. He spent many years in industry with Silicon Austria Labs (SAL), Austria, where he was the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) responsible for all research areas of Austria's top research center for electronic based systems and with Samsung Electronics, South Korea, where he actively contributed to 4G (3GPP LTE/LTE-A and IEEE 802.16m). He has authored two books on “MIMO Wireless Communications” and “MIMO Wireless Networks”, over 350 peer-reviewed international research papers, and 150 standards contributions, and is the inventor of over 80 issued patents among which several have been adopted in the specifications of 4G and 5G standards and are used by billions of devices worldwide. His research spans the general area of wireless communications and signal processing for wireless networks. He received the Blondel Medal 2021 from France for exceptional work contributing to the progress of Science and Electrical and Electronic Industries, the 2022 Adolphe Wetrems Prize in mathematical and physical sciences and the 2025 Georges Vanderlinden Prize in Electromagnetism and Telecommunications from Royal Academy of Belgium, multiple awards from Samsung, IEEE best student paper award, IEEE Globecom 2025 best paper award, and the EURASIP (European Association for Signal Processing) best paper award 2022. He is a Fellow of the IEEE and the IET. He is the vice-chair of ETSI Industry Specification Group (ISG) on Multiple Access Techniques (MAT).
The talk shows two promising avenues to devise new, faster, and more sustainable communication and signal processing architectures that marry the communication theoretic principles of modern digital communications with analog domain processing and computing paradigms such that information transmission, processing and computing are conducted faster with much lower computational complexity.
First, we introduce Beyond-Diagonal Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (BD-RIS), a general framework of reconfigurable intelligent surfaces where elements are inter-connected via tunable impedances. This enables engineered coupling, allowing waves to propagate between elements, enhancing RIS-aided communications with greater signal manipulation flexibility.
Next, we introduce the concept of Microwave Linear Analog Computer (MiLAC) as a very general model of a computer exploiting the propagation of analog signals in a microwave network, offering exceptionally low computational complexity - unimaginable with conventional digital computers. We show that MiLAC can perform computation, e.g. matrix inversion and linear minimum mean square error estimation, with low complexity directly in the analog domain and enable new future MIMO communications with 10⁴× lower computational complexity than digital processing.
The increasing research interest in those areas is reflected by the Special Interest Groups on BD-RIS https://sites.google.com/view/ieee-comsoc-rcc-sig-bdris and on Analog Computing https://sites.google.com/view/sig-analog-computing in the IEEE Communications Society.
Bio:
Bruno Clerckx is a Full Professor and the Head of the Communications and Signal Processing Group at Imperial College London, London, U.K. He received the MSc and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium, and the Doctor of Science (DSc) degree from Imperial College London, U.K. He spent many years in industry with Silicon Austria Labs (SAL), Austria, where he was the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) responsible for all research areas of Austria's top research center for electronic based systems and with Samsung Electronics, South Korea, where he actively contributed to 4G (3GPP LTE/LTE-A and IEEE 802.16m). He has authored two books on “MIMO Wireless Communications” and “MIMO Wireless Networks”, over 350 peer-reviewed international research papers, and 150 standards contributions, and is the inventor of over 80 issued patents among which several have been adopted in the specifications of 4G and 5G standards and are used by billions of devices worldwide. His research spans the general area of wireless communications and signal processing for wireless networks. He received the Blondel Medal 2021 from France for exceptional work contributing to the progress of Science and Electrical and Electronic Industries, the 2022 Adolphe Wetrems Prize in mathematical and physical sciences and the 2025 Georges Vanderlinden Prize in Electromagnetism and Telecommunications from Royal Academy of Belgium, multiple awards from Samsung, IEEE best student paper award, IEEE Globecom 2025 best paper award, and the EURASIP (European Association for Signal Processing) best paper award 2022. He is a Fellow of the IEEE and the IET. He is the vice-chair of ETSI Industry Specification Group (ISG) on Multiple Access Techniques (MAT).
[INMA] 2026-04-07 (14:00) : Pattern-preserving optimal control problems with increasing time-horizon
At Euler building (room A.002)
Speaker :
Matteo Della Rossa (Politecnico of Torino)
Abstract : In this seminar, within the framework of general optimal control theory, we investigate the following question: under which conditions the "structure/pattern" of optimal controls on finite horizons is preserved in the infinite-horizon problem, i.e., as the final time grows unboundedly and tends to infinity? To address this question, we introduce a notion of pattern-preserving family of optimal control problems and show how this property can be characterized via Gamma-convergence of the associated variational formulations. We also discuss important limitations and features of this approach, including counterexamples, scenarios with state constraints, and systems governed by dissipative state equations (in the sense of J.C. Willems). To illustrate the theoretical results, we present several examples and applications, with particular emphasis on a simple epidemic control problem as a real-world case study.
[ELEN] 2026-04-07 (08:30) : Environmental sustainability of semiconductor manufacturing: from current trends and hotspots to practical skills for improving it.
At BARB12
Speaker :
Benjamin Vanhouche (VUB)
,
and
Vincent Schellekens (imec)
Abstract : This talk provides an introduction to assessing the (un)sustainability of nanoscale semiconductor manufacturing. We will first consider the macro-level, discussing the current status and trends regarding the environmental impact of the semiconductor industry as a whole. We will then zoom in at the micro-level, detailing the main environmental hotspots of integrated circuit manufacturing. After this overview of the current status of semiconductor manufacturing sustainability, we will have a hands-on session designed to empower (future) nanofabrication engineers to think about---and improve---the sustainability of their own processes.
[ICTM] 2026-04-07 (13:00) : Dealing with Variability and Mismatch in Closed‑Loop Neuromorphic Control: From Limitations to Design Opportunities
At Shannon room
Speaker :
Alessio Franci (Liège)
Abstract : Neural systems exhibit substantial variability in their underlying parameters, yet they reliably generate robust and adaptive closed-loop behaviors in sensorimotor tasks. Neuromorphic systems display an analogous form of variability, primarily due to transistor mismatch, raising the question of how such mismatch can be exploited rather than suppressed. Understanding how to harness this inherent device-level variability to design robust and adaptive neuromorphic controllers is an active and promising research direction.
In this talk, I will first introduce the mechanisms and functional roles of variability in biological neural systems and relate them to parameter mismatch in neuromorphic hardware, with a particular focus on closed-loop control scenarios. Building on this background, I will present two recent lines of work: (i) variability in human gait control, and (ii) a quantitative analysis of mismatch effects in fully analog neuromorphic neurons. I will conclude with an overview of emerging neuro-inspired strategies leveraging transistor mismatch to achieve robustness and adaptability in neuromorphic control systems.
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