Dr. Tomaso de Cola received the ”Laurea” degree (with honors) in telecommunication engineering, in 2001, the Qualification degree as a Professional Engineer in 2002, and the Ph. D. degree in Electronic and Computer Engineering, Robotics, and Telecommunications in 2010 from the University of Genoa, Italy. Since 2008, he has been with the German Aerospace Centre (DLR), where he is leading the Integrated Satellite Systems group in the Institute of Communications and Navigation. He has been involved in different European Projects focusing on various aspects of DVB standards, CCSDS protocols, and testbed design and he is a co-author of more than 100 papers, including international conferences and journals. He was the chair of the Satellite and Space Communications (SSC) technical committee within ComSoc and of the SatCom working group within the ETP NetworldEurope platform. Currently he serves as area director of the Space-Internetworking Services (SIS) within the CCSDS standardization body. He has been involved in many editorial initiatives in IEEE journals and magazine as guest and associate editor.

Dr. Babak Mafakheri is a Senior Research Engineer at Rave Aerospace (formerly Safran Passenger Innovations), specializing in 5G-Advanced and emerging 6G Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) for the aviation vertical. With over ten years of experience, he has coordinated European and German-funded projects focused on next-generation inflight connectivity, including multi-orbit satellite systems and integrated TN/NTN architectures. He holds a PhD in Telecommunications from the University of Bologna. His work aims to enable seamless, high-capacity global connectivity and support the evolution of next-generation aeronautical communication services.

Dr. Antonios Lalas is a postdoctoral researcher in Centre for Research and Technology – Hellas / Information Technologies Institute (CERTH/ITI). He has authored forty (40) papers in international scientific peer review journals and more than seventy-three (73) papers in international conferences and events. He has also been involved in several research projects, such as AUTOTRUST, NATWORK, SWARMCATCHER (FIDAL OC1), ARROW (6G-SANDBOX OC1), where he serves as the deputy-coordinator, as well as ULTIMO, PROTECDOME, GUARDAI, FOCAL, SAFEKIBO, SANCUS, SHOW, NEoteRIC, TeamAware, INCISIVE, ENFLATE, SINNOGENES, DAIMON, CRANE, AVENUE, ALADDIN, myAirCoach, BADGER, ACMIMS funded by the EC, the Greek secretariat of Research and Technology, and industry..

    Dr. Dhouha Ayed is an expert in 5G and systems security with over 18 years of experience at Thales. Her academic background includes a PhD from Telecom Sud-Paris, an M.Sc., and an engineering degree in Computer Science. Prior to Thales, her research experience at Katholieke University of Leuven further solidified her foundation. As the technical coordinator of numerous European research projects, Dhouha has honed her expertise in designing cutting-edge security solutions for systems and future networks. She actively participates in shaping the field through European working groups and standardization bodies where she delves into the critical challenges facing future networks with the power of AI. Dhouha’s commitment to innovation continues at cortAIx Labs, where she delves into the challenges facing systems with the power of AI.

Dr. Konstantinos V. Katsaros, Ph.D., is leading the Intelligent Networks & Services sector at I-SENSE / ICCS NTUA (Greece). His R&I agenda includes B5G/6G networks, with a focus on management & orchestration (M&O) of Split/Federated Learning workloads, Extreme Edge Computing, Predictive QoS, and multi-connectivity in Automotive Environments and Beyond. Previously, he held a Senior Researcher position at Intracom S.A. Telecom Solutions (Greece), and Research Associate positions at University College London (UK) and Telecom ParisTech (France), as well as Athens University of Economics and Business (Greece). Currently, Dr. Katsaros is the acting/deputy coordinator of the SNS JU Call 2 project ENVELOPE. Since March 2025 Dr. Katsaros serves as the vice-chair of the 6G-IA 5G/6G for Connected and Automated Mobility (CAM) Working Group.