Alexandria, Virginia | July 25, 2026
The Washington University of Science and Technology (WUST) successfully hosted the 10th International Joint Conference and Award Ceremony on Advances in Computational Intelligence (IJCACI 2026) on July 24–25, 2026, bringing together distinguished researchers, academicians, industry leaders, innovators, and technology professionals from around the world. Organized jointly with the Soft Computing Research Society (SCRS), the conference was conducted in a hybrid format with both in-person and online participation.
One of the conference's major highlights was the 2nd SCRS-WUST Global Excellence Awards (SWGE Awards 2026), which recognized outstanding professionals across 17 award categories. The awards honored distinguished experts from globally renowned organizations including Microsoft, Visa, Oracle, CrowdStrike, Meta, Thermo Fisher Scientific, eBay, Salesforce, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (U.S. Department of Transportation), Bourns Inc., and several leading universities and research institutions. The recipients were recognized for their exceptional contributions to Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Cybersecurity, Enterprise Systems, Cloud Computing, Research Innovation, Academic Leadership, and Digital Transformation.
The inaugural ceremony, held at WUST's Alexandria, Virginia campus, was attended by distinguished guests from academia and industry. Engr. Abubokor Hanip, Chairman and Chancellor of WUST, inaugurated the conference as the Chief Guest. Christopher McNair, Innovation and Strategic Advisor at Harvard Business School, delivered the plenary address, while Dr. Hasan Karaburk, President of WUST, attended as the Guest of Honor.
The conference was led by Prof. Touhid Bhuiyan, Ph.D., who served as the General Chair and Convener of IJCACI 2026. Prof. Jagdish Chand Bansal, General Chair of the conference, and Mr. Naveen Garg, Conference Chair, joined the inaugural ceremony virtually and addressed the participants. Mrs. Priya Kothari, Executive Director of the WISE Accelerator, also delivered remarks during the opening session.
WUST Vice President Academic Dr. Jeffrey Pirim, School of Information Technology Director Prof. Apostolos Eliopoulos, School of Business Administration Director Dr. Mark Robinson, Dr. Necmi Mutlu, IT Lead Faculty, Curriculum Development, Dr. Sergei Andronikov, Director of Online Education, Dr. Amalisha Sabie-Aridi, Lead Faculty, School of Business Administration, Dr. Farhana Sarker, Associate Professor, School of Information Technology (SIT), Md. Golam Mostofa, Assistant Professor, School of Business Administration, Dr. Robert Cavanaugh, Faculty, General Education and Coordinator of Front-Loaded ESL Courses, Golam Muhammad Rabbani, Adjunct Faculty, Mamoon Wahab, Director of Compliance, Rachele Rose, Director of Institutional Effectiveness and Chief of Staff, Janet Chang, Director of Student Services, Jose Ortega, Director of Local Marketing & Recruitment, Mamun Rahman, IT Manager, Wasila Fatima Nilia, Content Writer, Shah Noor Juhi, HR Assistant & Student Advisor, Abu Zahid Md Jalal Uddin, Research Associate, WUST Research Center, and a dedicated team of student volunteers actively contributed to the successful execution of the conference.
Serving as a member of the local organizing team, Abu Zahid Md Jalal Uddin played a key role in the overall planning and on-site coordination of IJCACI 2026. His responsibilities included conference organization, venue planning and setup, participant coordination and communication, conference structure development, certificate preparation and printing, promotional and conference design, logistical arrangements, and operational decision-making to ensure the smooth execution of the event.
In the inaugural speakers emphasized the growing importance of international collaboration and research in the rapidly evolving fields of Artificial Intelligence and Computational Intelligence. They highlighted the need for evidence-based research to address emerging technological challenges and shape future innovations.
In his inaugural address, Engr. Abubokor Hanip stressed the importance of strengthening collaboration between academia and industry through research, innovation, teaching, and professional training. Referring to WUST's guiding philosophy of "Degree – Skill – Career," he invited researchers and industry leaders representing Fortune 500 companies to actively contribute to the University's mission of preparing future technology leaders. He also noted that more than 200 research papers were published in 2025 under the affiliation of Washington University of Science and Technology, demonstrating the University's growing commitment to high-impact research.
In his remarks, Dr. Hasan Karaburk, President of the Washington University of Science and Technology (WUST), emphasized the importance of integrating human intelligence with computational intelligence and artificial intelligence to achieve the most effective and responsible outcomes. He underscored the need for increased interdisciplinary research exploring the synergy between human cognition and intelligent technologies to drive innovation, enhance decision-making, and address complex real-world challenges.
During his plenary presentation, Christopher McNair emphasized that international conferences such as IJCACI play a vital role in bridging the gap between academia and industry. He encouraged WUST to organize more global conferences through partnerships involving universities, government agencies, chambers of commerce, and private-sector organizations to foster innovation and collaborative research.
The inaugural session also featured inspiring, invited talks by internationally recognized technology professionals, providing participants with valuable insights into emerging trends in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Cybersecurity, Cloud Computing, and Digital Innovation. The ceremony was skillfully emceed by Anannya Bhuiyan, a graduate law student at Monash University, Australia, whose engaging presentation contributed to the success of the opening session.
Celebrating its 10th edition, IJCACI has established itself as a premier international platform for advancing research in Computational Intelligence and Emerging Technologies.
Conference Highlights
• 1,216 research papers submitted
• 104 papers accepted and registered
• 583 international reviewers
• Research contributions from 10 countries
• A highly competitive 9% acceptance rate
• Accepted papers to be published in the SCOPUS-indexed Springer Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems (LNNS) series
• 19 technical tracks covering Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Cybersecurity, Data Science, Cloud Computing, Robotics, Optimization, and Emerging Technologies.
High-Quality In-Person Technical Paper Presentations
A major attraction of IJCACI 2026 was the In-Person Technical Session, where researchers presented their latest scientific findings before an international audience of scholars, practitioners, and industry experts.
The in-person technical sessions, moderated by Mahmood Menon Khan, Assistant Professor, School of Information Technology, Washington University of Science and Technology (WUST), showcased innovative research addressing real-world challenges in Artificial Intelligence, Computational Intelligence, Machine Learning, Data Analytics, Cybersecurity, Cloud Computing, Enterprise Systems, and Intelligent Technologies. The paper presentations sparked insightful discussions, fostered interdisciplinary collaboration, and created valuable networking opportunities among researchers, academicians, faculty members, industry professionals, and technology leaders from around the world.
Researchers from universities, research institutions, and leading multinational organizations presented their work, reflecting the conference's truly global character and its commitment to advancing impactful research with practical applications.
Throughout the two-day conference, keynote speeches, invited talks, and parallel online technical sessions further enriched the scientific program by providing participants with opportunities to exchange ideas, explore emerging technologies, and establish new research collaborations.
Recognizing Global Excellence in Technology and Research
The 2nd SCRS-WUST Global Excellence Awards (SWGE Awards 2026) celebrated excellence across academia, industry, and research by honoring individuals who have made significant contributions to technological innovation and scientific advancement.
The distinguished award recipients were:
Academic Excellence Award, recipient was Ajay Dasari, Senior Support Engineer, Microsoft, AI & Robotics Excellence Award went to Prathik Kumar Jannu, Developer, Western Digital, Data Scientist of the Year recipient was Venkata Kishore Chilakapati, Senior Technical Advisor, Microsoft, Cloud Computing Innovation Award went to Chandrakant H. Rao Madhavaram, Senior Technical Support Engineer, Microsoft, Emerging Tech Leader – AI & Data Science Award went to Uday Kumar Ragireddy, Senior Technical Manager, VDrive IT Solutions, Dhuli Shyam, Independent Researcher, Siva Prasad Nandi, Director of Software Development, Oracle America Inc., and Akhil Kumar Pathani, Member of Technical Staff, Network Engineering, eBay, Enterprise Security Champion Award was received by Venkata Teja Nagumotu, Senior Network Engineer, Prorsum Technologies Inc., and Sri Harsha Panchali, Senior Cloud Engineer, CrowdStrike Inc., Excellence in Data Integration & Architecture award went to Prasanth Varma Addepalli, Lead Data Engineer/Data Architect, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, Prabu Manoharan, HRIS Manager – IT, Bourns Inc., Harsha Vardhan Reddy Kavuluri, Lead Database Administrator, Wissen Infotech, Srikanth Reddy Keshireddy, Senior Software Engineer, Keen Info Tek Inc., and Jannatul Ferdous, Independent Researcher. Innovation in Academic Research award was received by Sridhar Reddy Bandaru, Senior Customer Experience Engineer, Microsoft, and Vishnu Vardhan Chakravaram, Product Development Engineer, Digital Scripts Inc. Next-Generation Computing Award went to Jenitha Pilli, Lead ServiceNow Architect, CloudIngest Inc., Technology Leader of the Year went to Muzaffer Hussain Syed, Director of IT Projects and Programs, Prowesys Inc., Javed Ali Mohammad, Senior Data Engineer, Vista Applied Solutions, Krishna Bhardwaj Mylavarapu, .NET Developer, and Vishwanath Hiremath, Principal System/Software Engineer, HPE, Women in Tech – Excellence Award was reveived by Madhushree Kumari, Staff Software Engineer, Visa, while Smart Technology Excellence Award went to Satish Kumar Nalluri, Thermo Fisher Scientific, USA, Excellence in Enterprise Data Management & Governance went to Abhishek Goud Suragani, Experis – Business Data Analyst III (SAP MDG Functional Consultant), Threat Intelligence Innovation Award to Naga Satya Praveen Kumar Yadati, Software Engineer, Meta, Excellence in Future Technologies Award to Vivek Kumar Polurouthu, Senior Software Developer, PBF Energy. Academic Leadership Award was received by Venkata Krishna Bharadwaj Parasaram, Thermo Fisher Scientific, USA, AI-Driven Environmental Research Excellence Award 2026 went to Cynthia I. Teran Valadez, School of Information Technology, Washington University of Science and Technology (WUST), USA.
Strengthening International Collaboration
The organizers reaffirmed that IJCACI 2026 serves as an important international platform connecting academia, industry, and government to promote collaborative research, innovation, and knowledge exchange in Artificial Intelligence and Computational Intelligence.
The successful organization of the conference further reinforces Washington University of Science and Technology's growing reputation as an international center for research excellence, technology education, innovation, and global academic partnerships.
As the conference concluded, participants expressed their appreciation for the high-quality technical sessions, distinguished keynote speakers, thought-provoking discussions, and the recognition of excellence through the SCRS-WUST Global Excellence Awards.
About IJCACI
The International Joint Conference on Advances in Computational Intelligence (IJCACI) is an annual international conference dedicated to advancing research in Artificial Intelligence, Computational Intelligence, Machine Learning, Data Science, Cybersecurity, Cloud Computing, Optimization, and Emerging Technologies. The conference brings together researchers, academicians, industry experts, and practitioners from around the world to exchange ideas, present cutting-edge research, and foster interdisciplinary collaboration. Washington University of Science and Technology-WUST and Soft Computing Research Society-SCRS jointly organize this conference every year.
Prof. Mahmood Menon Khan
School of IT
Coordinator, CS/IT Labs
2900 Eisenhower Ave, Alexandra, VA 22314
Tel: +1(667)678-182
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.wust.edu