May 2026 – Seminars

As part of our collaboration with LINCS and the RSTN center of IMT, and part of our activities during the CRITICS 2026 workshop with the IRT SystemX, we will have four additional seminars this coming month of May 2026:

• Vincent Naessens (Professor, KU Leuven, Belgium)

  Short Bio: Vincent Naessens is full professor at the Department of Computer Science of KU Leuven and member of the research group DistriNet. The research group studies building blocks, technologies and methodologies for next-generation security infrastructure and secure software systems. Vincent Naessens is mainly active in strategic basic research activities within the domain of cybersecurity thereby frequently setting up close research collaborations with industrial stakeholders. The challenges of many companies largely stem from legislative obligations today.

  1. EU Cybersecurity Legislation and Its Impact on Digital Infrastructures: This talk gives an overview of the rapidly evolving EU cybersecurity legislation. More specifically, we dive into recent EU legislative initiatives like the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) and the NIS2 Directive, and show their impact on manufacturers, integrators and operators of critical infrastructures. This talk further highlights cybersecurity standards on which stakeholders developing and operating critical infrastructures can rely to demonstrate compliance with cybersecurity legislation. We finally show that upcoming EU legislation incorporate academic and industrial insights and can be seen as a reaction on the emerging threats with which digital infrastructures are confronted today. The talk will be jointly held with the CRITICS 2026 Workshop on Cyber Resilience of IT/OT Infrastructures and Complex Systems, and will take place at the main Amphitheater of Nano-INNOV, 2 Boulevard Thomas Gobert, Palaiseau, 91120, on May 7th 2026 morning.

• Michel Barbeau (Professor, Carleton University, Canada)

  Short Bio: Michel Barbeau is a professor of Computer Science. He got a Ph.D. in Computer Science (Universite de Montreal, Canada, Canada'91. From '91 to '99, he was a professor at Universite de Sherbrooke. During the 98-99 academic year, he was a visiting researcher at the University of Aizu, Japan. Since 2000, he has worked at Carleton University, School of Computer Science, Canada. Michel Barbeau primary area of expertise is computer networks, specifically architecture and protocols. Research interests include quantum computing, underwater communications and networks, drones, quantum algorithms, and network control systems. Michel Barbeau has numerous publications in the field of AI and quantum computing. He has contributed to solving problems by leveraging knowledge graph representations, graph analytics, and machine learning. He has demonstrated that the fusion of robotics and quantum computing enables optimization-based approaches. Michel Barbeau is a member of the NATO Science & Technology Organization (STO) Exploratory Team Enabling NATO Resilience Through Quantum Secure Technologies and a member of the QuARC (Quantum Advancement Research Centre) at Carleton University.

  2. An Overview of Quantum Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning: Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are becoming the primary approaches to solving universal problems across several areas. In parallel, the capabilities of quantum technology are expanding rapidly. Together, they are meeting to create quantum AI and ML, specifically new quantum-based AI and ML tools. Indeed, future mature quantum computers will grant an edge to their adopters. That is undeniable. We present concepts for advanced AI and ML architectures that integrate principles from quantum computing, AI, and ML. Using case studies, we demonstrate how to leverage quantum resources to solve problems in AI and ML. We will address the question: how to make quantum AI and ML competitive with classical AI and ML. This talk will be jointly held with LIP6/Lincs, at the following address: LIP6 - Tour 26 - 1st floor - Hall 26-25, 4 place Jussieu, Paris, 75005, on May 4th 2026 morning.

  3. Quantum Sensing on the Horizon: Opportunities and Impact: Quantum sensing is an emerging technology that is one to two orders of magnitude more sensitive than classical sensing. In this talk, I will review the concept of quantum sensing and current technologies. I will also discuss applications in communications and health that take advantage of the tunneling magnetoresistance effect, as well as other applications leveraging other quantum effects. This talk will be jointly held with the CRITICS 2026 Workshop on Cyber Resilience of IT/OT Infrastructures and Complex Systems, and will take place at the main Amphitheater of Nano-INNOV, 2 Boulevard Thomas Gobert, Palaiseau, 91120, on May 7th 2026 afternoon. [Talk]

  
  
• Yvon Kermarrec (Professor, IMT Atlantique, France)

  Short Bio:Yvon Kermarrec is Professor of Computer Science at IMT Atlantique and was a member of the IMT Atlantique Management Committee as Head of Department. He holds a PhD in computer science and an HDR. His research and teaching activities focus on distributed systems, security, software engineering and software reliability. He was a researcher at the Courant Institute at New York University (NYU), and a software architect with Raytheon (Vancouver, BC) before joining Telecom Paris and then Telecom Bretagne as a teacher-researcher.

  4. Focusing on Maritime Resilience and IT/OT Infrastructure Protection: The maritime sector is quickly adapting to new technologies to enhance their operations, but these major advancements bring cyber security concerns. Recent attacks on ships, shipping companies, harbor infrastructures and studies highlight these risks. Due to long service lives, ship technologies often do not always integrate state-of-the-art, operating systems, software, ..., making it hard to address operational risks. Most commercial vessels lack cyber security experts, leaving crews to handle attacks far from shore and alone. Modern ships rely on computerized systems like the Integrated Navigation System (INS), which enhances safety by integrating data from multiple onboard devices. Cybersecurity concerns and issues have been raised at the EU and international level and the impacts of an incident can be severe. The objective of the talk is to present the various risks and challenges raised and how they can be addressed and solved for safer and more resilient activities at sea. A focus will be made on research, education and the various stakeholders of the maritime industry. This talk will be jointly held with the CRITICS 2026 Workshop on Cyber Resilience of IT/OT Infrastructures and Complex Systems, and will take place at the main Amphitheater of Nano-INNOV, 2 Boulevard Thomas Gobert, Palaiseau, 91120, on May 7th 2026 afternoon. [Talk].