Prof. Wan Mohd Nasir bin Wan Kadir

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM)

Brief: Ts. Dr. Wan Mohd Nasir Wan Kadir is a Professor in Software Engineering at the Faculty of Computing, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM). He received his BSc. from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, MSc. from UMIST, and Ph.D. from The University of Manchester. He has been an academic staff at the Faculty of Computing for over 25 years (since 1997). He was the Head of the Software Engineering Department from 2005 to 2009, Deputy Dean (Development) of the Faculty of Computing from 2010 to 2015, Deputy Director of the Center for Academic Leadership and Professional Development (CALPD), UTMLead from 2015 to 2016, Director of CALPD from 2016-2018, and Chair of the School of Computing from 2019-2022. He is currently the Dean of the Faculty of Computing, UTM. He is also currently the Chairman of the Malaysia Council of ICT Deans (MaDICT) and Head of the ICT Cluster at the National Council of Professors (MPN).

Prof. Azlan bin Mohd Zain

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM)

Brief: Azlan Mohd Zain (Member, IEEE) received the Ph.D. degree in Computer Science from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) in 2010. He is currently a Professor with the Faculty of Computing, UTM. He has been recognized in the Stanford–Elsevier World's Top 2% Scientists list for both career-long and single-year research impact. He has published 187 documents indexed in Scopus, with an h-index of 42. Throughout his academic career, he has successfully supervised more than 25 postgraduate students and secured over 20 research grants to support research initiatives and postgraduate studies. He has also been invited to deliver keynote addresses at more than ten international conferences, served on numerous academic and professional committees, and contributed to the scholarly community through his service on the editorial boards of several international journals.

Prof. Wenxing Hong

Xiamen University

Brief: Wenxing Hong is a Professor at the School of Aerospace Engineering, Xiamen University, and Director of the Department of Automation. He leads the Intelligent Unmanned Systems Research Center at Xiamen University, conducting research in data intelligence, unmanned systems and their applications in urban and marine contexts, and low-altitude systems engineering. He also heads the Xiamen Institute of Information Industry and Informatization, where he promotes digital literacy and skills certification and advances enterprise digital transformation. He serves as Vice President of the National Association of Computer Education in Higher Education Institutions, President of the Fujian Provincial Society for Systems Engineering, and Distinguished Research Fellow at the Lujiang Innovation Laboratory.

Prof. Dong Li

Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST)

Brief: Dong Li received the Ph.D. degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering from Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China, in 2010. Since 2010, he has been with the School of Computer Science and Engineering (formally, Faculty of Information Technology), Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST), Macau, China, where he is currently a Full Professor. His current research interests focus on Ambient Internet of Things (IoT), Semantic Communications and Low-Altitude Economy Networks. He has published over 200 peer-reviewed publications with more than 150 IEEE Journal papers. He is a recipient of 5 University-Level Awards from MUST, and a co-recipient of 5 Best/Distinguished Paper Awards from International Conferences. He has been listed among World’s Top 2% Scientists recognized by Stanford University and Elsevier since 2020. He is currently an Editor for IEEE Transactions on Communications and IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing, and is an Innovation Exhibition and Forum Co-Chair for IEEE GLOBECOM 2026.

Title: Generative AI-Enabled Semantic Communication: State-of-the-Art, Applications and The Way Ahead

Abstract: The rapid advancement of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) has introduced novel opportunities for semantic communication (SemCom) systems. This talk offers a comprehensive overview of GenAI-enabled SemCom, connecting theoretical foundations with practical applications. Initially, we introduce the fundamental concepts of SemCom and explore how generative models augment traditional communication paradigms. The talk systematically reviews state-of-the-art methodologies, including variational autoencoders, generative adversarial networks, diffusion models, and other GenAI frameworks within SemCom contexts. We classify GenAI in SemCom based on its GenAI architecture, communication modality, and application tasks. Finally, we identify emerging research directions and discuss open challenges that merit further investigation.