Keynote Speakers - CSER 2026

Professor Saifur Rahman is the founding director of the Advanced Research Institute at Virginia Tech, USA where he is the Joseph R. Loring professor of electrical and computer engineering. He is a Life Fellow of the IEEE and an IEEE Millennium Medal winner. He was the 2023 IEEE President & CEO. He was the President of the IEEE Power and Energy Society (PES) for 2018 and 2019. He is the founding editor-in-chief of the IEEE Electrification Magazine and the IEEE Transactions on Sustainable Energy. He has published over 160 journal papers and has made over seven hundred conference and invited presentations. He is a distinguished lecturer for the IEEE Power & Energy Society and has lectured on renewable energy, energy efficiency, smart grid, energy internet, blockchain, IoT sensor integration, etc. in over 30 countries. He served as the chair of the US National Science Foundation Advisory Committee for International Science and Engineering from 2010 to 2013. He has led several research projects for Duke Energy, Tokyo Electric Power Company, the US National Science Foundation, the US Department of Defense, the US Department of Energy and the State of Virginia. He has a PhD in electrical engineering from Virginia Tech.

Ram D. Sriram is the Chief of the Software and Systems Division, Information Technology Laboratory, at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Prior to joining NIST, he was on the engineering faculty (1986-1994) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and was instrumental in setting up the Intelligent Engineering Systems Laboratory. Sriram has co-authored or authored more than 300 publications, including several books. Sriram was a founding co-editor of the International Journal for AI in Engineering. Ram received many awards, including five life time achievement/pioneer awards and a distinguished alumnus award from IIT Madras, India. He has also been made a fellow of prominent engineering (ASME, IET, INCOSE, SME, SMA), computer science (ACM, AIAA, IEEE), medical (AIMBE), and science (AAAS, WAS) societies. In 2023, Sriram was elected as an honorary member of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers – the highest honor IISE grants to an individual of acknowledged professional eminence who is not a member of IISE. Sriram has a B.Tech. from IIT, Madras, India, and an M.S. and a Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA.

Tsu-Jae Liu is the President of the National Academy of Engineering. A distinguished engineer and academic leader, she earned her B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Stanford University. In 1996, she joined the faculty of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at the University of California, Berkeley, where she has served in a range of administrative leadership roles, most recently as Dean of the College of Engineering from July 2018 through June 2025.

Liu is renowned for her contributions to microelectronics, including co-developing the FinFET transistor design that is used in all leading-edge computer chips and smartphones today. She has authored more than 550 publications and holds 97 U.S. patents. Her honors and recognitions include DARPA’s Significant Technical Achievement Award, the Global Semiconductor Alliance’s Dr. Morris Chang Exemplary Leadership Award, and the IEEE Electron Devices Society Education Award.

Liu is a Fellow of the IEEE and the National Academy of Inventors and was inducted into the U.S. National Academy of Engineering in 2017. She has served on the Boards of Directors for Intel Corporation and MaxLinear Inc. and has contributed nationally as an advocate for domestic microelectronics workforce development and as a member of advisory committees for the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

Daniel Hettema serves as the Director of Digital Engineering, Modeling & Simulation (DEM&S) within the Office of the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering (OUSW(R&E)). In this role, he offers expertise to senior leaders and guides engineering transformation related research, guidance, standards, and policy. From releasing DoDI 5000.97 “Digital Engineering” to investing in Systems Modeling Language V2 to managing the Systems Engineering Research Center, Mr. Hettema’s commitment to solving engineering practitioner challenges can be felt across the Department.

Rosalind Lewis is the general manager of the Ground & Communications Division in the National Systems Group. The division supports national security space, enterprise-capabilities, such as ground and communication systems that deliver evolving compute and data information systems. Most recently, Lewis was the general manager of Special Programs Division where she led Aerospace in support to the Space Systems Command (SSC) Special Programs in the areas of space domain awareness and space control systems. Previously, Lewis was a principal director for the Acquisition Analysis and Planning Subdivision in ETG/ Systems Engineering Division. She also supported the Defense Dissemination Program; and Air Force Satellite Control Network (AFSCN) and Spacelift Range (SLR) program in technical leadership roles. Lewis has a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of Southern California (USC), a master’s degree in computer science from New York University, and a master’s degree in systems architecture and engineering from USC.

Dr. Sudarsan Rachuri is a Technology Manager in the Advanced Manufacturing Office, CMEI, and DOE. He is the Federal Program Manager for CESMII. and CYMANII. Prior to joining DOE, he was the program manager at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and a research professor at George Washington University and worked in the CAD/CAE/PLM software industry.

Dr. Rachuri is serving as Editor-in-Chief of ASTM International’s journal, Smart and Sustainable Manufacturing Systems (www.astm.org/ssms). Rachuri is also a founding member and served as the vice-chair of the ASTM subcommittee on sustainable manufacturing (E60.13). He also serves on ASTM International's Smart Manufacturing Advisory Committee. Rachuri is the founding member and the Chair of the standards committee on ASME V&V 50 Verification and Validation of Computational Modeling for Advanced Manufacturing. Dr. Rachuri is a Fellow of ASME, AAAS, Washington Academy of Sciences (WAS). Dr. Rachuri received the ASTM International President’s Leadership Award. Dr. Rachuri won first prize in the World Standards Day (WSD) Paper Competition, awarded by The Society for Standards Professionals. Dr. Sudarsan Rachuri was honored with the Excellence in Research Award by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Computers and Information in Engineering (CIE) Division, Smart Manufacturing Leadership Award from SME.org and CESMII, and Leadership Award in Manufacturing from WAS. Rachuri is led the effort in developing a national plan for smart manufacturing with National Academies.

Garrett Thurston is a Principal Technical Fellow at Dassault Systèmes, where he works on advancing enterprise engineering decision infrastructures for complex transdisciplinary systems. With more than four decades of experience in aerospace and defense, he has helped shape model-based acquisition approaches across Department of Defense programs and was the originating voice behind Dassault Systèmes’ acquisition of No Magic, a pivotal step in the evolution of modern MBSE. Garrett’s current work explores frameworks such as SE 6.0, AI-Augmented Roadmapping, the Innovation Flywheel, and the Knowledge–Work–Decision model, which strengthen engineered assurance and accelerate value realization in complex systems environments.

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