16:17 | 20.09.19 | News | 6182

Astrophysicist Garik Israelian to join WCIT 2019 as part of the Distinguished Speakers Series

The 2019 World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT 2019) organizing committee announced today that Dr. Garik Israelian, astrophysicist at the Institute of Astrophysics, Canary Islands (IAC) and Professor at the University of La Laguna, Tenerife, Canary Islands (Spain), will join the Congress as a speaker next month in Yerevan.

Israelian will take part in WCIT’s Distinguished Speakers Series, a special series of speeches and intimate conversations with consequential figures from inside and outside the ICT industry, including founders of some of the most recognized and respected names in tech whose vision, imagination and grit have made the information revolution possible, and special guests whose voices ought to be heard. His talk is titled “Astrophysics on the Threshold of 21st Century: Artificial Intelligence, Data Mining and Alien Life.”

“We are very honored to have Dr. Israelian participate in this conference. He epitomizes a long tradition of Armenia’s contribution to the expansion of scientific knowledge to the benefit of the whole world” said Alexander Yesayan, chairman of the WCIT 2019 Yerevan organizing committee, president of the Union of Advanced Technology Enterprises of Armenia (UATE) and co-founder of UCom!, the largest telecommunications provider in Armenia, of the addition of Israelian to WCIT 2019.

Greatly respected in his field, Israelian has been a staple at Astrophysics conferences for many years, and has published more than 500 scientific articles in his influential career as a researcher. Most notably, Israelian led an international collaboration which provided the first observational evidence that supernova explosions are responsible for the formation of black holes. He is also the founding director of STARMUS, an international festival of science and art that has featured high-profile names from both industries since its inaugural festival in 2011.

Israelian’s contributions to the field of astrophysics are universally recognized by his peers and officially by the Government of the Canary Islands, receiving the prestigious Canary Islands Gold Medal, the highest recognition on the Canary Islands of physical persons or companies for their efforts for the benefit of the Canary Islands society, in 2014.

WCIT 2019 is expected to attract more than 2,500 participants from more than 70 countries.