ITM SLS Baroda University Hosted AI FUSION 2026

AI Fusion 2026, a mega conference on Artificial Intelligence, Semiconductors, Aerospace and Defence for Engineering, Healthcare and Management was organised by ITM SLS Baroda University in association with SAC ISRO & DRDO on 17th and 18th April 2026. This conference was sponsored by INOXCVA and supported by the Computer Society of India, Vadodara Innovation Council and ISTD Vadodara Chapter. 

The conference was a juggernaut of ideas and an avalanche of recent developments in the field of Artificial Intelligence. The conference keynote addresses and plenary sessions were delivered by exemplary speakers that included Dr. Nilesh Desai, Ex-Director, SAC ISRO Ahmedabad, Mr. Sudhir Naik, Founder and CEO Ncube Semicon, Dr. Manish Hooda, Director, India Semiconductor Mission, Dr. Kiran Akella, Scientist-G, DRDO Pune, Mr. Paul Ilhanghovan, Head of Operations, Kaynes Semicon Pvt. Ltd., Dr. Pradip Thaker, Country Head and VP, Engineering, D-Matrix, Prof. Manu Awasthi, Professor of Practice, IIT Gandhinagar, Mr. Ashish Mishra, Scientist and Deputy Director, SAC ISRO, Mr. Deepak Acharya, CEO, INOXCVA.

Around 150+ high-quality papers were presented in 6 parallel tracks, which included Semi-Conductors and Hardware Acceleration, Aerospace and Autonomous Systems, Defence and Strategic Technologies, Engineering and Healthcare Transformation, Management & Digital Strategy, Medical Field- AI for healthcare transformation and Mathematics & Computational Intelligence. 

This conference acted as a catalyst to ignite a flame among researchers, academicians and students to research and excel in the area of AI and Semiconductors. The conference brought together speakers from the think tank of AI and semiconductors who are contributors to the growing ecosystem of these technologies in India. The key insights delivered in the conference included the landscape of growth in the field of semiconductor and AI globally, the opportunities ahead and how India can become a key player in supporting this boom. The conference speakers also threw light on how AI can contribute to space research and can augment their capacity in executing large-scale projects.

Also, how DRDO has started using AI and robotics for realising their dream of replacing human soldiers with robots on the battlefield and in difficult terrains. Furthermore, the conference helped in identifying gaps whereby Industry and Academia can come together in filling the manpower gap essential for the development of the semiconductor industry in India. The conference also gave a new layer of thoughts to academicians on how to incorporate semiconductor-related syllabus in the teaching scheme to make the students job-ready for the growing semiconductor industry globally. 

Extending this line of thought, the conference also instilled a vision of moving away from importing chips from NVIDIA to manufacturing chips in India. All in all, this conference was a boiling pot for deliberations on how AI and Semiconductor technologies have the potential to disrupt technological fronts and how India can play a vital role in this revolution of sorts.

Note: The views expressed in this article are of ITM SLS Baroda University and do not reflect/represent those of Shiksha.