---

The demand for wireless capacity is continuously growing with the advent of the Internet-of-Everything system, connecting millions of people and billions of machines. To date, the fifth generation (5G) wireless networks are being rolled out in the world, providing a new vision to mobile communication. While 5G is still in its commercialization phase, the research on Beyond 5G (B5G) and sixth generation (6G) communication has already started ground work on innovative technologies that support the capacity growth of future networks with lower cost, energy consumption, and hardware complexity. In order to meet the stringent demands on spectral and energy efficiency, B5G and 6G will rely on new and advanced technologies ranging from cell-free massive MIMO, Terahertz communication, pervasive artificial intelligence, ambient backscatter communications, to reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS). In this talk, we discuss the basic concepts and applications of RIS, emphasizing the research going on in the community in general and at IPT in particular, specifically when coupling RIS with other modern technologies.