Jeffrey P. Bigham is an Associate Professor at the Human-Computer Interaction Institute within the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University . His research spans human-computer interaction , human-AI interaction , accessibility , dialog systems , NLP , and crowdsourcing . Current PhD Students: Hamza El Alaoui, Jessica Yin Huynh, Sara Kingsley, Peya Mowar, Yi-Hao Peng, Atieh Taheri PhD Graduates: Erin Brady, Yu Zhong, Ting-Hao Huang, Anhong Guo, Cole Gleason, Prakhar Gupta, Stephanie Valencia, Kundan Krishna, Jason Wu His work is funded by Apple , Bosch , DARPA , Google , Microsoft , the National Institute of Disability Rehabilitation Research , the National Science Foundation , and Yahoo! He also holds a CMU HCII Career Development Fellowship . Selected Awards: NSF CAREER Award 2019 Best Paper at ASSETS 2021 Best Paper Nomination at CHI 2024 Best Paper Nomination at CHI 2021 Best Paper Nomination at DIS 2021
Dr. Appala Raju Badireddy is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Vermont (UVM), and Director of the Water Treatment & Environmental Nanotechnology (WTEN) Laboratory. He is also co-founder and CTO of Secure Surgical Solutions LLC, and a founding member of Vermont Initiative for Biological and Environmental Surveillance (VIBES). His research focuses on sustainable membrane processes, environmental nanotechnology, nanometrology, and water security. Education: Ph.D., Environmental Engineering, University of Houston (2003-2009) M.Tech., Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras (2001-2003) B.Tech., Chemical Engineering, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University Hyderabad (1997-2001) Postdoctoral Research, Duke University (2009-2014) under Prof. Mark Wiesner Research Interests: Sustainable Membrane Processes: Water/wastewater treatment, desalination, anti-fouling strategies, and resource recovery. Environmental Nanotechnology: Nano-enabled sensors, remediation, and implications of nanomaterials in ecosystems. Environmental Chemodynamics: PFAS fate/transport, nutrient cycling, and contaminant toxicity. Water Security: Real-time monitoring systems and soil health assessments. His work integrates lab-scale innovations with field applications, emphasizing interdisciplinary collaboration. Recent Research Trends: Recent publications highlight advancements in PFAS remediation, electric-field enhanced filtration, and living lab approaches to precision agriculture. He explores nanomaterials for water treatment while addressing their environmental implications through novel detection methods like ED-HSI microscopy. Labs & Initiatives: WTEN Lab: Focuses on nanotechnology-driven water solutions. VIBES: Develops environmental surveillance tools for public health. Secure Surgical Solutions: Applies nanotechnology to medical devices.
Dr. José del R. Millán is a Professor and holds the Linda Steen Norris & Lee Norris Endowed Chair in Neuroengineering at The University of Texas at Austin's Chandra Family Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He also serves as a Professor in Dell Medical School's Department of Neurology, a courtesy Professor in Biomedical Engineering, and is affiliated with the Mulva Clinic for the Neurosciences, Institute for Neuroscience, Texas Robotics, and the UT CARE Initiative. His work focuses on brain-machine interfaces (BMI), neuroprosthetics, and translating BMI technologies for individuals with motor/cognitive disabilities and able-bodied users. Education: PhD in Computer Science (1992, Technical University of Catalonia). Previous roles include Defitech Foundation Chair in Brain-Machine Interface at EPFL (Switzerland) and visiting scholar positions at Berkeley, Stanford, and the International Computer Science Institute. Research Interests: Neuroengineering, BMI applications in healthcare and assistive robotics, statistical machine learning for neural signals, and neurorehabilitation. Key contributions include EEG-based BMI systems, closed-loop neurostimulation, and wearable neurotechnology. Awards: IEEE Fellow (2017), Norbert Wiener Award (2011), and Fellow of the International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering (2020). Grants & Labs: Co-director of UT CARE, leader in clinical neuroprosthetics and neurorobotics. Active in developing BMI-driven wheelchairs, VR integration for BCI, and EEG-based speech prosthetics. Research outputs emphasize translational neurotechnology, with projects funded by industry and governmental agencies. Labs/Teams: Clinical Neuroprosthetics & Brain Interaction Lab, Texas Robotics, Wireless Networking and Communications Group (WNCG).
Hima Lakkaraju is an Assistant Professor at Harvard University with dual appointments in the Harvard Business School and the Department of Computer Science. Her research focuses on trustworthy AI, including machine learning interpretability, fairness, privacy, and safety. She holds a PhD from Stanford University and has received accolades such as the Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship and NSF CAREER Award. Her work bridges algorithmic foundations and societal implications of AI, with applications in healthcare, policy, and business. Education: PhD in Computer Science from Stanford University (2013-2017). Academic background includes roles at IBM Research, Microsoft Research, and Adobe. Research Interests: Algorithmic Foundations of AI Interpretability and Explainable AI Fairness and Bias Mitigation Privacy-Preserving ML Generative Models and LLMs Ethical AI Policy and Regulation Key Achievements: Over 100 publications in top venues like NeurIPS and ICML; co-founder of the Trustworthy ML Initiative; featured in MIT Tech Review, Forbes, and Harvard Business Review. Current projects include the AI4LIFE research group and work on regulatory frameworks for AI. Advising and Grants: Supervises over 30 students across PhD, master's, and postdoc levels. Research supported by NSF, Sloan Foundation, Schmidt Sciences, Google, Amazon, and others. Initiatives include the Regulatable ML workshop and NeurIPS ethics co-chair roles. Labs and Collaborations: Leads Harvard's AI4LIFE group and collaborates with industry partners like Fiddler AI. Active in policy discussions on AI regulation and societal impact.
Esteban G. Tabak is a Professor of Mathematics at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University. He holds a Ph.D. in Mathematics from MIT (1992) and a Hydraulic Engineer degree from the University of Buenos Aires (1988). His research spans fluid dynamics, data science, and optimization, with notable contributions to optimal transport theory, atmospheric and ocean modeling, and machine learning methodologies. He leads the Research and Training Group in Mathematical Modeling and Simulation at NYU. Research Interests include Data Analysis, Optimal Transport, Applied Mathematics, and Physics, particularly in fluid dynamics and geophysical flows. His work bridges theoretical advancements with practical applications, such as sea ice dynamics, internal waves, and turbulence modeling. Publications highlight innovations in density estimation, constrained optimization, and energy spectrum analysis of oceanic internal waves. Collaborations span disciplines, including biomedical applications (e.g., heart transplant diagnostics) and climate science. His methodologies, such as dual ascent algorithms and prototypal analysis, emphasize data-driven solutions to complex systems. Teaching includes courses on partial differential equations, fluid dynamics, and mathematical modeling. His work has been supported by grants addressing stratified flows, internal wave energy spectra, and turbulent mixing.
Umakishore Ramachandran is a Professor in the School of Computer Science within the College of Computing at Georgia Institute of Technology. His research spans edge computing, distributed systems, and real-time video analytics, with significant contributions to fog computing infrastructure, mobile systems, and sensor networks. Over a prolific 38-year career, he has authored 142 publications with major contributions in 2022-2025. His research interests focus on bridging the gap between cloud and edge computing, with pioneering work in video analytics systems like EVA and MicroEdge. He investigates resource optimization for latency-sensitive applications, developing novel approaches for load shedding, data management, and container runtime efficiency at the network edge. His work addresses fundamental challenges in distributed camera networks, autonomous vehicle systems, and real-time stream processing. Ramachandran's recent publications reveal a strong emphasis on practical edge computing solutions, with 75% of his 2021-2025 work focusing on video analytics and infrastructure optimization. His research shows increasing collaboration with industry partners while maintaining academic rigor, with publications appearing in top venues like SIGMOD, Middleware, and DEBS. The work consistently addresses real-world constraints of resource-constrained edge environments. Ramachandran has mentored numerous researchers who have become principal investigators on edge computing projects, with notable collaborators including Harshit Gupta, Enrique Saurez, and Zhuangdi Xu appearing as first authors on multiple papers. His work has received significant grant support for projects related to mobile fog computing and distributed video analytics. He leads research in the Edge Computing Laboratory at Georgia Tech, focusing on the development of practical frameworks for real-world deployment of edge infrastructure. Current projects include eCAV for connected autonomous vehicles and MicroEdge for multi-tenant camera processing systems.
Agnes Desolneux is a CNRS Research Director at the Borelli Centre (formerly CMLA) and a Professor attached to the Mathematics Department at ENS Paris-Saclay. Education: PhD in Applied Mathematics (2000) from ENS Cachan Habilitation in Applied Mathematics (2010) from Université Paris Descartes Her research focuses on image analysis via statistical methods , particularly a contrario approaches, image restoration, texture synthesis, Determinantal Point Processes (DPP), optimal transport, Gaussian mixtures, geometry of random field excursions, shot-noise models, and mathematical modeling of visual perception through Gestalt theory. The articles extracted reflect her expertise in applied mathematics and computer vision , with recent works (2025-2020) on optimal transport algorithms, DPP applications, multiscale texture analysis, and stochastic modeling in medical imaging. Keywords span machine learning, probability theory, medical imaging, and computer vision . She has no listed scientific awards but has authored influential works including the book From Gestalt Theory to Image Analysis: A Probabilistic Approach (Springer, 2008) and Pattern Theory: the stochastic analysis of real-world signals (AK Peters, 2010).
Xuezhe Ma is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Southern California's Viterbi School of Engineering. Previously, he was a Ph.D. student at Carnegie Mellon University's Language Technologies Institute, where he worked under the supervision of Professor Eduard Hovy. His academic journey includes a Master's degree from Shanghai Jiao Tong University's Center for Brain-like Computing and Machine Intelligence and a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from the same institution. Ph.D. in Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University (completed ~2020) M.S. in Brain-like Computing, Shanghai Jiao Tong University B.S. in Computer Science, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Dr. Ma's research spans multiple areas at the intersection of Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning, with particular focus on structured prediction, syntactic and semantic parsing, machine translation, language generation, and deep generative models. His recent work has expanded into vision-language models, large language model architectures, and applications across computer vision tasks. His research combines theoretical foundations with practical implementations, as evidenced by his development of tools like NeuroNLP2 and MaxParser. His publication record shows a clear trajectory from foundational NLP work during his PhD (including papers on dependency parsing and sequence labeling) to more recent contributions in generative models and large language systems. The 15 most recent publications reveal a strong focus on addressing fundamental challenges in generative modeling, context handling, and multimodal integration, with applications spanning literary translation, medical imaging, and news diffusion analysis. AI2 Outstanding Intern Award (2018) Dr. Ma has secured research funding supporting his work in generative models and language technologies, with projects focusing on improving the efficiency and capabilities of large language models. His research group at USC is actively working on next-generation language understanding and generation systems, with particular emphasis on context-aware modeling and multimodal integration. He has established collaborations with industry partners including the Allen Institute for AI and has contributed to open-source projects like Texar. At USC, Dr. Ma leads research in the Information Sciences Institute, directing projects on efficient large language model architectures and multimodal reasoning systems. His lab focuses on developing novel approaches to context handling, model efficiency, and multimodal integration, with applications across diverse domains including healthcare, literary analysis, and news media.
Dr. Gabriele Schweikert is a Senior Lecturer and Principal Investigator with a joint appointment between the Division of Computational Biology in the School of Life Sciences at University of Dundee and Cyber Valley in Tuebingen. Her research focuses on applying machine learning techniques to understand epigenetic mechanisms and molecular processes in living cells. Dr. Schweikert completed her PhD at the Max Planck Institute Tuebingen working with Schoelkopf, Weigel, and Raetsch labs on machine learning for computational gene finding. She subsequently joined Adrian Bird's lab at the Wellcome Trust Center for Cell Biology in Edinburgh, a pioneer in epigenomic research. Prior to her current position, she held prestigious Marie Curie and EMBO Fellowships at the School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh. Her research interests center on using machine learning to decode epigenetic mechanisms that determine cellular identity and function. She investigates how cells with identical DNA can differentiate into specialized cell types through epigenetic regulation, with particular focus on applications in understanding tumorigenesis where epigenetic machinery malfunctions. Her work combines high-throughput epigenomic data with advanced computational approaches to address complex biological questions. Analysis of her recent publications reveals a strong focus on epigenomic data analysis, machine learning applications in biology, and computational approaches to understanding gene regulation. Her work spans from fundamental epigenetic mechanisms to practical applications in disease research, with growing emphasis on individual-specific epigenomic analysis and explainable AI in biomedical contexts. UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship (2020, £1.6 million) Marie Curie Fellowship EMBO Fellowship Dr. Schweikert actively supervises PhD students and has received significant research funding for projects including 'Machine Learning Methods to Re-Annotate Histone Modifications,' 'Unlocking The Alternative Splicing Code,' and 'GPU-Based Machine Learning System For Fundamental Biological Research.' She is involved in multiple interdisciplinary collaborations and frequently presents her work at major conferences including ELLIS Health program retreat, Epigenetics Meetings, and RECOMB workshops. She maintains active research laboratories in both Dundee and Tuebingen, fostering international collaboration between computational biologists, machine learning experts, and experimental biologists to advance our understanding of epigenetic regulation in health and disease.
Jim Smith is a Professor in Interactive Artificial Intelligence at the University of the West of England (UWE), Bristol, affiliated with the School of Computing and Creative Technologies and the Department of Computer Science and Creative Technologies. He serves as Director of the Computer Science Research Centre and leads the AI@UWE theme. His research is supported by UKRI, Innovate UK, and partnerships with organizations including Health Data Research UK, Office for National Statistics, NHS Scotland, and DSTL. University: University of the West of England School: School of Computing and Creative Technologies Department: Department of Computer Science and Creative Technologies Role: Professor in Interactive Artificial Intelligence Leadership: Director, Computer Science Research Centre Research Interests : Jim Smith's work focuses on Interactive Artificial Intelligence, particularly at the intersection of AI and privacy preservation when using sensitive data for public good. His research includes statistical disclosure control, privacy leakage from AI models, evolutionary computation, machine learning, and systems that learn through human interaction or self-adaptation. He explores how AI can automate privacy checks in research outputs and assess vulnerabilities in trained models. Recent Publications : His recent work spans AI privacy in trusted research environments (e.g., SACRO, SDC-Reboot), dialogue act classification, human-robot interaction, and visualization of deep learning models. Themes include privacy-preserving AI, automated disclosure control, interactive machine learning, and neuromorphic computing. Machine Learning & Privacy Evolutionary Computation Interactive AI Systems Human-Computer Interaction Statistical Disclosure Control Federated Learning Security Scientific Awards : No specific awards are mentioned in the provided texts. Advising and Grants : He currently supervises PhD students on topics including spatio-temporal air quality modeling, federated learning privacy, and threat detection in mobile networks. He leads Innovate UK and UKRI-funded projects such as SACRO and SDC-Reboot, focusing on AI-driven solutions for data confidentiality in public sector research. Interactive Machine Learning for Claim Settlement (Innovate UK) SDC-Reboot (DARE UK/Health Data Research UK) Threat Identification in Mobile Networks (Ribbon Communications) Labs and Teams : He leads the AI@UWE initiative and the Computer Science Research Centre at UWE. His work involves collaboration through DARE UK and open-source development via the AI-SDC GitHub organization, which hosts tools from SACRO and GRAIMATTER projects.
Jonathan Santo is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO), where he serves as Director of the Graduate Developmental Psychology Program and as a faculty member in the Office of Latino/Latin-American Studies. His research explores peer relations, cultural differences in self-esteem, and classroom-level influences on child and adolescent development, with a focus on improving school environments and fostering positive social interactions. ORCA Faculty Fellow His research spans broad areas including Developmental Psychology , Social Support Systems , and Cross-Cultural Peer Dynamics , with specific attention to peer victimization , self-continuity , school climate , and developmental trajectories in Brazilian and Colombian youth . Recent publications analyze topics like hikikomori experiences , friendship security , and HPA axis dysregulation in adolescents. Scientific awards include the ORCA Faculty Fellow recognition. His work often involves longitudinal assessments of peer relationships cross-cultural comparisons (Brazil, Colombia, China, Nigeria, Singapore, U.S.) policy-focused blog posts on family separations and school interventions
Per Christian Hansen is a Professor at the Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science (DTU Compute), Technical University of Denmark (DTU), where he leads the Section for Scientific Computing. He is a VILLUM Investigator and heads the CUQI (Computational Uncertainty Quantification for Inverse Problems) research initiative, aiming to develop accessible computational platforms for uncertainty quantification in inverse problems. His expertise lies in numerical analysis, numerical linear algebra, iterative reconstruction methods, and computational inverse problems, with applications in tomography, signal analysis, and plasma physics. His research integrates theoretical analysis—such as perturbation and convergence analysis—with the development of robust, adaptive, and efficient computational methods. He has co-authored five books, over 100 scientific papers, and several widely used MATLAB software packages, including IR Tools and Regularization Tools. His recent work (2023–2025) emphasizes uncertainty quantification, Bayesian inversion, and high-dimensional tomography in fusion plasmas, reflecting a strong trend toward probabilistic and robust modeling in inverse problems. He is a SIAM Fellow (2015) for his contributions to computational methods for rank-deficient and discrete ill-posed problems and regularization techniques. His scientific leadership is evident in both theoretical advances and practical software implementations. He actively collaborates across disciplines, particularly in nuclear fusion and medical imaging, and continues to supervise PhD students and publish in top-tier journals such as Inverse Problems , SIAM Journal on Scientific Computing , and Nuclear Fusion . SIAM Fellow (2015) VILLUM Investigator He advises PhD and Master’s students in computational mathematics and inverse problems, and his research is supported by major grants, including the VILLUM Investigator award. He leads the CUQI team, which develops open-source tools for non-experts to apply uncertainty quantification in inverse problems. His lab focuses on creating modeling frameworks that bridge theory, computation, and real-world applications in materials science, imaging, and plasma diagnostics.
Dr. G.K. Knopf is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical & Materials Engineering at Western University, Canada. He holds a Ph.D. (1991), M.Sc. (1987), and B.E. (1984) from the University of Saskatchewan. His work bridges product design, advanced manufacturing, and bio-inspired technologies. Research Focus: Dr. Knopf’s research spans 3D shape reconstruction , laser microfabrication , micro-optics , and bioelectronic imaging arrays . Recent projects emphasize light-driven actuators , flexible electronics , and graphene-based inks for printing circuits on unconventional substrates like silk and paper. Publications: Over 150 peer-reviewed works, including two edited CRC Press volumes ( Smart Biosensor Technology , Optical Nano and Micro Actuator Technology ). Key contributions involve non-lithographic fabrication , bacteriorhodopsin photodetectors , and self-organizing feature maps for data visualization. Awards/Patents: Co-inventor of two U.S. patents (6,542,249 for 3D surface measurement; 7,573,024 for bioelectronic imaging arrays). Teaching: Leads graduate courses in Medical Device Design and Optomechatronic Systems , as well as undergraduate Mechatronics and Medical Device Development courses.
James R. Fienup is the Robert E. Hopkins Professor of Optics at the University of Rochester's Institute of Optics, with additional appointments as Distinguished Scientist at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics, Professor at the Center for Visual Science, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Affiliated Faculty at the Goergen Institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence. His office is located at Wilmot 410, 275 Hutchison Rd., Rochester, NY. Education PhD in Applied Physics from Stanford University (1975) MS in Applied Physics from Stanford University (1972) BA in Physics & Mathematics (magna cum laude) from Holy Cross College (1970) Research Focus Professor Fienup's research specializes in imaging science , with emphasis on phase retrieval algorithms, unconventional imaging techniques, and wavefront sensing. His work spans computational methods for image reconstruction, sparse-aperture systems, and synthetic-aperture imaging. Recent innovations include applying machine learning to wavefront control and developing advanced digital holography techniques for 3D imaging through atmospheric turbulence. Publication Trends His recent articles (2018-2024) demonstrate a strong focus on computational imaging techniques, particularly phase retrieval algorithms applied to optical metrology and wavefront correction. Key themes include multi-plane digital holography, coronagraphic wavefront control for astronomical applications, machine learning-enhanced sensing, and novel approaches for segmented-aperture systems. His work consistently bridges theoretical optics with practical instrumentation challenges. Awards and Honors Lifetime Achievement Award, Hajim School of Engineering (2019) Emmett N. Leith Medal, Optical Society of America (2013) National Academy of Engineering Member (2012) Distinguished Visiting Scientist, JPL (2009) Fellow of OSA and SPIE International Prize in Optics (1983) Rudolf Kingslake Medal (1979) NSF Graduate Fellow (1970-1972) Professional Activities Professor Fienup has served as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the Optical Society of America A (1998-2003) and held editorial roles at Applied Optics and Optics Letters . He consults for NASA (James Webb Space Telescope, Hubble), national laboratories, and aerospace companies, and holds five patents in optical systems design.
Arkadi Nemirovski is the John P. Hunter, Jr. Chair and Professor at the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Tech. He holds a Ph.D. in Mathematics (1974) from Moscow State University, a Doctor of Sciences in Mathematics (1990) from the USSR Supreme Attestation Board, and an honorary Doctor of Mathematics from the University of Waterloo (2009). Ph.D. in Mathematics, Moscow State University (1974) Doctor of Sciences in Mathematics, USSR Supreme Attestation Board (1990) Doctor of Mathematics (Honoris Causa), University of Waterloo (2009) His research focuses on Optimization Theory and Algorithms , with emphasis on complexity analysis, efficient methods for nonlinear convex programs, robust optimization, optimization under uncertainty, and applications in engineering and nonparametric statistics. He has pioneered advancements in interior-point methods, semidefinite programming, and stochastic approximation, shaping modern convex optimization. His article trends highlight a trajectory from foundational interior-point algorithms (1990s) to robust optimization (2000s) and recent works on first-order methods, polyhedral estimates, and applications in machine learning, signal processing, and tomography. Key subfields include matrix norms , large-scale optimization , and stochastic uncertainty handling . Scientific awards include: 1982 Fulkerson Prize (joint with L. Khachiyan and D. Yudin) 1991 Dantzig Prize (joint with M. Grotschel) 2003 John von Neumann Theory Prize (joint with M. Todd) 2017 Member, National Academy of Engineering 2018 Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences 2020 Norbert Wiener Prize (joint with M. Berger) He has supervised students like Dmitry Gabelev (polynomial-time cutting plane algorithms), Daureen Steinberg (matrix norms in robust optimization), and Eitan Rubinstein (SVMs via advanced optimization), with their works later formalized in academic journals.
