Gilbert Fridgen is Full Professor in Digital Financial Services and holder of the PayPal-FNR PEARL Chair at the University of Luxembourg's Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT). He leads the FINATRAX research group focusing on blockchain, digital identity, and sustainable digital solutions. His research explores decentralized technologies in finance, energy systems, and public administration. Current projects investigate blockchain applications in industrial demand response, NFT markets, EU digital identity wallets, and DeFi institutional adoption. Prof. Fridgen examines the intersection of technology with regulatory frameworks and user behavior in energy and financial systems. He collaborates extensively with industry partners including PayPal and Spuerkeess. Prof. Fridgen actively contributes to EU digital policy discussions, particularly regarding the European Digital Identity Wallet framework and decentralized finance governance.
Prof. Magnus Fröhling is a Full Professor of Circular Economy and Sustainability Assessment at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), leading the Chair of Circular Economy and Sustainability Assessment at TUM Campus Straubing. He holds a doctorate and habilitation from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), specializing in material flow analysis and resource efficiency. His career includes roles as a professor at TU Bergakademie Freiberg before joining TUM in 2018. Fröhling’s research focuses on quantitative approaches for circular economy systems, including industrial value chains, built environments, and bioeconomy. He co-leads the TUM Mission Network Circular Economy, an interdisciplinary platform for research and innovation. **Education:** Bachelor/Master in Industrial Engineering, Karlsruhe University (TH) PhD in Industrial Engineering (2005), Karlsruhe University Habilitation in Business Administration (2011), KIT **Research Interests:** Circular economy concepts for automotive industry, buildings, and energy systems; sustainability assessment in bioeconomy; policy instruments for resource efficiency. His work emphasizes lifecycle analysis and closed-loop systems. **Awards:** TUM Sustainability Award (2021) and recognition for groundbreaking research on sustainability in industrial biotechnology (2020). **Advising & Grants:** Leads research initiatives like CirculaTUM, focusing on interdisciplinary collaboration. His work integrates policy analysis, technological innovation, and industrial ecology to advance sustainability goals. **Labs/Teams:** Active in TUM’s Green Fuel Center and SynBioFoundry@TUM, promoting sustainable energy and biotechnology solutions.
Christopher Potts is Professor and Chair of Linguistics at Stanford University, with a courtesy appointment as Professor of Computer Science. He serves as Director Emeritus of the Stanford Center for the Study of Language and Information (CSLI) and leads the Pragmatic Enrichment & Contextual Interface Lab. His work bridges theoretical linguistics and computational approaches to language understanding. Education: B.A. in Linguistics from New York University (1999) Ph.D. in Linguistics from University of California, Santa Cruz (2003) Potts' research focuses on how computational methods can illuminate linguistic phenomena, particularly in the areas of semantics, pragmatics, and sentiment analysis. His work explores how emotion is expressed in language and how linguistic production and interpretation are influenced by context. He has made significant contributions to understanding conventional implicatures, sentiment analysis frameworks, and the application of neural networks to linguistic problems. His recent work has increasingly focused on the interpretability of large language models and the development of frameworks like DSPy for building reliable AI systems. An analysis of Potts' recent publications reveals a strong trend toward the intersection of linguistic theory and practical AI applications. His work spans theoretical linguistics (e.g., compositionality, preposing constructions), neural network interpretability, and practical NLP systems (e.g., ColBERT, DSPy). The research demonstrates consistent focus on making language models more transparent, controllable, and linguistically informed, with particular attention to how context shapes meaning. Scientific Awards: Best Paper Award at 2024 ACL for 'Mission: Impossible Language Models' Outstanding Paper Award at 2024 ACL for 'CausalGym' ACL Test of Time Award 2023 Dean's Award for Distinguished Teaching (2015-2016) Best New Data Set or Resource Award at 2015 EMNLP Potts has secured numerous research grants as PI or Co-PI from major organizations including Google, Amazon, NSF, Office of Naval Research, and Stanford's HAI institute. His current projects focus on evaluation of retrieval-augmented generation systems, LLM-mediated communication in organizations, interpretability techniques for language models, and frameworks like DSPy for building next-generation AI systems. He has mentored numerous researchers who have gone on to make significant contributions in NLP and computational linguistics. As Director of CSLI (2013-2020) and current Chair of Linguistics at Stanford, Potts has played a key leadership role in shaping interdisciplinary research at the intersection of language, computation, and cognition. His Pragmatic Enrichment & Contextual Interface Lab continues to be a hub for innovative research combining formal linguistic theory with cutting-edge computational methods.
Huaxiu Yao is an Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, holding a joint appointment in the School of Data Science and Society and the Department of Computer Science (College of Arts & Sciences). His research focuses on building reliable large-scale AI models (foundation models) with applications in healthcare, robotics, genomics, and transportation. He leads the AIMING Lab, which explores adaptive intelligence through alignment, interaction, and learning. Education: Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University (2021), Postdoctoral Scholar at Stanford University (hosted by Chelsea Finn). Research Interests: Generalizable AI agents, preference alignment, out-of-distribution generalization, embodied AI, and multimodal reasoning. Key applications include biomedicine, robotics, and vision-language systems. Notable Awards: KDD Best Paper Award (2024), Amazon Research Awards (2025), TMLR Outstanding Paper Award (2024). Advising & Labs: Recruits Ph.D. and intern students. Leads the AIMING Lab, affiliated with UNC NLP Group. Organizes workshops on foundation models (ICML 2024) and trustworthy AI systems. Publications: Over 40 peer-reviewed papers, including top venues like ICLR, NeurIPS, and ICML. Focuses on AI alignment, multimodal systems, and domain generalization.
Bahar Asgari is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Maryland, College Park. She holds appointments in CS, UMIACS, and ECE, and directs the Computer Architecture and Systems Lab (CASL). Her research focuses on domain-specific architecture design, near memory processing, and reconfigurable computing. Before joining UMD, she worked at Google, contributing to system optimization and memory utilization strategies. Education: Ph.D., Georgia Institute of Technology, 2021. Research Interests: Developing energy-efficient architectures for sparse problems, scientific computing acceleration, FPGA optimizations, and reconfigurable hardware systems. Her work addresses challenges in memory efficiency, parallelization, and hardware-software co-design across domains like machine learning and IoT. Key Awards: 2024 UMD Excellence in Teaching Award 2023 DOE Early Career Award Advising & Grants: Supervises 9 graduate students and leads projects sponsored by NSF, DOE, and industry partnerships. Her lab explores systolic arrays, near-data processing, and fault-tolerant computing. Labs/Teams: Directs CASL, which builds next-generation computing systems through hardware innovation and algorithm-architecture co-design.
Ram Rajagopal is an Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Electrical Engineering at Stanford University, and a Senior Fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy. He leads the Stanford Sustainable Systems Lab (S3L), focusing on large-scale monitoring, data analytics, and stochastic control for infrastructure networks, particularly power systems. His research emphasizes renewable energy integration, smart distribution systems, and demand-side data analytics. Education: PhD in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences & MA in Statistics (UC Berkeley), MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering (UT Austin), and BEng in Electrical Engineering (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro). Research interests include power grid optimization, renewable energy systems, and data-driven approaches to infrastructure challenges. He has pioneered work in grid flexibility, distributed energy resources, and machine learning applications for energy systems. His lab develops technologies like Smart Dim Fuses and the EV-EcoSim platform for EV charging infrastructure optimization. Received NSF CAREER Award, Powell Foundation Fellowship, and Berkeley Regents Fellowship Over 30 patents and best paper awards Advises/founded companies in sensor networks, power systems, and data analytics Labs/Teams: Stanford Sustainable Systems Lab (S3L), Powernet Project. His work spans grid resilience, energy equity, and scalable energy solutions.
Dr. K. Max Zhang is a Professor in the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Cornell University. He is the director of the Energy and the Environment Research Laboratory (EERL) and a fellow at the Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future. His research is deeply interdisciplinary, focusing on sustainable energy systems, air quality, and environmental justice, with significant impacts on policy and community development in New York and beyond. Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, University of California-Davis, 2004 B.S., Thermal Engineering, Tianjin University, 1998 B.A., English Language, Tianjin University, 1998 Dr. Zhang’s research centers on the integration of energy and environmental systems. He investigates air pollution dynamics using advanced numerical models like CTAG, with applications in near-source pollution, indoor air quality, and environmental justice. His work on renewable energy systems includes designing sustainable solar farms and managing distributed energy resources such as heat pumps to enhance grid flexibility. He also leads a pioneering initiative to create the first statewide public IoT network in the U.S., enabling hyperlocal weather forecasting and microclimate monitoring. His recent publications reflect a strong trend toward agrivoltaics, peer-to-peer energy markets, and IoT-based environmental monitoring. These works demonstrate a consistent focus on data-driven modeling, community-scale energy solutions, and the integration of social considerations into technical systems. The keywords across his articles highlight expertise in sustainability, machine learning, air quality, and energy transition. Cornell Town-Gown Achievement Award (2022) Engaged Scholar Prize, Cornell University (2017) People's Choice Sign of Sustainability Award, Sustainable Tompkins (2016) Scientific and Technological Achievement Award, Environmental Protection Agency (2015) Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Dr. Zhang is actively involved in mentoring students and securing research grants from agencies such as the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). His projects often involve interdisciplinary collaboration across eight Cornell colleges and 16 academic departments. He has led initiatives such as the Cornell Atkinson Academic Venture Fund projects and the development of a county-level energy roadmap for Tompkins County. He also teaches courses in engineering thermodynamics, future energy systems, and air quality, emphasizing experiential and community-based learning. Dr. Zhang leads the Energy and the Environment Research Laboratory (EERL) and collaborates with the Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future. His lab functions as a hub for innovation in sustainable communities, combining advanced modeling with real-world applications. Through partnerships with community organizations, government agencies, and industry, his team develops science-driven solutions to urban and rural sustainability challenges.
Malcolm McCulloch serves as Professor of Energy Systems and Group Leader of the Energy and Power Group within the Department of Engineering Science at the University of Oxford. He also holds the position of Co-Director for the Oxford Martin Programme on Integrating Renewable Energy and maintains affiliation with Christ Church college. His research spans four primary domains: domestic energy systems, electric vehicle technology, renewable generation, and energy solutions for developing regions. McCulloch's research focuses on practical energy transition challenges. His domestic energy work develops user-centric demand side management technologies and behavior change interventions, leading to the spin-out Intelligent Sustainable Energy (now Navetas Energy Management). In transportation, he pioneered the Morgan LifeCar hydrogen sports car project, resulting in high-efficiency motors and the Oxford Yasa Motors spin-out. His renewable generation research includes lightweight tidal turbines through Kepler Energy, while his Energy for Development work creates nano/micro grid solutions for distributed electrification. Analysis of his recent publications reveals a strong emphasis on integrating variable renewables through innovative market mechanisms, grid flexibility solutions, and electric vehicle integration. His work consistently addresses the technical and economic barriers to decarbonization, with increasing focus on peer-to-peer energy trading, thermal storage, and climate-resilient cooling solutions since 2020. McCulloch previously served as Co-Director of the Institute for Carbon and Energy Reduction in Transport (2008-2013) under the Oxford Martin School. His leadership extends to creating the Integrated Transport Network for Oxford and developing practical applications through multiple successful spin-out companies that bridge academic research and commercial implementation.
Giovanni De Micheli is a Full Professor at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), holding appointments in both the School of Computer and Communication Sciences (IC) and the School of Engineering (STI). He is affiliated with the Integrated Systems Laboratory (LSI) and serves as Scientific Director of EcoCloud. His primary office is located in INF 341 building at EPFL's Lausanne campus where he conducts research and teaching activities. Professor De Micheli's research spans multiple domains in electronic design automation and integrated circuit design. His primary interests include: Integrated Circuit Design and Hardware Synthesis Logic Optimization and Boolean Methods Nanoelectronics and 2D Electronics Quantum Computing and Emerging Technologies Low-Power Electronics and Energy-Efficient Systems Electronic Design Automation for Novel Computing Paradigms His recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on advancing logic synthesis techniques for both conventional and emerging technologies. Professor De Micheli's work bridges theoretical foundations with practical applications, particularly in adapting traditional EDA methods to novel computing paradigms like quantum computing and superconducting electronics. His research group has made significant contributions to the development of efficient algorithms for circuit optimization across multiple technology domains, with particular emphasis on area, power, and delay optimization while maintaining functional correctness. Professor De Micheli has supervised numerous doctoral students throughout his career at EPFL, mentoring over 40 PhD candidates whose research spans various aspects of electronic design automation, circuit design, and emerging technologies. His students have gone on to make significant contributions in both academia and industry. As Scientific Director of EcoCloud, Professor De Micheli leads research initiatives focused on energy-efficient computing systems and sustainable cloud infrastructure. His laboratory, the Integrated Systems Laboratory, serves as a hub for interdisciplinary research connecting computer science, electrical engineering, and materials science, with particular focus on next-generation computing technologies.
Vesna Terzic is a Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering and Construction Engineering Management at California State University Long Beach's College of Engineering. Her research specializes in seismic performance assessment, infrastructure resilience, and probabilistic risk analysis of structures. Education includes a PhD in Structural Engineering from UC Berkeley, MS in Earthquake Engineering from Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, and BS in Structural Engineering from University of Belgrade. Research focuses on developing advanced computational frameworks for evaluating post-earthquake functionality of buildings and bridges. Her work integrates performance-based engineering with resilience quantification, emphasizing practical applications for seismic design and retrofitting. Recent publications demonstrate consistent focus on functional recovery modeling, structural health monitoring, and optimization of protective systems. Research trends show progression from component-level analysis to regional recovery simulation frameworks. Major awards: ACI Chester Paul Siess Award for Excellence in Structural Research (2017) Popert Fellowship, UC Berkeley (2009) Professional service includes membership on FEMA P-58 project committees and contributions to OpenSees development. Current projects investigate soil-structure interaction effects on tall buildings and recovery-based design methodologies.
Dr. Enrica Dall'Ara serves as the Associate Dean of Planning and Landscape Architecture and an Associate Professor at the University of Calgary's School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape. Her work bridges academic research and professional practice, exemplified through her firm PARC, which specializes in public space design, urban renewal, and the rehabilitation of industrial sites. She emphasizes interdisciplinary collaboration, integrating fields like environmental engineering and biology into landscape architecture. Education: Laurea in Architettura (Master Degree equivalent in Architecture), University of Ferrara, Italy Master in Landscape Architecture, ETSAB, Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Spain PhD in Landscape Design, University of Florence, Italy Research Interests: Dr. Dall'Ara focuses on practice-based research, public space design, service landscapes, and the integration of cultural advocacy into landscape architecture. Her work explores site-specific design solutions, the role of agriculture in urban-rural dynamics, and the preservation of traditional rural landscapes. She advocates for designs that serve life through poetic, functional, and culturally sensitive approaches. Contributions: Through her teaching, Dall'Ara encourages students to view design as research, fostering critical thinking and interdisciplinary dialogue. Her firm’s projects, such as the roundabout gardens in Imola, Italy, demonstrate her commitment to merging ecological, functional, and aesthetic considerations in landscape interventions. Professional Affiliations: Canadian Society of Landscape Architects (CSLA) Alberta Association of Landscape Architects (AALA) Associazione Italiana di Architettura del Paesaggio (AIAPP) Ordine degli Architetti, Pianificatori, Paesaggisti e Conservatori (Province of Forlì-Cesena, Italy)
Jennifer Wilcox is the Presidential Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering and Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Engineering and Applied Science. She holds the James H. Manning Chair and directs the Clean Energy Conversions Lab, which focuses on carbon management strategies to mitigate climate change. Wilcox also served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management at the U.S. Department of Energy from January 2021. Her research spans carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS), direct air capture (DAC), mineral carbonization, life cycle assessment, and techno-economic analysis of carbon management technologies. Wilcox's work examines both mitigation and adaptation strategies to minimize negative climate impacts associated with society's dependence on fossil fuels. She takes a multi-perspective approach that includes experimental work, materials characterization, geo-spatial analyses, systems modeling, and techno-economic analysis while considering environmental and social contexts. Wilcox's research has been featured in major publications including the first textbook on Carbon Capture and Storage, the California Getting to Neutral report, the CDR primer, Greenhouse Gas Removal Technologies, the State of CDR Volume 2, and the Roads to Removal report. Her work has received recognition including the DOE Secretary's Achievement Award for contributions to the Getting to Neutral report. Secretary's Achievement Award for work on the Getting to Neutral Report Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (2021) Author of the first textbook on Carbon Capture and Storage Lead contributor to the California Getting to Neutral report Co-author of the CDR primer with nearly 40 subject matter experts Wilcox mentors several PhD candidates and research associates including Maxwell Pisciotta, Shelvey Swett, Hélène Pilorgé, Shrey Patel, Aline Uwase, Katherine Vaz Gomes, and Abby Lunstrum. Her lab examines various carbon management strategies from technology development to deployment optimization, with a focus on maximizing climate change mitigation while minimizing adverse social and environmental impacts. The Clean Energy Conversions Lab tracks public funding for carbon management projects across the United States and analyzes lessons from recent legislation like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act to identify opportunities for carbon management.
Mario Berges is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), with a courtesy appointment in Electrical and Computer Engineering. He holds leadership roles as Co-Director of the IBM Smart Infrastructure Analytics Lab and Director of the Intelligent Infrastructure Research Lab (INFERLab). His work focuses on applying information/communication technologies to enhance the operational efficiency and resilience of built environments amid evolving resource constraints and climate changes. Education: PhD in Civil & Environmental Engineering from CMU (2010). Research Interests: Berges' research integrates smart infrastructure systems, energy efficiency, and machine learning. Key areas include non-intrusive load monitoring (NILM), structural health monitoring of pipelines, building automation systems, and urban heat risk modeling. He develops data-driven frameworks for energy disaggregation, sensor placement optimization, and real-time infrastructure diagnostics. Awards: Recognized with the 2010 FIATECH Outstanding Early Career Researcher Award and 2015 Dean’s Early Career Fellowship from CMU. Grants & Labs: Leads INFERLab, collaborating with IBM on smart infrastructure projects. His work spans academic-industry partnerships focused on building analytics, smart grid technologies, and sensor networks. Future Directions: Expanding research into AI-driven energy systems, resilient urban infrastructure, and cross-disciplinary solutions for climate adaptation.
Karthik R. Narasimhan is a Professor at Princeton University's School of Engineering and Applied Science in the Department of Computer Science. Previously, he earned his PhD from MIT under Regina Barzilay and served as a visiting research scientist at OpenAI during 2017-18. His research focuses on the intersection of language and decision-making, building autonomous agents that learn from both experience and human knowledge. His research spans multiple high-impact areas including language agents (Text-DQN, CALM, ReAct, Tree of Thoughts), reinforcement learning (h-DQN, Multi-Objective RL), and AI safety (Toxicity in ChatGPT, DataMUX). He has developed critical datasets and benchmarks such as WebShop, InterCode, SWE-bench, and SILG that have become standard evaluation tools in the field. Current work emphasizes agent capabilities, software engineering automation, and multimodal interaction. His publication trends show strong focus on practical agent deployment (SWE-agent, Tree of Thoughts), safety evaluation (Probing AI Safety), and efficiency improvements (DataMUX). Recent work increasingly addresses real-world challenges in software engineering, security, and human-AI collaboration through rigorous benchmarking. Co-author of foundational GPT (2018) paper Key developer of Text-DQN (2015), CALM (2020), ReAct (2022), Tree of Thoughts (2023) Creator of influential benchmarks: WebShop (2022), SWE-bench (2023), InterCode (2023) He actively advises students through Princeton's computer science program, with research supported by multiple grants focused on autonomous agent development and language-based decision systems. His GitHub repositories (nlp-datasets, text-world-player) demonstrate strong community engagement in open-source research tools. Current projects include advancing language agent capabilities through Reflexion (2023) and Tree of Thoughts (2023) frameworks while addressing critical safety and efficiency challenges.
Alp Atakan Overview Alp Atakan is a Professor and Head of School in the School of Economics and Finance at Queen Mary University of London. He holds a PhD from Columbia University and previously served as an Assistant Professor at Northwestern University and Associate Professor at Koç University. His research focuses on Microeconomic Theory, Game Theory, Auction Design, and Information Economics. Key contributions include studies on reputation dynamics, search markets, and information aggregation in auctions. Education PhD in Economics (with distinction), Columbia University, 2003 MA in Economics, Columbia University, 2000 MBA, Columbia University, 1997 BS in Economics, University of Pennsylvania, 1993 Research & Grants Recipient of an ERC Consolidator Grant (2016–2021) for 'Market Selection, Frictions, and the Information Content of Prices'. Notable research includes work on bargaining dynamics, price discovery mechanisms, and the role of information asymmetry in auctions. He has published in top journals like Econometrica , Journal of Economic Theory , and American Economic Review . Teaching spans MBA/EMBA courses on managerial economics and microeconomic theory, alongside advanced graduate courses in game theory and dynamic programming. Grants & Projects ERC Consolidator Grant: Market Selection & Price Information (€1,089,000) Tubitak Grants: Sequential Debate (2014–2015) and Auctions & Information (2012–2014) His work bridges theoretical economics with practical market design, emphasizing strategic interactions in decentralized systems.
