Dr. Anwar Haque is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Western University, Canada, and a Faculty of Science Distinguished Research Professor. He holds a Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering and an M.Sc. in Computer Science from the University of Waterloo. Prior to academia, he was Associate Director at Bell Canada. His research focuses on 5G networks, IoT, cybersecurity, AI, and autonomous systems, with over 100 peer-reviewed publications and $15M in collaborative grants. Dr. Haque leads the Western Information & Networking Group (WING) Lab and is the founder/CEO of Bamboo Innovations Inc., a tech startup developing socially responsible smart technologies. Leadership roles include industry expert-in-residence in the Faculty of Science, Undergraduate Chair of the Computer Science Department, and member of Western’s Senate. He has delivered over 30 keynote talks and media features include BBC Earth and The Globe and Mail. Awards include the IEEE CCECE Leadership Award and multiple grants from NSERC, MITACS, and Bell Canada. His work spans network reliability, smart grids, and cybersecurity, with industry partnerships like the Bell-Western 5G Research Centre.
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.
Virginia Smith is the Leonardo Associate Professor of Machine Learning at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), with a courtesy appointment in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. She holds a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley and undergraduate degrees from the University of Virginia. Her research focuses on developing efficient, privacy-preserving machine learning systems, particularly in federated learning, distributed optimization, and resource-constrained settings. Key areas include federated learning frameworks like CoCoA and Ditto, unlearning algorithms, and privacy amplification techniques. Smith's work bridges theory and practice, addressing challenges such as data heterogeneity, fairness, and robustness. She has led initiatives like the LEAF benchmark for federated learning and has contributed to open-source tools for scalable ML systems. Her awards include the Sloan Research Fellowship, Samsung AI Researcher of the Year (2023), and an NSF CAREER Award. She is actively involved in curriculum development, teaching courses on federated learning and large-scale ML at CMU. Her research group explores cutting-edge topics like federated optimization with sparse communication, unlearning in LLMs, and secure ML pipelines. Collaborations span academia and industry, with applications in healthcare, IoT systems, and AI safety. Smith serves as Program Chair for ICML 2025 and frequently contributes to workshops on federated learning and trustworthy AI.
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.
Adriana Tapus is a Full Professor at ENSTA Paris, affiliated with Institut Polytechnique de Paris, leading the Autonomous Systems and Robotics Laboratory (SAR) within the Computer Science and Systems Engineering Unit (U2IS). She holds an HDR (Habilitation) and a PhD from EPFL, Switzerland, with postdoctoral experience at USC. Her research focuses on socially assistive robotics, human-robot interaction (HRI), and personalized therapy for individuals with physical/cognitive impairments. She directs the IP Paris Doctoral School and coordinates national/international projects like the EU-funded ENRICHME and SWEET. Education: PhD in Mobile Robotics, EPFL (2005) Habilitation (HDR), ENSTA Paris (2011) M.S. Computer Science, University Joseph Fourier Engineer, Politehnica University of Bucharest Research Interests: Tapus pioneers socially assistive robotics, integrating machine learning, human modeling, and multimodal communication (verbal/non-verbal/para-verbal). Her work addresses adaptive therapies for vulnerable populations using robotics, physiological data interpretation, and context-aware interaction. Key themes include: Human-robot cooperation and trust Emotion recognition and expression Personalized rehabilitation systems AI ethics and human-centered design Publications: Over 150 articles, with recent work exploring humor in HRI, teleoperation trust models, and cross-cultural intelligent vehicles. Notable 2025 contributions include studies on robot laughter efficacy and multimodal facial expression frameworks. Awards: 2025: 4 IROS papers accepted 2016: 25 Women in Robotics recognition 2010: Romanian Academy Award Multiple conference best paper awards (RO-MAN, ICRA, etc.) Advising & Grants: Supervised over 20 PhD students and led projects like EU Horizon 2020 ENRICHME. Current students focus on teleoperation dynamics, robot humor, and haptic interfaces. Active in editorial roles (IJSR, THRI) and conference organization (HRI General Chair 2019). Labs/Teams: Founder of RoboticsByDesign lab and co-initiator of the Hi! Paris interdisciplinary AI center. The SAR lab develops systems for healthcare, education, and human-robot collaboration.
Amy Bruckman is a Regents’ Professor and Senior Associate Chair in the School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Institute of Technology. As a Fellow of The ACM and member of the SIGCHI Academy , she contributes to social computing research focusing on online collaboration, cross-cultural understanding, and content moderation. Her 2022 book "Should You Believe Wikipedia? Online Communities and the Construction of Knowledge" explores digital knowledge creation. Education: Ph.D. from MIT Media Lab (1997), B.A. in Physics from Harvard (1987) Research Affiliations: GVU Center, IRI People and Technology Her work addresses social computing challenges including: AI ethics in human-AI interaction Algorithmic bias in content moderation Epistemic justice in online communities Comparative platform analysis (Reddit, Discord, TikTok) Grassroots technology movements Recent publications examine: AI support tools for online counseling Community-driven research frameworks Racial bias mitigation in toxic language detection Designing teachable social media experiences Human trafficking intervention ethics Scientific recognition includes: ACM Fellowship SIGCHI Academy membership She has contributed to: Georgia Tech's Computing Education initiatives Research ethics frameworks for Human-Computer Interaction
Nils Fleischhacker is an Assistant Professor for Cryptography at Ruhr University Bochum, where he leads the Theoretical Cryptography group within the Faculty of Computer Science. His research focuses on foundational aspects of cryptography with particular emphasis on zero-knowledge proofs, digital signatures, and secure computation. Prior to joining Ruhr University, he held postdoctoral positions at Johns Hopkins University and Carnegie Mellon University. Dr. Fleischhacker received his PhD in Computer Science from Saarland University in February 2017, advised by Dominique Schröder. During his doctoral studies, he was a research intern at Microsoft Research with Chris Brzuska and a research visitor at the University of Maryland, College Park with Jonathan Katz and Dana Dachman-Soled. His research spans theoretical cryptography with significant contributions to zero-knowledge proofs, multi-signature schemes, property-preserving hash functions, and security proofs for cryptographic primitives. Fleischhacker's work often addresses fundamental questions about the limits and possibilities of cryptographic constructions, with particular attention to black-box separations and lower bounds. His recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on lattice-based cryptography and post-quantum secure protocols. Fleischhacker's publications over the past five years reveal a consistent research trajectory focused on improving the efficiency and security of cryptographic primitives, with particular emphasis on signature schemes, zero-knowledge protocols, and secure computation frameworks. His work frequently appears in top-tier cryptography venues including CRYPTO, EUROCRYPT, and CCS. Dr. Fleischhacker actively mentors PhD students, with numerous successful graduations spanning from 2010 to 2024. His former PhD students include Önder Askin (2024), Floyd Zweydinger (2023), and Lars Schlieper (2022), among others. His research is supported through various academic channels and collaborations. He is affiliated with several prominent research organizations including the Horst Görtz Institute (HGI) for Information Security, the DFG Excellence Cluster CASA, the EU Marie Curie Network QSI, and the International Association for Cryptologic Research (IACR). These affiliations provide a strong institutional framework for his theoretical cryptography research.
Sam Yam is a Professor and Head of the Management & Organisation Department at the National University of Singapore's (NUS) Business School. He holds the Jardine Cycle & Carriage Professorship and serves as Associate Dean. His research spans strategy, organisational behaviour, applied psychology, ethics, and human-technology interaction. Yam has contributed to over 125 publications, focusing on AI ethics, workplace dynamics, and cross-cultural management. He explores topics like robot replacement effects, abusive supervision, and financial anxiety's intergenerational impacts. His work bridges psychology, ethics, and organisational theory, addressing contemporary challenges in automation, leadership, and human-AI collaboration. Appointments: Head of Management & Organisation (2022–present), Joint Appointment in Arts & Social Sciences (2023–present). Key Research Themes: Future of work, human-technology interaction, ethical leadership, and Machiavellian dynamics. Notable Contributions: Multimodal ADHD diagnostics, leader biases toward robot-using employees, and cultural impacts on team performance. Yam’s interdisciplinary approach integrates psychology, technology, and management, addressing societal issues like AI ethics and workplace automation. His research frequently appears in top journals like the Journal of Management and Annual Review of Organizational Psychology .
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.
Joel Goh is Associate Professor at the Department of Analytics and Operations, NUS Business School, National University of Singapore. He serves as Director of the J.Y. Pillay Comparative Asia Research Centre (under NUS Global Asia Institute) and PhD Program Director at the Institute of Operations Research and Analytics (IORA). Previously, he was Assistant Professor at Harvard Business School (2014-2017) and Visiting Scholar (2017-2022). BSc, MSc, PhD in Operations, Information, and Technology from Stanford University His research focuses on healthcare analytics (preventing health conditions, hospital operations, frailty assessment), supply chain analytics (digital business models, platform leakage), and service platform operations (hospital-at-home programs, incentive design). He co-created the Robust Optimization Made Easy (ROME) software. Recent publications analyze workplace psychological safety (2024), hospital-at-home models (2024), and platform leakage dynamics (2023). His work spans 18+ journals with 740+ citations for burnout cost studies (2022) and 606+ citations for physician well-being research (2017). Teaching Honors : 2023: Best MBA Teaching & Skinner Innovation Award 2021: NUS Annual Teaching Excellence Award 2020: Early Career Research Excellence Award & 40 Under 40 Best MBA Professors Advising & Grants : Served as PhD Program Director. Received NUS Start-Up Grant R-314-000-110-133 (2021) and Humanities & Social Sciences Fellowship (2021). Editorial roles include Associate Editor at Management Science , Manufacturing & Service Operations Management , and Senior Editor at Production and Operations Management .
Pierre Vandergheynst is a Full Professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) in the Department of Electrical Engineering, with a courtesy appointment in Computer and Communication Sciences. He serves as EPFL’s Vice-Provost for Education since 2015 and leads the Signal Processing Laboratory 2 (LTS2). His research spans harmonic analysis, sparse approximations, mathematical data processing, and applications in signal/image processing, computer vision, machine learning, and graph-based data analysis. PhD in Mathematical Physics (1998), Université catholique de Louvain Postdoctoral Researcher at EPFL (1998-2001) Assistant Professor at EPFL (2002-2007) His research explores geometry/symmetry in high-dimensional data, redundant dictionaries for dimensionality reduction, and computational harmonic analysis on manifolds. Recent work focuses on protein structure modeling, geometric deep learning, and graph-based signal processing. Key article trends include graph neural networks for protein analysis, geometric deep learning in neuroscience, and structured knowledge priors in neural models. His 2023-2025 publications emphasize interpretable AI, long-range dependencies in graphs, and molecular representation learning. Scientific Awards: IEEE Signal Processing Magazine Best Paper Award (2023) Signal Processing Society Best Paper Award (2022) Apple ARTS Award (2007) De Boelpaepe Prize, Royal Academy of Sciences of Belgium (2009-2010) He has supervised over 30 PhD theses and contributed to foundational work in graph signal processing, compressive sensing, and geometric deep learning. His lab develops tools for data science on non-Euclidean structures, with applications in medicine, astronomy, and wireless systems.
Prof. Roger Wattenhofer is a Full Professor at the Department of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, ETH Zurich, Switzerland, and Deputy head of the Computer Engineering and Networks Lab. He holds a doctorate in Computer Science from ETH Zurich (1998) and has held positions at Brown University and Microsoft Research before returning to ETH. His research focuses on distributed computing, wireless networks, and algorithmic systems design, with contributions to Byzantine agreement protocols, blockchain technologies, and neural network architectures. He teaches courses such as Distributed Systems and Computational Thinking. Education: Ph.D. in Computer Science (ETH Zurich, 1998). Research interests include distributed systems, network algorithms, and the intersection of machine learning with distributed computing. His work spans both theoretical foundations and practical implementations, addressing challenges in fault tolerance, consensus mechanisms, and algorithmic efficiency. Recent publications explore topics like adversarial robustness in voting systems, privacy in reinforcement learning, and generative music models. He actively contributes to open-source frameworks and benchmarks for neural algorithmic reasoning.
Professor Nancy W. Y. Law is a leading scholar in Learning Sciences and Technology at the University of Hong Kong's Faculty of Education . She has served as Founding Director of the Centre for Information Technology in Education (CITE) (1998-2013) and currently holds the Chair of Learning Sciences and Technology . Her career spans over 25 years of international comparative studies, policy analysis, and large-scale educational innovation. Current roles: Associate Dean (Strategic Development), HKU Key affiliations: Sciences of Learning Strategic Research Theme (co-convener) Research Expertise Her work focuses on technology-enhanced learning , digital literacy , knowledge building communities , and multilevel educational change . She pioneered network models of teacher innovation and socio-technical frameworks for sustainable pedagogical transformation, particularly in STEM education and Cyberbullying prevention . Scientific Leadership With over 25 major research grants (2000-2023) exceeding HK$50 million, she leads projects like: Learning and Assessment for Digital Citizenship Jockey Club Self-directed Learning in STEM Design-Aware Learning Analytics A Fellow of the International Society of Learning Sciences and recipient of the HKSAR Humanities and Social Sciences Prestigious Fellowship , she has supervised numerous international comparative studies including SITES 2006, ICILS 2013, and longitudinal digital citizenship research (2019-2021).
Dr. Khurram Aziz is a Senior Instructor in the Faculty of Computer Science at Dalhousie University , Halifax, Canada. He is actively engaged in teaching and research, with a focus on optical networks, data center interconnects, and network performance modeling. Education: PhD in Electrical Engineering, Vienna University of Technology, Austria (2008) MSc in Electrical Engineering, National University of Singapore (2003) BSc (Hons) in Electrical Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan (1998) His research interests include optical packet and burst switched networks , optical interconnects for data centers , analytical modeling and simulation , and network routing and switching . He has contributed extensively to the design and performance evaluation of scalable optical switches and hybrid switching systems. The recent publications reflect a strong trend in data center optical networks , focusing on performance, blocking probability, signal degradation, and architectural classification. His work bridges theoretical modeling with practical simulation frameworks, such as CloudNetSim++ in OMNeT++, contributing to cloud and high-capacity network research. Dr. Aziz has no listed scientific awards in the provided text. He teaches several core computer science courses including CSCI 2141: Intro to Database Systems , CSCI 3171: Network Computing , CSCI 3132: Object Orientation and Generic Programming , and CSCI 3120: Operating Systems . There is no mention of graduate student supervision or external research grants. He has co-authored book chapters in major handbooks on data centers and switched systems. Dr. Aziz has not listed any formal lab or research team affiliations in the provided content.
Steven I-Jy Chien serves as Professor and Director of the Transportation Program within the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). His career spans academia, government, and industry with significant contributions to transportation engineering research and practice. His educational credentials include: Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from University of Maryland-College Park (1995) M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from University of Maryland-College Park (1991) B.S. in Civil Engineering from Tamkang University (1983) Professor Chien's research focuses on transportation system resilience, sustainable transit operations, and advanced traffic modeling. His work addresses critical challenges in urban rail networks, demand-responsive transit services, and energy-efficient transportation systems. He employs sophisticated computational methods including genetic algorithms, machine learning, and Bayesian approaches to solve complex transportation problems involving network vulnerability, passenger behavior, and infrastructure optimization under uncertainty. Analysis of his recent publications reveals strong emphasis on transportation resilience against cascading failures, sustainable operations for electric transit systems, and pandemic-responsive aviation scheduling. His research spans diverse geographic contexts including major Chinese metropolitan areas and U.S. transportation networks, demonstrating global applicability of his methodologies. His professional recognition includes: 2024 Keynote Speaker at Union-Tech Lecture, National Taiwan Ocean University 2022 Keynote Speaker at International Conference of Chinese Institute of Transportation 2022 Best Poster Award from New Jersey Department of Transportation Professor Chien has secured research funding from federal agencies including the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) where he contributed to CORSIM traffic simulation software development. His industry experience with China Engineering Consultants Inc. and Information Dynamic Inc. informs his practical approach to transportation challenges. As Transportation Program Director, he oversees curriculum development and industry partnerships that prepare students for transportation sector careers. He maintains active collaboration with transportation agencies globally, particularly through his leadership in the Transportation Program at NJIT which serves as a hub for innovation in urban mobility solutions.
