Computer-assisted Language Learning (CALL) Professors and Supervisors

Antonios LiapisView profile

Associate Professor

Codarts RotterdamNetherlands

Antonios Liapis is an Associate Professor at the Institute of Digital Games, University of Malta. He completed his PhD in September 2014 under the supervision of Georgios N. Yannakakis at the IT University of Copenhagen. His academic journey includes an M.Sc. in Information Technology from the same institution and a 5-year Diploma in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens. Dr. Liapis has held various academic positions at the University of Malta: Post-doctoral Researcher (2014-2015), Lecturer (2015-2020), Senior Lecturer (2020-2022), and currently Associate Professor (2022-present). He has served as General Chair for multiple international conferences including FDG (2020), GALA (2019), and EvoMusArt (2018-2019). He is an Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Games and a member of the Games Technical Committee of the IEEE Computational Intelligence Society. His research focuses on Artificial Intelligence as an autonomous creator and as a facilitator of human creativity. Key areas include computationally intelligent tools for game design and computational creators that blend semantics, visuals, sound, plot, and level structure to create various game genres including horror, adventure, shooter, and dungeon crawler games. His work has resulted in over 150 peer-reviewed publications and several research awards. Dr. Liapis has secured multiple research grants from the European Commission, including projects on AI-powered robotic material recovery, virtual reality aided design, and learning science through coding and play. His notable project series "Data Adventures" demonstrates the use of open data from Wikipedia, DBpedia, Wikimedia Commons, and OpenStreetMap to automatically generate adventure games with complete plots, characters, items, and locations. His scientific contributions have been recognized with several awards including Best Paper Awards at major conferences, Best Reviewer Award, and Runner-Up Best Student Paper Award. Dr. Liapis has also co-organized 16 workshops in diverse conferences throughout his career. Research interests include: Artificial Intelligence for creative applications Procedural Content Generation in games Computational Creativity systems Machine Learning for game design Affective Computing in virtual environments Human-AI collaboration in creative processes His recent work shows a strong trend toward integrating Large Language Models with game design, exploring quality diversity algorithms for creative applications, and advancing affect modeling for improved player experience. The research spans computer science, artificial intelligence, game studies, and human-computer interaction, with practical applications in education, entertainment, and design.

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Vincent WeaverView profile

Associate Professor

University of MaineUnited States

Vincent Weaver is an Associate Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of Maine's College of Engineering. He leads the VMW Research Group, focusing on low-level systems research including hardware performance counters, computer architecture, and operating systems. Weaver received his BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland College Park in December 2000, followed by MS (January 2009) and PhD (May 2010) degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Cornell University. He joined the University of Maine faculty in July 2012 as an Assistant Professor and earned tenure and promotion to Associate Professor in September 2018. His research centers on hardware performance analysis, architectural simulation, and systems programming with emphasis on Linux kernel development and embedded systems. Weaver's work bridges theoretical computer architecture with practical systems implementation, often resulting in open-source tools that advance the field. His publications reveal a consistent focus on performance analysis techniques, code optimization, and security through low-level system understanding. Weaver maintains an active teaching schedule including courses in embedded systems, operating systems, and network engineering. He values students with strong programming skills and encourages open source contributions as part of the learning process. His research group provides hands-on experience with cutting-edge processor architectures and performance analysis tools.

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James M AubryView profile

Associate Professor

The University of TampaUnited States

James M Aubry serves as Chair and Associate Professor in the Department of Languages and Linguistics at The University of Tampa, where he teaches Elementary French I, Advanced French I and II, French for Travel, and related courses. His office is located in Plant Hall Room PH-405 at 401 W. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa, FL. Dr. Aubry holds a B.A. from Université du Havre (1998), M.A. (2001), and Ph.D. (2009) from the University of South Florida. His research centers on factors affecting motivation in foreign language classrooms , with specific focus on how instructor self-disclosure via online platforms influences student motivation, attitudes, and performance. Additional specialties include distance learning methodologies , Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) , and contemporary Francophone literature . A recognized scholar in language pedagogy, Dr. Aubry authored a book chapter on CALL and regularly presents findings at national conferences. He maintains active membership in key professional organizations: American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) South Atlantic Modern Language Association (SAMLA) North East Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Language (NECTFL) His doctoral dissertation investigated the effects of online networking platforms on language learning outcomes, establishing foundational work for his ongoing research in digital language education.

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Xiaobai LiuView profile

Assistant Professor

San Diego State UniversityUnited States

Xiaobai Liu is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at San Diego State University, College of Sciences. His research bridges Computer Vision, Machine Learning, and Computational Statistics, with applications in Clinic Diagnosis, Sports, Transportation, Surveillance, and Video Games. Education: PhD in Computer Science from HuaZhong University of Science and Technology (2012) His research focuses on image parsing, video analysis, and deep learning techniques for 3D reconstruction, object tracking, and marine mammal detection. Recent publications highlight advancements in LiDAR generation, scene text recognition, and automated spectrogram processing. Notable grants include NSF-funded projects on autonomous vehicle safety simulations, marine mammal classification, and AI-driven recycling systems. He has advised over 30 students in real estate analytics, robotics, and computer vision projects. Scientific Awards: 2018 San Diego State University President’s Excellence Award

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Kaiya L. ProvostView profile

Assistant Professor

Adelphi UniversityUnited States

Kaiya L. Provost serves as Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology within Adelphi University's College of Arts and Sciences, where she leads research at the intersection of computational biology and avian evolutionary studies. Her work focuses on phylogenomics, bioacoustics of bird communication, and machine learning applications to biological questions, particularly regarding Southwestern desert organisms. Education: Ph.D. in Comparative Biology, Richard Gilder Graduate School, American Museum of Natural History (2020) Master's in Conservation Biology, Columbia University (2016) Bachelor's in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University (2014) Professor Provost's research program investigates how evolutionary processes shape biological diversity through genomic and behavioral lenses. She examines phylogeographic patterns in desert birds, cultural evolution in bird song, and develops computational methods for trait discovery across the Tree of Life. Her interdisciplinary approach bridges ornithology with artificial intelligence, using machine learning to analyze large-scale bioacoustic and genomic datasets while considering ecological and geographical contexts. Analysis of her 15 most recent publications (2021-2025) reveals three dominant research thrusts: (1) phylogenomic studies of parrots and desert birds using genomic landscape analysis, (2) bioacoustic investigations into how climate and cultural factors drive song variation across sparrow species, and (3) development of machine learning tools for evolutionary biology including hierarchical prototype learning and interpretable transformers. These works span computational biology, evolutionary ecology, and ornithology, appearing in high-impact journals across disciplinary boundaries. Professor Provost actively mentors the next generation of scientists through formal thesis supervision and undergraduate research projects. She has served as primary advisor for multiple Master's theses on topics including alarm call composition in shorebirds and desert bird color evolution, while chairing committees for research on foraging behavior and locomotion. Her lab website (kaiyaprovost.com) supports a collaborative research environment where students develop computational and analytical skills applicable to evolutionary biology careers.

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Xiaoning DuView profile

Senior Lecturer

Max Planck Institute for Security and PrivacyGermany

Xiaoning Du is a Senior Lecturer (equivalent to U.S. Associate Professor) at the Department of Software Systems and Cybersecurity within the Faculty of Information Technology at Monash University, Australia. She was promoted to this position effective July 1, 2025, having previously served as a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) since joining Monash in February 2021. Her research bridges the gap between theory and practical applications of program analysis and formal methods in evaluating traditional and AI-assisted software systems. Dr. Du's educational background includes: PhD from Nanyang Technological University (2020) Bachelor's degree from Fudan University (2014) Dr. Du specializes in software engineering, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity , with particular focus on SE4AI (Software Engineering for AI), software analysis and testing . Her research has made significant contributions to the security and quality assurance of intelligent software systems, especially intelligent software engineering tools. She is best known for her work on Devign , BigCodeBench , DeepStellar , and SimPy , which have advanced the fields of code generation, program analysis, and AI security. Her approach consistently bridges theoretical foundations with practical applications to improve software quality and security. Dr. Du's recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on the intersection of software engineering and AI, particularly examining how large language models interact with source code. Her work addresses critical challenges in code generation efficiency, security vulnerabilities in AI-assisted development, and fairness in AI systems. She has made significant contributions to benchmarking frameworks like BigCodeBench and has pioneered research on watermarking techniques to protect code datasets from misuse by neural code completion models. Dr. Du has received numerous prestigious awards and recognitions: 2024 Google Research Scholar Award in Software Engineering ACM SIGSOFT Distinguished Paper Award (ISSTA'24) ICLR Oral presentation (2025) 2024 FIT Dean's Early Career Researcher of the Year Award Multiple FIT ECR Seed Grants (2021-2023) Dr. Du actively mentors PhD students, with notable successes including Terry (2024-2025 IBM PhD Fellowship Award recipient) and Zhensu (2024 Bytedance Scholarship Award recipient). She is currently seeking self-motivated PhD students with strong programming skills and relevant research experience, offering full scholarship support. Her research has been supported by multiple grants including the Google Research Scholar Program award and several FIT ECR Seed Grants that have enabled her team to pursue innovative research in software security and AI-assisted development. Dr. Du leads a research group focused on intelligent software systems security and quality assurance. Her team has developed several influential tools and benchmarks including Devign, BigCodeBench, DeepStellar, and SimPy. These resources have become important assets for researchers and practitioners working at the intersection of software engineering and artificial intelligence, particularly in the areas of code generation, program analysis, and security testing of AI systems.

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