Prof. Farzad Saidi is a Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Bonn. He is affiliated with the Institute for Macroeconomics and Econometrics, ECONtribute, and the CRC TR 224 EPoS research centers. His work focuses on financial intermediation, monetary policy, corporate finance, and labor markets. He has contributed extensively to understanding bank behavior under negative interest rates, the effects of financial regulation, and the interplay between social preferences and economic outcomes during crises. Research highlights include analyzing strategic communication among banks, the impact of regulatory changes on insurance industries, and the role of social preferences in pandemic responses. His awards include the Jensen Prize for outstanding corporate finance research. Current projects explore credit supply dynamics, data-driven business cycles, and the macroeconomic implications of financial sanctions. Prof. Saidi's work spans theoretical and empirical domains, addressing topics such as banking structure, liquidity management, and the transmission of monetary policy. His affiliations with interdisciplinary centers reflect a commitment to collaborative, policy-relevant research.
Dr. Andrew Curtis is a Professor in the Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences at Case Western Reserve University's School of Medicine. He also holds a joint appointment in the Department of Anthropology, College of Arts and Sciences. His research focuses on spatial epidemiology, context-driven spatial data collection, and spatial confidentiality, with methodological expertise in geospatial data collection and analysis. He previously directed the WHO Collaborating Center for Remote Sensing and Public Health and has advised numerous public health agencies internationally. His work addresses health disparities at neighborhood scales, disaster response, and spatial syndromic surveillance. Dr. Curtis has mentored 10 PhD graduates now working in academia and public health sectors globally. Education includes a PhD in Geography from SUNY Buffalo (1995), MA in Geography from SUNY Buffalo (1991), and a BA from Portsmouth Polytechnic (1987). He has taught courses in GIS for health, medical geography, and global health. His advisory roles include collaborations with the CDC, Red Cross, and public health departments in Ohio and internationally. His research has been applied to cholera outbreaks, opioid overdose patterns, and pandemic response strategies. He co-edited a special issue on health geography and serves on the editorial board of the Annals of the Association of American Geographers. Dr. Curtis' spatial video methodologies have enabled fine-scale mapping in informal settlements, disaster zones, and conflict-affected areas. His recent work includes geospatial support for Ohio hospitals during the pandemic and energy vulnerability analysis. He emphasizes participatory research and context-enriched data collection to bridge gaps between health research and actionable policy.
Amiya Nayak is a Professor at the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science of the University of Ottawa. His research focuses on Fault-Tolerant Computing , Distributed Systems , and Ad hoc and Sensor Networks . He specializes in cybersecurity, IoT security, blockchain integration, and machine learning applications in healthcare and vehicular networks. His work addresses challenges in secure communication protocols, distributed learning frameworks, and energy-efficient network designs. Notable research areas include: IoT Security : Developing frameworks for threat detection, privacy-preserving systems, and blockchain-empowered IoT defenses. Federated Learning : Enhancing healthcare predictions and IoT management through decentralized, privacy-aware machine learning. Vehicular Networks : Securing Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) communication and optimizing QoS in cooperative internet of vehicles (IoV). Network Optimization : Leveraging deep reinforcement learning and graph neural networks for WDM network restoration and edge computing. His publications (2020–2025) highlight contributions to: Secure authentication protocols in medical sensor networks. AI-driven metaverse security solutions. Decentralized energy trading using NFTs. Energy-efficient sleep scheduling in wireless body area networks (WBANs). Nayak holds a Ph.D. and is a P.Eng. (Professional Engineer). His work bridges theoretical computer science with practical applications in telecommunications and healthcare systems.
Nima Monshizadeh Naini is a Professor in the Faculty of Science and Engineering at the University of Groningen. He holds the position of Chair of the IEM Program Committee and serves on the boards of ENTEG and YSEN. His academic journey includes a PhD in Control Systems from the University of Groningen (2013, Cum Laude), followed by postdoctoral research at the University of Cambridge (2016-2017) and the University of Groningen (2014). He has been an Assistant Professor since 2018 and was awarded the NWO Open Competition Grant in 2021. His research focuses on Cyber-Physical Human Systems (CPHS) , addressing two core areas: (1) Coordination of self-interested users in power systems and traffic networks using dynamic information design and game-theoretic mechanisms; and (2) Privacy-aware control and optimization with tailored encryption methods for dynamic systems. Applications include energy markets, microgrids, and smart grids. He has published extensively in top venues like IEEE CDC and Automatica, with key topics including privacy-preserving algorithms, distributed control, and optimal intervention design. His work contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals related to affordable energy and responsible consumption. Education: PhD in Control Systems, University of Groningen (2013) Research Associate, University of Cambridge (2016-2017) Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Groningen (2014) Awards: Cum Laude distinction for PhD thesis (2013) NWO Open Competition Grant (2021) Advising & Grants: Supervised 5 PhD students Editorial roles in IEEE journals and conference proceedings Labs/Teams: Leading the Cyber-physical systems group within the Smart Manufacturing Systems institute.
Siddharth Garg is the Institute Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at NYU Tandon School of Engineering, leading the EnSuRe Research Group. He holds a Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University (2009) and a B.Tech. from IIT Madras. His research focuses on secure and energy-efficient computing systems, integrating machine learning, cybersecurity, and hardware design. He previously held roles as Assistant Professor at NYU Tandon (2014-2020) and the University of Waterloo (2010-2014). Key affiliations include NYU Center for Cybersecurity (CCS), NYU Wireless, and the Center for Advanced Technology in Telecommunications. His work has been recognized with prestigious awards like the NSF CAREER Award (2015) and inclusion in Popular Science’s 'Brilliant 10' (2016). Notable research includes private inference optimization, secure hardware IP protection, and adversarial machine learning defenses. Publications highlight advancements in zero-knowledge proofs, AI-driven chip design, and mitigating backdoor attacks in neural networks. His grants include funding from NYU Wireless and NSF initiatives like the Chips4All project. The EnSuRe group emphasizes bridging software and hardware design gaps using AI and fostering cybersecurity education.
Rajeev Sahay is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of California San Diego (UCSD), affiliated with the Jacobs School of Engineering. He holds a Ph.D. and M.S. from Purdue University (2022 and 2021) and a B.S. from the University of Utah (2018). Prior to UCSD, he worked as a Senior Machine Learning Software Engineer at Saab, Inc., and taught courses at Purdue, earning the Purdue Engineering Dean’s Teaching Fellow award in 2021. His research bridges machine learning and networking, focusing on social learning networks (SLNs) for personalized education and robust wireless communications in adversarial environments. Key areas include federated learning for privacy preservation, adversarial attack mitigation, and next-generation 6G wireless systems. His work emphasizes data-driven methodologies to enhance learning outcomes and secure communication networks against vulnerabilities. Dr. Sahay’s teaching spans undergraduate and graduate courses in machine learning, data science, and programming languages (C/C++/Python), with a passion for tailoring curricula to student needs. His publications reflect expertise in federated learning, adversarial defense mechanisms, and signal processing, with recent contributions to AI-assisted education and robust wireless systems. Scientific Awards: Purdue Engineering Dean’s Teaching Fellow (2021) Teaching and Research Interests: Machine Learning Pedagogy Adversarial Robustness in ML Systems Federated Learning Applications Social Learning Network Analysis 6G Wireless Communication Security
Pablo Aragón is a Research Scientist at the Wikimedia Foundation and an Adjunct Professor at Universitat Pompeu Fabra. His work bridges computational social science, civic technology, and technopolitics, with a focus on Wikipedia's governance, digital democracy tools, and participatory systems. He co-founded the Democratic Innovation Lab in Barcelona and the DatAnalysis15M research network. Key research interests include analyzing knowledge integrity in Wikipedia, configuring digital participatory budgeting systems, and studying platform effects in civic technologies. He has led projects like DECODE (decentralized citizen engagement) and contributed to platforms like Decidim, which empower participatory democracy in cities like Barcelona. Recent conference engagements include KDD 2024 (data mining), ICWSM 2024 (social media analysis), and Wikimedia CEE Meeting 2024. His work emphasizes cross-cultural collaboration, with studies published in ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction and peer-reviewed conferences like CIKM and ACM SIGKDD. Professional affiliations include the Decidim association, Amnistía Internacional España, and the open knowledge advocacy group Civio. His research often intersects with open science, free culture movements, and gender equity in urban mobility.
Blake Miller is an Assistant Professor of Computational Social Science in the Department of Methodology at the London School of Economics (LSE), affiliated with the Data Science Institute. Their research focuses on computational methods applied to political communication in authoritarian regimes, particularly China, and the intersection of social media with political violence and identity politics. They hold a PhD from the University of Michigan (2018) and conducted postdoctoral research at Dartmouth College. Key substantive areas include: China's surveillance-driven security state and information control mechanisms Political mobilization through moral outrage and outgroup targeting Technological adaptations in authoritarian governance Methodological expertise spans machine learning, text analysis, and fairness in AI applications. Their book project Platforms and Power examines how authoritarian states delegate censorship to private platforms. Teaching focuses on quantitative text analysis and machine learning in political contexts. Research outputs include influential work on: Censorship patterns during China's zero-COVID protests Moral-emotional triggers for violence support Evaluation of active learning algorithms for text labeling Blake's work has been featured in The Washington Post , China File , and the CSIS Pekingology Podcast. They maintain an active presence in interdisciplinary research communities.
Tamme van der Wal is an external researcher affiliated with Agrosystems Research at Wageningen University & Research. His work focuses on integrating remote sensing and crop modeling to enhance agricultural sustainability and precision farming technologies.
Maryellen L. Giger, Ph.D. is the A.N. Pritzker Distinguished Service Professor of Radiology, Committee on Medical Physics, and the College at the University of Chicago. She serves as Vice-Chair of Radiology (Basic Science Research) and was the immediate past Director of the CAMPEP-accredited Graduate Programs in Medical Physics/Chair of the Committee on Medical Physics. Her career spans over 30 years of pioneering research in computer-aided diagnosis, machine learning, and deep learning applications in medical imaging. Dr. Giger's research focuses on computational image-based analyses for cancer risk assessment, diagnosis, prognosis, and response to therapy, particularly in breast cancer, lung cancer, prostate cancer, lupus, bone diseases, and more recently, COVID-19. Her work has evolved from developing computer-aided diagnosis systems to utilizing 'virtual biopsies' in imaging genomics association studies for discovery. She has made significant contributions to quantitative imaging, radiomics, and AI applications in medical imaging, with emphasis on translating research into clinical practice. Her publication record shows a clear trajectory from foundational work in computer vision for medical imaging to cutting-edge AI and deep learning applications. The recent publications demonstrate her leadership in large-scale collaborative efforts like the Medical Imaging and Data Resource Center (MIDRC), focus on health equity through AI analysis, and expansion into diverse applications including gynecological imaging, lung cancer screening, and trauma assessment. Her work consistently bridges technical innovation with clinical relevance. Dr. Giger has received numerous prestigious honors including membership in the National Academy of Engineering, the William D. Coolidge Gold Medal (the highest award from AAPM), and being named one of the 50 most impactful medical physicists in the last 50 years. She is a Fellow of multiple professional societies including AAPM, AIMBE, SPIE, SBMR, and IEEE. Her 2019 TIME magazine recognition for QuantX, the first FDA-cleared machine-learning-driven system for cancer diagnosis, highlights her translational impact. As an educator and mentor, Dr. Giger has guided over 100 graduate students, residents, and medical students throughout her career. She has secured substantial research funding including NIH R01 grants and serves as contact PI for the NIH NIBIB-funded & ARPA-H-funded Medical Imaging and Data Resource Center (MIDRC). Her leadership extends to former presidencies of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine and SPIE, and she was the inaugural Editor-in-Chief of the SPIE Journal of Medical Imaging. Dr. Giger co-founded Quantitative Insights, Inc. through the University of Chicago's New Venture Challenge, which developed QuantX - the first FDA-cleared AI system for cancer diagnosis. She leads the Medical Imaging and Data Resource Center (MIDRC), a critical resource for AI development in medical imaging that received the 2023 DataWorks Prize. Her research laboratory bridges engineering, physics, and clinical medicine to develop and validate quantitative imaging biomarkers and AI tools for precision medicine.
Daehyeok Kim is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at The University of Texas at Austin, where he co-leads the UT Networked Systems Research Group and participates in the Wireless Networking and Communications Group and 6G@UT. He serves as co-PI for the LDOS NSF Expeditions in Computing project, a major initiative rethinking operating systems through AI. His educational background includes a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University under advisors Vyas Sekar and Srinivasan Seshan, where his dissertation introduced abstractions for elastic in-network computing. He also earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in Computer Science and Engineering from POSTECH, South Korea, followed by research scientist work at KAIST prior to his Ph.D. Kim's research centers on hardware-software co-design for cloud and edge data centers, targeting speed, efficiency, and resilience. Key projects include resource management for programmable infrastructure, robust cellular network design, end-to-end network transport frameworks, and learning-directed operating systems. His work bridges computer networks, operating systems, distributed systems, and 5G/6G technologies, with emphasis on virtualized radio access networks (vRAN) and edge computing challenges. Analysis of his recent publications reveals a dominant focus on enhancing 5G/6G infrastructure reliability—particularly in virtualized RANs—through innovations in failover mechanisms, integrity protection, and latency-sensitive resource allocation. His research consistently addresses critical industry pain points like sub-second availability requirements, fronthaul security vulnerabilities, and end-to-end service-level objective (SLO) guarantees for mobile-edge applications. Notable scientific awards include: NSF CAREER Award (2025) for advancing cloud hardware efficiency Microsoft Research PhD Fellowship (2019) Bronze Award at Samsung HumanTech Paper Awards (2018) Qualcomm Innovation Awards (2016) His grant portfolio features leadership in the $10M+ LDOS NSF Expeditions project and the NSF CAREER award, both driving transformative work in AI-integrated operating systems and resilient network infrastructure. These projects demonstrate strong industry-academia collaboration with Microsoft Research, wireless vendors, and cloud providers. Kim co-leads the UT Networked Systems Research Group, which operates within the Wireless Networking and Communications Group and 6G@UT consortium. These labs maintain a 5G/6G testbed for Open RAN validation and focus on solving real-world problems in cellular infrastructure, edge computing, and network security through close partnerships with industry leaders.
Fabrizio Esposito is an Associate Professor of Private Law at the NOVA School of Law (NOVA University Lisbon), where he coordinates the Master's in Law Applied to Technology (Law&Tech) and the NOVA Data-Driven Law Knowledge Center . He is also a Librarian Professor and researcher at the NOVA Consumer Lab , and directs the MetaLawEcon network while serving as an analyst for EU Law Live . Education: LL.B. in Law (2011) from Bocconi University; LLM (2015) and PhD (2018) in Comparative, European and International Law from the European University Institute. Research Areas focus on the intersection of Private Law, Economic Law, European Law, and Legal Theory , particularly analyzing Consumer Law, Data Protection, Competition Law , and sector-specific legislation to address technological challenges in the Attention Economy . Current work explores price personalization and harm theories in Consumer Law, emphasizing consumer data collection and regulatory innovation. Publications span journals like Computer Law & Security Review , Journal of Consumer Policy , and European Competition Journal , alongside co-edited volumes on Research Methods in Consumer Law (2018) and Economics in Legal Reasoning (2020). His forthcoming monograph redefines Law and Economics research paradigms by prioritizing consumer interests.
Dr. Elaine Chen serves as Senior Lecturer in Business Analytics and Course Leader for the MSc Business Analytics and Artificial Intelligence at Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University. Her teaching emphasizes practical applications of data and AI technologies for business decision-making, with dedicated focus on accessibility for diverse student backgrounds across technical and strategic domains. Her academic credentials include: PhD in Computing Science MSc in Business Information Technology Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice BTech (Hons) in Business Information Systems Chen's research bridges educational and business contexts through data-AI integration: Generative AI adoption in higher education, particularly for neurodivergent/disabled students Human-AI collaboration frameworks in organizational settings SME applications for AI-driven efficiency and competitiveness Workforce analytics and talent management systems Her work consistently connects technical AI capabilities with real-world implementation challenges. Publication analysis (2023-2025) reveals accelerating focus on generative AI's educational impact and business strategy integration, evolving from her foundational work in social recommender systems (2014-2020) which established methodologies now applied to contemporary AI challenges in business contexts. Her professional recognition includes: Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA) Chen actively supervises PhD candidates in AI education, human-AI collaboration, and workforce analytics domains. Her pedagogy leadership includes designing accredited business analytics curricula and securing teaching innovation projects with documented outcomes in student engagement metrics. Prior industry experience as an automation engineer at Intel informs her practical approach to AI implementation. Current initiatives focus on generative AI ethics frameworks and longitudinal SME adoption studies, extending her established research trajectory into emerging business technology challenges.
Nathan Johnson is an Associate Professor at Arizona State University (ASU) within the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering's Polytechnic School. He directs the Laboratory for Energy And Power Solutions and the ASU-Starbucks Center for the Future of People and the Planet, while serving as Assistant Director of Research for the Global Futures Laboratory. His work focuses on sustainable development through energy decarbonization, microgrid innovation, and public-private partnerships. Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering, Iowa State University (2012) M.S. International Development & Mechanical Engineering, Iowa State University (2008, 2005) B.S. Mechanical Engineering, Iowa State University (2004) Research interests span microgrid resilience , energy-water-food nexus , grid modernization , and resource circularity , with applications in defense energy security, global energy access, and climate adaptation. His recent publications examine cascading infrastructure failures, hydrogen's role in decarbonization, and AI-driven solar panel diagnostics, reflecting interdisciplinary work in energy economics , control systems , and climate-resilient infrastructure . Over $70 million in funding includes projects like: DoD-funded microgrid resilience programs ($1.05M, 2022) World Bank climate-adaptive energy solutions in West Africa ($39.95M, 2021) NSF grants for urban resilience modeling ($3.6M, 2019) As leader of ASU's LEAPS initiative, he develops deployable energy solutions for disaster relief and underserved communities, combining hardware innovation with workforce development programs for veterans and civilians.
Mislav Balković is an Associate Professor at Algebra University of Applied Sciences, where he has served as Director and Dean since 2000 and 2009, respectively. He drives strategic development for the Algebra Group and contributes to national education policy through roles in expert bodies like the National Council for Science, Higher Education and Technology, and the Accreditation Council of the Agency for Science and Higher Education. Education: PhD (2016) from Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, University of Zagreb Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, University of Zagreb Research Interests: Mislav’s work bridges Data Science with applications in labor market dynamics , education policy , qualification frameworks , and energy systems . His projects focus on smart grid optimization, digital identity protection, and AI-driven educational reforms. Publications Trends: His recent articles emphasize cross-disciplinary applications , including brain-computer interfaces for image generation, EU labor market analysis , and smart grid resilience . Earlier works explore blockchain-based academic credentials and data analytics in auditing . Grants and Projects: He has led ~50 EU and domestic projects , spanning smart tourist management , lean methodologies for screen creators , and ICT services for alternative communication . His policy work includes drafting laws on adult education and higher education reform. Leadership: Vice President of the Croatian Employers' Association in Education (HUP-UPO) and past President of the Sectoral Council for Electrical Engineering and Computing.
