University of California, Los AngelesUnited States
Michelle Yuan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Linguistics at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Previously, she held the same position at UC San Diego from 2019 to 2023. She earned her PhD in Linguistics from MIT, alongside a BA and MA in Linguistics from the University of Toronto. Her research focuses on theoretical syntax and the syntax-morphology interface, particularly examining case, agreement, and movement phenomena in ergative languages. She specializes in Inuktitut and Inuit-Yupik-Unangan languages, with recent work on San Juan Piñas Mixtec (Tò’ōn Ndá’ví). Her investigations emphasize morphosyntactic properties of pronominal clitics, tonal systems, and language documentation for reclamation efforts. Recent publications explore clitic coalescence in Mixtec, morphological conditions in Inuktitut noun incorporation, and tonal analysis in Mixtec. Her work often combines formal syntactic theory with fieldwork-driven data from underdocumented languages. Collaborations include projects with Gabriela Caballero, Claudia Juárez Chávez, and Indigenous language experts, focusing on linguistic resource development. Her research bridges formal syntax with applied documentation, addressing both theoretical and sociolinguistic dimensions of language preservation.
George Kollios is a Professor and Chair of the Computer Science Department at Boston University. He holds a PhD in Computer Science from Polytechnic University, New York (2000), an M.Sc. from the same institution (1998), and a Diploma in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens, Greece (1995). His research focuses on temporal/spatio-temporal indexing, database security, privacy-preserving technologies, and large-scale data management. His work is supported by NSF (including an NSF CAREER Award) and IARPA. Education: PhD, Polytechnic University, New York (2000) M.Sc., Polytechnic University, New York (1998) Diploma in Electrical and Computer Engineering, National Technical University of Athens (1995) Research Interests: His expertise spans data mining , secure database systems , and privacy-preserving algorithms . He develops methods for efficient query processing on encrypted data, spatio-temporal data management, and scalable clustering techniques. Recent Research Trends: His publications emphasize differential privacy , secure encryption schemes , and large-scale graph algorithms . Notable contributions include optimizing privacy in database queries and evaluating encryption protocols for secure data access. Awards: NSF CAREER Award Grants & Collaborations: Recipient of NSF-funded projects on access pattern privacy and IARPA-supported research. He collaborates on interdisciplinary initiatives to bridge theoretical foundations with practical security frameworks.
Francesca Borgo is Lecturer in Art History at the University of St Andrews, specializing in early modern visual culture with particular expertise in Renaissance art and material studies. She holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University and has held fellowships at leading research institutes including Villa I Tatti and the Getty Research Institute. Borgo's research examines intersections between art, science, and material culture in fifteenth and sixteenth-century Europe. Her current projects investigate representations of war in Renaissance art and historical perceptions of fragile or decaying artworks. Recent publications analyze zoomorphic armor ornamentation, soundscapes in Leonardo's battle paintings, and waste reuse in artistic workshops. Her scholarly work demonstrates consistent engagement with Leonardo da Vinci's legacy, Vitruvian principles of scale, and material transformations in artistic production. Recent articles explore sensory dimensions of Renaissance art and theoretical challenges in representing human proportions. Borgo co-directs research projects on Renaissance embodiment theories and coordinates collaborative initiatives on material reuse in early modern practices. She contributes to digital art history through open-access publications and database development.
Dr. Dan Ionescu is a Professor at the University of Ottawa's School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He has been affiliated with the university since 1985, contributing extensively to teaching and research. His career includes visiting professorships at École Nationale Supérieure de Télécommunications (Paris) and Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (Barcelona). He founded the Machine Intelligence Research Laboratory (1988) and the Network Computing and Control Research Laboratory (NCCT, 1999), which he currently directs. His research spans Artificial Intelligence, Machine Vision, Distributed Computing, Network Control, and Formal Methods. Notable contributions include methodologies in Expert Systems, Image Processing, Temporal Logic, and Network Management. His work has received industrial and governmental grants from CITO, Nortel, NSERC, and others. Recent research focuses on Web-based collaborative platforms (e.g., UC-IC, Watch-Together), Autonomic Computing, and AI applications in gesture control and 3D IR camera systems. Dr. Ionescu’s technical leadership includes pioneering the first distributed network management platform with industry partners and designing the NCIT*net 2 network architecture. His current interests include AI-driven solutions for cybersecurity, medical imaging, and IoT-enabled disaster response systems. He has advised numerous projects in AI ethics, quantum computing, and real-time control systems. His research trends emphasize interdisciplinary innovation, combining AI with healthcare (e.g., MRI analysis, deepfake detection), cybersecurity (GAN-based intrusion detection), and IoT (Salv AIoT platform). Collaborations with IBM CAS and Diatem Networks highlight his industry-academia integration. His legacy includes over 40 years of impactful contributions to computing and engineering education.
Dr Angela Dunstan is a Reader in English Literature and Visual Culture at Queen Mary University of London's Department of English, School of the Arts. She holds a PhD from the University of Sydney and has taught at institutions including Oxford University College and the University of Sydney. As International Lead for the School of the Arts, she focuses on interdisciplinary research at the intersection of literature and visual culture, particularly in the long 19th century. Her work examines technologies of replication, art authenticity, sculpture, urban culture, and global scholarly practices. Her research explores Victorian sculptural replication, the global circulation of English literature via literary societies, and the history of pedagogy. Notable projects include her forthcoming monograph Reading Victorian Sculpture (Edinburgh University Press) and co-edited collections like Tribute and Trade: China and Global Modernity . She has supervised doctoral theses on children’s literature and British postwar land art. Teaching includes undergraduate and postgraduate courses on Victorian literature, London’s cultural spaces, and art histories. Dunstan’s public engagement includes curatorial advisory roles, digital humanities projects (e.g., Edinburgh Review in the Jeffrey Years), and contributions to Victorian special correspondents databases. She actively participates in academic events and lectures on topics like Decadence and sculpture, emphasizing historical archives and interdisciplinary methodologies.
Zachary Bischof is a Researcher at Georgia Tech's School of Computer Science within the College of Computing. His work focuses on internet infrastructure, network reliability, and broadband analysis. He investigates topics such as outage detection, submarine cable networks, and the geographic and technical aspects of internet systems. His research spans from foundational studies on IPv4 utilization to applied projects like the iGDB platform integrating physical/logical network layers. Key areas of interest include internet measurement methodologies, infrastructure resilience, and the societal impact of telecommunications policies. He has contributed to improving outage detection algorithms, analyzing AS relationships, and evaluating consumer broadband experiences across diverse regions. His work often bridges technical and policy dimensions, emphasizing real-world applications. Notably, his publications explore undersea cable criticality, Google's AMP project's impact, and the utility of service-level agreements (SLAs) for broadband providers. While no formal awards are listed, his consistent output reflects sustained engagement with high-impact networking challenges. Zachary collaborates on projects like the Dasu platform for edge-based ISP measurements and has advised on submarine cable vulnerability assessments. His research integrates machine learning (e.g., hostname geolocation extraction) with traditional networking analysis, demonstrating interdisciplinary strengths. Future directions include expanding measurement frameworks and addressing emerging infrastructure challenges.
Lumila Paula Menéndez is an Associated Researcher at the Department of Evolutionary Biology within the Faculty of Life Sciences at the University of Vienna. She holds a PhD in Anthropology and Natural Sciences from the National University of La Plata (Argentina) and has conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Tübingen (Germany) and the Konrad Lorenz Institute (Austria). Her work focuses on human evolution, biocultural diversity in the Americas, primate evolution, and theoretical biology. She leads a DFG-funded project examining cranial and ear labyrinth variation in South American human samples to assess evolutionary processes like genetic drift and natural selection. Her interdisciplinary collaborations involve geneticists, biologists, linguists, and archaeologists. Her research interests include morphometric techniques, stable isotope analysis, and virtual anthropology. Notable projects include studying migration patterns leading to the Inka conquest and analyzing craniofacial climatic adaptations across continents. She advocates for inclusive citation practices and open data initiatives in biological anthropology. Recent work includes publications on Holocene human diversity in South America, osteobiographical studies of indigenous remains, and methodological advancements in 3D modeling. She emphasizes integrating genetic, archaeological, and morphological data to address debates about the peopling of the Americas and morphological diversification. Current projects aim to strengthen virtual anthropology's role in quantitative data generation and foster cross-disciplinary dialogue on sustainability and social-ecological systems.
Giorgio Vinciguerra is a Research Fellow (RTD-A) at the Department of Computer Science of the University of Pisa since January 2023, and a member of the A³ Lab. His research focuses on compact data structures, data compression, and algorithm engineering, with a specialization in learned data structures that leverage machine learning to improve space-time trade-offs. He holds a PhD from the University of Pisa (2022), awarded the Best PhD thesis in Theoretical Computer Science by the Italian Chapter of EATCS. His academic journey includes postdoc research (2022), a visiting researcher role at KTH Royal Institute of Technology (2024), and Harvard University (2020). He has contributed to EU-funded projects like SoBigData.it and owns patents for innovations in data structure design. Key research interests include: Learned compression techniques for time series and string dictionaries Space-efficient indexing for massive datasets Algorithmic integration of machine learning into traditional data structures His work has been published in top venues including ICDE, Inf. Syst., and ACM Trans. Algorithms. Awards include the 2025 WSDM Outstanding Reviewer Award. He has co-supervised multiple theses on topics like adversarial query optimization and compressed indexing. Teaching roles include courses on programming, algorithms, and information retrieval at the University of Pisa. His software libraries (e.g., LeMonHash, PGM-index) are widely used in database systems and bioinformatics.
Benjamin C. Pierce is Henry Salvatori Professor of Computer and Information Science at the University of Pennsylvania, with appointments in the School of Engineering and Applied Science. A Fellow of the ACM, his research spans programming languages, formal verification, and security-privacy technologies. He directs the DeepSpec project on verified systems infrastructure and leads climate computing initiatives. Research interests focus on: Formal methods for reliable software via proof assistants like Coq Bidirectional programming and data synchronization Language-based security and differential privacy Publication trends show consistent contributions to type theory foundations, with recent emphasis on property-based testing methodologies and real-world verification. Articles frequently appear in top PL/SEC venues with practical applications in compilers and secure systems. Scientific Awards: ACM Fellow (systems verification) SIGPLAN Distinguished Educator Award (textbook innovations) Advises graduate students through the Penn PL Club. PI for NSF Expeditions in Sustainable Computing. Leads the VERSE project for verified C code and Unison file synchronizer. Directs the Penn Programming Languages Research Group collaborating with industry partners including Amazon and Microsoft Research.
Gavin Brown is Professor of Mathematics at the University of Warwick's Mathematics Institute. His research focuses on birational classification in algebraic geometry using computer-assisted constructions and databases. He investigates complex geometric structures including Fano varieties and Calabi-Yau manifolds through both theoretical frameworks and computational approaches. Research interests center on developing mathematical models for noncommutative functions, deformation theory of algebraic curves, and singularity classifications. This work bridges pure mathematics with computational applications to solve geometric classification problems. Recent publications demonstrate consistent themes in computational algebraic geometry, particularly in developing databases for geometric structures and advancing theoretical understanding of deformation spaces. The research integrates computational methods with deep geometric insights.
Ed Solovey is an Associate Professor of the Practice in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Boston University. His primary appointment includes affiliations with both primary and affiliated faculty roles. He holds an M.Eng from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His research focuses on Software Engineering, Distributed Systems, Databases, and Scalability. Notable work includes advancements in event tracking methodologies and formal simulation techniques for composite systems. He teaches core courses such as EC 327: Introduction to Software Engineering and EC 400: Software Engineering in Practice. His publications explore practical and theoretical aspects of software systems and automation models.
Amel MAMMAR is a Professor at Telecom SudParis, specializing in formal methods and software verification. Her work focuses on applying the Event-B method to model and verify critical systems such as automotive systems, railway signaling, and cloud applications. She has contributed extensively to the development of formal approaches for ensuring correctness in embedded systems, smart contracts, and security protocols. Her research integrates formal modeling with tools like SAGEMATH for hybrid systems analysis and ProB for policy validation. MAMMAR collaborates on projects involving requirements engineering, safety-critical systems, and access control mechanisms. Her key contributions include Event-B models for automotive exterior lighting systems, railway standards (ERTMS/ETCS), and cloud resource allocation. She has published widely in venues like the International Journal on Software Tools for Technology Transfer and IEEE Transactions, emphasizing formal verification techniques for safety and security. Her work bridges theoretical formal methods with practical applications in industry sectors like transportation and aerospace.
Dr. Joseph 'Joey' Blankinship is an Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Science at the University of Arizona's College of Agricultural, Environmental, and Life Sciences (CALES). He leads the Desert Agriculture Soil Health Initiative (DASHI), focusing on soil microbial roles in ecosystem services like carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas regulation. His research spans biogeochemistry, arid agriculture, and climate change impacts. Education: B.A. Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia (2002) Ph.D. Biology, Northern Arizona University (2009) Postdoctoral studies at UC Merced and UC Santa Barbara Research Interests: Blankinship's work integrates biology, chemistry, and engineering to address desert soil challenges. Key areas include soil aggregate stability, microbial-driven nutrient cycling, and biochar applications. Recent studies explore irrigation impacts on soil carbon in arid croplands and post-wildfire reforestation using biochar and nurse shrubs. Article Trends: Publications emphasize soil carbon dynamics, biochar optimization, and desert agroecosystem resilience. Key themes include threshold effects of biochar rates, synergies between organic amendments and microclimate, and practical soil health metrics for arid regions. Awards: First Place Graduate Poster SWESx (2018) Second Place Undergraduate Poster SWESx (2018) Grants/Advising: Leads projects funded by USDA, NSF, and industry partners. Advised numerous graduate students in soil ecology and biogeochemistry. Labs/Teams: The Blankinship Soil Health Group collaborates with USDA NRCS, Arizona Dust Coalition, and international soil databases like ISRaD.
Evaggelia Pitoura is a Professor in the Department of Computer Engineering and Informatics at the University of Ioannina, Greece, and a Lead Researcher at the Archimedes Research Unit, ATHENA Research Center. Her work spans data management, distributed systems, and mobile computing, with a strong focus on database personalization and diversity. Her research interests include data diversity, contextual preferences, XML data management, peer-to-peer systems, and mobile computing . She has pioneered work in result diversification, preference-aware querying, and distributed data indexing, publishing extensively in top venues such as PVLDB, ICDE, SIGMOD, and IEEE TPDS. The recent publications highlight a consistent trend in personalized, context-aware database systems , with emphasis on improving user experience through intelligent query processing, recommendation, and efficient data organization in distributed environments. Best Paper Award, SIGMOD 1999 Best Paper Award, PVLDB 2013 She has advised several PhD students, including Georgia Koloniari, Kostas Stefanidis, Marina Drosou, and Konstantinos Semertzidis, who now hold positions in academia and industry. She teaches courses in Databases and Information Retrieval and actively contributes to the academic community through program committee roles in major conferences like ICDE, VLDB, SIGMOD, and WWW. She leads the Distributed Management of Data Group , fostering innovation in scalable and intelligent data systems.
Hyunseon Lee is a Privatdozent in Media Studies and Modern German Literature at the Department of German, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Siegen, Germany. She also holds a position as Professorial Research Associate at the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures and the Centre for Creative Industries, Media and Screen Studies at SOAS, University of London, and is a Professional Researcher at the Institute of Humanities, Yonsei University in Seoul. Her academic affiliations reflect a transnational and interdisciplinary profile bridging German, East Asian, and global cultural studies. PhD in Modern German Literature, University of Dortmund (with distinction) Habilitation, University of Siegen (2013) Studies at Yonsei University, Ruhr-University Bochum, and Freie Universität Berlin Her research focuses on Korean cinema, war and memory, gender, shamanism, intercultural narratives (especially the global Madame Butterfly phenomenon), and visual culture. She explores how films serve as living archives of trauma, identity, and national memory, particularly in postwar and divided societies. Her scholarship combines discourse analysis, comparative literature, and media theory. The 15 most recent publications highlight a consistent engagement with Korean war films, memory studies, intermediality (especially opera and film), exoticism, and gender. Her work spans historical analysis, festival studies, and transnational cultural flows, with a strong emphasis on South and North Korean cinema, Zainichi narratives, and the global reception of Korean films. Author of Metamorphosen der Madame Butterfly (2020) and Geständniszwang und ‘Wahrheit des Charakters’ (2000) Solo Editor of Korean Film and History (2023) and Korean Film & Festivals (2022) Co-editor of works on opera, Kurosawa, and gender in media Creator of the Korean Peninsula Cinema database (2018) Hyunseon Lee has held research fellowships at Columbia University, Seoul National University, Chuo University, and the University of London. She is actively involved in public scholarship through platforms like The Conversation and has contributed to exhibition catalogues and public lectures. She leads research on memory, war, and K-culture, with no indication of retirement or reduced activity. Her work bridges academia and public discourse, emphasizing the cultural and ethical dimensions of cinema. She is affiliated with research teams at the University of Siegen, SOAS, and Yonsei University, focusing on memory studies, East Asian screen cultures, and intercultural media. Her projects often involve international collaboration, particularly between German, British, and Korean institutions. She continues to supervise and mentor emerging scholars through collaborative publications and academic networks.
