David Lindlbauer is an Assistant Professor at the Human-Computer Interaction Institute (HCII) of Carnegie Mellon University, where he leads the Augmented Perception Lab and co-directs the CMU Extended Reality Technology Center. His research bridges human perception, extended reality (AR/VR), and computational interaction techniques, focusing on developing systems that dynamically adapt interface elements based on environmental context, user cognition, and task requirements. He completed his PhD at TU Berlin under Prof. Marc Alexa and held a postdoctoral position at ETH Zurich's Advanced Interactive Technologies lab. His work has been published extensively at top venues including ACM CHI, UIST, and IEEE VR, with research themes spanning gaze tracking, spatial audio optimization, haptic feedback, and multimodal notification systems. Media outlets like MIT Technology Review and Fast Company Design have featured his innovations. Dr. Lindlbauer has received prestigious grants from Meta, NSF, and ETH Zurich, and serves on program committees for CHI, UIST, and ISMAR. He has been recognized with Best Paper awards at ISS 2023 and CHI 2016, and his lab develops tools like MineXR for personalized XR interfaces and RealityReplay for temporal change visualization in mixed reality environments.
Angel Xuan Chang is an Associate Professor at Simon Fraser University's School of Computing Science, affiliated with labs including 3DLG, GrUVi, SFU NatLang, SFU AI/ML, and VINCI. He holds a Canada CIFAR AI Chair and was a TUM-IAS Hans Fischer Fellow (2018-2022). His research bridges natural language processing (NLP), 3D scene understanding, and embodied AI, focusing on language-grounded 3D generation and biodiversity monitoring via DNA barcodes. Recent work includes NuiScene (unbounded outdoor scene generation), ViGiL3D (3D visual grounding dataset), and CLIBD (vision-genomics biodiversity analysis). He advises students in projects like BIOSCAN-5M insect dataset and embodied AI navigation. His 2025 highlights include multiple ICCV and ICLR papers, workshops at ICML and CVPR, and a CRV invited talk. Education: Ph.D. in Computer Science from Stanford University (2014), advised by Chris Manning. Previous roles include visiting research scientist at Facebook AI Research and researcher at Eloquent Labs.
Qi Alfred Chen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of California, Irvine (UCI), within the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences. He also holds affiliations with the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS), the Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Irvine (ITS-Irvine), the Center for Embedded and Cyber-physical Systems (CECS), the Institute for Software Research (ISR), and the UC Irvine Cybersecurity Policy & Research Institute (CPRI). His research focuses on network and systems security, with particular emphasis on autonomous vehicle and IoT security. Dr. Chen received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 2018. His educational background has prepared him for his current research in security of critical computer systems. His work bridges theoretical security principles with practical implementations in real-world systems. Chen's research interests center on network and systems security , with a major focus on smart systems and IoT security , particularly in transportation and autonomous vehicle systems . His work addresses security challenges through systematic problem analysis and mitigation, discovering and mitigating security problems in next-generation transportation systems, smartphone OSes, network protocols, DNS, GUI systems, and access control systems. His research has high impact in both academic and industry contexts, with over 10 top-tier conference papers, a DHS US-CERT alert, multiple CVEs, and coverage in major news media like Fortune and BBC News. His publication record shows a clear evolution from foundational work on network protocols and smartphone security toward increasingly sophisticated security analyses of autonomous vehicle systems and AI-powered transportation technologies. The research trajectory demonstrates growing technical sophistication and real-world impact, with recent work focusing on physical-world adversarial attacks against autonomous driving perception systems, LiDAR spoofing, and security of multi-sensor fusion in autonomous vehicles. NSF CAREER Award (2022) on securing the AI stack in emerging autonomous and connected CPSs Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research Mentorship, UC Irvine (2021) 5th place nation-wide at National CCDC competition (2021, as faculty advisor) 1st place (Gold Medal) at CCDC Western Regional competition (2021) ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award, University of Michigan (2019) Dr. Chen has mentored numerous successful students, including PhD candidates and undergraduates who have gone on to positions at major tech companies like Meta, Uber, Amazon, and Intel. His research group has secured significant funding, including an NSF CAREER award, and has made substantial contributions to the field through high-impact publications and vulnerability disclosures. He is also the co-founder of the ISOC VehicleSec Symposium and has organized the AutoDriving CTF contest at DEF CON. Chen leads the AV & IoAT Security Research Group at UCI, focusing on security challenges in autonomous vehicles and the broader Internet of Autonomous Things. His team has developed numerous attack demonstrations and security analyses that have received significant media attention and influenced industry practices. The group maintains an active YouTube channel showcasing their security research.
Jeannette Bohg is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University, directing the Interactive Perception and Robot Learning Lab. Previously, she was a group leader at the Autonomous Motion Department (AMD) of the MPI for Intelligent Systems (2012-2017). She holds a PhD from KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Stockholm) and degrees from Chalmers University and TU Dresden. Her research focuses on perception, learning, and real-time multi-modal methods for autonomous robotic manipulation and grasping, aiming to bridge principles of human sensorimotor coordination with robotic implementation. Education: PhD in Robotics (KTH), MSc in Art & Technology (Chalmers), Diploma in Computer Science (TU Dresden) Research interests include developing goal-directed, real-time robotic systems capable of meaningful feedback for execution and learning. Key areas are dexterous manipulation, imitation learning, and cross-embodiment policy transfer. Notable contributions include the TidyBot platform and work on force-aware surgical robotics. Awards include the 2019 IEEE ICRA Best Paper Award, 2019 IEEE RA Early Career Award, and 2020 RSS Early Career Award. Her lab explores intersections of robotics, ML, and computer vision. Advising: Actively mentoring students/postdocs in manipulation, perception, and learning. Grants and collaborations span NSF, Stanford AI Lab, and industry partnerships. Future work emphasizes robust real-world deployment and human-robot collaboration. Labs/Teams: Leads the Interactive Perception and Robot Learning Lab, contributing to Stanford’s AI ecosystem. Previously managed the MPI AMD group, fostering interdisciplinary research in autonomous systems.
Shiri Azenkot is an Associate Professor at the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute at Cornell Tech and Cornell University, affiliated with the Information Science Department and Technion’s Computer Science Department. Her research focuses on accessibility innovations in emerging technologies, particularly addressing needs of people with vision impairments and neurodiverse populations. She holds a PhD from the University of Washington, advised by Richard Ladner and Jacob Wobbrock, and has been recognized with prestigious awards including the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. Education: PhD in Computer Science & Engineering from University of Washington (advisors: Richard Ladner, Jacob Wobbrock). Research interests include VR/AR accessibility, assistive technology design, inclusive education tools, and ethical AI applications. Current projects explore social VR avatars for invisible disabilities, AR navigation aids, and AI moderation systems against ableist hate speech. Her work is funded by NSF, AOL, Verizon, and Facebook. Recent publications address video accessibility for ADHD users, AI-driven scene descriptions for blind users, and tactile learning materials co-designed with educators. She leads the XR Access initiative promoting inclusive virtual/augmented reality. Awards include the UW Graduate Medal (2020), NSF CRII Award (2017), and AT&T Labs Fellowship (2014). Her research bridges academic innovation with industry impact through collaborations with tech companies and disability advocacy groups.
Josie Hughes is a Tenure Track Assistant Professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) within the School of Engineering's Institute of Mechanical Engineering. She leads the Computer Robot Design and Fabrication Laboratory (CREATE Lab) and serves on the doctoral program committee for Robotics, Control and Intelligent Systems. Her roles include teaching courses in product development, engineering design, and data-driven manufacturing methods while maintaining active research and student supervision. Her research centers on soft robotics with emphasis on adaptive design, fabrication techniques, and real-world applications. Key areas include agricultural robotics (exemplified by the GraspBerry raspberry harvester), biomimetic materials like self-healing e-skins, and developmental robotics (BabyBot project). She pioneers approaches integrating morphological computation, variable stiffness mechanisms, and machine learning for robotic control, while championing open-source principles and diversity in robotics through accessible educational initiatives like balloon robot kits. Analysis of her recent publications reveals dominant trends in soft robotics adaptability, particularly in variable-stiffness structures, sensor integration, and task-specific optimization. Her work bridges fundamental material science with practical applications in agriculture, food science, and human-robot interaction, frequently employing computational methods like Bayesian optimization and neural networks for design and control. Scientific awards: No specific awards were mentioned in the source materials. Dr. Hughes actively supervises 16 doctoral students across diverse projects including soft grippers for agriculture, biomimetic locomotion, and robotic manipulation systems. Her advising portfolio shows strong alignment with her research themes, with current students working on topics like modular soft arms, agricultural automation, and developmental robotics. While grant details weren't specified, her high publication volume indicates robust research funding. The CREATE Lab under her leadership focuses on holistic co-design of hardware and software for soft robotic systems, with notable projects including the GraspBerry agricultural harvester and BabyBot developmental platform. The lab emphasizes open-source development and educational outreach, maintaining strong industry and academic collaborations while pushing boundaries in reconfigurable robotics and human-centered applications.
Yonatan Bisk is an Assistant Professor at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in the School of Computer Science , with dual appointments in the Language Technologies Institute and Robotics Institute . His research bridges Natural Language Processing (NLP) with robotics, focusing on grounded and embodied language understanding. Assistant Professor, Language Technologies Institute, CMU (2021–Present) Courtesy Appointment, Robotics Institute, CMU Research Themes : Language as a social codification of embodied experience Interpretable multimodal model training Human-robot collaboration frameworks Embodied question-answering systems Selected Trends : His recent publications show increasing focus on cross-modal attention mechanisms (Vid2Robot), error detection in toolchains (Tools Fail), and theory-of-mind reasoning in language agents (SOTOPIA). Multimodal integration spans vision, audio, and robotic control contexts (ANAVI). Labs & Collaborations : Founder of CLAW Lab (Connecting Language to Action and the World) Collaborations with Microsoft Research, Meta Inc, and CMU's REAL (Robotics, Embodied AI, Learning) community
Teruko Mitamura is a prominent researcher at Carnegie Mellon University with over three decades of contributions to natural language processing, computational linguistics, and artificial intelligence. Her work spans from foundational research in event representation to advanced applications in multimodal systems and question answering. Her research interests focus on event detection and understanding, question answering systems, information retrieval, and multimodal processing. She has made significant contributions to event coreference resolution, timeline construction, and cross-document event analysis, developing methodologies that have become standard in the field. Her work often bridges theoretical advances with practical applications, particularly in complex information environments requiring deep semantic understanding. Natural Language Processing : Specializing in event extraction, coreference resolution, and narrative understanding with over 179 publications Question Answering Systems : Developing advanced techniques for complex question answering, particularly through NTCIR QA Lab and PoliInfo tasks Multimodal Processing : Integrating textual, visual, and temporal information for richer understanding in systems like ProMQA Evaluation Methodologies : Creating robust frameworks for assessing NLP systems through TAC KBP Event Tracks Her recent publication trends show a strong focus on leveraging large language models for event understanding, multimodal question answering, and timeline construction. She has expanded her research into specialized domains including patent analysis and novelty examination, demonstrating the breadth of her research impact across academic and practical applications. Active participant in major NLP conferences including ACL, EMNLP, NAACL, and AAAI with consistent publications Long-standing collaborator with researchers at CMU's Language Technologies Institute including Eduard H. Hovy and Eric Nyberg Contributor to shared tasks that have shaped research directions in event processing and question answering Organizer of multiple NTCIR QA Lab tasks focused on political information question answering Dr. Mitamura has mentored numerous researchers who have gone on to make their own contributions to the field, as evidenced by her extensive co-authorship network and the progression of her former students and collaborators into faculty and research positions. Her work continues to evolve with the field while maintaining her focus on deep semantic understanding of events and narratives.
Professor Guy Wallis is a Professor and Director of Research at the School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Behavioural Sciences at the University of Queensland. He is also an Affiliate of the Centre for Sensorimotor Performance. His work bridges visual neuroscience, computational modeling, and applied human factors research, with significant contributions to understanding visual recognition and visuomotor behavior. Education: Bachelor (Honours) of Engineering in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Imperial College London PhD in Visual Neuroscience from University of Oxford, UK Prof. Wallis's research program combines computational modeling with behavioral studies, many conducted in computer-controlled virtual environments. His work spans visual neuroscience, object recognition, visuomotor control, and simulator-based training. He has made significant theoretical contributions to understanding how visual recognition is achieved in biological systems and how everyday visuomotor tasks are regulated, challenging existing paradigms and offering new insights. His recent publications reveal a strong focus on virtual reality applications, visual-motor integration challenges, and cross-species cognitive studies. There's a clear trend toward investigating how virtual environments can be optimized for training and assessment, with particular attention to visual perception limitations and how humans adapt to these environments across diverse contexts from surgical training to aviation. Scientific Awards and Recognitions: Elected Fellow of the Queensland Academy of Arts and Sciences (2022) ARC Medical Research Advisory Group (2022-2024) ARC College of Experts (2019-2021) CSIRO CSS Human Research Ethics Committee member (2020-2022) UQ Health and Behavioural Sciences Faculty, HDR Supervision Award (2018) ARC Future Fellowship (2011-2014) ARC QEII Fellowship (2003-2007) UQ Postdoctoral Fellowship (2001-2003) Prof. Wallis has successfully secured funding from major organizations including the Australian Research Council, the Human Frontier Science Program, and the Wellcome Trust. His industry partnerships span diverse sectors such as construction training, mining, healthcare, and aerospace. His research has led to the development of novel training programs for health professionals, impacted the design of man-machine interfaces for mining equipment, and informed the design parameters for pilot training systems. As Director of Research, he oversees the research direction of the School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, fostering interdisciplinary collaborations and supporting early-career researchers through his leadership in the Centre for Sensorimotor Performance.
Xiaoxiao Long is a Tenure-Track Associate Professor at the School of Intelligence Science and Technology, Nanjing University. He joined NJU as an associate professor in February 2024. Previously, he earned his Ph.D. from the University of Hong Kong (HKU) under the supervision of Prof. Wenping Wang (IEEE & ACM Fellow) and Prof. Taku Komura. His educational background includes: Ph.D. in Computer Science from University of Hong Kong Bachelor's degree in Control Science & Engineering from Zhejiang University Dr. Long's research focuses on computer graphics and 3D computer vision, with particular emphasis on 3D Vision, Physical AI, and World Models. His long-term goal is to develop General-Purpose AI with spatial capabilities. His work bridges theoretical understanding of 3D spaces with practical implementations of spatial AI systems, with applications spanning robotics, virtual reality, and augmented environments. He employs innovative neural network approaches and geometric constraints to advance 3D scene understanding and reconstruction. His publication record shows strong momentum with multiple papers accepted to top-tier conferences including CVPR (5 papers in 2025 alone), ICML, ICLR, ECCV, and TPAMI. His research demonstrates a clear progression from foundational geometric estimation techniques (ASN++) toward more comprehensive spatial AI systems. His scientific recognition includes: Excellent Young Scholars Fund (Overseas) from NSFC Dr. Long has successfully mentored numerous students who have published at major venues and gone on to pursue advanced degrees at prestigious institutions including USTC, Beihang University, HKU, UCAS, Virginia Tech, and HKUST. He is currently recruiting Ph.D. and master's students for Fall 2026, seeking candidates interested in pushing the boundaries of 3D computer vision and spatial AI. His laboratory focuses on developing advanced techniques for 3D scene understanding, neural rendering, and physical AI. Current projects span Gaussian-based representations, neural radiance fields, and geometric estimation, with applications in robotics, virtual environments, and spatial reasoning systems.
Heather Knight is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Oregon State University, part of the College of Engineering. Her research focuses on social robotics and human-robot interaction, emphasizing non-verbal communication and the design of non-anthropomorphic robots. She directs the CHARISMA Research Lab, which applies principles from performing arts to enhance robot charisma through expressive motion and interaction design. Dr. Knight holds a Ph.D. in Robotics from Carnegie Mellon University (2016), and dual M.S. degrees in Robotics (Carnegie Mellon) and Electrical Engineering & Computer Science (MIT, 2008), alongside a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from MIT (2006). She also leads Marilyn Monrobot, a robot theater company producing comedic performances and an annual Robot Film Festival. Her work bridges technical innovation with societal impact, exploring how robots can better communicate intent through motion and interaction. Notable contributions include the 'Sanitizerbot' project for playful public health support and the development of Laban-based motion frameworks for expressive robotics. Awards include being named to Forbes' 30 Under 30 in Science (2011) and her TED talk on robot comedy. Key Research Themes: Multi-robot formations, expressive motion design, human-robot social dynamics, and ethical integration of AI in robotics. Recent Projects: VR storytelling with social robots, service robots in workplace environments, and motion-based affective communication. Her articles span topics from robot humor generation to industrial light communication systems, reflecting a commitment to both foundational research and applied solutions for human-robot coexistence.
Lucia Binotti is a Professor of Spanish and Digital Humanities at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH), with dual affiliations in the Department of Romance Studies and interdisciplinary Digital Humanities initiatives. She serves as Graduate Advisor for Hispanic Linguistics and Director of the Honors Study Abroad Program in Rome. Her work bridges traditional philology with cutting-edge digital scholarship, emphasizing immersive learning experiences through virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies. Binotti holds a Ph.D. from UC Santa Barbara (1990), an MA (1985), and a BA (1984) in Romance Philology from the Università degli Studi di Pisa. Her research focuses on linguistic identity, cultural heritage preservation, and innovative educational platforms like Amirabilia—the world’s first experiential learning platform. Notable projects include nXimena (healthcare training for Latinx abuse survivors) and Entiendelo (a linguistic/cultural navigation app for Latinx communities). Her scholarly interests span Early Modern Spanish literature, digital humanities applications, and the intersection of technology with social justice. She has directed grants totaling over $500K for projects involving AR/VR integration in education, including collaborations with the UNC Health Science Library and NCSU’s DELTA initiative. Recent awards include the John K. Walsh Award (2010) and Digital Innovation Fellow status (2014). Grants & Leadership: CFE-Lenovo Technology Grants (2018–2019) for AR/VR expansion iLRN 2020 International Co-Chair XR Faculty Learning Community Leader (UNC) Teaching: Courses span from introductory Hispanic literature to advanced topics like medieval intellectual history and digital humanities methodologies. Binotti’s work emphasizes ‘place, presence, and perspective’ in Cyber-Humanities education, particularly addressing marginalized communities through technology-driven solutions.
Mark de Rond is Professor of Organisational Ethnography at Cambridge Judge Business School and Fellow of Darwin College, University of Cambridge. His work focuses on immersive ethnographic studies of human behavior in extreme contexts including war zones, high-stakes sports, and controversial social movements, revealing how individuals navigate challenging circumstances through compromise and sensemaking. His educational background includes a DPhil from the University of Oxford alongside advanced degrees in management and economics, photojournalism, documentary photography, biography, creative nonfiction, and prose fiction. This multidisciplinary training informs his unconventional methodological approach. De Rond's research centers on extreme context ethnography, examining how pressure-cooker environments expose fundamental organizational dynamics. His work spans military medicine (Camp Bastion fieldwork), elite sports (Cambridge Boat Race), Amazon river expeditions, and controversial practices like paedophile hunting. Key contributions explore negotiation, conflict resolution, serendipity, institutional persistence, and the emotional toll of fieldwork, often employing innovative methods like enactive ethnography and linguistic analysis of digital communities. His recent publications reveal a growing focus on digital vigilantism and the societal implications of extreme practices, with increasing interdisciplinary reach across organizational studies, criminology, medical anthropology, and sociology. The work demonstrates methodological creativity through linguistic analysis of Facebook groups, embodiment studies in extreme environments, and dream-based reflexive techniques. Scientific recognition includes: BEST ARTICLE AWARD FOR 2016 Favorite MBA Professor honors from Poets & Quants (2021, 2022) Guinness World Record for first unsupported Amazon row De Rond advises MBA students and delivers executive education to top law firms (Slaughter and May, Allen & Overy), professional services (McKinsey, KPMG), corporations (Sky, BT, Diageo), and NGOs (UNICEF, NHS). His negotiation training from Harvard Law School informs both academic work and university mediation practice. Current research involves collaborative teams studying paedophile hunting (featured in Sundance-nominated documentary Predators ) and high-performance sports organizations, with fieldwork requiring deep immersion in challenging environments. His research methodology involves embedded collaboration with diverse teams including medical personnel in conflict zones, elite rowers, and controversial activist groups, often pushing methodological boundaries through photojournalism and creative nonfiction approaches.
Gerd Bruder is an Associate Professor at the University of Central Florida , affiliated with the Department of Computer Science . He previously held positions as a Research Associate Professor at UCF's Institute for Simulation and Training (2016-2022), Post-Doc at University of Hamburg (2014-2016), and Post-Doc at University of Würzburg (2011-2014). Habilitation : Computer Science, University of Hamburg (2017) Ph.D. : Computer Science, University of Münster (2011) M.Sc. : Computer Science (minor in Mathematics), University of Münster (2009) Research Interests : Gerd Bruder's work focuses on Extended Reality (XR) systems, spanning Virtual Reality (VR) , Augmented Reality (AR) , and Mixed Reality (MR) . Key areas include human factors , digital twins , 3D user interfaces , and perceptual modeling , with applications in healthcare, military operations, architecture, and smart environments. Recent Publications highlight innovations in XR locomotion , trust calibration with autonomous agents, spatial cognition , and haptic-visual integration . His 2025 articles address task-switching efficiency in XR and collaborative mixed reality design. Scientific Awards : Best Paper at ACM VRST 2023 2021 TechConnect Innovation Award Best Demo at ACM SUI 2021 Multiple Best Paper Awards (2016-2023) Best Poster & Demo Awards (2015-2020) Patents include systems for medical simulation , smart environment interruption management , and adaptive AR interfaces . His work bridges academic research and practical applications across VR, AR, and MR domains.
Metin Sitti is a Professor and currently serves as a part-time adjunct professor at Koç University's Faculty of Medicine and Engineering. He is also the President of Koç University and Director of the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems since 2014. His research spans robotics , micro/nanorobotics , physical intelligence , bio-inspired robotics , and materials science . Undergraduate: Boğaziçi University (Electrical and Electronics Engineering, 1992) Master's: Boğaziçi University (1994) PhD: University of Tokyo (Electrical Engineering, 1999) His research focuses on small-scale robotics for biomedical applications, including magnetic microrobot swarms , biohybrid systems , and functional materials . Recent publications emphasize 3D control , wireless actuation , and clinical translation of robotic systems. Scientific Awards : 2020 Scientific Breakthrough of the Year 2018 Koç University Rahmi M. Koç Science Medal 2014 IEEE/ASME Best Mechatronics Paper Award 2013/2012 World RoboCup Micro-Robotics First Prize He has advised numerous students and collaborates with institutions like Carnegie Mellon University and University of Stuttgart. His work integrates physical intelligence into miniature robots for medical imaging , drug delivery , and autonomous systems .
