Prof. Dr. Viktor Leis is a Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), leading the Chair for Decentralized Information Systems and Data Management. His research focuses on cost-efficient data systems, particularly in cloud environments, with expertise in core database topics like query processing, transaction management, and storage optimization. He earned his PhD from TUM in 2016 and previously held professorships at Friedrich Schiller University Jena and Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg before returning to TUM in 2022. His work has been recognized with prestigious awards, including the ACM SIGMOD Dissertation Award, VLDB Early Career Research Contribution Award, and an ERC Starting Grant. Research Interests: Cloud computing, database systems, query optimization, storage engines, transaction processing, and NVMe-optimized systems. Key Projects: Developed the LeanStore storage engine and contributed to the Hyper database system. His recent publications emphasize cloud-native architectures, high-performance storage solutions, and hybrid transactional/analytical processing. He actively teaches courses on distributed systems, cloud databases, and blockchain technologies.
Daniel J. Abadi is a prominent researcher in database systems at Yale University. With over two decades of impactful research, he has made significant contributions to the fields of distributed databases, transaction processing, and column-oriented database systems. His work bridges theoretical foundations with practical implementations that have influenced both academia and industry. Dr. Abadi's research primarily focuses on database system architecture, with particular emphasis on: Distributed and geo-replicated database systems High-performance transaction processing Column-oriented and analytical database systems Stream processing and real-time analytics Cloud and serverless database technologies Integration of machine learning with database systems His recent work shows a continued focus on addressing scalability challenges in modern database systems, with particular attention to multi-region transaction processing, automated data management, and the integration of machine learning techniques. The trend in his publications indicates a strong emphasis on practical, deployable systems that solve real-world problems faced by industry. Dr. Abadi has been instrumental in several major research initiatives and reports that have shaped the direction of database research, including the Seattle Report and the Cambridge Report on Database Research. Throughout his career, Dr. Abadi has mentored numerous students and collaborated extensively with leading researchers in the field. His work has received significant recognition through widespread citations and adoption of his ideas in both academic and industrial database systems.
Amine Mhedhbi is an Assistant Professor at Polytechnique Montréal , where he leads the Data & AI Systems Lab . He earned his PhD in 2023 from the University of Waterloo. His work bridges data management , graph databases , and AI systems , with a focus on performance, debuggability, and user interface design for data applications. Education : PhD (University of Waterloo, 2023) Research Interests center on modern analytical data systems , including multimodal data management , language model integration , and graph query optimization . His projects like FLockMTL and GraphflowDB aim to combine semantic analysis, AI, and traditional database operations. Scientific Awards include the NSERC Discovery Grant , the Cheriton School Distinguished Dissertation Award , the VLDB Best Paper Award , and fellowships from Microsoft and Meta . Key Collaborations : Semih Salihoğlu, Jimmy Lin, Elena L. Glassman Labs & Teams : Affiliated with DAIS Lab , IVADO , and co-founded the applied research team at Distyl AI in 2023.
Dr. Raimon Tolosana Delgado is a Research Fellow at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), affiliated with the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology. He leads research in predictive geometallurgy and statistical analysis of mineral resources, focusing on translating geological data into processing insights. His research integrates geostatistics , compositional data analysis (CoDa) , and machine learning to model ore behavior and resource potential. Key areas include: Predictive geometallurgy for forecasting ore/waste behavior Bayesian statistics for parameter estimation and uncertainty analysis Development of R-based tools (e.g., compositions and gmGeostats packages) for mineral data analysis Particle-based process modelling for mineral separation optimization Recent publications emphasize machine learning integration (e.g., neural networks for geophysical tensor fields), tailings reprocessing (3D geostatistical assessment of resource potential), and advanced statistical methods for compositional data. A consistent trend involves enhancing predictive accuracy in mineral processing through multi-source data fusion. Dr. Tolosana Delgado coordinates the development of technology platforms for geometallurgical data analysis, including databases and interfaces for industrial applications. His work bridges ore geology, mineral processing, and metallurgy to optimize resource efficiency.
Prof. Dr. Matthias Weidlich is a faculty member at Humboldt University of Berlin within the Institute of Computer Science under the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences . His research focuses on Process Mining , Complex Event Processing , and Data Privacy with applications in Business Process Management and Scientific Workflows . Research Interests: Business Process Management and Process Mining Complex Event Processing and Stream Data Analysis Data Privacy and Security in Process Systems Scientific Workflow Systems and User Behavior Heterogeneous Network Embeddings Algorithm Design and Optimization Recent Publications (2023-2025) demonstrate expertise in: Efficient stream processing techniques Privacy-preserving process mining frameworks Scientific workflow analysis tools Graph neural network applications Multi-modal data integration Adaptive querying systems Contact: Office: Unter den Linden 6, 10099 Berlin Phone: 030 2093-41277 Email: matthias.weidlich@hu-berlin.de Web: hu.berlin/data
Riccardo Tommasini is an Associate Professor at INSA Lyon , a leading engineering institution in France. He leads the Stream Processing and Knowledge Graphs research within the DB Team at LIRIS laboratory under Professor Angela Bonifati. His academic journey began with a PhD in Computer Science from Politecnico di Milano under Emanuele Della Valle, with a dissertation titled Velocity on the Web to be published as a Springer book. Research Interests : Advancing stream processing for real-time data systems Extending knowledge graphs with dynamic data Designing graph databases for big data applications Creating query languages for heterogeneous data environments Building data engineering pipelines with Apache Airflow Enabling big graph processing in distributed settings Key Contributions : Developed Zodiac framework for Datalog reasoning under rule amendments (ICDE 2025) Co-authored foundational Streaming Linked Data book with Springer (2023) Created RSP4J API for RDF stream processing (ESWC 2021) Designed challenge-based learning curriculum for Data Engineering courses Scientific Recognition : Received ANR JCJC grant for POLYFLOW project (2024) Awarded Best Resource at ESWC 2021 Managed industrial collaborations with Neo4j, InfluxData, and Confluent Advising & Teaching : Supervises Mohamed Ragab (PhD candidate at University of Tartu) Course Leadership : Foundational Data Engineering course at INSA Lyon and University of Tartu Structured around Apache Airflow , Docker, and graph databases
Dr. Marion Schrumpf is a Group Leader in the Soil Biogeochemistry research group at the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, affiliated with the Department of Biogeochemical Processes. Her work focuses on soil carbon dynamics, mineral-organic matter interactions, and climate change impacts on soil systems. Research areas: Soil biogeochemistry, carbon cycling, mineral-soil interactions, nutrient stoichiometry, microbial ecology, and climate modeling. Email: mschrumpf@... Phone: +49 3641 57-6182 Office: B2.015 Her recent publications address themes like mineral control over soil carbon stabilization, drought effects on soil processes, microbial stoichiometric adaptation, and the Jena Soil Model's role in simulating carbon-nutrient interactions. She leads efforts to disentangle the complex relationships between land use, mineralogy, and soil organic matter turnover across diverse ecosystems.
Ina Fichtner is a Professor at the Faculty of Digital Transformation of University of Applied Sciences HTWK Leipzig since 2022. Previously, she led the MINT department at the Institute for Applied Training Science (IAT) in Leipzig for 13 years (2009–2022), focusing on integrating mathematics, informatics, and natural sciences into sports research. Her work bridges computer science , biomechanics , and sports informatics , with extensive projects on athlete movement analysis, data systems (IDA), and digital tools for elite sports. PhD in Computer Science (2007) from TU Dresden and Leipzig University Diplom in Mathematics and Computer Science (2002) from Jena, Dresden, and Sheffield Her research spans data science , sports technology , and applied informatics , particularly in ski jumping , dive analysis , and athlete biomechanics . She has co-authored numerous publications in theoretical computer science and applied sports informatics , including studies on 3D body scanning , inertial sensors , and force-velocity profiling . She served as Alumni Representative and Treasurer of the Friends' Association at HTWK Leipzig, with memberships in German Mathematical Society and German Sports Science Association .
Miguel Mahecha is Professor of Environmental Data Science and Remote Sensing at the University of Leipzig, where he serves as Institute Head of the Institute for Earth System Science and Remote Sensing. He is also affiliated with the Remote Sensing Centre for Earth System Research, a collaboration between Leipzig University and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ). Mahecha is a member of the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) and serves as Principal Investigator in the Centre for Scalable Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence. Additionally, he is a Fellow of the European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems and co-spokesperson for the National Research Data Infrastructure for Earth System Sciences (NFDI4Earth). Full Professor for Modelling Approaches in Remote Sensing, University of Leipzig (since 03/2020) Research Group Leader: Empirical Inference in the Earth System, Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena (12/2012 - 03/2020) PostDoc, Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena (10/2009 - 11/2012) PhD in Environmental Sciences, ETH Zürich (06/2006 - 09/2009) Diploma in Geoecology, Bayreuth University (10/2000 - 04/2006) Mahecha's research focuses on understanding ecosystem responses to climate extremes and human-environment relationships during these events. He investigates macro-ecological dynamics and ecosystem functioning using data-driven methods and high-dimensional Earth observations. A key contribution is his co-development of the Earth System Data Cube concept, which integrates empirical methods with theoretical understanding to analyze complex Earth system interactions. His work spans biogeography, ecosystem functioning, and advanced data science methodologies for environmental monitoring. His recent publications demonstrate a strong emphasis on analyzing compound climate extremes, particularly heatwaves and droughts, and their impacts on ecosystems. Mahecha has pioneered methods using Earth System Data Cubes to integrate diverse environmental datasets, enabling novel insights into biosphere-atmosphere interactions. His research increasingly incorporates artificial intelligence and machine learning approaches to understand spatiotemporal patterns in ecological systems, with applications in real-time forest monitoring and biodiversity assessment. Fellow of the European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems Co-spokesperson for NFDI4Earth (National Research Data Infrastructure for Earth System Sciences) Mahecha leads multiple significant research projects including Digital Forest (real-time forest monitoring), NFDI4BioDiversity, and XAIDA (extreme events: AI for Detection and Attribution). His work receives funding from diverse sources including EU, DFG, and Stiftungen Inland. He collaborates extensively with the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) and the Centre for Scalable Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence. His research group, Earth System Data Science (ESDS), focuses on developing methods to extract valuable information from long-term environmental observations to understand coupled Earth system dynamics. At the Remote Sensing Centre for Earth System Research, Mahecha's ESDS group investigates how ecosystem functions respond to climate extremes, societal vulnerability to environmental hazards, and nonlinear interactions in coupled Earth systems. The group leverages citizen science data, remote sensing observations, and advanced computational methods to address pressing environmental questions.
Bettina Kemme is a faculty member at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Her research focuses on database systems , distributed computing , and cloud data management . She has made significant contributions to database replication, consistency models, and middleware frameworks for scalable applications. Research Themes : Database replication, distributed systems, cloud computing, and software engineering. Notable Collaborations : Jörg Kienzle, Joseph Vinish D'silva, Yunjia Zheng, and Marta Patiño-Martínez. Publications span critical areas such as graph database view management, transactional recovery in key-value stores, and latency-aware publish/subscribe systems. Her work is published in venues like VLDB , ICDE , Middleware , and SRDS .
Dr. Martin L. Kersten is a leading figure in database systems research at the Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI) in Amsterdam, Netherlands. With over three decades of contributions, his work focuses on column-oriented database architectures, scientific data management, and query optimization. Key Research Areas: Database systems, big data processing, query performance analysis, data-intensive scientific applications Projects: MonetDB, SciQL, TELEIOS, ExaNeSt His recent publications emphasize in-database machine learning , query log mining , and exascale computing . He pioneered database cracking and intermediate recycling techniques to enhance query processing efficiency. 2014 SIGMOD Edgar F. Codd Innovations Award for groundbreaking contributions to database technology Collaborations span institutions like ICDE , VLD , and EuroSys workshops. His work bridges theoretical advancements with practical implementations for scientific and industrial applications.
Dr. Milos Hauskrecht is a Professor of Computer Science at the University of Pittsburgh's School of Computing and Information. He holds a PhD from MIT (1997) and an M.Sc. from Slovak Technical University (1988). His research focuses on AI, machine learning, and data mining, with applications in medicine and finance. He leads projects in real-time clinical monitoring, anomaly detection, and time-series analysis of EHR data. He has advised numerous PhD and MS students, including notable alumni now at Amazon, DeepMind, and Microsoft. Research interests include reasoning under uncertainty, optimization, and AI-driven medical decision support. Current grants include NIH funding for AI in renal therapy and clinical monitoring. He has published widely in top venues like ICML, NeurIPS, and journals such as Artificial Intelligence in Medicine. His work on conditional outlier detection earned the Homer Warner Award (AMIA 2010). He teaches machine learning and advises on interdisciplinary AI projects.
Stefan Wildermann is a Professor at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), where he leads the Reconfigurable Computing Group within the Chair of Computer Science 12 (Hardware-Software Co-Design) in the Department of Computer Science. He has maintained continuous research activity at FAU since 2006, progressing from researcher to his current leadership position. Dr. Wildermann earned his Diploma degree in Computer Science from FAU in 2006 and completed his doctorate (Dr.-Ing.) in Computer Science at the same institution in July 2012. His academic career has been entirely rooted at FAU, demonstrating a strong institutional commitment and progression through the ranks. His research spans multiple cutting-edge areas in computer science and engineering, with particular emphasis on reconfigurable systems and hardware-software co-design. Wildermann's work in edge computing explores efficient processing at the network periphery, while his research in organic computing investigates self-organizing systems that can adapt to changing environments. His expertise extends to optimization techniques for embedded systems, applying game theory principles and convex optimization methods to solve complex resource allocation problems. More recently, he has integrated reinforcement learning approaches to enhance system adaptability and performance. His teaching portfolio includes courses on event-driven systems, computer engineering fundamentals, embedded systems, and hardware-software co-design. Analysis of Wildermann's publication record from 2021-2025 reveals a strong focus on hardware acceleration, security, and embedded systems. His work demonstrates consistent evolution from foundational research in reconfigurable architectures toward practical applications in IoT, robotics, and secure computing. A significant portion of his recent work addresses near-data processing using FPGAs for database acceleration, while maintaining parallel research streams in side-channel security analysis and energy-efficient embedded systems design. His publications frequently appear in top-tier conferences including DATE, FPL, ASP-DAC, and HOST, reflecting strong recognition within the computer architecture and embedded systems communities. Wildermann has held significant leadership roles including Head of the Reconfigurable Computing Group since 2015 and previously served as Head of the Self-organizing Systems Group (2012-2015) and Lab Leader of the Automotive Lab within the Embedded Systems Initiative (2016-2020). His research has been consistently funded through multiple projects investigating invasive computing, reconfigurable architectures, and embedded systems design methodologies. Currently based in Room 02.116 at Cauerstr. 11, 91058 Erlangen, Wildermann continues to lead active research in the Hardware-Software Co-Design group, supervising projects that bridge theoretical computer science with practical hardware implementation challenges.
Felix Naumann is a Professor at the Hasso Plattner Institute in Potsdam, Germany, specializing in data management and database systems. His research focuses on data quality, data profiling, entity resolution, functional dependencies, and database optimization. He has authored over 300 publications in top-tier conferences and journals, including VLDB, SIGMOD, and ICDE. His work bridges theoretical foundations with practical systems, such as TASHEEH for data cleaning and PRISMA for privacy-preserving schema matching. He serves as an editor for the ACM Journal of Data and Information Quality and has led initiatives on hybrid conference formats and inclusive computing. Key contributions include: Data Quality: Pioneered studies on data quality's impact on machine learning and developed tools like AutoTSAD for anomaly detection. Data Dependency Discovery: Advanced functional and inclusion dependency mining algorithms, including Hitting Set Enumeration methods. Schema Matching & Integration: Created systems like BrewER and Frost for entity resolution and schema alignment. Educational Impact: Led massive open courses in data engineering with over 10,000 participants. His work emphasizes practical applications in cultural heritage data (ReCLAIM), Wikipedia table analysis, and cross-platform data systems (RHEEMix). He collaborates extensively with industry and academia, addressing challenges in dynamic datasets and data governance.
Mohamed Sarwat is an Associate Professor at Arizona State University specializing in databases , spatial data management , and recommender systems . His research focuses on GeoSpark —a cluster computing framework for spatial data—and its extensions like GeoSparkViz for visualization and GeoSparkSim for traffic simulation. Key Contributions: LARS* (Location-Aware Recommender System), Horton* (Graph Reachability), Sindbad (GeoSocial Platform), and Riso-Tree (Graph Database Indexing) Research Themes: Integration of spatial/temporal data with machine learning, efficient indexing for big geospatial datasets, and scalable frameworks for mobility data science His work spans collaborations with 23+ co-authors across institutions like University of Minnesota, University of Melbourne, and University of Salzburg. Current projects emphasize GeoTorchAI —a spatiotemporal deep learning system—and mobility data science infrastructure.
