Prof. Matthias Nießner is a Professor at the Technical University of Munich, leading the Visual Computing Lab. His research intersects computer graphics, vision, and AI, focusing on 3D reconstruction, semantic understanding, and AI-driven video synthesis. He holds a PhD from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (2013) and was a Visiting Assistant Professor at Stanford University (2013–2017). Notable awards include the ERC Starting Grant (2018), Nvidia Professorship Award, and Eurographics Young Researcher Award (2019). His work has been featured in mainstream media and led to startups like Synthesia Inc. Research spans Gaussian splatting, neural radiance fields, and generative AI for 3D avatars. Over 150 publications include SIGGRAPH, CVPR, and ECCV, with best paper awards. Projects like Face2Face and ScanNet have driven innovation in facial reenactment and 3D scene datasets. Education: PhD in Computer Science, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (2013) Diploma in Computer Science, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (2010) Research Interests: 3D digitization, neural rendering, generative AI, non-rigid reconstruction, and applications in AR/VR. Awards: ERC Starting Grant (2018) Nvidia Professorship Award (2018) Google Faculty Award (2018) SIGGRAPH Best Emerging Tech Award (2016) Grants: Over €1.5M from ERC and industry partnerships. Labs/Teams: Visual Computing Lab at TUM and Synthesia Inc. (co-founder). Key projects include ScanNet (large 3D indoor dataset), Face2Face (real-time facial reenactment), and Gaussian-based 3D avatars. Current work focuses on diffusion models, neural radiance fields, and AI-generated media detection.
Derek W Hoiem is a Professor in the Siebel School for Computing and Data Science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he has been a faculty member since 2009. His research focuses on computer vision and related areas, and he is also the co-founder and Chief Science Officer of Reconstruct, an AI-based construction technology company. His educational background includes: PhD in Robotics, Carnegie Mellon University (2007) Beckman Postdoctoral Fellowship (2008) Prof. Hoiem's research spans computer vision, with a focus on object recognition, scene understanding, and graphics. His work also extends to mobile robotics and 3D scene reconstruction. He has made significant contributions in areas such as visual recognition, 3D modeling, and the application of computer vision in construction monitoring. His recent publications (2023-2025) demonstrate a strong focus on advancing multimodal understanding, particularly in region-based representations, 3D vision, and neural radiance fields. There is a clear trend towards integrating language and vision, improving efficiency in neural networks, and applying computer vision to real-world problems such as construction progress monitoring. His scientific awards and honors are extensive and include: IEEE Fellow (2022) University Scholar (2022) Koendrink Prize (2022) Dean's Award for Excellence in Research, Associate Professor (2021) Campus Distinguished Promotion Award (2015) Best Paper Award: IEEE Winter Conference on Applications in Computer Vision (WACV) (2015) CW Gear Junior Faculty Award (2014) IEEE PAMI Young Researcher Award (2014) Dean's Award for Excellence in Research, Assistant Professor (2014) Sloan Research Fellowship (2013) Intel Early Career Faculty Honor Program Award (2012) NSF CAREER Award (2011) ACM Doctoral Dissertation Award, Honorable Mention (2008) Carnegie Mellon University SCS Distinguished Dissertation Award (2008) Best Paper Award: IEEE Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR) (2006) Prof. Hoiem has secured significant research funding, including an NSF CAREER award and an Intel Early Career Faculty award. He is also actively involved in technology transfer, having co-founded Reconstruct where he serves as Chief Science Officer. His teaching excellence is reflected in multiple "List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent" awards spanning from 2010 to 2021. Prof. Hoiem leads a research group at UIUC focused on computer vision and 3D scene understanding. Additionally, he co-founded and serves as Chief Science Officer at Reconstruct, which develops AI-based solutions for construction monitoring.
Jiatao Gu is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer and Information Science (CIS) at the University of Pennsylvania, with a part-time role as Staff Research Scientist at Apple (MLR). He holds a Ph.D. in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Hong Kong (2018) and a B.Eng. in Electronic Engineering from Tsinghua University (2014). His research focuses on generative machine learning and AI agent interaction with the physical world, emphasizing multi-modal systems spanning language, images, videos, and 3D. Key themes include efficient modeling , flexible architecture design , and scalable decision-making frameworks . 2025: ICLR paper on DART framework 2024: TMLR work on GFlowNet alignment 2023: NeurIPS research on diffusion stability 2022: ACL papers on speech translation Recent publications explore diffusion models for text-to-image synthesis, 3D reconstruction, and efficient sampling techniques. His work addresses fundamental challenges in attention mechanisms, entropy collapse, and multi-stage distillation while advancing non-autoregressive translation and vision-language reasoning . Prospective students can apply through his recruitment process at UPenn. Prior affiliations include Meta AI (FAIR Labs) and academic collaborations with institutions like New York University's CILVR Lab.
Xingang Pan is an Assistant Professor in the College of Computing and Data Science at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), leading the MMLab@NTU. His research focuses on generative AI and visual content creation, particularly in generative models, 3D vision, computer graphics, and computer vision. Prior to NTU, he was a postdoc at the Max Planck Institute for Informatics and earned his Ph.D. from the Chinese University of Hong Kong (2021) and B.Sc. from Tsinghua University (2016). His work emphasizes generative intelligence, exploring long-term world simulation, diffusion models, and multi-scale 3D generation. Notable contributions include WORLDMEM (2025), Alias-free Latent Diffusion (2025), and SAR3D (2025). His research has been published in top venues like CVPR, ICCV, and SIGGRAPH. Xingang Pan oversees the MMLab@NTU, which actively recruits students globally without nationality constraints. The lab’s projects include GAN2Shape (unsupervised 3D reconstruction from 2D GANs) and LN3Diff (scalable 3D generation).
Subhransu Maji is an Associate Professor in the Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and the co-director of the Computer Vision Lab. He is also affiliated with the Center for Data Science and holds a part-time role as an Amazon Scholar. His research focuses on high-level visual recognition algorithms and interdisciplinary applications in ecology and astronomy. He has received prestigious awards including the NSF CAREER Award (2018), Best Paper at WACV 2015, and the Google Graduate Fellowship (2008). Education: PhD in Computer Science from UC Berkeley (2011), BTech from IIT Kanpur (2006). Prior roles include Research Assistant Professor at Toyota Technological Institute at Chicago (2012-2014). Research Interests: Computer Vision Machine Learning AI Applications in Ecology and Astronomy 3D Shape Understanding Climate Science Grants and Funding: Supported by NSF, NASA, Climate Change AI, and industry grants from Facebook, NVIDIA, Adobe, and Dolby. Current projects include satellite imagery analysis for ecology and material science applications using deep learning. Labs and Teams: Leads the Computer Vision Lab, collaborates with interdisciplinary teams on ecological monitoring (e.g., bird migration tracking via radar data) and material property prediction (e.g., zeolite adsorption modeling).
Alexei A. Efros is the Howard Friesen Professor in the EECS Department at the University of California, Berkeley, and a core member of the Berkeley Artificial Intelligence Research (BAIR) Lab. Previously, he spent a decade at Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute. His research focuses on data-driven computer vision, self-supervised learning, computational photography, and generative models. He has pioneered advancements in visual representation learning, including seminal work on neural radiance fields and generative adversarial networks. Education Background: Efros holds a PhD in Computer Science from MIT, though specific details of his academic journey are not explicitly provided in the text. His career includes postdoctoral research at the University of Oxford with Andrew Zisserman and collaborative work with Team WILLOW at INRIA Paris. Research Interests: Efros explores how vast uncurated visual data can be leveraged for understanding and synthesizing the visual world. Key areas include self-supervised learning, generative models, and applications in robotics and art. His lab has contributed influential techniques such as Style Transfer, GAN-based image synthesis, and neural scene representation learning. Recent work emphasizes real-time adaptation (Test-Time Training), 3D perception models, and ethical AI implications of generative systems. Publications: Over 150+ publications span topics like Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), unsupervised learning, and visual-linguistic models. Notable works include Unpaired Image-to-Image Translation (CUT/GAU), Style Transfer , and Swapping Autoencoder . His research has significant industry impact, with techniques adopted in Adobe’s software and generative AI applications. Grants & Collaborations: Efros has secured major funding from NSF, DARPA, and industry partnerships (e.g., Adobe, NVIDIA). He co-leads projects on scalable vision models, ethical AI, and real-world perception systems. Current collaborations include work with MIT, NYU, and INRIA Paris. Labs & Teams: Leads the BAIR Vision Group at Berkeley, fostering interdisciplinary research between computer vision, graphics, and robotics. The group emphasizes Slow Science principles, prioritizing deep exploration over rapid publication.
Maria Gorlatova is an Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering, where she leads the Intelligent Interactive Internet of Things (I3T) Lab. She also holds a secondary affiliation as Faculty Network Member of the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences and has previously served as Assistant Professor of Computer Science. Dr. Gorlatova earned her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University (2013), following M.Sc. and B.Sc. (Summa Cum Laude) degrees in Electrical Engineering from University of Ottawa, Canada. Prior to joining Duke, she was an Associate Research Scholar in the Electrical Engineering Department and Associate Director of the Princeton EDGE Lab at Princeton University (2016-2018). She also has industry experience with Telcordia Technologies, IBM, and D. E. Shaw Research. Her research focuses on advancing intelligent behavior in Internet of Things systems and applications, particularly in mobile pervasive systems and the Internet of Things. Her work crosses traditional discipline boundaries, requiring thinking across multiple layers of system and protocol stacks. Current research themes include breaking barriers for technologies that enable fundamentally new deployments and experiences, such as energy harvesting, artificial intelligence adapted to IoT constraints, and augmented reality. Her lab specifically develops edge- and IoT-enabled intelligent augmented reality platforms, with applications in healthcare and human-robot collaboration. Analyzing her recent publications reveals a strong focus on augmented reality systems, particularly for medical applications. Her work spans computer vision for AR, spatial tracking, SLAM systems, vision-language models for AR security, and VR/AR applications in neurosurgery and rehabilitation. A significant portion of her recent work addresses challenges in mixed reality for medical procedures, demonstrating the translational impact of her research. Google Anita Borg USA Fellowship Canadian Graduate Scholar CGS NSERC Fellowships Columbia University Presidential Fellowship Columbia University Jury Award for Outstanding Achievement in Communications ACM SenSys Best Student Demonstration Award IEEE Communications Society Young Author Best Paper Award IEEE Communications Society Award for Advances in Communications Best Research Artifact Award, IEEE IPSN (2020) N2 Women Rising Star, Networking Networking Women (N2Women) (2019) Dr. Gorlatova's research has been supported by various funding sources that enable her work on edge computing for augmented reality, IoT systems, and medical applications. She actively mentors graduate students who frequently appear as first authors on her publications, indicating strong student involvement in her research. Her I3T Lab at Duke focuses on creating human-facing pervasive mobile computing platforms that enable transformative applications, with recent emphasis on creating advanced augmented reality platforms that integrate edge computing and IoT technologies. The I3T Lab is developing next-generation AR systems with capabilities in edge AI, collaborative spatial awareness, AR user cognitive context sensing, and AR QoS/QoE evaluation. Current projects include applications in healthcare (particularly neurosurgery guidance and rehabilitation) and human-robot collaboration scenarios, demonstrating the lab's focus on real-world impact of pervasive computing technologies.
Lexing Xie is a Professor in Computer Science at the Australian National University. He leads the ANU Computational Media Lab ( http://cm.cecs.anu.edu.au ) and the ANU Integrated AI Network. His work focuses on the intersection of machine learning, social media analysis, and multimedia understanding. Dr. Xie's research broadly focuses on innovative design and use of machine learning algorithms, especially on large-scale graph data and collective behaviour. His recent work spans several key areas: Popularity in social media -- understanding, predicting, and optimization Multimedia knowledge graphs, vision and language integration Humanising machine intelligence through better understanding of social dynamics His publications reveal a strong trend toward understanding information diffusion patterns in social media, particularly through visual content. He has made significant contributions to the study of visual memes, popularity prediction using point processes, and multimodal learning that connects vision with language. His work often bridges theoretical machine learning with practical applications in social media analysis. Dr. Xie has received recognition for his research, including an Honourable Mention at CSCW 2019 for his work on attention flow in online video networks. His research has been supported by collaborations with major institutions including IBM Research and Columbia University. As an advisor, Dr. Xie has mentored numerous students who have gone on to contribute significantly to publications in top-tier conferences. His lab, the ANU Computational Media Lab, serves as a hub for interdisciplinary research connecting computer science with social sciences.
Ram Rajagopal is an Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Electrical Engineering at Stanford University, and a Senior Fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy. He leads the Stanford Sustainable Systems Lab (S3L), focusing on large-scale monitoring, data analytics, and stochastic control for infrastructure networks, particularly power systems. His research emphasizes renewable energy integration, smart distribution systems, and demand-side data analytics. Education: PhD in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences & MA in Statistics (UC Berkeley), MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering (UT Austin), and BEng in Electrical Engineering (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro). Research interests include power grid optimization, renewable energy systems, and data-driven approaches to infrastructure challenges. He has pioneered work in grid flexibility, distributed energy resources, and machine learning applications for energy systems. His lab develops technologies like Smart Dim Fuses and the EV-EcoSim platform for EV charging infrastructure optimization. Received NSF CAREER Award, Powell Foundation Fellowship, and Berkeley Regents Fellowship Over 30 patents and best paper awards Advises/founded companies in sensor networks, power systems, and data analytics Labs/Teams: Stanford Sustainable Systems Lab (S3L), Powernet Project. His work spans grid resilience, energy equity, and scalable energy solutions.
Peter A. Raymond is the Oastler Professor of Biogeochemistry at Yale University's School of the Environment and Department of Geology and Geophysics. He serves as Senior Associate Dean of Research & Director of Doctoral Studies and is Co-Director of the Yale Center for Natural Carbon Capture. Raymond leads the Raymond Biogeochemistry Lab, which investigates the biogeochemistry of inland waters, enhanced weathering, methane cycling, and blue carbon systems through cutting-edge field, laboratory, and modeling approaches. Education B.S., Marist College Ph.D., College of William and Mary/Virginia Institute of Marine Science Research Focus Raymond's research fundamentally reshapes our understanding of carbon cycling in aquatic systems, demonstrating that rivers serve as dynamic conduits rather than passive pipes in the global carbon cycle. His work examines how biology and watershed variables alter carbon chemistry in streams, rivers, and estuaries, with particular emphasis on understanding global carbon cycles in relation to climate change. Raymond employs radiocarbon measurements to explore the age and turnover of carbon in aquatic ecosystems, revealing that rivers are variable sources of both old and young terrestrial dissolved organic carbon to oceans. The Raymond Lab is particularly known for developing the Pulse-Shunt Concept, which challenges traditional views of riverine biogeochemistry by emphasizing the episodic and dynamic nature of elemental fluxes. Current research directions include enhanced weathering and alkalinity studies for carbon removal, global greenhouse gas budgets through projects like RECCAP 2, natural methane cycling in aquatic systems, and blue carbon ecosystems such as mangroves and salt marshes. Publication Trends Raymond's recent publications (2023-2025) demonstrate a strong focus on global carbon and methane cycling, with particular attention to inland water systems' role in the Earth's climate system. His work increasingly integrates large-scale datasets with field measurements to understand how climate change and human activities affect greenhouse gas emissions from rivers and streams. A significant portion of his recent work contributes to international efforts like the Global Carbon Project, aiming to refine estimates of global carbon and methane fluxes. His research also shows growing emphasis on carbon removal strategies, particularly enhanced rock weathering through the Earthshot-funded GOAL-A project, and their potential for climate mitigation. Scientific Recognition Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Member of the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering Coastal and Estuarine Research Federations Cronin Award for Young Scientists ISI highly cited author Past Editor and Chief of the American Geophysical Union's journal Global Biogeochemical Cycles Mentorship and Funding Professor Raymond currently mentors four doctoral students (Jon Gewirtzman, Shou-En "Samuel" Tsao, Benjamin Saalidong, and Mingyu Zhang) and masters student Bella Garrioch. His research is supported by multiple grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF), including CAREER awards, and participation in the Earthshot-funded GOAL-A (Global Ocean And Land Alkalinization) project. Raymond has also been involved in significant collaborative projects with USGS data to research how climate and land use change alter carbon export from US watersheds, and with Lamont Doherty to develop methods for measuring air-sea gas exchange of CO2 in rivers and estuaries. Research Infrastructure The Raymond Biogeochemistry Lab at Yale is a dynamic research group comprising research scientists, postdocs, doctoral and masters students, and postgraduate researchers. The lab recently acquired a Mini Carbon Dating System (MICADAS) at Yale, significantly expanding their research capabilities in ecosystem carbon turnover and verification of natural climate solutions. The lab collaborates globally on projects in the Arctic, Hudson River, and middle Atlantic Bight, and is actively involved in the NASA Carbon Monitoring System BlueFlux field campaign to assess carbon exchange in coastal wetlands.
Sebastian Scherer is an Associate Research Professor at the Robotics Institute (RI), Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), where he leads cutting-edge research in autonomous aerial systems and robotics. His work focuses on enabling unmanned rotorcraft to operate safely and efficiently in cluttered, low-altitude, and extreme environments. Education: Ph.D. in Robotics, Carnegie Mellon University (2010) MS in Robotics, Carnegie Mellon University (2007) BS in Computer Science (Minor in Robotics), Carnegie Mellon University (2004) His research interests span robotics, artificial intelligence, autonomous navigation, obstacle avoidance, SLAM, visual-inertial odometry, energy infrastructure, and public policy . He has made seminal contributions to UAV autonomy, including the first obstacle avoidance for micro aerial vehicles in natural environments (2008) and the first automatic landing zone detection and landing on a full-size helicopter (2010). His recent publications (2023–2025) demonstrate a strong focus on resilient autonomy, multi-robot exploration, foundation models for robotics, and large-scale dataset development. His team has released key datasets like TartanGround , BETTY , and SubT-MRS , and simulation tools like Pegasus Simulator , indicating a systems-level approach to advancing real-world autonomy. The research trends emphasize self-supervised learning, robust perception, risk-aware planning, and multi-modal fusion for off-road and urban environments. Scientific Awards: Popular Science Best of What's New 2010 Award AIAA@Infotech Best Paper Runner-up Award (2010) Siebel Scholar Dr. Scherer has advised numerous students and leads a vibrant research group focused on high-impact robotics applications. He has secured significant grants related to UAV autonomy, energy infrastructure, and urban air mobility. His lab develops experimental infrastructure such as AIrTonomy for testing next-generation autonomous aerial vehicles. He is actively involved in advancing SLAM and localization in extreme environments, notably through participation in the DARPA Subterranean Challenge. His team develops large-scale datasets and benchmarking frameworks to push the boundaries of robustness and generalization in mobile robotics.
Roles & Affiliations: Manolis Savva is an Associate Professor at Simon Fraser University's School of Computing Science and holds a Canada Research Chair in Computer Graphics. He leads research in 3D scene understanding, with applications in graphics, vision, and robotics. Previously, he was a researcher at Facebook AI and Princeton University. Education: Ph.D. in Computer Science (2016), Stanford University, advised by Pat Hanrahan B.A. in Physics and Computer Science (2009), Cornell University Research Interests: His work focuses on analyzing, organizing, and generating 3D content, particularly for holistic scene understanding. Key areas include articulated objects, embodied AI, and datasets like ScanNet , Matterport3D , and Habitat . His methods drive applications in robotics, autonomous agents, and virtual environments. Publications Trends: Recent work emphasizes generative models (e.g., SINGAPO for articulated object parts), embodied AI benchmarks (Habitat), and multimodal scene analysis. His papers often address challenges in scalability, realism, and cross-modal fusion for 3D environments. Awards: CHCCS Early Career Researcher Award (2022) ICLR 2023 Outstanding Paper Award ICCV 2019 Best Paper Nomination (Habitat) Advising & Grants: Supervised over 15 graduate students, many advancing to top PhD programs and tech companies. Active in grants for embodied AI, scene understanding, and robotics. Labs/Teams: Leads the 3DLG (3D Learning Group) and GrUVi (Graphics and Vision) groups at SFU. Collaborates extensively with industry (e.g., Meta, NVIDIA) on AI-driven 3D research.
Sam Yam is a Professor and Head of the Management & Organisation Department at the National University of Singapore's (NUS) Business School. He holds the Jardine Cycle & Carriage Professorship and serves as Associate Dean. His research spans strategy, organisational behaviour, applied psychology, ethics, and human-technology interaction. Yam has contributed to over 125 publications, focusing on AI ethics, workplace dynamics, and cross-cultural management. He explores topics like robot replacement effects, abusive supervision, and financial anxiety's intergenerational impacts. His work bridges psychology, ethics, and organisational theory, addressing contemporary challenges in automation, leadership, and human-AI collaboration. Appointments: Head of Management & Organisation (2022–present), Joint Appointment in Arts & Social Sciences (2023–present). Key Research Themes: Future of work, human-technology interaction, ethical leadership, and Machiavellian dynamics. Notable Contributions: Multimodal ADHD diagnostics, leader biases toward robot-using employees, and cultural impacts on team performance. Yam’s interdisciplinary approach integrates psychology, technology, and management, addressing societal issues like AI ethics and workplace automation. His research frequently appears in top journals like the Journal of Management and Annual Review of Organizational Psychology .
Shubham Tulsiani is an Assistant Professor at Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute, where he leads the Computer Vision group and the Physical Perception Lab. His research focuses on inferring physically and spatially grounded representations from perceptual inputs, with applications in 3D vision, robot manipulation, and neural scene reconstruction. He directs an active research group with multiple PhD and Master's students. Research interests center on 3D scene understanding , robot learning , and generative modeling , with specific emphasis on: self-supervised perception, neural rendering, multi-view geometry, manipulation from visual inputs, and physics-based reasoning. The lab develops methods that leverage physical world constraints as supervisory signals. Recent publications demonstrate strong focus on diffusion models for 3D tasks , sparse-view reconstruction , and robotic manipulation transfer . Key trends include neural inverse rendering, view synthesis from limited observations, and translating human interactions to robot actions. Awards include: Best Student Paper Award at CVPR 2015 Advising includes supervision of 5 PhD students, 4 MS students, and undergraduates. Lab alumni hold positions at Google, Stanford, Meta, and Princeton. The Physical Perception Lab collaborates with FAIR Pittsburgh and the CMU Computer Vision group.
Alexis Battle is an Associate Professor at Johns Hopkins University with appointments in Biomedical Engineering , Computer Science , and Genetic Medicine (secondary). She directs the Malone Center for Engineering in Healthcare and serves as Deputy Director of the Data Science and AI Institute . Educated at Stanford University (PhD in Computer Science, 2013), Battle transitioned to academia after leadership roles at Google. Research Focus: Battle’s work bridges genomics and machine learning , emphasizing the impact of genetic variation on human health. Her lab develops tools like Watershed to predict functional effects of rare variants, aiming to enhance rare disease diagnosis. Key themes include non-coding DNA analysis , personalized genomics , and systems biology , with applications in cardiovascular disease and neurodegenerative disorders . Publications & Awards: Over 60 peer-reviewed articles in journals like Nature , Science , and Genome Biology , with recent emphasis on single-cell transcriptomics , multiomics integration , and telomere biology . Recipient of the President’s Frontier Award (2022), Microsoft Investigator Fellowship (2019), and Searle Scholar (2016). Scientific Awards: 2022 President’s Frontier Award 2019 Microsoft Investigator Fellowship 2019 Johns Hopkins Discovery Award 2017 Johns Hopkins Catalyst Award 2016 Searle Scholar Advising & Funding: Mentors 11 PhD students, 3 undergraduates, and postdoctoral fellows. Her research is funded by NIH, Searle Scholars, and institutional grants. The Battle Lab collaborates on projects like the GTEx Consortium , focusing on gene regulation and clinical genomics .
