Deian Stefan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of California at San Diego. His research focuses on secure systems spanning security, programming languages, and systems. He is particularly interested in WebAssembly, JavaScript JITs, language-based security (constant-time programming, memory safety, information flow control), verification for security, and program analysis tools. Co-founder and Chief Scientist at Intrinsic (acquired by VMWare) Contributor to W3C WebAppSec and Node.js Security Working Groups Research Interests: His work addresses secure systems through principled approaches, including: Web frameworks security Browser design security Sandboxing techniques Runtime systems security Constant-time programming WebAssembly and JavaScript JITs Scientific Awards: Distinguished paper award at POPL 2023 IEEE Cybersecurity Award for Practice 2022 Best paper award at CollaborateCom 2010 Most Influential Paper Award at ICFP 2022 First place at CSAW 2020 for applied research Advising: Deian has mentored students including Shravan Narayan, Evan Johnson, Sunjay Cauligi, and Fraser Brown, focusing on security, systems, and programming languages.
PD Dr. Ansgar Schanbacher serves as a Research Fellow at the Institute for Regional Historical Research, University of Göttingen, specializing in environmental and urban history of Early Modern Central Europe and the Netherlands. His work examines resource management and hazard responses in cities like Braunschweig, Würzburg, and Utrecht through interdisciplinary environmental history frameworks. His academic formation includes a Dr. phil. from Göttingen University (2011-2015) on Potato Blight and Famine in Northwestern Germany (1845-1848), completed within the Research Training Group Interdisciplinary Environmental History. Earlier, he earned an M.A. in History, Economy, and Polish Language/Literature from Leipzig University and Lublin's Catholic University (2003-2010), followed by freelance translation work (2009-2011). Schanbacher's research centers on Environmental History, Urban History (17th-19th centuries), History of Science, and Eastern European History. His scholarship reveals how early modern cities navigated ecological challenges through municipal policies, technological adaptations, and social coping mechanisms, with particular attention to waste management, fire prevention, food crises, and horticulture across German and Dutch urban contexts. His 15 most recent publications demonstrate consistent focus on urban environmental resilience, showing evolution from specific hazard case studies (fires, earthquakes) toward broader sustainability frameworks. Key trends include comparative analysis of municipal responses, interdisciplinary methodology bridging history and environmental science, and contextualization of historical practices within modern sustainability discourse. His scientific recognition includes: Prize of the Historical Commission for Lower Saxony and Bremen (2016) DFG Scholarship at Göttingen University (2011-2014) DAAD Scholarship for Poznań/Kraków (2008) Grant leadership includes Scientific Coordination of 'Sustainability as Argument' (2016-2020) and a 2016 Graduate School of Humanities research grant. He actively disseminates research through the 'Stadtgeschichten' urban history blog (co-editor), 'Epidemien in der frühneuzeitlichen Stadt' podcast series, and public lectures on Central European urban environments. Current affiliations include the European Society for Environmental History and European Association for Urban History, with contributions to the Portal zur Geschichte and Frauenstift Gandersheim projects. Based at Göttingen University's Heinrich-Düker-Weg campus, he maintains active scholarly engagement through editorial work, conference presentations, and interdisciplinary collaborations exploring historical dimensions of urban sustainability.
José Paulo Afonso Esperança is a Full Professor of Finance at ISCTE Business School, ISCTE - University Institute of Lisbon. He previously served as Pro-Rector for International Relations and Entrepreneurship (2010-2013), Dean of ISCTE Business School, and Vice-President of FCT (Foundation for Science and Technology). He co-founded Building Global Innovators (BGI), a MIT Portugal technology transfer accelerator, and chaired AUDAX-ISCTE, an entrepreneurship center focused on family business. His educational background includes: Agregação (2003) from ISCTE-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa PhD in Economics (1993) from the European University Institute, Florence Licenciatura in Organization and Business Management (1980) from ISCTE-IUL Professor Esperança's research centers on entrepreneurship and small business financing , corporate governance , and language commonality in international business . His work bridges theoretical frameworks with empirical analyses of emerging economies, examining financial inclusion mechanisms, SME credit constraints, and linguistic influences on foreign direct investment. He has published extensively in top-tier journals including Annals of Operations Research and Journal of Business Finance and Accounting. His publication trends reveal increasing focus on financial technology applications, behavioral aspects of lending, and Lusophone economic integration. Recent work analyzes prosocial crowdlending dynamics and socio-technical credit evaluation frameworks, reflecting interdisciplinary approaches to financial inclusion challenges. Key recognitions include: Best IBS Case for the FAE-MOVVO Competition: Location-Based Big Data Marketing (2015) Best IBS Case for the FAE-Science 4You Competition (2014) He secured significant research funding as Principal Investigator for the project 'Corporate Governance in Medium Income Countries: The Case of Portugal' (2007-2011). His leadership extends to entrepreneurship initiatives through AUDAX-ISCTE and BGI, where he developed technology transfer frameworks. Since 2014, he has served as National Delegate for the H2020 SME Instrument at FCT, advising on European innovation funding. Professor Esperança maintains active involvement in Lusophone economic networks through the New Atlas of the Portuguese Language project and CPADA (Portuguese Federation of Environmental Associations), where he serves on the board.
Gabriele Bavota is an Associate Professor at the Software Institute of Università della Svizzera Italiana (USI) in Lugano, Switzerland. He leads the SEART (Software Engineering Advanced Research Team) group and serves as Principal Investigator for the DEVINTA ERC starting grant focused on developer intelligence through mining software artifacts. Dr. Bavota's research spans Software Quality, Empirical Software Engineering, and Mining Software Repositories. His work has evolved from foundational studies on code smells and technical debt to cutting-edge research at the intersection of artificial intelligence and software development. He has made significant contributions to understanding API usage patterns, software quality metrics, and developer behavior through empirical studies of large software repositories. His recent publications reveal a strong focus on AI-assisted software development, with extensive research examining code generation, code summarization, and code review automation using large language models. He has also expanded his research to include quality assurance in game development (detecting game stuttering and low engagement events) and voice user interface testing. His work consistently bridges theoretical insights with practical applications for software developers. ACM SIGSOFT Distinguished Paper Award for API compatibility research (MSR 2019) ACM SIGSOFT Distinguished Paper Award for Hugging Face model documentation study (ICPC 2024) ACM SIGSOFT Distinguished Artifact Award for deep learning fault taxonomy (ICSE 2020) As an active member of the software engineering research community, Dr. Bavota serves on program committees for major conferences including ICSE, ASE, FSE, and MSR. He has held leadership roles such as Program Co-Chair for ICSME 2023 and Vision/Reflection Track Co-Chair for ICSE. His SEART research group develops practical tools like the SEART Data Hub that streamline large-scale source code mining and preprocessing for empirical software engineering research.
Roles & Affiliations: Dagmar Gromann is an Associate Professor for Terminology Science and Translation Technology at the University of Vienna's Centre for Translation Studies. Previously, she served as a Research Associate at TU Dresden's International Center for Computational Logic (ICCL) and held postdoctoral roles in Barcelona within the ESSENCE Marie Curie Training Network. She completed her PhD at the University of Vienna under Prof. Gerhard Budin, focusing on ontology-terminology integration. Education: PhD in Computer Science and Linguistics, University of Vienna (2015) Postdoctoral Research, Artificial Intelligence Research Institute (IIIA), Barcelona (2015–2017) Research Assistant, Vienna University of Economics and Business (until 2015) Research Interests: Her work bridges computational linguistics, cognitive science, and terminology science. Key areas include: Ontology learning and neurosymbolic AI Image schemas in natural language processing Machine translation ethics and genderfair language Multilingual knowledge extraction and linked data Terminology modeling and semantic web applications Publications & Awards: Over 60 peer-reviewed papers in journals such as Future Generation Computer Systems and Journal of Lexicography . Notable awards include the Best Paper Award at MuC 2021 (GenderFairMT team) and the ISWC 2019 Best PC Award. Her research has pioneered methods for extracting embodied cognition concepts like image schemas from text. Grants & Leadership: PI of the European Language Grid (ELG) pilot project Text2TCS, member of the COST Action NexusLinguarum, and organizer of conferences like LDK 2023. Editorial board roles include the Semantic Web Journal and Applied Ontology . Labs & Teams: Former member of TU Dresden's ICCL and currently part of the University of Vienna’s translation technology initiatives. Active in interdisciplinary collaborations spanning computational linguistics, AI ethics, and multilingual systems.
Dr. Dustin Crowther is an Associate Professor in the Department of Second Language Studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He holds a PhD from Michigan State University and currently serves as Director of the Center for Academic Spoken English (CASE), an initiative supporting non-native English speakers in academic oral communication. His primary research focuses on second language speech comprehensibility, global Englishes pedagogy, and listener perception dynamics. Dr. Crowther has held editorial roles for TESOL Quarterly (2019-2024) and will become Editor of the Journal of Second Language Pronunciation in 2025. Dr. Crowther's expertise includes L2 pronunciation instruction, program development in SLA, and methodological practices in second language research. He co-authored Shaping Learners' Pronunciation: Teaching the Connected Speech of North American English (2022) and co-edited Investigating World Englishes: Research Methodology and Practical Applications (2019). His research appears in top-tier journals like Applied Linguistics , Language Learning , and TESOL Quarterly . Education: PhD, Michigan State University Professional Roles: Editor ( Journal of Second Language Pronunciation ), Director (CASE), Affiliate Faculty in Linguistics His work bridges SLA research with pedagogical applications, emphasizing global Englishes' role in multilingual academic contexts. Dr. Crowther collaborates with international scholars through the CASE initiative and has developed innovative assessment methodologies for L2 speaking tasks.
Simon Clematide is an Academic Associate at the Department of Computational Linguistics within the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Zurich, where he has been actively engaged in research and teaching since the early 2000s. His work spans computational linguistics, natural language processing, and text mining with a particular focus on historical document processing, multilingual applications, and practical implementations of machine learning techniques. Dr. Clematide's research interests encompass Natural Language Processing , Computational Linguistics , Text Mining , Machine Learning , Sentiment Analysis , Named Entity Recognition , and Historical Document Processing . His interdisciplinary approach bridges computer science with humanities applications, particularly in analyzing historical newspapers and multilingual corpora. His work demonstrates strong expertise in developing practical NLP systems that address real-world challenges in document analysis and language processing. Over the past five years, his publication record reveals a consistent focus on historical text processing, multilingual NLP applications, and shared task competitions. His research shows particular strength in named entity recognition for historical documents (CLEF HIPE shared tasks), grapheme-to-phoneme conversion (SIGMORPHON shared tasks), and OCR post-processing for historical newspapers. The interdisciplinary nature of his work is evident in collaborations spanning computer science, linguistics, history, and geography. Dr. Clematide has been instrumental in organizing and participating in numerous shared tasks including CLEF-HIPE (2020-2022), SIGMORPHON (2017-2021), and CoNLL-SIGMORPHON (2017-2020), where his team achieved multiple first and second places. His teaching portfolio includes courses on Text Mining, Machine Learning for NLP, Deep Learning in Language Technology, and Sentiment Analysis, demonstrating his commitment to educating the next generation of computational linguists. He has led or participated in diverse research projects including NFP 77, impresso, Citizen Linguistics Projects (tonaccent.ch, dindialaekt.ch), SPARCLING, KTI project with Eurospider, and biomedical text mining initiatives (MANTRA, SASEBio). His interdisciplinary work extends to collaborations with material scientists and social scientists on concept extraction and text zoning applications. Dr. Clematide has contributed to the development of several computational tools and resources, including finite-state morphology systems for Rumansh Grishun, Standard German, and Swiss German, as well as the CLab web-based virtual laboratory for computational linguistics. His work on crowdsourcing OCR ground truth for heritage corpora demonstrates practical solutions to real-world digitization challenges.
Prof. Dr. Manuel Trummer is an Adjunct Professor and Senior Academic Councillor at the Chair of Comparative Cultural Studies at the University of Regensburg's Faculty of Languages, Literature and Cultural Studies. He holds a habilitation in media governance and rural development (2019) and a doctorate in Comparative Cultural Studies (2011). His research focuses on popular media, rural cultural analysis, and intangible cultural heritage. He leads the IKEL/BMEL-funded project on rural intangible heritage and serves on UNESCO's Expert Committee for Intangible Cultural Heritage. Education: Magister in Comparative Cultural Studies and Art History (2004), PhD in Rock Music & Devil Imagery (2011), Habilitation on media governance (2019) Key roles: Co-chair of the German Ethnological Society's Rural Cultural Analysis Commission, member of Bavarian Academy of Sciences (2015–2020) Research emphasizes media narratives of rurality, heritage politics, and Eastern European memory cultures. Recent work includes analyzing BR TV's rural imagery and editing Pop the Nation (2023). His projects bridge academic research with cultural institutions, including museum collaborations and policy advising. Notable awards include the 2015 Faculty Teaching Prize and Junge Kolleg membership (2014–2019). Active in interdisciplinary initiatives like the 'Faktizität der Welt' research group.
Roberto Rojas-Cessa is a Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), affiliated with the School of Applied Engineering and Technology. His research focuses on networking, blockchain applications in smart cities, energy systems, wireless communications, and high-performance switching. He has led multiple National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded projects, including initiatives on controlled delivery power grids and next-generation network quality of service. Notably, his work explores blockchain for energy metering, sustainable environmental measures, and smart grid optimization. He is also a Senior Member of the National Academy of Inventors (2024). His research interests span network protocols, distributed systems, and IoT applications. Recent projects include AMI-Chain (a blockchain-based power metering system) and studies on indirect free-space optical communications for vehicular networks. He has contributed to advancements in medium access control for crowded networks and energy packet switches for digital microgrids. Rojas-Cessa’s work integrates machine learning for network management and flood impact analysis. He has developed tools for time-lapse analysis of urban data and agent-based models to evaluate electric vehicle adoption. His publications emphasize scalability, security, and efficiency in both traditional and emerging technologies. Grants: Collaborative Research on Power Grids (NSF, 2016–2018), NeTS-NR: Quality of Service Networks (NSF, 2004–2008) Awards: Senior Member of the National Academy of Inventors (2024) His lab activities include experimental evaluations of digital microgrids and blockchain implementations for carbon footprint tracking. He actively collaborates on projects addressing emergency communications and resilient energy distribution systems.
Aaqib Saeed is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Industrial Design at Eindhoven University of Technology. His research focuses on Human-Centric AI, Federated Learning, Self-Supervised Learning, and Audio Understanding, with applications in Personal Health. He holds a PhD (cum laude) from TU/e and an MSc (cum laude) from the University of Twente. Education: PhD in Computer Science (cum laude), TU/e (2021) MSc in Computer Science (cum laude), University of Twente (2018) Research Interests: Development of robust federated learning frameworks for decentralized data Self-supervised learning for audio and physiological signal analysis AI-driven solutions for healthcare monitoring Key Contributions: DeltaMask: Reducing communication overhead in federated fine-tuning FedNS: Mitigating noisy decentralized data in federated learning Labeling Chaos to Learning Harmony: Handling label noise in FL Professional Experience: Visiting Industrial Fellow, University of Cambridge (2023) Research Scientist, Philips Research (2019–2023) Research Internships: Google Research, TNO/EIT Digital Awards: UT Scholarship (MSc) Cum Laude awards for both PhD and MSc Labs/Teams: EAISI Health, EAISI Foundational, Computational Design Systems.
Nigel Bosch is an Assistant Professor in the School of Information Sciences (iSchool) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, with a joint appointment in the Department of Educational Psychology. He is also a faculty affiliate at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) and Illinois Informatics. His primary research focuses on machine learning and human-computer interaction applications in education, with particular emphasis on affective computing, metacognition, and online learning environments. Bosch holds a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Notre Dame, followed by a postdoctoral research position at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications. His research explores machine learning applications in education, including automatic emotion measurement in programming education, metacognition analysis through natural language processing, and ethical implications of AI in learning. He also investigates wearable technologies for health monitoring and algorithmic bias mitigation in educational data. Bosch’s work is supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), and the University of Illinois. He leads the (Human + Machine) Learning lab, which develops innovative technologies for educational analytics, AI ethics, and human-centered computing.
Professor Matt Garratt is a faculty member at the University of New South Wales (UNSW Canberra), School of Engineering and IT, serving as AI theme lead for the Defence Trailblazer Universities initiative with over $200 million in funding. His primary research focuses on sensing, guidance, and control for autonomous systems within robotics and unmanned aerial vehicles. Garratt's research spans robotics, swarm intelligence, and autonomous systems with emphasis on bio-inspired navigation techniques and adaptive flight control. His work addresses critical challenges including terrain following using vision systems, landing UAVs on moving platforms, and developing self-organizing swarms. He integrates artificial intelligence, computer vision, and machine learning to advance unmanned systems capabilities in complex environments. Analysis of his recent publications reveals strong trends in bio-inspired UAV navigation (particularly honeybee behavior modeling) and swarm robotics applications. His work increasingly incorporates deep learning for perception tasks while addressing real-world challenges like gas plume detection and adversarial robustness in 3D vision systems. The research demonstrates consistent progression toward practical implementation of autonomous systems in dynamic environments. Professor Garratt has secured over $7.7 million in external research funding as Chief Investigator on 33 grants. He actively mentors graduate students with scholarships available for Masters and PhD research in robotics and AI, focusing on: UAV path planning and adaptive control systems Swarm robotics collective motion optimization Bio-inspired autonomous navigation techniques Computer vision for robotic perception He co-founded the UNSW Canberra AIR (AI and Robotics) Group (AIR Lab), which drives research in trusted autonomy, swarm intelligence, and AI integration for defense applications. The lab develops practical solutions for autonomous systems operating in complex, real-world environments while maintaining ethical AI frameworks.
Andrea Maurino is a Full Professor at the University of Milano-Bicocca and leads the Insid&s LAB. His research focuses on data quality, knowledge graphs, machine learning, and their applications in healthcare, finance, urban planning, and organizational analysis. He explores cutting-edge techniques like Large Language Models (LLMs) for decision support systems and semantic annotation of tabular data. Key research interests include improving data quality frameworks for large RDF datasets, developing enterprise knowledge graphs for organizational insights, and applying AI to social media analysis and hate speech detection. His work bridges theoretical advancements with real-world applications such as smart city mobility prediction and nutritional strategies for healthy aging. Notable contributions include scalable tools like ABSTAT-HD for knowledge graph profiling and the 3d-clost mobility prediction model. Maurino’s interdisciplinary approach integrates data science with fields like psychology (ICD-11 decision support) and environmental science (ESG activity detection in financial texts). His lab collaborates on projects like Food NET, combining nutrition science with social network analysis. While no formal awards are listed here, his prolific publication record reflects sustained innovation in data-driven methodologies.
Dr. Masato Kikuchi is an Associate Professor of Japanese in the School of Modern Languages at Georgia Tech. He holds a PhD from the University of Pittsburgh (1995), an M.S. in Intercultural Communication (1982), and a B.A. from International Christian University (1979). His research focuses on instructional technologies for language acquisition, particularly leveraging virtual worlds like Second Life for immersive Japanese learning. He has developed platforms such as the 'Sky Platform at EduNation III,' exploring 3D visualization for grammar concepts and comparative studies on 3D vs. 2D language learning tools. Dr. Kikuchi teaches advanced and intermediate Japanese courses, specializing in CALL (Computer-Assisted Language Learning), technical translation, and intercultural communication. His work emphasizes integrating technology into language education, including courseware design for online and hybrid learning environments. Recent projects include software for virtual world-based communicative practice and research on NMT (Neural Machine Translation) as a pedagogical tool. His publications span conference proceedings, courseware development, and software tools like the 'Understanding Written Japanese' CD-ROM series. He actively presents on topics such as virtual world design, information gap exercises, and Japanese course design. His research aligns with Georgia Tech’s focus on STEM-integrated language education and international collaborations.
Professor Julia Hartmann serves as the Chair of Sustainability Management at EBS Business School, part of EBS Universität für Wirtschaft und Recht in Oestrich-Winkel, Germany. Her research focuses on climate change mitigation, energy transition strategies, sustainable supply chain resilience, and ESG compliance. She leads a team supported by industry partners like Procter & Gamble and Tetra Pak, emphasizing practical applications of sustainability theory. Her work bridges data analytics (machine learning, natural language processing) with business strategies, published in top journals such as Journal of International Business Studies and Journal of Business Ethics . Hartmann teaches courses on strategic CSR, environmental management, and empirical data techniques, advising companies on ESG leadership and future readiness. Her recent work examines oil and gas industry transitions, supply chain liability, and pandemic resilience. She actively engages with media (TV, podcasts) to discuss sustainability challenges, contributing to public discourse on energy policy and corporate responsibility. Education & Career: While formal academic qualifications are not explicitly listed, her extensive publication record and professorial role indicate advanced doctoral training in business administration or related fields. She has held leadership roles at EBS since assuming the chair position. Research Interests: Her work spans three core areas: 1) Sustainable supply chain design and resilience, 2) Energy transition pathways for industries, and 3) Quantitative methods for measuring ESG impacts. She explores how media attention, legal frameworks, and consumer behavior shape corporate sustainability outcomes. Awards & Recognition: While no specific awards are cited, her peer-reviewed publications and industry partnerships reflect scholarly and practical impact. She was an invited speaker at major conferences like EurOMA 2024 and Arthur D Little CEO Insights Conference. Grants & Collaboration: Partnerships with Procter & Gamble and Tetra Pak support applied research initiatives. Her lab focuses on bridging academic insights with industry implementation through joint projects and executive education programs. Labs/Teams: The Chair of Sustainability Management serves as her primary research hub, hosting interdisciplinary projects on supply chain governance, climate policy, and digital sustainability tools.
