Alfred Hermida is a Professor at the University of British Columbia (UBC), holding a joint appointment in the School of Journalism, Writing, and Media. He is renowned for his contributions to digital journalism, media innovation, and the societal impact of social media and artificial intelligence. Hermida was honored as a Fellow of the International Communication Association (ICA) in 2024, recognizing his transformative scholarly work in communication studies. His career spans academic research, teaching, and leadership. Before joining UBC in 2006, he spent 16 years as a BBC journalist, including foundational roles in the BBC News website. As Director of UBC’s Graduate School of Journalism from 2015 to 2020, he secured major SSHRC grants, including two $2.5M Partnership Grants. He co-founded The Conversation Canada in 2017, a platform bridging academic research with public discourse. Research focuses on journalism’s evolution amid technological shifts, including the Global Journalism Innovation Lab, a SSHRC-funded initiative examining innovation practices and policy frameworks shaping journalism’s future. His publications, such as Data Journalism and the Regeneration of News (2019) and Tell Everyone (2014), explore digital media’s role in information sharing and verification. Hermida’s teaching spans media innovation, visual journalism, and research methods. Colleagues praise his triple threat: exceptional scholarship, pedagogy, and administrative leadership. His work consistently bridges theory and practice, emphasizing journalism’s societal relevance in an algorithm-driven world.
Andrew Rice is a Professor of Computer Science at the University of Cambridge's Department of Computer Science and Technology, and holds the Hassabis Fellowship in Computer Science. He is also the Director of Studies in Computer Science at Queens' College. His research focuses on programming languages, software engineering, and machine learning applications in software development. He leads projects like Isaac Computer Science and ALTA (Automated Language Teaching and Assessment), advancing adaptive learning technologies. His work includes static analysis tools such as Error Prone at Google, energy efficiency studies in computing infrastructure, and contributions to the Computing for the Future of the Planet initiative. His teaching emphasizes practical skill development through flipped classrooms and video lectures, earning him the 2014 Pilkington Prize for teaching excellence. He has held visiting roles at Google and collaborated on energy consumption research for mobile devices and data centers. His research spans systems, networking, and natural language processing, with a strong focus on applying computational methods to real-world challenges. Key Projects: Isaac Physics/Computer Science, ALTA, Error Prone Static Analysis Research Themes: Programming Languages, Machine Learning, Energy Efficiency Awards: Pilkington Prize (2014)
Professor Marta Zofia Kwiatkowska is Professor of Computing Systems and Fellow of Trinity College at the University of Oxford, where she has held a faculty position since 2007. She previously served as Professor of Computer Science at the University of Birmingham (2001–2007), Reader and Lecturer at the University of Birmingham (1994–2001), and Lecturer at the University of Leicester (1986–1994). Her academic career began as Assistant Professor at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland (1980–1988). Education: BSc/MSc in Computer Science, Jagiellonian University, Kraków MA, University of Oxford PhD, University of Leicester Research Interests: Professor Kwiatkowska spearheaded the development of probabilistic and quantitative verification methods on the international stage. Her work bridges theory and practice through the PRISM model checker—the leading software tool in probabilistic model checking—used worldwide for research and teaching. Application domains include communication and security protocols , nanotechnology designs , power management , ubiquitous computing and systems biology . She investigates automated verification , temporal logics , semantic models for concurrency , real-time systems , and biological process modelling . Current grant funding exceeds £3.7 million from EPSRC, EU and ERC, including the prestigious ERC Advanced Grant VERIWARE. Scientific Awards & Honours: Fellow of the Royal Society Fellow of the ACM Fellow of the European Association for Theoretical Computer Science (EATCS) Fellow of the British Computer Society (BCS) Fellow of the Polish Society of Arts & Sciences Abroad ERC Advanced Grant VERIWARE (€2.046 M, 2010–2015) Top Cited Article Award, Theoretical Computer Science (2005–2010) Best Paper Award, QEST 2006 Doctoral Supervision & Grants: Professor Kwiatkowska actively supervises doctoral students (D.Phil. at Oxford) and post-doctoral researchers. She welcomes applications in areas aligned with her research interests, detailed here . Current students include Charlie Griffin, Daqian Shao, Matthew Yuan and Minghao Liu; past students and researchers number over twenty, many now in faculty or industry leadership roles. Laboratory & Teams: She leads the Oxford Quantitative Verification group within the Department of Computer Science. Ongoing projects include FUN2MODEL, ELSA, FAIR and the flagship PRISM probabilistic model checker. The group maintains strong collaborations with biological, robotics and engineering teams worldwide.
Elena Simperl is a Professor of Computer Science and Deputy Head of Department for Enterprise and Engagement at King's College London's Department of Informatics. She co-directs the King's Institute for Artificial Intelligence and serves as Director of Research for the Open Data Institute. As a Hans Fischer Senior Fellow at the Technical University of Munich's Institute for Advanced Study, she leads the Trustworthy Knowledge Graphs focus group and contributes to advancing human-centric AI research across European institutions. Professor Simperl obtained her doctoral degree in Computer Science from the Free University of Berlin and her diploma from the Technical University of Munich. Prior to joining King's, she held academic positions in Germany, Austria, and at the University of Southampton, and was a Turing Fellow. Her career trajectory demonstrates consistent leadership in bridging academic research with practical applications in data ecosystems. Her research sits at the critical intersection of AI and social computing, focusing on human-centric approaches to building sociotechnical systems that integrate data, algorithms, and human capabilities. She investigates how to make knowledge engineering more accessible, how to leverage collective intelligence for data quality improvement, and how to design participatory AI systems that address societal challenges like misinformation. Her work spans knowledge graphs, semantic technologies, crowdsourcing, and open data, with particular emphasis on the social dimensions of data-intensive systems and the governance frameworks needed for trustworthy AI deployment. Analysis of her recent publications reveals a strong evolution toward integrating large language models with traditional knowledge engineering practices while maintaining human oversight. There's a clear trajectory from foundational work on knowledge representation toward increasingly applied research addressing real-world challenges in media ecosystems, citizen science, and data governance, with growing attention to policy implications of AI technologies. Fellow of the British Computer Society Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts Hans Fischer Senior Fellow at TUM-IAS (2023) Ranked among top 100 most influential scholars in knowledge engineering of the last decade Included in Women in AI 2000 ranking Professor Simperl has led 14 major European and national research projects totaling millions in funding, including MediaFutures (a Horizon 2020 program tackling online misinformation), QROWD, ODINE, Data Pitch, and ACTION. She currently co-chairs the Croissant working group in ML Commons developing data standards for AI, and serves as president of the Semantic Web Science Association. Her research has directly influenced the development of data ecosystems supporting startups and citizen science initiatives across Europe, demonstrating exceptional ability to translate theoretical advances into practical impact. As Director of Research at the Open Data Institute, she oversees initiatives connecting data entrepreneurs with artists and civic organizations. Her leadership in the MediaFutures project established a data-driven innovation hub that supported 51 startups/SMEs and 43 artists through three open calls, creating a sustainable model for arts-technology collaborations addressing media challenges. Her work with the ODINE project helped create a European ecosystem for data-driven startups, demonstrating her commitment to building practical applications of open data principles.
David Lie is a Professor at the University of Toronto, jointly appointed in the Edward S. Rogers Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Department of Computer Science, and Faculty of Law. He directs the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society, co-founded the IT3 Lab, and serves as Associate Director at the Data Sciences Institute. His research focuses on securing computer systems through operating systems, architecture, and formal verification approaches. B.A.Sc (University of Toronto, 1998) M.S. (Stanford, 2001) Ph.D. (Stanford, 2004) His research emphasizes building secure systems for mobile platforms and cloud computing, with significant contributions to trusted execution environments (XOM architecture precursor to Intel SGX/ARM TrustZone) and Android permission mapping (PScout tool). Recent work spans cryptographic side-channels, web tracking detection, and AI safety. Key honors include SOSP 2003 Best Paper, Ontario MRI Early Researcher Award (2008), Connaught Global Challenge Award (2017), and Canada Research Chairs (Tier 2 2013-2018, Tier 1 current). He has secured over $30M in research funding and served as General Chair for CCS 2018. Lie leads the IT3 Lab (Technology and Policy Integration), collaborates with industry leaders (Google, VMware, Telus), and mentors graduate students working on practical security implementations. He co-teaches ECE1724: Privacy Problems with Lisa Austin from the Faculty of Law, reflecting his technology-policy interests.
Mithuna S. Thottethodi is a Professor and Interim Associate Head of Teaching and Learning at the Elmore Family School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Purdue University. He holds a B.Tech. from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur (1996), and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Duke University (2002). His research focuses on computer architecture, interconnection networks, distributed systems, and security, with notable work on sparse tensor accelerators and processing-near-memory architectures. His work has been funded by the NSF, AT&T, and SK Hynix. Research interests include security, interconnection networks in multicores, storage performance optimization, and memory hierarchies. Notable contributions span hardware accelerators for machine learning, secure speculative execution, and datacenter network congestion control. He has advised over 20 graduate students, many of whom have joined top tech firms like Google, Microsoft, and Intel. Awards: NSF CAREER Award (2007) Wilfred Hesselberth Teaching Excellence Award (2021) Multiple Eta Kappa Nu Outstanding Professor Awards Teaching includes undergraduate courses like EE 437 (Computer Design) and graduate courses such as ECE 666 (Advanced Computer Architecture). He also advises VIP and EPICS student teams.
Matteo Maffei is a Full Professor at TU Wien, leading the Security and Privacy group. He joined in 2017 after 11 years at Saarland University's CISPA. He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Ca’ Foscari University of Venice (2006). He coordinates the TU Wien Cybersecurity Center, the SecInt Doctoral School, and the FWF Special Research Program SPyCoDe. His research focuses on formal methods for security and privacy, blockchain technologies, and web security. Roles: Full Professor, Coordinator of TU Wien Cybersecurity Center, Module Head of Christian Doppler Lab for Blockchain Technologies (CDL-BOT), Board Member of Vienna Cybersecurity and Privacy Research Cluster (ViSP). His work emphasizes formal verification of cryptographic protocols, smart contracts, and decentralized systems. Key achievements include ERC Advanced (2024) and Consolidator (2018) Grants, and leadership roles in conferences like IEEE Computer Security Foundations Symposium (CSF). Research Interests: Formal methods, smart contracts, blockchain scalability, web security, privacy-preserving protocols, and decentralized systems. His recent projects include optimizing Lightning Network channels, secure multi-hop payments, and AI-driven robustness verification. Publications: Over 200 publications in top venues like CCS, IEEE S&P, and CRYPTO. Recent work includes advancements in blockchain interoperability (e.g., Alba bridges), light client protocols (Blink), and neural network verification techniques. Grants & Awards: ERC Advanced Grant (2024), ERC Consolidator Grant (2018), DFG Emmy Noether Fellowship (2009). Led projects funded by EU Horizon, FWF, and industry partners like ABC Research GmbH. Advising & Labs: Supervised over 20 PhD/Master theses. Active in the Christian Doppler Lab for Blockchain Technologies and the SPyCoDe SFB. Collaborates with institutions like SBA Research and Stanford University.
Cyrille Artho is an Associate Professor in the Division of Theoretical Computer Science at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, actively contributing to research in formal methods, software testing, and cybersecurity. His work spans model checking, smart contract security, and concurrent systems verification, with significant contributions to tools like Java Pathfinder and Modbat. PhD from ETH Zurich (2005) with dissertation on multi-threading fault detection Teaches Software Safety and Security, Software Engineering Fundamentals, and supervises degree projects His research focuses on developing formal techniques for safety-critical systems, particularly in blockchain security and distributed applications. Recent work emphasizes smart contract verification, anomaly detection in microservices, and trusted execution environments for secure cloud analytics. The 15 most recent publications reveal a strong trend toward blockchain security (6 articles), formal verification of distributed systems (5), and novel testing methodologies (4), with increasing integration of machine learning for vulnerability detection. As chair of the FTSCS workshop series and contributor to major conferences like ASE and ICST, Artho has significantly shaped the formal methods community. His leadership in organizing workshops demonstrates commitment to advancing safety-critical systems research. Principal investigator for C3.ai DTI Cyber Safety Cage for Networks project Develops Modbat framework for model-based API testing Active in Digital Futures research initiative at KTH
LEE Wee Sun is a Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the National University of Singapore (NUS), where he previously served as Head of Department, Vice Dean of Undergraduate Studies, and Vice Dean of Research. His academic journey began with a B.Eng. in Computer Systems Engineering from the University of Queensland (1992) and a Ph.D. from the Australian National University (1996), followed by research roles at the Australian Defence Force Academy and MIT. Education: Ph.D., Australian National University, Canberra, Australia (1996) B.Eng. in Computer Systems Engineering, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia (1992) Research Focus: Professor Lee pioneers work in Machine Learning , Planning Under Uncertainty , and Approximate Inference , with emphasis on integrating AI subfields for holistic reasoning. His current projects include "Learning to Decompose for Reasoning and Planning" (enhancing LLMs via self-supervised problem decomposition) and "Learning to Reason with Visual-Linguistic Inputs" (unifying vision, language, and reasoning in single architectures). Publication Trends: Recent work (2023-2025) centers on bridging LLMs with classical AI techniques, featuring breakthroughs in uncertainty quantification, multi-task optimization, and graph-based reasoning. Key themes include sparsity-aware vehicle routing, epistemic uncertainty for reliable LLMs, and differentiable neural solvers for combinatorial problems. Awards: IJCAI-JAIR Best Paper Prize (2022) RSS Test of Time Award (2021) RoboCup Best Paper Award (IROS 2015) HRATC 1st Place (2015) IPPC POMDP Track 1st Place (2011, 2014) UAI Google Best Student Paper (2014) Semeval-1 1st/2nd Place (2007) J.G. Crawford Prize (ANU 1996) Leadership & Service: As steering committee chair for ACML and area chair for NeurIPS/ICML/AAAI/IJCAI, Professor Lee shapes global AI discourse. His administrative roles at NUS and collaborations with MIT/Singapore-MIT Alliance demonstrate commitment to advancing AI education and research infrastructure. While student advisees aren't listed, his leadership positions imply extensive mentoring. Research Ecosystem: His work drives NUS's AI initiatives including Knowledge@Computing projects on reasoning frontiers. Current efforts focus on making AI systems robust through uncertainty-aware planning and multi-modal integration, with applications in robotics, verification systems, and combinatorial optimization.
Liangming Pan is an Assistant Professor at the University of Arizona's College of Information Science. His research focuses on building trustworthy large language models (LLMs) with an emphasis on logical reasoning, truthfulness, and safety. He holds a PhD in Computer Science from the National University of Singapore (2022), a Master's from Tsinghua University, and a Bachelor's from Beihang University. Education : PhD in Computer Science, National University of Singapore (2022) Master of Engineering in Computer Science, Tsinghua University (2017) Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Science, Beihang University (2014) Research Interests : Dr. Pan's work centers on enhancing LLMs' reliability through: Logical reasoning mechanisms to ensure faithful deductions Truthfulness verification to combat misinformation Safety protocols to mitigate societal harm Key Contributions : Developed TART, an open-source framework for explainable table-based reasoning Created benchmarks like SCITAB and FactCheck-Bench for evaluating LLMs Advanced techniques for knowledge editing and causal reasoning Awards : Best Paper Runner-Up at NeurIPS Table Representation Workshop (2024) Area Chair Award for Question Answering (IJCNLP-AACL 2023) Service & Outreach : He serves as an Area Chair for EMNLP (2024), COLING (2025), and ACL (2024). He has delivered invited talks at Tsinghua University, Peking University, and other institutions.
Gene Cooperman is a Professor at the Khoury College of Computer Sciences at Northeastern University, with an affiliation in the College of Engineering. His research focuses on high-performance computing (HPC), transparent checkpoint-restart systems, and model checking. He leads the High Performance Computing Laboratory, where he explores checkpointing technologies like DMTCP, MANA for MPI, and CRAC for CUDA, aiming to enhance HPC workflows on supercomputers such as NERSC's Perlmutter. His work bridges distributed computing, parallel algorithms, and system software to address challenges in fault tolerance, scalability, and resource management. Cooperman has advised 10 PhD students and co-authored over 125 refereed publications, contributing to projects like Geant4-MultiThreaded and Roomy for disk-based computation. His teaching includes courses on computer systems and HPC seminars. Education: Background in computational algebra and parallel computing, transitioning to HPC systems and checkpointing. Research Themes: Transparent checkpointing, MPI agnostic solutions, CUDA integration, and HPC resource optimization. Recent articles emphasize MPI checkpointing, reversible debugging (FReD), and CUDA support, reflecting trends in distributed and GPU-accelerated systems. His grants include NSF, NERSC/DOE, and MemVerge funding. Cooperman collaborates with institutions like CERN and NERSC, advancing applications in particle physics simulations and supercomputing. Current students include Aayushi Gautam, Jiajun Cao, Rohan Garg, and Twinkle Jain.
Dr. Muhammad Rashed is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Texas at Arlington, within the College of Engineering. He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Engineering from the University of Central Florida (2024) and a B.S. in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (2015). Ph.D. : Computer Engineering, University of Central Florida, 2024 B.S. : Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, 2015 His research focuses on electronic design automation (EDA), in-memory computing, AI acceleration, and sustainable computing. He explores novel computing paradigms to overcome the limitations of traditional architectures, particularly in data-intensive applications such as AI and scientific computing. His work emphasizes hardware-software co-design and leveraging emerging non-volatile memories for energy-efficient processing. The 15 most recent publications highlight a consistent focus on in-memory computing, particularly in path-based and flow-based architectures, logic synthesis, and AI acceleration. Key themes include optimization, fault tolerance, verification, and the use of advanced data structures like sentential decision diagrams. His work is published in top-tier venues such as DAC, ICCAD, ASP-DAC, and IEEE/ACM journals. Scientific Awards: UTA CARES Grant for OER Creation Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Grant Alireza Seyedi Doctoral Research Innovation Endowed Scholarship David T. & Jane M. Donaldson Memorial Scholarship IEEE/ACM William J. McCalla ICCAD Best Paper Award Nomination Best Research Video Award, Design Automation Conference (DAC) Dr. Rashed advises several graduate and undergraduate students in the NextGen Computing Lab and is involved in research grants including the UTA CARES Grant and REU funding. He actively contributes to academic service through roles such as conference TPC member, journal reviewer (e.g., IEEE TCAD, ACM TODAES), and committee participation in the department and college. His lab, the NextGen Computing Lab, is dedicated to building scalable, energy-efficient computing systems for next-generation AI and scientific workloads, aligning with national initiatives in advanced computing.
Dongwoo Kim is a researcher affiliated with Hanyang University, ERICA Campus (Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering) and has previously collaborated with institutions like POSTECH , Chungnam National University , and Microsoft . His work spans interdisciplinary domains in Computer Science and Engineering . Hanyang University, ERICA Campus - Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering POSTECH - Power Analog Electronics & Semiconductor Devices Lab Microsoft Chungnam National University Kim's research focuses on formal verification of automotive control software, deep learning applications in environmental monitoring, 3D modeling for indoor positioning, and machine learning for signal processing. His recent publications highlight advancements in graph neural networks (GNNs), including analyzing oversmoothing and gradient dynamics, as well as developing geometric vision-language models with domain-agnostic encoders. His 15 most recent articles (2023-2025) address topics like: Optimizing hybrid electric vehicle engine performance 3D modeling for indoor localization GNN training stability UAV-based environmental monitoring Algorithm difficulty prediction for programming problems Millimeter-wave antenna design Kim collaborates with researchers in software engineering , signal processing , and environmental science domains. His work intersects formal methods , applied machine learning , and embedded systems research.
Calin Belta is the Brendan Iribe Endowed Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Maryland, College Park. He is affiliated with the Institute of Systems Research (ISR) and the Maryland Robotics Center (MRC), and holds a Research Professor position at Boston University's College of Engineering. His work bridges control theory, formal methods, and machine learning to ensure safety in cyber-physical and data-driven systems, with applications in robotics, autonomous driving, and systems biology. Research Interests: Focus on dynamics and control theory, formal methods for verification and control synthesis, robotics, autonomous systems, and synthetic biology. Recent projects include PROGENIC (collaborating with MIT, UChicago, and UDelaware) and safety-critical control for heterogeneous robotic teams. Key Achievements: General Chair of the 2025 MRC Symposium, recipient of AFOSR Young Investigator Award (2008), NSF CAREER Award (2005), and IEEE Fellow. His work on formal methods for autonomous systems has led to impactful tools for safety assurance in robotics and AI. Grants: NSF EFRI PROGENIC grant (2024), multiple industry partnerships. Advising: Mentored students like Wenliang Liu (PhD 2024, now at Amazon), and collaborator Marius Kloetzer (shared HSCC Test of Time Award 2025). Labs/Teams: Maryland Robotics Center, Institute for Systems Research, and Boston University collaborations.
Elette Boyle is an Associate Professor at Reichman University (IDC Herzliya) and a Senior Scientist at NTT Research . She holds a Ph.D. in Mathematics from MIT (advised by Shafi Goldwasser and Yael Tauman Kalai) and an undergraduate degree from Caltech . Education Ph.D. in Mathematics, MIT B.S. in Mathematics, Caltech Her research focuses on cryptographic solutions for secure data processing , particularly in secure multi-party computation , function/homomorphic secret sharing , and distributed point functions . Recent work explores topology-hiding communication , memory checking complexity , and sublinear-communication MPC . Key trends in her publications include: Advancements in Function Secret Sharing for branching programs and sparse vectors. Efficient Secure Multi-Party Computation protocols with preprocessing. Information-theoretic and computational Topology-Hiding Broadcast schemes. Optimized Oblivious Transfer with constant computational overhead. Scientific Awards European Research Council (ERC) Award Israeli Science Foundation (ISF) Grant United States Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) Grant Google Research Scholar Award International Association for Cryptologic Research (IACR) Recognition As Director of the Foundations & Applications of Cryptography (FACT) Research Center , she leads collaborative work with institutions like Technion Israel , Cornell University , and NTT Research . Her students include Pierre Meyer (Ph.D.) , Matan Hamilis (Ph.D.) , and D'or Banon (MSc.) .
