Suranga Chandima Nanayakkara is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the National University of Singapore (NUS), leading the Centre for Holistic Inquiry into Lifelong Learning (CHILL) and the Smart Systems Institute (SSI). He holds roles such as AI+HCI Theme Lead at NUS+CNRS IPAL Lab and Residential Fellow at NUS College. His research focuses on assistive human-computer interfaces, emphasizing technologies that enhance perceptual and cognitive capabilities for individuals with sensory deficits. He earned his PhD and BEng from NUS, followed by postdoctoral work at MIT Media Lab. Notable projects include the Augmented Human Lab, iTILES for rehabilitation, and the FingerReader device for visually impaired shoppers. His work has garnered awards like the MIT TR35, TOYP, and INK Fellowship. Research interests include Intelligent Systems, Human Augmentation, and Design Science. He explores applications in assistive technologies, healthcare informatics, and educational tools. Over 15 publications highlight innovations in wearables, stress management, and multimodal interaction. Awards: 40+ accolades, including MIT TR35, TOYP, and multiple design awards for projects like Kiwrious and FingerReader. Grants: Led projects funded by institutions like NUS and Singapore’s innovation initiatives. Labs: Augmented Human Lab (founded 2011), focusing on humanizing technology through natural interfaces.
Professor Mounim A. El Yacoubi holds positions at Institut Polytechnique de Paris, Institut Mines-Télécom, and Telecom SudParis. His research focuses on AI, machine learning, and deep learning applied to e-Health (neurodegenerative disease detection, diabetes management), biometrics (gait, vein, and handwriting recognition), and smart systems (agriculture, surveillance, robotics). He leads the SAMOVAR CNRS Lab and has supervised 17 PhDs and 30+ master's students. Education: PhD (1996, Université de Rennes 1), HDR (2014, Paris-Saclay University). Experience: Senior Researcher at Parascript (2001–2008), Visiting Scientist at CENPARMI (1997–1998), Associate Professor at PUCPR (1998–2001). Research Interests: AI applications in healthcare, biometrics, pattern recognition, and smart technologies. Recent work includes Alzheimer’s detection via handwriting analysis, diabetes prediction using PPG signals, and palm/vein recognition systems. Grants & Leadership: Program Chair of ICPRAI 2022, ICCPRA 2024. Editor of IEEE Access and journals on cyber-physical intelligence. Authored books on Pattern Recognition and AI.
Bart De Keijzer is a Senior Lecturer in Computer Science at King's College London, within the Department of Informatics. He serves as Deputy Director of the Distributed AI Research Group and is the Finance Hub Champion. His research focuses on the intersection of economics and theoretical computer science, particularly algorithmic game theory, mechanism design, and financial networks. Education includes a PhD in Algorithmic Game Theory from Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI) and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and a Computer Science degree from Delft University of Technology. Prior to King's, he held roles at the University of Essex, Sapienza University of Rome, and the University of Liverpool. His research interests span financial networks, systemic risk mitigation, auction design, and multi-agent systems. Recent work explores strategies to reduce systemic risk in financial networks and the development of strategyproof mechanisms. Awards: EPSRC New Investigator Award (2024). Labs/Teams: Distributed AI Research Group, Informatics Finance Hub.
John P. Spencer is a Professor of Psychology at the University of East Anglia , UK, and a member of its School of Psychology . He previously served as a Professor of Psychology and founding Director of the Delta Center at the University of Iowa. His research focuses on the development of executive function, working memory, attention, and word learning, with a pioneering emphasis on dynamical systems theory and dynamic neural field models of cognition and action. Sc.B. with Honors, Brown University (1991) Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology, Indiana University (1998) His work utilizes fMRI , fNIRS , and eye-tracking to explore neural-cognitive dynamics in infancy and childhood, particularly in low-resource settings. Recent articles highlight cross-situational word learning, air quality impacts on cognition, and brain network myelination studies. Scientific awards include: 2003 Early Research Contributions Award (Society for Research in Child Development) 2006 Robert L. Fantz Memorial Award (American Psychological Foundation) APA Fellow since 2007 Current projects include brain imaging centers, infant cognition in India, and theoretical advancements in dynamic systems. He leads the Developmental Dynamics Lab and collaborates with institutions worldwide.
Hasan Davulcu is a Professor in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence at Arizona State University (ASU). He holds a B.S. in Mathematics from Middle East Technical University (Turkey) and M.S./Ph.D. in Computer Science from Stony Brook University (NY). His research focuses on sociocultural modeling, AI, machine learning, and behavioral analytics for fraud detection. He leads the CIPS-AI Lab, developing data mining tools for semantic information extraction from social media and web data. Affiliations: Senior Global Futures Scientist (Global Futures Scientists and Scholars Program), Co-founder & CIO of ARTIS MAGI (AI-driven behavioral analysis startup). Education: Ph.D. Computer Science (Stony Brook, 2002), M.S. Computer Science (Stony Brook, 1995), B.S. Mathematics (METU, 1993). Research interests include: Sociocultural modeling and persuasive AI. Web/social media mining, information extraction, and database systems. Behavioral analytics for fraud detection and countering extremist influence. Key achievements: 2011 HSCB Focus Exceptional Scientific Achievement Award for work on sociocultural modeling in the DOD Minerva project. Principal Investigator on NSF and DoD grants, including behavioral analytics for financial fraud and social influence analysis of extremist groups. Grants & Projects: NSF PFI:BIC Grant (2014-2019): Behavioral analytics for fraud detection via visual analytics infrastructure. DoD Minerva (2015-2019): Measuring social influence of extremist groups. ONR Projects (2018-2021): Modeling polarization, adversarial framing, and disinformation tracking. Labs/Teams: Cognitive Information Processing Systems (CIPS-AI) Lab, which pioneers data mining techniques for unstructured social media data and semantic representation systems.
Assoc. Prof. Bahman Peyravi is an Associate Professor at the Institute of Sustainable Management (ISM) focusing on eco-innovation, circular economy, and sustainable transitions in SMEs. His research explores managerial dynamics in SME transformation under European integration frameworks. He holds a PhD in innovation management (2017) and completed a postdoctoral fellowship (2021–2023) on eco-innovation barriers in SMEs via the European Social Fund (LMT) project. Teaching areas include Innovation, HRM, Entrepreneurship, and Communication. Courses taught: Human Resource Management: International Approach (MNG220), Effective Internal Business Communication (MNG284), and Technology and Innovation Management (GRAI022). Recent publications analyze blockchain adoption in logistics and social dimensions of sustainable behavior. His work integrates technological, behavioral, and structural perspectives to address sustainability challenges in global economic contexts.
Ross Meentemeyer is a Professor and Director of the Center for Geospatial Analytics at North Carolina State University, affiliated with the Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources in the College of Natural Resources. He holds a Ph.D. in Geography from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (2000) and a B.S. in Geography from the University of Georgia (1993). His research focuses on geospatial analytics, ecological forecasting, biological invasions, and forest health, with a strong emphasis on integrating geospatial data and modeling to address environmental challenges. Dr. Meentemeyer's work includes developing decision-support tools for pest management, climate adaptation, and land-use planning. Notable projects involve forecasting invasive species spread via international trade, creating open-source geospatial platforms, and modeling floodplain development risks. He collaborates extensively with federal agencies like USDA, DOI, and NPS to translate research into practical solutions. His grants include multi-million dollar NSF and USDA-funded initiatives addressing plant disease pandemics, agricultural pest threats, and geospatial infrastructure development. Key outcomes include the PAdb system for pandemic prediction and the FUTURES model for urbanization forecasting. He also leads efforts to enhance stakeholder engagement through participatory modeling tools like Tangible Landscape. Research contributions span 20+ years, with over 100 peer-reviewed articles on topics like viewscape modeling, river water dynamics, and wildfire-epidemic interactions. His work bridges ecological and social sciences, emphasizing actionable solutions for sustainable land management and climate resilience.
May Yuan is the Ashbel Smith Professor of Geospatial Information Sciences at the University of Texas at Dallas (UT-Dallas), affiliated with the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences. She directs the Geospatial Analytics and Innovative Applications (GAIA) Lab. Her research focuses on space-time representation, GIS analytics, and environmental/social problem-solving (e.g., disaster risk, pollution, crime mapping). She holds a Ph.D. in Geography from SUNY Buffalo (1994) and B.S. from National Taiwan University (1987). Previously, she was Brandt Professor and Director of the Center for Spatial Analysis at the University of Oklahoma (1994–2014). Education: Ph.D. in Geography, State University of New York at Buffalo, 1994 M.A. in Geography, State University of New York at Buffalo, 1992 B.S. in Geography, National Taiwan University, 1987 Research Interests: Her work integrates space-time GIS databases with cognitive science, environmental modeling, and social dynamics. Key areas include: - Spatiotemporal query and analytics for geographic processes - GIS-based disaster risk assessment (wildfires, tornadoes) - Urban air quality modeling - Neurogeography and Alzheimer’s disease prediction using environmental complexity metrics - Deep mapping and spatial narratives. Grants & Partnerships: Supported by NSF, NASA, DoD, DHS, NOAA, EPA, and state agencies. Her GAIA Lab explores 'place' concepts in space-time analytics. Awards & Roles: Fellow, AAAS and AAG Editor-in-Chief, International Journal of Geographical Information Science (2017–present) Former President, Cartography and Geographic Information Society (2020–2021) and UCGIS (2011–2012) Member, NOAA Environmental Information Services Working Group (2016–2022) Labs/Teams: Leads the GAIA Lab, collaborating on geospatial AI, environmental health, and urban analytics.
Sheelagh Carpendale is a Professor and Canada Research Chair in Information Visualization at Simon Fraser University's School of Computing Science. Her research focuses on Information Visualization, Interaction Design, and Human-Computer Interaction, with a strong emphasis on large display interaction, visual analytics, and personal visualization. She leads the Innovations in Visualization Interactive Experiences (ixLab) and has contributed to over 200 publications. Education: PhD (Computing Science, Simon Fraser University, 1999); BSc (Computing Science, Simon Fraser University, 1992). Research Interests: Dr. Carpendale's work bridges theory and practice, emphasizing user-centered design and interdisciplinary collaboration. Key areas include data physicalization (e.g., Kirigami-inspired visualizations), interactive technologies for healthcare, and educational tools like TangiBooks for programming concepts. Her lab explores novel interaction paradigms for large displays and mobile devices. Recognition: Recipient of the 2018 IEEE Visualization Career Award, numerous best paper awards, and leadership roles in conferences like IEEE VIS. Her contributions span academic, industrial, and public engagement contexts, including projects on clinical decision support and public data literacy. Grants & Labs: Active in securing research grants for projects like the Arctic Movement visualization and Energy Data initiatives. The ixLab collaborates with artists, scientists, and healthcare professionals to create impactful visualizations.
Dr. Raha Hassan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Western University and the director of the Social and Emotional Wellbeing (SEW) Lab. She holds a PhD in Clinical Psychology from McMaster University and completed her predoctoral residency at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre. Her research focuses on the role of temperament in social and emotional wellbeing, particularly in children's interactions and interpretations of social environments. She employs a developmental framework and emphasizes naturalistic observation of behavior, with an interest in cultural influences on these processes. Dr. Hassan’s work integrates psychophysiological measures such as EEG studies to explore brain mechanisms underlying shyness and self-regulation. Her articles investigate generational trends in shyness, the relationship between inhibitory control and social behavior, and the physiological underpinnings of social anxiety. Key themes include the double-edged nature of self-regulation, contextual factors affecting temperament, and the interplay between biology and environment in developmental outcomes. No scientific awards are explicitly mentioned in the provided text. Dr. Hassan’s lab, the SEW Lab, focuses on advancing understanding of social-emotional health through interdisciplinary methods.
Limin Jia is a Research Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) department at Carnegie Mellon University, with a courtesy appointment in the Computer Science Department (CSD). Affiliated with CyLab, their work focuses on applying formal techniques to enhance software security through programming language design, formal verification, and information flow analysis. Research interests span Security Programming Languages Formal Verification Information Flow Control Intermittent Computing Rust Programming . Recent publications integrate formal methods with practical security challenges, including Node.js vulnerability detection Rust API testing Secure multi-execution Intermittent computing type systems IFTTT security analysis Browser security frameworks . Limin serves on program committees for conferences like POPL, PLDI, VMCAI, and is actively involved in teaching courses such as Browser Security (18-636) Introduction to Information Security (18-631) .
Anastasia Girshina is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Finance at the Stockholm School of Economics (SSE) and Deputy Director at MiDA (the Institute for Micro Data at SSE & SHoF). She also serves as a Research Fellow at the Swedish House of Finance. Her research focuses on household finance, real estate finance, and applied microeconomics, with emphasis on gender disparities in wealth accumulation, fiscal policy impacts, and behavioral finance. Previously, Girshina held a Postdoctoral Fellowship and worked as an Economist at the Luxembourg Central Bank’s Financial Stability Department. Her work has explored topics such as peer effects in stock market participation, housing affordability through tax subsidies, and gender differences in real estate returns. Key achievements include winning a prize for her collaborative study on housing affordability and tax subsidies (2022). Her research often intersects policy design, wealth dynamics, and behavioral insights, with ongoing projects on financial intermediation competition and herding in financial markets. Girshina collaborates with institutions like MiDA and SHoF, leveraging microdata for policy-relevant analysis. Her academic contributions span journals and conferences, with a focus on bridging theoretical models with real-world economic challenges.
Dr. Changyou Chen is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York. His research focuses on Multi-Modal Learning Foundation Models Deep Generative Models Large-scale Bayesian Sampling with applications in document understanding, music-AI integration, and molecular representation learning. Research Trends revealed through his recent publications include Optimizing Multimodal Large Language Models Developing Novel Retrieval-Augmented Generation Frameworks Creating Benchmark Datasets for Visual Text Understanding Advancing Diffusion Models with Domain-Specific Constraints across domains from music sheets to biomedical documents. Scientific Contributions : UB Young Investigator Award (2020) Architect of LoCAL Framework for Long Document Understanding Co-developer of MusiXQA Benchmark Pioneering Work in Probability Contrastive Learning Academic Leadership includes mentoring 10+ graduate students and serving as Area Chair for major AI conferences (ICML, NeurIPS, AAAI, IJCAI). His Labs develop scalable solutions for multimodal reasoning, with recent work demonstrating practical GPU memory optimization through LoRA adapter sharing.
Marios Koutsias is a Senior Lecturer at Essex Law School, University of Essex, specializing in EU Commercial Law, Company Law, and Data Protection. He holds an LLB from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, an LLM in EU Law from the University of Essex, an MA in Politics and International Relations from King's College London, and a PhD in Law from the University of Essex. Prior to his academic career, he practiced as a lawyer on Greek Law and European Union Law in Thessaloniki and Brussels, and remains a member of the Thessaloniki Bar Association, Greece. His educational background includes: LLB from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece LLM in EU Law from University of Essex MA in Politics and International Relations from King's College, London PhD in Law from University of Essex Dr. Koutsias' research focuses on Company Law, Corporate Governance, Comparative Company Law, European Union Law with a special emphasis on the Internal Market, and Privacy and Data Protection. His work critically examines shareholder primacy versus stakeholder theory, the influence of national cultural identities on corporate governance frameworks, and the evolving landscape of data protection regulations in the digital economy. He has made significant contributions to understanding how Brexit might reshape European corporate governance paradigms and the tensions between commercial interests and privacy rights in global trade. His publication record reveals a strong interdisciplinary approach, connecting theoretical legal concepts with practical commercial applications. The research trends show increasing focus on post-Brexit regulatory alignment, stakeholder governance models, and data protection challenges in international commerce. His most recent 2025 article argues that Brexit should not sever UK-EU privacy regulatory connections to protect both trade interests and human rights. Dr. Koutsias supervises PhD students in Law with expertise in corporate governance frameworks across different jurisdictions. His current supervisees include Tioluwani Comfort Tioluwani and Iman Abdulrahman M Alfaraj, while he has successfully guided seven PhD students to completion since 2016, including Christina Gkampitsaki (awarded January 2024) and Tioluwani Comfort Tioluwani (awarded December 2023). His teaching responsibilities encompass Company Law (LW225), Law of the European Union (LW302), Final Year Research Project (LW304), Introduction to the Law of the European Union (LW430), Industry Placement (LW811), and Data Protection Law in the Digital Age (LW656). He has secured research funding including the 2019 Mondaq KTP 2 grant from Innovate UK. Dr. Koutsias has co-authored three significant books: 'Company Law in the New Europe' and 'The Nature of Corporate Governance: The Significance of National Cultural Identity' (both Edward Elgar Publishers), and 'Company Law' by Palgrave with Professor Janet Dine, which is considered one of the leading textbooks in the field. He also serves as a Specialist Contributor to Gore Brown on EU Company Law publications, demonstrating his recognized expertise in this specialized area.
Abdallah Houcheimi is a researcher at Åbo Akademi University's School of Business and Economics within the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. His work focuses on critical e-commerce mechanisms and emerging market digitalization challenges. His research expertise centers on online retailing ecosystems , with particular emphasis on: Secure payment system design and consumer trust dynamics Product information architecture for conversion optimization E-commerce adaptation in developing economies like Lebanon His work directly contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals related to industry innovation and infrastructure. Analysis of his recent publications reveals an evolving research trajectory from context-specific market studies (Lebanon 2022) toward fundamental e-tailing mechanics (global payment systems and product information 2024). This progression demonstrates increasing focus on universal digital commerce frameworks applicable across diverse regulatory and cultural environments. Houcheimi actively publishes in peer-reviewed venues including the Journal of Organizational Computing and Electronic Commerce and WorldCIST proceedings, with multiple open-access publications showing significant download metrics (70+ for payment systems paper). His collaborative work with J. Mezei indicates established research partnerships in information systems.
