Prof Raphaël Phan is a Professor and Deputy Head of the School of IT at Monash University Malaysia. His expertise spans security, cryptography, malicious AI, emotion recognition, motion analysis, and generative AI. He has published over 220 papers and led significant projects including privacy-preserving data mining funded by UK MoD and Malaysian government grants exceeding RM4 million. He co-designed the BLAKE hash function (SHA-3 finalist) and has an h-index of 50. Education: PhD in Cryptography (Multimedia University, 2005), MEngSci (2001), BEng (Hons) Computer Engineering (1999). Research focuses on adversarial AI, brain networks, and secure systems. Current projects include Æmbience: emotion-aware virtual assistants using motion magnification. Supervised 15 PhD graduates and 19 current students. Professional affiliations: Chartered Engineer (IET, UK), HEA Fellow, Board of Engineers Malaysia. Recent work emphasizes causal bias detection in micro-expressions, brain tumor detection via advanced YOLOv8, and generative adversarial networks for medical imaging. His work bridges cybersecurity with neuroscience applications.
Lars O. Nord is a Professor in the Department of Energy and Process Engineering at NTNU, specializing in thermal energy systems, CO2 capture technologies, and dynamic process modeling. He holds a PhD from NTNU (2010) and a Master's from Virginia Tech (2001). His research focuses on power cycles, turbomachinery optimization, and decarbonization strategies for energy systems. Nord has led projects such as DEXPAND and InnCapPlant, addressing CO2 capture under variable loads and expander efficiency in renewable systems. Current roles: Head of the Thermal Energy research group and teaches courses like Engineering Thermodynamics. Research highlights include thermal energy storage integration, moving bed adsorption processes, and offshore hybrid energy systems. His work spans over 80 publications, emphasizing CO2 capture dynamics, turbine design, and control strategies for flexible power plants. Notable collaborations include SINTEF and Aker Solutions. Nord advises multiple PhD candidates and has mentored alumni now leading roles in industry and academia.
Jonathan Hauenstein is the Robert and Sara Lumpkins Collegiate Professor in the Department of Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Notre Dame, serving as Department Chair. He holds a Ph.D. from Notre Dame (2009) and M.S. from Miami University (2005). His research focuses on numerical algebraic geometry and computational methods for solving nonlinear equations, implemented in the Bertini software package. Applications span engineering, ecology, sports science, and machine learning. Education: Ph.D., Applied and Computational Mathematics, University of Notre Dame (2009) M.S., Mathematics, Miami University (2005) Research Interests: Development of numerical algorithms for polynomial systems, real algebraic geometry, and scientific computing. Key areas include homotopy continuation methods, parameter space decomposition, and applications in mechanism design, ecological modeling, and sports biomechanics. His work bridges theoretical mathematics with practical computational tools. Awards: Sloan Research Fellowship DARPA Young Faculty Award Army Research Office Young Investigator Award Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award College of Science Research Award Advising & Grants: Advised numerous undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers. Active in securing grants for computational mathematics projects, including NSF-funded initiatives. His work emphasizes interdisciplinary collaboration between mathematics and engineering. Labs/Teams: Leads computational algebraic geometry research groups at Notre Dame, focusing on software development (e.g., Bertini) and numerical methods innovation.
Affiliations & Roles Professor of Computer and Information Science at University of Pennsylvania Faculty in Graduate Groups: Bioengineering (School of Engineering) Genomics & Computational Biology (School of Medicine) Operations, Information & Decisions (Wharton School) Psychology (School of Arts & Sciences) Research Affiliations: Annenberg Public Policy Center (Distinguished Fellow) Center for Cognitive Neuroscience Institute for Translational Medicine Research Interests Focuses on explainable AI, natural language processing (NLP), and machine learning applications in psychology and medicine. Key areas include: Language analysis for well-being and mental health Spectral methods for NLP (e.g., Eigenwords) Forecasting and decision-making models Bioinformatics and genomics Teaching Teaches advanced courses in Machine Learning, Deep Learning, and AI ethics, including: CIS 5200: Machine Learning CIS 5220: Deep Learning CIS 6200: Advanced Topics in Deep Learning Key Collaborations Works with interdisciplinary teams on projects like the Good Judgment Project (forecasting) and WWBP (Well-Being and Language). Collaborators include Martin Seligman (positive psychology), Dean Foster (statistics), and Michael Collins (NLP).
Guangyu Cao is a Professor at the Department of Energy and Process Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). He holds leadership roles in multiple international organizations, including the European standards working group CEN TC156 WG18, REHVA's technical committee, and the editorial board of the Journal of Building Engineering (Impact Factor 5.318). His research focuses on indoor airflow dynamics, ventilation systems in healthcare settings, and airborne disease transmission mitigation, with a strong emphasis on surgical environments and school buildings. Education: PhD in Energy Engineering (2009), Helsinki University of Technology Senior Researcher at VTT Technical Research Center (2009-2014) Research Interests: Hospital ventilation optimization, thermal comfort in clinical settings, airborne infection control, and sustainable building environmental quality. He combines experimental studies with mathematical modeling to evaluate ventilation strategies, particularly in operating rooms and isolation wards. Projects: EU Marie Curie DTN HumanIC (2024–2027) EU H2020 iclimabuilt (2021–2025) NFR POSIred (2020-2024) Labs/Teams: Collaborates with St. Olav's Hospital on indoor environment projects and leads teams in Cold Climate HVAC and Healthy Building Europe initiatives.
Brian K. Arbic is a Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Michigan. He holds a PhD in Physical Oceanography from MIT/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (2000) and a BS in Mathematics and Physics from the University of Michigan (1988). His research focuses on global ocean dynamics, including internal tides, gravity waves, mesoscale eddies, and tsunamis. He collaborates with institutions like NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab, NOAA, and international partners to advance ocean modeling and satellite missions (e.g., SWOT and S-MODE). Arbic leads capacity-building initiatives such as the Coastal Ocean Environment Summer School in Ghana and co-founded EquiSea, promoting equitable access to ocean science. He is a key contributor to UNESCO's Ocean Decade Challenge 9, addressing global disparities in ocean science capacity. Education: PhD, Physical Oceanography, MIT/Woods Hole, 2000 BS, Mathematics and Physics, University of Michigan, 1988 Research Interests: Internal tides and gravity wave dynamics Air-sea interactions and surface tides Mesoscale eddy energetics Tsunami modeling and paleotsunamis Global climate modeling Key Collaborations: NASA SWOT/S-MODE missions US Naval Research Laboratory, NOAA GFDL International institutions (Mercator Modeling Center, LANL) Initiatives: Coastal Ocean Environment Summer School (COESS) Global Ocean Corps and EquiSea Fund UNESCO Ocean Decade Challenge 9 Arbic's work bridges advanced modeling with global capacity development, emphasizing equitable access to ocean science resources and education.
Sharad Malik is the George Van Ness Lothrop Professor of Engineering at Princeton University's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. His research focuses on designing functionally correct and secure computing systems, combining system design with mathematical modeling for verification. He pioneered the Instruction-Level Abstraction (ILA) model for SoC verification and has contributed extensively to Boolean satisfiability (SAT) solvers. Education: PhD (1990), M.S. (1987) in Computer Science from UC Berkeley; B.Tech. (1985) in Electrical Engineering from IIT Delhi. Research Interests: Formal Verification of Digital Systems Hardware Security and Trust Boolean Satisfiability Solvers System-on-Chip (SoC) Design Accelerator-rich Platform Architectures Notable Achievements: IEEE CEDA A. Richard Newton Technical Impact Award (2017) 2013 IEEE/ACM DAC Most Cited Paper Award Princeton President’s Distinguished Teaching Award (2009) Advising & Labs: Leads the Malik Group, advising over 50 graduate students and postdocs. Active in postdoc recruitment and mentorship programs.
Akihiko Nishimura is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biostatistics at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He holds a PhD from Duke University (2017) and MS and BS degrees from Stanford University (2011 and 2010). His research focuses on Bayesian methods, statistical computing, and public health data science, with applications in precision medicine and observational health data analytics. PhD, Duke University, 2017 MS, Stanford University, 2011 BS, Stanford University, 2010 Nishimura's research centers on developing advanced statistical and computational methodologies for real-world health data. His work emphasizes Bayesian inference, large-scale computing, and software development for reproducible research. He is particularly interested in using observational health data to improve clinical decision-making and advance precision medicine. He co-leads the Bayesian Learning and Spatio-Temporal modeling group (BLAST Group) and the inHealth/OHDSI Lab , collaborating with clinicians and data scientists across institutions. His recent publications reflect a strong trend in methodological innovation in Monte Carlo methods (e.g., Hamiltonian and Zigzag samplers), scalable Bayesian inference, and applications in pharmacovigilance, diabetes management, and infectious disease modeling. The articles span disciplines including biostatistics, computational statistics, public health, and bioinformatics, demonstrating a consistent focus on high-impact, computationally intensive problems in health data science. Nishimura actively contributes to the scientific community through methodological development and open science. He develops statistical software and shares teaching materials on GitHub, emphasizing reproducibility and performant computing. His involvement in the OHDSI community enables large-scale, multi-institutional studies that would not be feasible with single-source data. His work has been recognized through publications in top-tier journals such as the Journal of the American Statistical Association , Biometrika , and JAMA Ophthalmology , and has been picked up by numerous news outlets and social media platforms, indicating broad scientific and public impact. Nishimura teaches courses on performant statistical computing and advanced Monte Carlo methods, training the next generation of data scientists in efficient algorithm and software design. He mentors students and collaborators in statistical methodology and software development, fostering a culture of rigorous, reproducible, and impactful research.
Prof. Dr. Martin Burger is a leading scientist at DESY and a Full Professor in the Department of Mathematics at Universität Hamburg, where he leads the Computational Imaging Group. His research bridges applied mathematics, imaging sciences, and machine learning, with a focus on inverse problems, mathematical modeling, and partial differential equations. He has held professorial positions at Universität Münster and FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg prior to his current dual appointment. Full Professor, Universität Hamburg (2023–present) Leading Scientist, DESY, Hamburg (2023–present) Full Professor, FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg (2018–2023) Full Professor, Universität Münster (2006–2018) His research interests include inverse problems, variational regularization, optimal transport, kinetic models, and mathematical modeling in biology and social sciences. He has made significant contributions to imaging reconstruction, sparse neural networks, and the analysis of transformer architectures. His work often integrates theoretical analysis with computational methods, influencing both pure and applied mathematics. The most recent articles reflect a strong trend toward interdisciplinary applications, combining deep learning with PDE-based modeling, analyzing social and biological systems via kinetic and mean-field models, and advancing mathematical imaging through graph-based and optimal transport methods. His publications span high-impact venues in applied mathematics and computational science. Calderon Prize, Inverse Problems International Association (IPIA) ERC Consolidator Grant (2014) Invited speaker at ECM (2021), ICM (2022), and ICIAM (2023) Editor-in-Chief, European Journal of Applied Mathematics (since 2017) Prof. Burger has supervised numerous PhD students and postdoctoral researchers, many of whom appear as co-authors in his publications. His research is supported by major grants, including funding from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). He is actively involved in collaborative projects across mathematics, physics, and engineering disciplines. He leads the Computational Imaging Group at DESY, fostering a collaborative environment for developing novel mathematical tools in imaging science. The group works on both theoretical foundations and practical implementations, contributing to advancements in tomography, machine learning, and data analysis.
Sara Vinco is an Associate Professor at the Department of Control and Computer Engineering (DAUIN), Politecnico di Torino, Italy. She specializes in battery simulation, digital twins, and energy-efficient design automation for heterogeneous embedded systems, aligning with Industrial and Information Engineering (Area 0009) and ERC sectors including Computer Architecture and Machine Learning . Her research focuses on advancing cyber-physical systems through simulation frameworks like SystemC-AMS, enabling holistic modeling of analog, digital, and thermal domains. Key projects include data-driven digital twins for EV batteries and low-area digital circuits in industrial/medical applications, supported by commercial contracts such as C-based virtual prototyping. Her recent publications (2022-2023) emphasize machine learning for battery SOH/SOC estimation , energy monitoring in production lines , and multi-domain fault modeling . These works span journals like IEEE Transactions and conferences including DATE and ISLPED. Awarded the FFABR 2017 grant and IEEE FDL Best Paper Award 2011 , she also chairs editorial boards for IEEE Transactions on CAD and DATE Conference. She supervises PhD students Giovanni Pollo (Digital Circuits) and Khaled Alamin (EV Battery Twins), reflecting her leadership in smart systems design.
Remus Teodorescu is a Professor at AAU Energy , Aalborg University , specializing in Power Electronics System Integration and Materials . His work bridges Lithium-Ion Batteries , Modular Multilevel Converters , and Smart Battery Systems . Education : Not explicitly mentioned in the text. Research Interests focus on Battery Management Systems , AI-Driven Energy Optimization , and Power Electronics for renewable energy integration. Key projects include Digital Twin for Lithium-Ion Batteries and BMS-DC for Data Centers . Recent Publications (2025) emphasize Finite Set MPC , Gradient Descent Optimization , and AI in Battery Parameter Estimation . His 2024 work explores Physics-Informed Neural Networks and Fault-Tolerant Converters . Scientific Awards : Villum Foundation Grant (313 million kroner, 2021) Named world's best in electrical engineering (2023) Advising includes supervising PhD projects on AI-Accelerated Battery Twins and Data-Driven SOH Estimation . Collaborations span Energy Cluster Denmark and Villum Fonden .
Rahul Kapoor is a Professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he also serves as the Chair of the Management Department. His research focuses on innovation management, business ecosystems, and technology strategy, with a particular emphasis on how firms navigate technological and organizational challenges in dynamic industries. University: University of Pennsylvania School: Wharton School Department: Management Department Academic Rank: Professor His research explores the interplay between organizational design, external collaboration, and innovation outcomes. Recent work includes studies on forecasting strategies, ecosystem interdependencies, and the role of setbacks in technology development. He has contributed to leading journals such as Strategic Management Journal and Research Policy , with a recurring focus on technology ecosystems and modular innovation. Kapoor’s research spans both theoretical and applied dimensions. He has examined how firms can optimize value creation in business ecosystems, the impact of organizational design on invention sourcing, and the dynamics of technology emergence. His studies often integrate historical case analyses and simulation models to uncover patterns in innovation management. Scientific Awards: Inaugural Academy of Management Emerging Scholar Award Strategic Management Journal Best Paper Prize Wharton Teaching Excellence Award (multiple years) Editorial Roles: Associate Editor, Strategic Management Journal Contributing Editor, Strategy Science Teaching: Undergraduate, MBA, Executive MBA, and PhD courses on technology and innovation strategy Leadership in Wharton’s Executive Education programs He has advised firms on innovation initiatives and draws on over seven years of industry experience in high-tech, including roles at Texas Instruments and co-founding a startup, to inform his academic work.
Prof. Dr. Bernd Skiera is a leading Marketing Professor at Goethe University Frankfurt since 1999 and a member of the managing board of the efl - The Data Science Institute. His work bridges information systems and marketing, with a focus on data-driven decision making and digital transformation.
Cem Say is a Professor in the Department of Computer Engineering at Boğaziçi University's Faculty of Engineering, where he has established himself as a leading researcher in theoretical computer science and artificial intelligence. His academic journey began with the completion of his doctoral dissertation titled Qualitative System Identification in 1992, which was the first thesis of Boğaziçi University's Computer Engineering PhD program. Professor Say's research interests span multiple domains of computer science, with significant contributions to quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and theoretical computer science. His early work focused on qualitative reasoning and simulation, particularly through the QSIM algorithm, where he made significant improvements to filtering techniques and addressed challenges in representing physical systems. Over time, his research evolved toward quantum computation, where he has made substantial contributions to quantum finite automata theory, space-bounded quantum computation, and quantum complexity classes. His recent work explores the energy complexity of computation, bridging theoretical computer science with thermodynamics. His publication record shows a clear evolution from classical AI and qualitative reasoning toward quantum computation. The most recent articles demonstrate his focus on space-bounded quantum computation, energy complexity of regular languages, and interactive proof systems with minimal resources. His work consistently addresses fundamental questions about computational limits, particularly in quantum and sublogarithmic-space models. Professor Say has also made significant contributions to science communication through several books written for general audiences, including 50 Soruda Yapay Zekâ (2018), Yeni Dünya, Yeni Ağ (2020), and En Hakiki Mürşit (2021), which explain complex concepts in artificial intelligence and scientific methodology in accessible terms. Throughout his career, Professor Say has been actively involved in the Turkish academic community, editing proceedings for multiple Turkish symposia on artificial intelligence and neural networks. His doctoral dissertation established foundational work in qualitative system identification, and his subsequent research has consistently pushed boundaries in theoretical computer science, particularly in quantum computation where he has collaborated extensively with Abuzer Yakaryılmaz and other researchers.
Dr. Alastair Key serves as Director of Studies in Archaeology and Official Fellow in Archaeology at Queens' College, University of Cambridge. His research bridges Paleolithic archaeology, stone tool technology, and hominin behavioral evolution through experimental and computational approaches. Director of Studies and Official Fellow at Queens' College, Cambridge Specializes in Paleolithic stone tool analysis, Acheulean technology, and hominin adaptation Conducts experimental archaeology and computational modelling to assess tool functionality Key's research focuses on Acheulean handaxe production , lithic microwear patterns , and ergonomic constraints in prehistoric tool use . He has extensively published on topics including glacial-stage hominin occupations , Oldowan toolmakers , and machine learning applications to archaeological analysis . His recent publications (2025-2023) span diverse subfields: Acheulean chronology , hominin tool use biomechanics , experimental projectile testing , and computational morphometric methods . The work often integrates multidisciplinary datasets and open-source analytical tools to address fundamental questions about human technological evolution. Current research directions include stone tool sharpness quantification , handaxe social signaling potential , and cross-species tool use comparisons through primate studies.
