Michael Carbin is the Jamieson Career Development Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and leads the MIT Programming Systems Group. His research focuses on programming systems that address system uncertainty to enhance performance, energy efficiency, and resilience, particularly in environments involving neural networks , approximate computing , and unreliable hardware . His work spans probabilistic programming , quantum computing , and machine learning systems . Articles highlight contributions in pruning neural networks , quantum data structures , and compiler optimization , reflecting trends in deep learning , formal verification , and language-driven systems . Scientific Awards : MIT Frank E. Perkins Award (2020) Sloan Research Fellowship (2020) Facebook Research Award (2019) NSF CAREER Award (2018) Best Paper Awards at OOPSLA (2013, 2014) He has advised numerous graduate students and postdocs including Eric Atkinson, Cambridge Yang, and Charles Yuan, and served on program committees for conferences like POPL, OOPSLA, and ICLR. His group collaborates with institutions such as MIT CSAIL and explores applications in quantum algorithms and probabilistic inference .
Florian Tramèr is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at ETH Zurich, Switzerland, leading research at the intersection of machine learning security, privacy, and AI safety. His work focuses on identifying and mitigating security vulnerabilities in machine learning systems, particularly in large language models and other AI systems. Tramèr's primary research interests include adversarial machine learning, membership inference attacks, privacy-preserving AI, and the security implications of large language models. His work has significantly advanced our understanding of how machine learning models memorize training data, how this memorization creates privacy risks, and how to evaluate the robustness of machine learning systems against various attacks. His recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on practical security challenges in deployed AI systems, including data extraction from language models, adversarial attacks against generative AI, and developing more rigorous evaluation methodologies for machine learning security. Tramèr's research has been published in top venues including ICLR, NeurIPS, ICML, and IEEE Security & Privacy. Tramèr is actively collaborating with leading researchers in the field including Nicholas Carlini, Matthew Jagielski, and Javier Rando, contributing to important initiatives like the International AI Safety Report. His work bridges theoretical security concepts with practical implications for real-world AI deployment.
Nate Foster is a Professor of Computer Science at Cornell University and currently serves as the Associate Dean for Research in the Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science. He is also a Visiting Researcher at Jane Street and served as a Visiting Professor at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne during the 2023-24 academic year. His research uses ideas from programming languages to solve problems in networking, databases, and security. BA in Computer Science, Williams College (2001) MPhil in History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge (2008, all work completed in 2003) PhD in Computer and Information Science, University of Pennsylvania (2009) Foster's research focuses on developing languages and tools that make it easy for programmers to build secure and reliable systems. His current work centers on the design and implementation of languages and tools for programmable networks, particularly using the P4 language. His past work includes bidirectional languages (also known as 'lenses'), database query languages, data provenance, type systems, mechanized proof, and formal semantics. His research group at Cornell has made significant contributions to network verification, software-defined networking, and formal foundations for programmable data planes. Analysis of Foster's recent publications reveals a strong focus on network verification and programming language foundations for networking. His work consistently applies formal methods to practical networking problems, with a particular emphasis on the NetKAT and P4 languages. Over the past five years, his research has evolved toward more complex network verification techniques, including infinite state verification, active learning of network models, and dependently-typed approaches to network programming. His work bridges theoretical computer science with practical networking systems, making formal methods accessible to network engineers. ACM Fellow (2025) ACM SIGPLAN Robin Milner Award (2023) ACM SIGCOMM Rising Star Award (2018) NSF CAREER Award (2013) Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship (2012) Multiple distinguished paper awards across top conferences including POPL, PLDI, and SIGCOMM Foster has advised numerous PhD and Master's students who have gone on to prominent positions in both industry and academia, with many continuing work in programming languages and networking. He has led multiple significant research grants including an NSF CAREER Award and has been involved in the P4 Language Consortium, serving as Chair of the P4 Language Governing Board. His work has been supported by various organizations including NSF, DARPA, and industry partners like Intel and Jane Street. Foster is also active in the programming languages research community, serving on numerous program committees and as Vice Chair of DARPA's Information Science and Technology (ISAT) study group. Foster leads a vibrant research group at Cornell focused on programming languages for networks, with collaborators from academia and industry. His group has developed several influential tools and frameworks including NetKAT, Petr4, and KATch. They maintain strong connections with the P4 community and work closely with industry partners to ensure their research has practical impact on real-world networking systems.
Bernhard J. Berger is a Lecturer in the Department of Computer Engineering at the Institute of Embedded Systems, Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH). His research focuses on software security, static code analysis, machine learning, optimization, and research data management. He has held significant roles such as Program Committee member for ICPC 2025 and MSR 2025, and has received awards including the Best Reviewer Award (ICPC 2023) and Best Engineering Paper Award (SCAM 2019). His work spans interdisciplinary applications including maritime systems security, GPU-accelerated AI, and evolutionary algorithms. Recent studies emphasize AI-driven security tools (e.g., ML-SAST) and domain-specific language approaches to optimization (EvoAl). He has contributed to over 30 peer-reviewed publications, with notable work in IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering and Science of Computer Programming. Berger collaborates closely with industry through DAAD review committees and serves on artifact evaluation boards for ISSTA and ARES conferences. Education: Doctoral Thesis (2022), Diploma in Computer Science (2007) Key Projects: ArchSec tool suite, Threat Modeling Frameworks, Bauhaus static analysis methodology Lab Affiliation: Embedded Systems Design Group His advisory roles include Deputy of TUHH's Election Verification Committee and Session Chair at IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation 2023. Current research trends integrate machine learning with static analysis for automated vulnerability detection, while also exploring explainable AI techniques for neural network optimization.
Prof. Alessandro Golkar is a Professor at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), leading the Chair of Picosatellites, Nanosatellites, and Satellite Constellations. He joined TUM in September 2022 and previously served as one of the founding faculty members at Skoltech, a Moscow-based graduate research university. His research focuses on advanced space mission concepts, systems engineering for picosatellites, and federated satellite systems. Prior to academia, he held roles at Airbus CTO, contributing to technology roadmapping and planning. His academic background includes expertise in aerospace engineering, systems design, and agile development methodologies for space hardware. Key research areas include CubeSat constellations, distributed satellite systems, and the integration of AI tools like Large Language Models (LLMs) into spacecraft design processes. He has pioneered projects such as the FSSCat mission, winner of the ESA Sentinel Small Satellite Challenge, and has explored applications of additive manufacturing for lunar missions. Prof. Golkar’s awards include the 2021 Karman Fellowship and IEEE Senior Membership (2018). His recent work emphasizes optimizing satellite networks, digital twin implementation, and orbital maneuvering for collision avoidance. He actively contributes to technology roadmapping, focusing on future human landing systems and lunar infrastructure development. Education: Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering (details not explicitly stated). Grants & Funding: Extensive grants for CubeSat projects, federated systems research, and space technology innovation. Labs/Teams: Leads the Chair’s research group at TUM and collaborates with industry partners like Airbus on advanced mission concepts. His publications span over two decades, addressing topics like constellation design, machine learning in space, and agile processes for hardware development. He advocates for hybrid agile methodologies to bridge traditional systems engineering and modern product development.
Nadia Polikarpova is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of California, San Diego . She earned her PhD from ETH Zurich in 2014 under Bertrand Meyer , followed by postdoctoral research at MIT CSAIL with Armando Solar-Lezama . Her academic contributions have been recognized with prestigious awards including the 2020 Sloan Fellowship , 2020 Intel Rising Stars Award , and 2020 NSF CAREER Award . Polikarpova's research focuses on program synthesis , program verification , and type systems . She leads the Programming Systems group at UCSD and contributes to the IFIP Working Group 2.8 on Functional Programming since 2022. Her work spans foundational research and practical tools, including projects like Synquid , SuSLik , and Laurel that combine formal methods with machine learning for code generation. Her recent publications in venues like OOPSLA , NeurIPS , and ICFP reveal trends in AI-assisted programming , live programming environments , and formal verification . She has advised numerous PhD and Master’s students including Shraddha Barke , Zheng Guo , and Tristan Knoth , many of whom have moved to prominent academic and industry positions. Notable artifacts from her lab include tools like ColDeco for spreadsheet inspection and Superfusion for eliminating intermediate data structures. 2020 : Sloan Fellow 2020 : Intel Rising Stars Award 2020 : NSF CAREER Award 2021 : Distinguished Paper at POPL 2023 : Distinguished Artifact at PLDI 2023 : Distinguished Paper at OOPSLA Polikarpova actively contributes to academic service, serving on program committees for PLDI , POPL , and OOPSLA , and co-chairing the OOPSLA Review Committee in 2023. She has delivered keynotes at APLAS'20 and PLDI'24 , emphasizing the integration of large language models with formal methods.
Julian McAuley is a Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of California, San Diego's Jacobs School of Engineering. His research spans recommender systems, machine learning, natural language processing, music information retrieval, and multimodal learning. He maintains an active research group with numerous PhD students and postdocs working on cutting-edge AI problems. His research interests focus on developing advanced algorithms for personalized recommendation systems, with particular emphasis on sequential recommendation, multimodal learning, and integrating large language models with traditional recommendation approaches. His work bridges the gap between theoretical machine learning and practical applications across multiple domains including e-commerce, music, and healthcare. McAuley has published extensively in top-tier conferences including NeurIPS, ICML, KDD, SIGIR, and ACL, with his most recent work exploring the intersection of large language models and recommendation systems. His publications reveal a strong trend toward multimodal approaches that combine text, vision, and audio for more comprehensive understanding and recommendation. He has received significant research funding from major technology companies including Google, Amazon, Facebook, Adobe, and Samsung, as well as government agencies like the National Science Foundation and Department of Defense. His work has practical applications across multiple industries, with a focus on improving user experience through better personalization. McAuley advises numerous PhD students who have gone on to successful careers at leading technology companies and academic institutions. His former students include Wang-Cheng Kang and Jianmo Ni at Google DeepMind, Chris Donahue and Zachary Lipton as assistant professors at CMU, and Ruining He at Google Deepmind.
Toby Jia-Jun Li is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Notre Dame, where he leads the SaNDwich Lab. He also serves as the Director of the Human-Centered Responsible AI Lab in the Lucy Family Institute for Data & Society and is a Faculty Fellow at the Institute for Educational Initiatives (IEI). Previously, he was affiliated with Carnegie Mellon University's Human-Computer Interaction Institute (HCII) and GroupLens Research. Dr. Li's research spans the intersection of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), End-User Software Engineering, Machine Learning (ML), and Natural Language Processing (NLP), with recent work focusing on addressing societal challenges in the future of work through human-AI collaborative approaches. His work has resulted in over 40 publications at premier venues including CHI, UIST, CSCW, ACL, and ICSE, with 8 papers winning Best Paper or Honorable Mention awards. His recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on human-AI collaboration across various domains, including code understanding, privacy, accessibility, and creative tools. The work shows a trajectory toward increasingly sophisticated integration of human-centered design with AI capabilities, particularly using large language models to enhance human productivity and address societal challenges. Google Research Scholar Award recipient Recipient of Yahoo! Fellowship ($100,000/year) Best Paper Award at UIST 2020 Best Paper Honorable Mention Award at CHI 2021 Best Paper Award at CSCW 2024 Best Paper Award at CHI 2025 Dr. Li actively mentors Ph.D. students and has established collaborations with Google, Microsoft Research, IBM Research, Adobe, Verizon, and J.P. Morgan. His research has been supported by NSF, Google Research Scholar Program, AnalytiXIN Initiative, Yahoo! InMind project, and J.P. Morgan. He is currently recruiting Ph.D. students and undergraduate researchers for his SaNDwich Lab, which focuses on developing interactive systems to empower individuals to create, configure, and extend AI-powered computing systems.
Assia Mahboubi is a tenured researcher ( directrice de recherche ) at INRIA in the Gallinette team, Nantes, France, and an endowed professor in the Algebra and Number Theory section of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands. Her work bridges theoretical computer science and formal mathematics, with significant contributions to proof assistants and formal verification. Her research focuses on the foundations and formalization of mathematics in type theory, particularly on the automated verification of mathematical proofs. She explores the interplay between computer algebra and formal proofs, and is a key contributor to the Rocq prover (formerly Coq) and the Mathematical Components libraries. Her work often examines how familiar mathematical objects can be optimally represented for computer-aided proof checking. Recent publications show a strong trend toward categorical reasoning, diagram chasing, and continuity properties in constructive type theory, with increasing focus on practical applications of formal methods in computational mathematics. Her work demonstrates the maturation of formal verification techniques from theoretical foundations to practical tools for mathematical research. ERC Consolidator grant for the FRESCO (Fast and Reliable Symbolic Computation) project Mahboubi actively supervises doctoral students including Vojtěch Štěpančík, Tomás Vallejos Parada, and Alain Chavarri Villarello. She has received significant research funding through her ERC Consolidator grant for the FRESCO project, which aims to develop fast and reliable symbolic computation techniques. She is deeply involved in the international research community, serving on program committees for major conferences including POPL, CPP, and ICFP. She leads research in the Gallinette team at INRIA, which focuses on the intersection of proof assistants, programming languages, and formal mathematics. Her work has helped establish formal verification as a practical tool for mathematical research, moving beyond theoretical foundations to real applications in computational mathematics.
Matthias Feurer is a Thomas Bayes Fellow and interim professor at the Chair of Statistical Learning and Data Science, funded by the Munich Center for Machine Learning (MCML) at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. He is a member of the Department of Statistics at LMU Munich, working under Prof. Dr. Bernd Bischl. His academic background includes: PhD in Computer Science from Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, supervised by Prof. Dr. Frank Hutter M.Sc. in Computer Science from the University of Freiburg B.Sc. in Computer Science and Media from the Media University Stuttgart Feurer's research focuses on simplifying machine learning usage through Automated Machine Learning (AutoML). His work encompasses hyperparameter optimization, meta-learning, and model selection, with increasing emphasis on multi-objective AutoML that considers factors beyond predictive performance such as interpretability, deployability, and fairness. He actively develops open-source tools to advance the field. His recent publications demonstrate a strong trajectory in practical AutoML systems, with growing attention to tabular machine learning, foundation models integration, and addressing real-world constraints in optimization. His work consistently bridges theoretical advances with practical implementations through several widely-used open-source projects. Notable achievements include: 1st place in the warmstarting-friendly leaderboard of the BBO NeurIPS challenge Winner of the 2nd AutoML challenge Winner of the kdnuggets blog contest on AutoML Feurer is actively mentoring and teaching, having advertised PhD positions focused on AutoML, optimization, and benchmarking. He co-founded the Open Machine Learning Foundation supporting OpenML.org. His upcoming move to TU Dortmund as an assistant professor in AutoML and Optimization signals continued growth in his academic career while maintaining his research focus on making machine learning more accessible and rigorous.
Benjamin Mako Hill is an Associate Professor in the University of Washington Department of Communication and an Adjunct Associate Professor in Human-Centered Design & Engineering , the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering , and the Information School at UW. He is a Faculty Associate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University and a Fellow at the Center for Information Technology Policy at Princeton University during the 2023–2024 academic year. Educational Background : PhD in an interdepartmental program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) , involving the MIT Sloan School of Management and the MIT Media Lab , advised by Eric von Hippel, Yochai Benkler, Tom Malone, and Mitch Resnick. MS in Media Arts and Sciences from MIT. B.A. in Technological and Legal History from Hampshire College . Research Interests span peer production, online communities, collective action, cooperation, learning, and computer-mediated communication. His work explores how communication and information technologies shape social outcomes in collaborative environments like Wikipedia and Linux, focusing on governance, moderation, anonymity, and educational platforms such as Scratch. Article Trends : His publications analyze peer production dynamics, privacy in open collaboration, and computational thinking in youth. Topics include underproduction in open source software, algorithmic fairness, taboo knowledge production, and legitimate peripheral participation in online communities. Methodologies combine big data, quasi-experimental, and comparative analyses. Scientific Awards : Dordick Award for Best Dissertation (2013). CHI '22 Best Paper Honorable Mention (2022). CSCW '18 Best Paper Honorable Mention (2018). CHI '17 Best Paper Honorable Mention (2017). CSCW '13 Best Paper Award (2013). CHI '11 Best Paper Honorable Mention (2011). Advising and Grants : He co-founded the Community Data Science Collective and collaborates with researchers like Aaron Shaw. Grants include multiple National Science Foundation awards for studies on digital knowledge commons, anonymous participation, and collaborative success, as well as a Sloan Foundation grant for modeling underproduction in peer production. Labs and Teams : He leads the Community Data Science Collective , an interdisciplinary research group studying online communities, and contributes to open-source projects like Debian and Ubuntu . He actively edits Wikimedia projects and participates in the Cascadia Wikimedians User Group .
Prof. Dr. Sebastian Steinhorst is an Associate Professor (W3-level with tenure) at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) within the Embedded Systems and Internet of Things group at the TUM School of Computation, Information and Technology . His research focuses on advancing the security, predictability, reliability, and interoperability of smart connected and autonomous systems, particularly for applications in Internet of Things (IoT) , Industry 4.0 , and automotive systems . PhD in Computer Science (2011) from Goethe University Frankfurt Postdoctoral roles at TUMCREATE Singapore (2011-2016) and Aarhus University (2016) Joined TUM in 2016 as Rudolf Moessbauer Tenure Track Professor His research areas include decentralized embedded systems, hardware/software co-design, modeling and verification of cyber-physical systems, security protocols for automotive networks, and time-sensitive networking (TSN) for industrial applications. Recent work explores blockchain-based data sovereignty, zero-knowledge proofs for vehicle authentication, and resilient architectures for autonomous systems. Key scientific contributions include the 2019 ACM TODAES Best Paper Award and pioneering work on CyberSecDome , LeapChain , and Simutack frameworks. He serves on editorial boards and conference committees, including co-organizing the Autonomous Systems Design initiative at DATE. His teaching portfolio spans lectures on System Design for IoT , Software Architecture for Distributed Systems , and IoT Security across multiple semesters. He also leads advanced seminars on embedded systems and IoT.
Prof. Dr. Andrea Stocco is a Professor at the Technische Universität München (TUM), affiliated with the TUM School of Computation, Information and Technology. His research focuses on the intersection of software engineering and deep learning, particularly addressing the robustness and reliability of data-intensive systems. Key areas include autonomous vehicles, web application testing, and automated functional oracles for deep learning systems. He leads initiatives such as the Lehrstuhl für Software und Systems Engineering , collaborating on projects like CrESt and SUPPRA – Algorand Center of Excellence . Research interests encompass monitoring techniques for AI-driven systems, test suite maintainability, and scenario-based testing of cyber-physical systems (CPS). His work emphasizes practical applications, such as improving testing frameworks for evolving web applications and enhancing interoperability in autonomous driving systems (ADS). Recent efforts include leveraging large language models (LLMs) for secure code assessment and benchmarking generative AI for test input generation. No scientific awards are explicitly mentioned in the provided texts. His publications reflect a strong focus on testing methodologies, with over 40 articles since 2013, covering domains like web test automation, dependency-aware testing, and safety-critical failure prediction in autonomous systems. Advising and grants details are not detailed in the current data, but his lab contributes to TUM's broader efforts in software engineering and systems reliability.
Stephen Meisenbacher is a Research Associate at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) , affiliated with the School of Computation, Information and Technology and the Department of Computer Science, I19 . He has been part of the Software Engineering for Business Information Systems (SEBIS) chair since March 2022. His research focuses on Privacy-Preserving Natural Language Processing (NLP) , Differential Privacy , and Privacy-Enhancing Technologies (PETs) , with a particular interest in their integration into software development and business applications. His work also explores Hybrid, Expert-Driven Classification Systems and Usable Privacy solutions. Stephen’s recent publications address trends in AI Privacy Risks , Text Rewriting with DP , Legal AI Use Cases , and Data Protection Compliance . He has contributed to GDPR-related research and PETs adoption in small enterprises. His teaching includes Natural Language Processing seminars and Software Engineering lecture courses for Master’s and Bachelor’s students at TUM. He also organizes Entrepreneurship for Small Software-Oriented Enterprises seminars. Stephen holds a Master’s in Informatics from TUM (DAAD Graduate Scholarship) and a Bachelor’s in Computer Science from the University of Notre Dame, with additional studies in German Language and Literature. Contact: stephen.meisenbacher@tum.de | LinkedIn
Dr. Yolanda Gil is a Research Professor in Computer Science and Spatial Sciences at the University of Southern California, where she serves as Principal Scientist and Senior Director for Strategic Initiatives in Artificial Intelligence and Data Science at the Information Sciences Institute (ISI). She is also the Director of AI and Data Science Initiatives in the Viterbi School of Engineering and leads the USC Center for Knowledge-Guided Interdisciplinary Data Science (CKIDS). Dr. Gil received her Licenciatura in Computer Science from the Polytechnic University of Madrid and her M.S. and Ph.D. in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University, with a focus on artificial intelligence and cognitive science. Her research focuses on developing AI approaches that use knowledge to accelerate scientific discovery processes. Her key research interests include knowledge capture and representation, semantic workflows, ontology tools, scientific discovery methods, task-based collaboration, provenance tracking, knowledge networks, reproducibility in science, and machine learning for data analysis. She collaborates with scientists across multiple domains to improve how scientific knowledge is created, shared, and used. Dr. Gil's work has significant impact across multiple scientific domains including climate science, neuroscience, and omics research. Her projects demonstrate her commitment to building knowledge-guided systems that transform how scientists conduct research. She has pioneered approaches to capture the provenance of scientific experiments and to automate the analysis of complex scientific data. Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) 24th President of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence Co-chair of the CRA/AAAI 20-Year Artificial Intelligence Research Roadmap for the US Initiator and leader of the W3C Provenance Group that resulted in a widely-used standard for web trust As an educator and leader, Dr. Gil directs the Data Science Program in Computer Science and serves as Co-Director of multiple joint MSc programs including Communication Data Science, Spatial Data Science, Environmental Data Science, Public Policy Data Science, and Healthcare Data Science. She also leads the new dual degree USC-Tsinghua University on Communication Data Science. Her leadership extends to mentoring numerous students and researchers in AI and data science. Through the USC Center for Knowledge-Guided Interdisciplinary Data Science (CKIDS), Dr. Gil organizes DataFest events each semester, fostering collaboration and innovation in data science across disciplines.
