Dr. Ke Chen is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Computer Science at The University of Manchester, leading the Machine Learning and Perception (MLP@UoM) Lab. His research focuses on machine learning, deep learning, reinforcement learning, and their applications in intelligent systems, computer vision, and audio/speech processing. He has supervised over 50 PhD students and holds editorial roles in journals like Neural Networks and IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks . Dr. Chen has received awards such as the NSFC Distinguished Principal Young Investigator Award (2001) and JSPS Research Award (1993). Education: PhD in Computer Science (1990), with academic positions at institutions including Peking University, The Ohio State University, and Kyushu Institute of Technology. His professional activities include roles in IEEE Computational Intelligence Society committees and external examiner roles at universities like Essex. Research interests span computational cognitive systems, biometric authentication, and video game AI. Key contributions include advancements in deep architectures, reinforcement learning, and speaker-specific feature extraction. His lab, MLP@UoM, explores topics like explainable AI and transfer learning. Recent publications (2024) include work on goal-conditioned reinforcement learning and bias-resilient algorithms. He is actively involved in international conferences, serving as a keynote speaker and program committee member.
Hoda Hassan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Information Sciences and Technology at George Mason University. Her work bridges theoretical and applied domains in computer networks, Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (MANETs), and the convergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT). Education : PhD in Computer Engineering from Virginia Tech (2010), MSc and BSc in Computer Science from the American University in Cairo (2005, 1992). Research Interests focus on designing intelligent and secure network systems. She has developed innovative frameworks, including a BLE computer-aided design toolkit for MANETs, which was commercialized by Skymind Malaysia. Her work spans AI integration in IoT, anomaly detection, cloud computing models, and network architecture evolution. Academic Leadership includes pioneering roles in founding The Knowledge Hub (TKH) Universities in Egypt and leading the Computing and Computer Science Program at Coventry University's UK offshore branch (2019–2022). Her research has been supported by a significant 2 million Egyptian Pound grant from ITAC Egypt (2015–2017).
Dr. Théo Winterhalter is a researcher at the Deducteam within INRIA Saclay and the Laboratoire de Méthodes Formelles (LMF) at École Normale Supérieure Paris-Saclay. Previously, he held a postdoctoral position at the Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy (MPI-SP) in Bochum, Germany. He completed his PhD in computer science at the University of Nantes under the supervision of Nicolas Tabareau and Matthieu Sozeau, focusing on the formalization and meta-theory of type theory. His research centers on proof assistants, particularly Coq, and involves advancing formal methods for security, type systems, and dependent type theory. Winterhalter's work includes contributions to the MetaCoq project, enabling meta-programming and formal reasoning about Coq itself. He is also involved in developing verified cryptographic frameworks like SSProve and SecRef*, ensuring secure integration of verified and unverified code. His educational background includes a PhD in type theory and prior work in cryptographic algorithms, such as randomized scalar multiplication. He actively participates in academic communities, serving on program committees for ICFP, TYPES, and POPL. His teaching includes co-teaching the MPRI course on proof assistants with Yannick Forster. Supervision activities include PhD student Yann Leray and multiple interns focusing on Coq extensions and formal verification.
Michael Sammler is an Assistant Professor leading the Programming Languages and Verification Group at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA). He holds a PhD from the Max Planck Institute for Software Systems (MPI-SWS) and was a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zürich. His research focuses on formal verification of low-level systems code, combining foundational proofs with automation. Key projects include RefinedC (C verification), Islaris (assembly code verification), and DimSum (multi-language interoperability). Education: PhD at MPI-SWS/Saarland Informatics Campus, postdoc at ETH Zürich. Research interests emphasize tool development for safety-critical systems, including Rust verification (RefinedRust), OCaml/C interoperability (Melocoton), and decentralized multi-language semantics (DimSum). Awards: Runner-Up for Informatics Europe 2024 Best Dissertation Award, Dr. Eduard Martin Prize, Distinguished Paper Awards at PLDI/POPL/USENIX, and Google PhD Fellowship. Labs/Teams: Programming Languages and Verification Group at ISTA, collaborations with MPI-SWS and international researchers. His work bridges foundational theory with practical tools for industry-relevant verification challenges.
Prof. Dr. Zeki Bayram is a full Professor and current Chairman of the Computer Engineering Department at Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU). He has served as the founding chairman of the Internet Technologies Research Center (2006) and chaired the departmental ABET committee from 2010 to 2023. His academic contributions span semantic web services, mobile payment systems, and XML-based technologies. Founded Cybersoft Bilişim Teknolojileri Limited, a dormant software company in North Cyprus Active in academic service, including thesis supervision and editorial roles Teaches courses on programming languages, automata theory, and software tools Research focuses on semantic web service composition, secure payment schemes, and declarative programming paradigms. His work integrates logic programming, constraint solving, and ontology engineering. Prof. Bayram has published extensively in journals and conferences since the 1990s, with notable contributions to formal methods in service-oriented architectures.
Whitney S. Rice, DrPH, MPH serves as Assistant Professor in the Department of Behavioral, Social, and Health Education Sciences at Emory University Rollins School of Public Health (RSPH), where she directs the Center for Reproductive Health Research in the Southeast (RISE). Her research program investigates social and structural determinants of sexual and reproductive health equity through participatory, justice-oriented frameworks utilizing mixed methods approaches. Her educational trajectory includes a BS from Georgia Institute of Technology, MPH from Emory University, DrPH from University of Alabama at Birmingham, and postdoctoral training at UAB. Dr. Rice teaches BSHES 540 - Research Methods and actively mentors emerging scholars through RISE's research training initiatives. Research interests center on: Structural drivers of reproductive health disparities Policy impacts on abortion and contraceptive access Intersectional stigma in HIV care for women Community-engaged health services research Reproductive justice frameworks in the U.S. South Her work consistently addresses marginalized populations with emphasis on racial equity and policy translation. Recent publications demonstrate methodological diversity spanning systematic reviews, policy evaluations, and qualitative analyses of post-Roe impacts, with strong geographic focus on Southern U.S. contexts and thematic emphasis on structural barriers to care, disinformation challenges, and community resilience strategies. Scientific recognition includes: 2019 Outstanding Young Professional Award (APHA Sexual and Reproductive Health Section) 2023 Inaugural RSPH Faculty Leadership Award 2024 BSHES Distinguished Teaching Award As RISE Director, Dr. Rice leads collaborative research initiatives examining reproductive health policy impacts while providing critical mentorship to junior investigators. Her media engagement—including the 'Health Wanted' podcast—translates research for public discourse on reproductive rights. Current work addresses evolving post-Roe landscapes through community-academic partnerships focused on actionable solutions for health equity.
Urs Hengartner is an Associate Professor at the Department of Computer Science, University of Waterloo. His research focuses on information privacy, computer and network security with emphasis on smartphones, IoT, and machine learning-based authentication systems. He holds a Ph.D. (2005) and M.Sc. (2003) from Carnegie Mellon University, and a Diploma from ETH Zürich (1997). His work spans Adaptive security attacks on ML systems Implicit user authentication frameworks Privacy-preserving technologies for location and genomic data Secure authentication systems resilient to voice/spoofing attacks Recent publication trends show a strong focus on adversarial attack detection (e.g., watermarking evasion, diffusion model attacks) and context-aware authentication systems . His frameworks like MRAAC and SHRIMPS address multi-stage authentication challenges in mobile ecosystems. Key contributions include frameworks for evaluating multi-user authentication systems (SHRIMPS), risk-aware access control (MRAAC), and novel defense strategies against collaborative robot traffic fingerprinting. His work bridges security mechanisms with user-centric design principles.
Yizhou Zhang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Waterloo. He holds a PhD and MS from Cornell University (2019 and 2016) and a BS from Shanghai Jiao Tong University (2012). His research focuses on programming languages, including design, implementation, and theory, with emphasis on formal methods, compiler optimization, and probabilistic programming. Education: PhD, Cornell University, 2019 MS, Cornell University, 2016 BS, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 2012 Research interests span programming language theory, compiler construction, and formal verification. His work explores topics like certified compilers, effect handlers, and probabilistic program analysis. Recent publications emphasize formal models for memoization, nested family polymorphism, and bidirectional control flow. His publications reflect contributions to probabilistic programming semantics, compiler optimization techniques, and type systems. No scientific awards are explicitly listed. Advising and grant details are not provided in the text. Zhang’s research often intersects with formal methods and practical compiler implementation challenges.
Nelson Nicolas Higuera Ruiz is a PreDoc Researcher at the Vienna University of Technology, affiliated with the Faculty of Informatics' Knowledge-Based Systems research group. His work bridges logic programming and deep learning for explainable AI. Research Focus: Neurosymbolic AI, Visual Question Answering (VQA), Answer Set Programming (ASP), and hybrid reasoning systems Projects: Leads optimization research in the LCS (2017–2025) project, developing neurosymbolic approaches for intelligent systems Key Contributions: Pioneering adaptive large-neighbourhood search algorithms for ASP optimization, modular neurosymbolic architectures, and contrastive explainability frameworks for VQA Collaborations: Active in international workshops and conferences including IJCAI, AAAI, and CLeaR, frequently collaborating with researchers like Thomas Eiter and Johannes Oetsch Publications: Focus on neurosymbolic integration, optimization algorithms, and explainability across AI, logic programming, and computer vision domains
Katerina Sotiraki is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Yale University, associated with the Archimedes AI research group. Her work focuses on theoretical cryptography, post-quantum cryptography, complexity theory, and secure computation. She holds a Ph.D. (2020) and M.S. (2016) in Computer Science from MIT, and a B.S. in Applied Mathematics (2013) from the National Technical University of Athens. Prior to Yale, she was a postdoc at UC Berkeley working with Raluca Ada Popa and Alessandro Chiesa, under the guidance of Vinod Vaikuntanathan at MIT. Research Interests : Design and analysis of cryptographic protocols resilient to quantum computing Efficient zero-knowledge proofs and succinct arguments Algorithmic game theory and fair division problems Lattice-based cryptography and post-quantum security Awards & Honors : Winner of 7th iDASH Competition (Track 3) - 2018 Chateaubriand Fellowship - 2018 Paris C. Kanellakis Fellowship (MIT EECS) - 2013 Key Contributions : Developed HOLMES - a system for secure collaborative learning Pioneered lattice-based succinct arguments with polylogarithmic verification Advanced understanding of modulo-p arguments through topological methods Labs & Teams : Active member of the Archimedes AI group at Yale, focusing on secure computation and cryptographic protocols.
Robert Soulé is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering at Yale University, and holds an Adjunct Professor position at the Università della Svizzera italiana (USI) in Lugano, Switzerland. His research focuses on distributed systems, networking, and applied programming languages, with notable contributions to in-network computing, consensus protocols, and energy-efficient systems. He received his B.A. from Brown University and his Ph.D. from New York University, followed by postdoctoral work at Cornell University. Education: B.A. in Computer Science, Brown University, 1999 Ph.D. in Computer Science, New York University, 2012 Research Interests: Dr. Soulé’s work spans distributed systems, networking, and programming languages, emphasizing practical systems such as in-network computing, consensus algorithms (e.g., NetPaxos), and carbon-aware networking. His research bridges theory and practice, addressing challenges in scalability, performance, and sustainability. Articles Trends: Recent work includes innovations in quantum networks (algebraic specifications), carbon-aware networking (energy efficiency), and system optimization (e.g., P4-based data plane verification). He explores network programmability, microservices acceleration, and zero-copy serialization techniques. Awards: Best Paper Awards at ACM DEBS 2012, NSDI 2018, and CoNEXT 2020 Google Faculty Research Award IBM Invention Plateau Award Advising and Grants: He has advised numerous PhD students and postdocs, including Pietro Bressana (Intel Corporation) and Theo Jepsen (Stanford Postdoc). His grants support projects in networked systems, distributed computing, and sustainable infrastructure. Labs/Teams: Active in Yale’s Systems Research group, collaborating on projects like NetChain (sub-RTT coordination) and P4-based systems (e.g., P4xos for consensus). Engages with industry through partnerships on microservices optimization and energy-efficient networking.
Joost-Pieter Katoen is a full Professor at RWTH Aachen University and Head of its Computer Science Department since 2012. He also holds a part-time (20%) Professorship at the University of Twente . His research focuses on model checking , probabilistic verification , formal semantics , and software verification , with applications in aerospace systems. His work has led to significant tools like MRMC (probabilistic model checker), COMPASS (AADL analysis tool-set), and libalf (learning automata library). He has authored over 18 international projects (total €5.2 million) and graduated 12 PhD students. Scientific Awards : Member, German National Academy of Sciences (Leopoldina), 2024 ACM Fellow, 2020 ERC Advanced Grant, 2018 Honorary doctorate, Aalborg University, 2017 Teaching Award, RWTH Aachen, 2010 Philips Early Career Development Award, 1988 Research Trends (from articles): His recent work spans probabilistic program verification , quantitative game theory , Markov chain analysis , and parameter synthesis for stochastic systems, with applications in AI, quantum computing, and fault tree analysis. Leadership & Service : Katoen co-founded the QEST conference , chairs ETAPS steering committee, and has led numerous program committees (CONCUR, TACAS, QEST). He has served on editorial boards and organized conferences/seminars globally.
Benjamin Lev is a Professor in the Department of Decision Sciences and Management Information Systems (DS&MIS) at the LeBow College of Business, Drexel University. He previously served as Trustee Professor (2014–2021) and Department Head (2009–2014) at Drexel. His academic leadership extends to prior roles as Professor, Department Head, and Dean at the University of Michigan-Dearborn (1990–2009), Professor and Department Head at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (1987–1990), and Professor and Department Head at Temple University (1970–1987). He has held short appointments at institutions in China and the U.S., including the Wharton School and Tel Aviv University. Lev’s research spans Operations Research, Management Science, and Decision Sciences , with expertise in mathematical programming, operations planning, inventory control, supply chain management, and optimization under uncertainty. His recent work focuses on applications in disaster management, sustainable supply chains, AI in operations, water resource allocation, and emergency logistics. He has published over 150 journal articles and authored or edited 18 books, with a strong emphasis on real-world problem-solving using quantitative methods. The trends in his recent publications (2022–2025) reflect a focus on complex optimization under uncertainty , particularly in humanitarian logistics, environmental sustainability, and digital commerce. His work frequently employs advanced methodologies such as bi-level programming, stochastic optimization, fuzzy logic, and data envelopment analysis (DEA), often applied to critical societal challenges like disaster response, air pollution, and resource scarcity. Lev is an INFORMS Fellow (2003) and has received several honors, including the 2023 Top Cited Article award in Naval Research Logistics and the 2023 First Prize from the Jiangxi Province Social Science Outstanding Achievement Award. His editorial leadership is most notably demonstrated by his 23-year tenure as Editor-in-Chief (2002–2025) of OMEGA – The International Journal of Management Science , one of the premier journals in the field. He has advised numerous scholars and presented his work globally, particularly on his experience as EiC of OMEGA . He has been actively involved in academic collaborations, especially in China, serving on advisory boards and as an external reviewer for institutions like Sichuan University. He has also received significant grant funding from the U.S. National Institutes of Health, U.S. Public Health Service, and U.S. Air Force for research in medical information systems and operations research applications. Lev has been instrumental in organizing major international conferences and has served on the editorial boards of over 20 journals, including Interfaces, IIE Transactions, OR Journal, and Financial Innovation . His role as Vice President of TIMS and INFORMS further underscores his leadership in the global operations research community.
Daniel Frumin is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Fundamental Computing Science at the University of Groningen, affiliated with the Bernoulli Institute. His research focuses on Logic, Type Theory, and Program Verification, with a particular emphasis on formal methods for concurrency, type systems, and homotopy type theory. He has contributed to foundational work in denotational semantics, modular programming language design, and mechanized verification of concurrent systems. His expertise includes the application of logical frameworks to concurrency models, such as ReLoC (Relational Logic for Concurrent Programming) and the integration of type theories with operational semantics. Recent work explores guarded interaction trees, interval domains in homotopy type theory, and compositional security properties for fine-grained systems. Frumin has published extensively in top-tier venues like ESOP, CONCUR, and ACM POPL, with peer-reviewed contributions on topics ranging from bunched implications in session-based concurrency to formal verification of data structures like concurrent queues. His research often bridges theoretical computer science and practical formal verification, leveraging tools like Coq for mechanized proofs. Collaborations include projects with institutions such as Aarhus University (Denmark) and the University of Bologna, focusing on univalent foundations, categorical semantics, and security verification. His work is supported by grants from the Dutch Research Council (NWO) and industry partnerships like Meta's Folly Library verification efforts. Labs/Teams: Active contributor to the Bernoulli Institute's Formal Methods Group and the Univalent Foundations initiative. His research group specializes in applying type-theoretic and categorical methods to concurrency and verification challenges.
Eunsuk Kang is an Associate Professor in the Software and Societal Systems Department at Carnegie Mellon University's School of Computer Science. Their research focuses on the intersection of software engineering and formal methods, emphasizing rigorous modeling and analysis techniques to create safe, secure, and reliable systems. PhD in Computer Science from MIT Postdoctoral scholar at NSF ExCAPE program Former connected vehicles researcher at Toyota Their research interests span software design, requirements engineering, modeling, specification and verification, system safety, security, and cyber-physical systems (CPS). Recent projects explore robustness in evolving environments, specification engineering, automated reasoning for complex systems, and safety/resilience mechanisms in ML-based CPS. Publications highlight advancements in Signal Temporal Logic decomposition, LTL specification learning, and requirement-driven adaptation frameworks. Selected scientific contributions include: tl;dr: Chill, y’all – AI will not devour SE (Onward! Essays 2024): Critical perspective on AI integration in software engineering FairSense (ICSE 2025): Long-term fairness analysis for ML-enabled systems AlloyMax (ESEC/FSE 2021): Relational specification satisfaction techniques As an educator, Kang teaches graduate courses in software design and formal methods, including: 17-423/723: Designing Large-Scale Software Systems 17-614 & 624: Formal Methods 17-445/645: Software Engineering for AI-enabled Systems 17-651: Models of Software Systems Service activities include: Program co-chair for SEAMS 2026 Co-organizer of Dagstuhl Seminar on Specification Engineering Co-organizer of International Workshop on Designing Software Program committee member for ICSE, OOPSLA, ASE, and specialized conferences Notable research collaborations include work with: Ben-hau Chia (PhD student) Parv Kapoor (PhD student) Yiliang (Leo) Liang (PhD student) Sumon Biswas (Postdoc) Rômulo Meira-Góes (Postdoc)
