Marian Verhelst

Marian Verhelst is a Professor at KU Leuven's Faculty of Engineering Science, renowned for her research in hardware-efficient computing and dedication to STEM education. Her work spans hardware acceleration for machine learning, edge AI, and in-memory computing, with a focus on energy optimization and algorithm-hardware co-design.

Her research interests include:

• Designing flexible hardware for ultra-low-power edge AI systems
• Optimizing sparsity-aware architectures for deep learning workloads
• Advancing chiplet-based and 3D memory technologies
• Co-designing algorithms and hardware for probabilistic AI
• Pioneering STEM outreach through KU Leuven InnovationLab

Recent publications (2023–2025) demonstrate strong trends in:

• Hardware-software co-optimization for edge ML systems
• Efficient data movement in heterogeneous accelerators
• Low-precision and sparse computation techniques
• RISC-V based customizable SoCs
• Sustainable AI accelerator design

Awards & Honors:

• Young Academy of Europe Award (2021) for science communication and STEM advocacy

She leads significant educational initiatives, including the KU Leuven InnovationLab which has engaged 150 schools and 13,000 students since 2014. The program develops hands-on STEM projects (e.g., AI-powered wheelchairs, sustainable energy systems) and provides teacher training to inspire youth in engineering.