Mark Y. Liberman is the Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Linguistics and Trustee Professor at the University of Pennsylvania. He holds a joint appointment in the Department of Linguistics and the Department of Computer and Information Science. His roles include Director of the Linguistic Data Consortium (LDC), Faculty Director of Ware College House, and former Director of the Institute for Research in Cognitive Science. Education: A.B. in Linguistics and Applied Mathematics from Harvard University (1965–1969), M.S. (1972) and Ph.D. (1975) in Linguistics from MIT. Research focuses on corpus-based phonetics, clinical linguistics applications, tonal phonology, formal models for linguistic annotation, and computational linguistics. He explores speech production, prosody, and interdisciplinary topics like language evolution and neurobiology of speech. Recent articles highlight advancements in speech biomarkers for neurodegenerative diseases, autism analysis, and computational linguistics. Awards include Fellowships from the AAAS and Linguistic Society of America. He advises graduate students and leads large-scale language resource initiatives like LDC, contributing to open-access linguistic datasets. Labs/Teams: Linguistic Data Consortium (LDC), Institute for Research in Cognitive Science (IRCS), and collaborations in computational linguistics and neuroscience.
Claire Bowern is Professor of Linguistics at Yale University specializing in historical linguistics, language documentation, and Australian Indigenous languages. Her research employs computational phylogenetics to study language evolution and supports language revitalization through digital archives and fieldwork methodologies. Recent publications address: Phylogenetic signal in lexical evolution across language families Digital infrastructure for endangered language documentation (FLEx software analysis) Decolonizing linguistics pedagogy and research practices Her work consistently integrates linguistic, anthropological, and computational approaches to analyze language diversity and change. She contributes to global databases including Grambank and D-PLACE, examining links between linguistic, cultural, and environmental patterns.
Professor Bernd Möbius is a leading academic in Phonetics and Phonology at the Department of Language Science and Technology, Saarland University. His research bridges phonetic theory with speech technology applications, focusing on text-to-speech systems, prosody modeling, and computational simulations of speech processes. Current research projects: DFG SFB 1102, C1: Information density and phonetic structure predictability DFG SFB 1102, C4: Slavic intercomprehension and surprisal theory (INCOMSLAV) Research Themes: Key areas include text-to-speech synthesis, speech prosody analysis, experimental methods in speech production/perception, information density in phonetics, and cross-linguistic studies of Slavic-Germanic languages. Scientific Contributions: Recent work explores Parkinson-induced dysarthria detection, breath noise acoustics, surprisal-driven speech behaviors, multilingual BERT models for idiomaticity, and perceptual consequences of acoustic adjustments.
Meredith Tamminga is an Associate Professor of Linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania, where she directs the Language Variation and Cognition Lab . Her work bridges sociolinguistics , psycholinguistics , and theoretical linguistics , focusing on how linguistic variability is represented in mental grammar and how social context influences speech perception and production. She co-leads the Philadelphia Signs Project , exploring sign language sociolinguistics with collaborators at Penn and Gallaudet University. PhD in Linguistics (2014), University of Pennsylvania BA in Linguistics (2009), McGill University Her research integrates experimental methods with naturalistic speech analysis to study individual and group-level language change. Keywords include phonetics-phonology mapping , intraspeaker variation , and quantitative modeling . Notable grants include NSF awards and SAS Dean’s Mentorship Award . Key affiliations include MindCORE , Penn’s hub for integrative mind sciences, and collaborative ties to the Phonetics Lab , Child Language Lab , and Cultural Evolution of Language Lab . Her lab emphasizes cross-departmental research and welcomes undergraduate RAs and PhD students.
Andrés Buxó-Lugo serves as an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University at Buffalo, where he directs the Language Processing and Computation Lab. His research investigates the cognitive mechanisms underlying language production, comprehension, and acquisition with a specialized focus on speech prosody—the rhythm, intonation, and intensity patterns in speech—and their role in human communication. His primary research interests include psycholinguistics, cognitive psychology, speech prosody, language production, language comprehension, language acquisition, and computational linguistics. He examines how listeners integrate diverse linguistic cues during speech processing, how individuals learn unfamiliar constructions like non-native pronunciations or novel prosodic patterns, and the cognitive basis of durational changes in speech. His work also explores how communicative context shapes prosodic production and how higher-level linguistic information aids prosodic structure parsing. Analysis of his 15 most recent publications (2019-2025) reveals consistent interdisciplinary work bridging cognitive science, linguistics, and computational modeling. Key trends include phonological representation studies, speech planning mechanisms, intonation adaptation across talkers, lexical representation structures, and the integration of input expectations in syntactic parsing. His research demonstrates significant methodological diversity, incorporating experimental paradigms, computational modeling, and acoustic analysis to unravel language processing complexities. As director of the Language Processing and Computation Lab at the University at Buffalo, Buxó-Lugo leads research initiatives focused on developing computational models of language processing while investigating the cognitive foundations of speech and prosody through empirical experimentation and theoretical innovation.
Professor Simon Godsill MA PhD FIET FIEEE is a University Professor of Statistical Signal Processing in the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge. He heads a research team specializing in statistical signal processing, digital audio restoration, and Bayesian inference. His work addresses the processing and analysis of digital speech, audio, tracking systems, and financial datasets, with a focus on probabilistic modeling and computational methods. Research interests include statistical signal processing , degraded signal restoration , and Bayesian computational methods . Recent publications emphasize Gaussian processes, variational inference, and multi-object tracking for applications in audio enhancement and financial data analysis. He co-founded the audio remastering company CEDAR Audio Ltd in 1988. Scientific awards: Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (FIET) Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (FIEEE) Outside academia, he enjoys singing, cricket, piano/organ playing, and running. His team at Cambridge's Engineering department focuses on robust tracking algorithms and signal enhancement techniques.
CHAN Mun Choon is a Professor at the School of Computing, National University of Singapore (NUS) , where he directs the NUS-NCS Joint Laboratory for Cyber Security . He previously worked at Bell Labs (1997-2003) and holds a PhD from Columbia University (1997). His research spans systems and networking with specific interests in mobile computing, software-defined networking, and cyber-physical systems . PhD, Electrical Engineering (1997), Columbia University M.Phil., Electrical Engineering (1993), Columbia University MS, Electrical Engineering (1993), Columbia University BS, Computer & Electrical Engineering (1990), Purdue University His recent work focuses on 5G network architecture , data center fault debugging , and energy-efficient mobile sensing . He has published over 100 papers and holds 7 US patents , including cache-based compaction techniques with 210+ citations. His projects include fronthaul slicing for 5G, network-wide packet history frameworks, and participatory indoor localization. Scientific recognition includes: Best Paper Awards: IEEE ICNP 2019, ACM SOSR 2019, ICDCN 2016 Best Demo: IPSN 2016 Distinguished Member, INFOCOM TPC (2016, 2020, 2021) He serves as Vice-Dean, Graduate Studies and Vice-Dean, Academic Affairs at NUS Computing, and has graduated 21 PhD students . His lab develops solutions for network security , latency-sensitive applications , and mobile sensing .
Christopher Turbill is an Associate Professor in Animal Science at Western Sydney University's School of Science, where he maintains an active research program focused on animal physiological ecology. He is affiliated with the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment and serves as a Principal Investigator on multiple research projects while accepting HDR candidates for supervision. PhD from University of New England (2006) Thesis: Thermoregulatory Ecology of Tree-roosting Bats Supervised by Prof. Fritz Geiser Postdoctoral fellowships from Austrian Science Fund and Australian Research Council (DECRA) Former ecologist with NSW Government Professor Turbill's research integrates thermal and metabolic physiology with behavioral ecology to understand animal-environment interactions. His work has revealed significant ecological consequences of controlled body temperature variation in mammals and birds, linking these processes with metabolic energy expenditure, activity patterns, and life-history strategies. He specializes in bat biology and investigates conflicts between human environmental change and animal conservation requirements. His research keywords include ecophysiology, thermoregulation, energy expenditure, life-history ecology, body temperature, torpor, hibernation, and wildlife conservation. Analysis of Turbill's recent publications reveals a strong focus on thermal biology and conservation physiology, particularly regarding bats and birds. His work examines how animals manage energy through torpor, respond to climate change through thermal regulation, and adapt to anthropogenic disturbances. The research spans field studies of flying-foxes, microbats, and passerine birds across Australian ecosystems, with increasing emphasis on conservation applications related to white-nose syndrome, fire impacts, and wind energy development. Turbill leads significant research projects including the Ecology of the eastern horseshoe bat and its sensitivity to fire impacts (2024-2027), Vulnerability of Australian bats to white-nose syndrome (2021-2026), and Torpor use and burrowing behaviour in an arid zone passerine (2024). His work attracts funding from diverse sources including the Australian Research Council, Department of Planning and Environment, and various conservation organizations. Professor Turbill directs the BatsLab research group, which maintains a virtual hub for bat research at Western Sydney University. His team employs advanced methodologies including thermal imaging, GPS tracking, and physiological monitoring to study animal responses to environmental challenges. Current work focuses on developing conservation interventions for heat-stressed flying-foxes and assessing vulnerabilities of Australian bat species to emerging diseases.
Professor Brian Dillon is the Professor of Creative Writing and Director of Creative Writing at Queen Mary University of London's School of English and Drama. Previously, he served as Head of the Writing Programme at the Royal College of Art. He holds a PhD from the University of Kent (1999) and has authored numerous books blending creative nonfiction, literary criticism, and art analysis. His research focuses on the essay form, autobiography, literature-visual arts intersections, and writing about illness. Key publications include *Suppose a Sentence* (2020), an experimental essay collection analyzing literary sentences, and *Affinities* (2023), exploring photographic imagery. Current projects include a study of Kate Bush's *Hounds of Love* and an essay on education. Dillon frequently contributes to *The Guardian*, *London Review of Books*, and *Artforum*, and has curated exhibitions for Tate and Hayward Galleries. His awards and fellowships are not explicitly listed here, but his work has been widely exhibited and published internationally. He supervises doctoral students in creative writing and related fields, emphasizing interdisciplinary approaches to literature and art. Public engagement includes talks at institutions like the British Museum and Pompidou Centre, and appearances on BBC Radio 3 and RTE Radio. His work bridges academic critique with accessible creative writing, making complex themes engaging for broader audiences.
Adam McCollum is an Associate Professor in the Department of Linguistics at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. His research focuses on phonology, laboratory phonology, and the phonology-phonetics interface, with a particular emphasis on vowel harmony systems in Turkic, Central Asian, and West African languages. He conducts fieldwork and language documentation, contributing to the understanding of gradient phonological processes and their computational underpinnings. Recent work includes studies on vowel harmony decay mechanisms, non-iterative phonological processes, and the interaction between phonetics and phonology. His collaborations address topics such as weak determinism in feature spreading and the typology of labial harmony systems. He actively participates in academic events, such as an invited talk at Tu+9 (Cornell University) in 2024 and presentations at AMP 2023. McCollum’s research spans multiple subfields including feature geometry, phonological theory, and historical linguistics. His publications explore both synchronic phonological patterns and diachronic processes, with a focus on underdocumented languages. He maintains an active research program integrating experimental methods with theoretical analysis.
Ben Eischens is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Linguistics at UCLA. His work focuses on the intersection of phonology and phonetics, particularly in San Martín Peras Mixtec, an Otomanguean language spoken in Oaxaca, Mexico and diaspora communities. He holds a Ph.D. from UC Santa Cruz (2022) and collaborates extensively with Indigenous communities on language documentation and description. His research explores tone systems, laryngeal features, speech rate effects, and negative nominal structures, emphasizing empirical fieldwork and community partnerships. Recent work includes studies on vowel reduction, polar question formation, and the phonetic grounding of phonological theories. Eischens has presented at major conferences such as the International Congress of Phonetic Sciences (ICPhS), Annual Meeting on Phonology (AMP), and workshops on Languages of the Americas. His publications appear in journals like the International Journal of American Linguistics and Phonological Data & Analysis. He teaches courses in linguistic theory and field methods at UCLA, maintaining active research partnerships with San Martín Peras Mixtec community members. His work bridges theoretical linguistics with applied documentation, prioritizing Indigenous language revitalization efforts.
Jianjing Kuang is an Associate Professor of Linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania, affiliated with the School of Arts and Sciences. As Director of the Penn Phonetics Laboratory, they lead research in phonetics, laboratory phonology, and tonal language studies. Kuang holds a Ph.D. from UCLA (2013) and specializes in the interplay between production and perception in speech, particularly focusing on tonal systems, prosody, and cross-linguistic fieldwork. Their work integrates behavioral experiments, corpus studies, and computational modeling to explore phonological contrasts, voice quality, and sound change. Key affiliations include MindCORE and the Center for East Asian Studies. Research interests include multidimensional cues in tone processing, glottal articulations, mapping production-perception relationships, and prosodic sentence processing. Kuang has conducted fieldwork on languages such as Yi, Q’anjob’al, and Mandarin. Their studies address topics like tonal splitting in Yi, cue-changing in Korean stops, and prosodic patterns in Mayan languages. Recent work explores voice quality’s role in pitch perception and prosodic boundary detection. Awards and grants are not explicitly listed, but Kuang’s extensive publications (over 50 peer-reviewed papers) reflect sustained academic impact. They advise graduate students in phonetics and phonology, with active collaborations in computational linguistics and speech technology. The Penn Phonetics Laboratory, under Kuang’s direction, emphasizes interdisciplinary research bridging experimental and theoretical phonetics.
Anthony Rollett is a Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University , where he has been a faculty member since 1995. He serves as the Principal Investigator and Co-Director of the NASA-supported Institute for Model-Based Qualification & Certification of Additive Manufacturing (IMQCAM) and co-director of the Next Manufacturing Center . Prior to CMU, he held leadership roles at Los Alamos National Laboratory (1991-1995). Education: Ph.D., Materials Engineering, Drexel University (1987) MA, Metallurgy and Materials Science, Cambridge University (1977) Research Interests: Rollett’s work focuses on microstructural evolution and microstructure-property relationships in 3D using experiments and simulations. His expertise spans additive manufacturing , metal 3D printing , materials for energy systems , grain growth , recrystallization , and stereology , with techniques like high-energy diffraction microscopy (HEDM) and dynamic x-ray radiography (DXR) . Scientific Contributions: He has over 320 peer-reviewed publications and an h-index >80 . His recent articles highlight machine learning for laser processing , fatigue analysis of additively manufactured alloys, and design optimization for heat exchangers in supercritical CO2 and solar thermal applications . Scientific Awards: Fellow of ASM International (1996) Fellow of the Institute of Physics (UK) (2004) Fellow of The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS) (2011) Cyril Stanley Smith Award (TMS, 2014) Member of Honor, French Metallurgical Society (2015) US Steel Professor (2017) Francqui International Professor (2020-2021) International FAME Award (2023) Leadership & Impact: Rollett co-led the development of a NASA Space Technology Research Institute for additive manufacturing and established a new master’s program in additive manufacturing (2018). His research group is funded by industry , federal agencies , and Pennsylvania state grants . He also serves on the Basic Energy Science Advisory Committee and Defense Programs Advisory Committee for the Department of Energy.
Mariška Bolyanatz Brown is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Spanish and French Studies at Occidental College (Oxy), appointed in 2017. She holds a B.A. from Gordon College, an M.A. from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and a Ph.D. from UCLA. Her research focuses on socially conditioned variation in speech production and perception in Spanish, particularly examining the sociolinguistic implications of phonetic features in Chilean and Salvadoran Spanish. She teaches courses such as Introduction to Linguistics, Spanish in the United States, and Spanish Sociolinguistics, emphasizing inclusive pedagogy and data analysis skills. Education: B.A., Gordon College, Massachusetts M.A., University of Illinois, Chicago Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Research Interests: Sociolinguistics, Phonetics, Spanish Language Variation, Linguistic Discrimination, Heritage Language Maintenance, and the social meanings of phonetic variation in Spanish. Her work analyzes acoustic and morpho-phonological patterns to explore how speech features correlate with socioeconomic identity and intergroup perception. Publications: Dr. Bolyanatz Brown has published widely on topics such as coda /s/ weakening in Chilean Spanish, cross-dialectal acoustic differences in /s/, and sociophonetic perception of intervocalic /k/ voicing. Her research bridges laboratory-based phonetic analysis with sociolinguistic theory, contributing to debates on sound change and language variation. Teaching Philosophy: Her courses foster critical engagement with language use, encouraging students to connect linguistic patterns to broader societal issues such as racism and education policy. She emphasizes fieldwork and data collection, as seen in her Spanish in the United States course, where students conduct community-based research in Los Angeles. Labs/Teams: No specific lab is mentioned, though her research involves collaborative fieldwork and acoustic analysis projects with colleagues like Brandon Rogers and Franny Brogan.
Dr. Muhammad Gulzari is an Assistant Professor at the School of Civil Engineering, University College Dublin (UCD). Previously, he held positions as Lecturer/Assistant Professor at the University of Galway (2023–2024), Adjunct Assistant Professor at Trinity College Dublin (2022–2023), and a Research Fellow at Trinity College Dublin (2021–2023). He earned his Ph.D. in Civil Structural Engineering from City University of Hong Kong (2021) and a B.Sc. in Civil Engineering from the University of Engineering and Technology Lahore (2017). Education: Bachelor of Engineering, Civil Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology Lahore Ph.D., Civil Structural Engineering, City University of Hong Kong Research Interests: His work focuses on structured materials and dynamics, including finite element modeling, phononic crystals, acoustic and mechanical metamaterials, vibration and noise control, and applications in structural health monitoring. He leads the Structured Materials and Dynamics Lab at UCD, exploring nonlinear and nonreciprocal metamaterials. Teaching and Awards: He has taught courses in Fluid Mechanics, Thermodynamics, and Combustion Engineering. Notable recognitions include the Seal of Excellence Award from the EU-Horizon MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship (2021) and nominations for teaching excellence awards at Trinity College Dublin and University of Galway. Grants: TimberFlow: Enhancing Efficiency in Mass Timber Construction (Enterprise Ireland, 2025) Indoor Acoustic Quality via Acoustic Metamaterials (Enterprise Ireland, 2025) RUBBERPAVE: ELT Integration in Pavement Construction (Enterprise Ireland, 2024–2026) Deep Learning for Metamaterial Design (Irish Research Council, 2021–2023) Labs and Collaborations: His research group collaborates with industry partners like Amplitude Acoustics and G-frame Structures Ltd. Key projects include developing metamaterials for noise/vibration control and sustainable construction materials.
