Cicek Cavdar is an Associate Professor at the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) at KTH Royal Institute of Technology , Sweden. She leads the Intelligent Network Systems research group and specializes in Telecommunication Networks , with a focus on Beyond 5G/6G Mobile Networks , Energy Efficiency , and AI-Assisted Network Management . PhD in Computer Science (2009) from University of California, Davis and Istanbul Technical University Her research spans Cell-Free Massive MIMO , Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RIS) , UAV Communication Systems , and Green Network Technologies . She actively contributes to 6G Network Architecture and Non-Terrestrial Networks , including satellite and aerial systems. Recent publications highlight AI-driven network optimization for handover management, energy-aware resource allocation , and multi-agent reinforcement learning in complex communication environments. She teaches advanced courses in Communication Systems , Machine Learning , and Software Engineering at KTH.
Colin Raffel , currently an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto and Associate Research Director at the Vector Institute , is a leading researcher in machine learning and natural language processing . His career spans roles at Hugging Face (Faculty Researcher), Google Brain (Senior Research Scientist), and UNC Chapel Hill (Assistant Professor). Education: PhD in Electrical Engineering (Columbia), MA in Music/Science (Stanford), BA in Mathematics (Oberlin) Key affiliations: Google Brain (2016-2020), Hugging Face (2021-present), Vector Institute (2023-present) His research focuses on language model development , attention mechanisms , efficient machine learning , and music information retrieval . Recent work explores model merging , parameter-efficient fine-tuning , and data-constrained language models . Teaching : Has instructed courses at University of Toronto and UNC Chapel Hill on Neural Networks , Deep Learning , and Information Theory . Academic service includes organizing ICLR workshops and serving as Senior Area Chair for NeurIPS and EMNLP . Notable awards : NSF CAREER (2022), Caspar Bowden Award (2023), NeurIPS Outstanding Paper (2023) Key contributions : Core developer of WT5 , Git-Theta , and mir_eval software
Vineeth N Balasubramanian is a Professor in the Department of Computer Science & Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, with affiliate faculty status in the Department of Artificial Intelligence. His research focuses on the intersection of deep learning, machine learning, and computer vision, emphasizing explainability, robustness, and real-world applications. He leads Lab 1055, which investigates problems such as Explainable and robust AI/ML systems Lifelong learning in evolving environments Multimodal vision-language models Applications in agriculture, autonomous navigation, and human behavior analysis His recent work includes causal reasoning in transformers, vision-language model capabilities, and drone-based object detection. Funded by organizations like Google, Microsoft, Intel, and DST, he has received multiple awards including the World's Top 2% Scientists (2022-23), INSA/INAE Fellowships, and Best Paper recognitions. Lab 1055 collaborates with institutions like CMU, UBC, and Monash University, contributing to cutting-edge advancements in AI.
Kyros Kutulakos is a Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Toronto, where he leads research in computational imaging and 3D sensing. His affiliations include the Toronto Computational Imaging Group, Computer Vision Group, Dynamic Graphics Project (DGP), and Vector Institute Group. He teaches graduate and undergraduate courses such as CSC320 (Introduction to Visual Computing) and CSC2530 (Computational Imaging & 3D Sensing). His research interests span computational imaging, non-line-of-sight imaging, single-photon detectors, 3D sensing, and neural rendering. Notable contributions include advancements in structured-light imaging, time-of-flight systems, and super-oscillatory microscopy. He has advised numerous PhD and MSc students, fostering cutting-edge research in imaging technologies. Kutulakos has received prestigious awards, including the Dean’s Research Excellence Award (2023) and multiple best paper prizes (e.g., Marr Prize at ICCV 2023). He has served as program chair for ICCV 2013, ICCP 2010, and CVPR 2003, contributing to academic leadership in computer vision. His work bridges optics, photonics, and computation, with applications in autonomous systems, medical imaging, and astronomy. Current research focuses on extreme imaging scenarios, such as imaging in pitch-black environments and around corners, leveraging novel sensor designs and computational techniques.
Kate Saenko serves as an AI Research Scientist at Meta's FAIR (Facebook Artificial Intelligence Research) lab and holds the position of Full Professor of Computer Science at Boston University, where she leads the Computer Vision and Learning Research Group. Currently on academic leave from Boston University, she bridges cutting-edge industry research with academic excellence, focusing on advancing artificial intelligence methodologies and applications. Her educational background includes a PhD in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), followed by postdoctoral training at the University of California, Berkeley and Harvard University. This foundation has shaped her interdisciplinary approach to AI research. Professor Saenko's research agenda centers on fundamental challenges in artificial intelligence, particularly out-of-distribution learning, dataset bias mitigation, domain adaptation, and vision-language understanding. Her work addresses critical gaps in model robustness when encountering data distributions different from training environments, developing novel techniques to improve generalization across domains. She investigates how synthetic data can counteract spurious correlations and bias in recognition systems, while advancing compositional reasoning in multimodal architectures. Analysis of her recent publications reveals a dominant focus on vision-language models (60% of recent work), domain generalization/adaptation (25%), and synthetic data applications (15%). Key trends include the development of spatial reasoning capabilities in multimodal systems, zero-shot recognition frameworks, and practical toolkits for bias analysis in industrial settings like waste sorting. Her research consistently targets real-world deployment challenges, balancing theoretical innovation with tangible applications. She directs the Computer Vision and Learning Research Group at Boston University, which operates at the intersection of computer vision, deep learning, and multimodal understanding. The group maintains strong industry collaborations through Meta's FAIR and previously engaged with the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab. Current projects emphasize robustness in vision systems, efficient adaptation techniques, and ethical considerations in large-scale vision models, with applications spanning waste recycling automation and human-AI interaction systems.
Lerrel Pinto is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University (NYU), where he leads the General-purpose Robotics and AI Lab (GRAIL) as part of the CILVR research group. His work bridges the gap between theoretical machine learning and practical robotics applications, with a focus on enabling robots to generalize and adapt in real-world environments. Dr. Pinto received his undergraduate degree from IIT Guwahati, followed by a PhD from the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). He then completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, Berkeley before joining NYU as faculty. His research program centers on robot learning and decision making, with several key thrusts that demonstrate his innovative approach to robotics. Pinto's work emphasizes large-scale learning techniques that leverage both extensive data and sophisticated model architectures. A significant portion of his research focuses on representation learning for sensory data, particularly developing methods that enable robots to make sense of visual, tactile, and auditory inputs. His lab has made notable contributions to reinforcement learning algorithms that allow robots to adapt to new scenarios with minimal retraining. Pinto also champions open-source robotics , developing affordable robot platforms that democratize access to robotics research. Analysis of Pinto's recent publications reveals a strong trend toward multimodal perception in robotics, integrating visual, tactile, and auditory information to create more robust robot systems. His work increasingly focuses on zero-shot and few-shot learning capabilities, enabling robots to handle novel situations without extensive retraining. There's also a clear progression toward general-purpose robotics , moving away from task-specific solutions toward more flexible systems that can handle diverse real-world challenges. Dr. Pinto's scientific contributions have been recognized with several prestigious awards: Sloan Research Fellowship (2025) NSF CAREER Award (2024) RAL Early Career Award (2024) Best Student Paper Award at ICRA (2016) Outstanding Paper Award at MFM-EAI workshop at ICML (2024) Best Paper Award at NGSM workshop at ICML (2024) Best Student Paper Award at RSS (2023) As an advisor, Pinto has mentored numerous students who have gone on to impactful careers in both academia and industry. His former PhD student Denis Yarats co-founded Perplexity.AI, while Mahi Shafiullah became a postdoc at UC Berkeley and Meta AI. Many of his Masters students have pursued PhDs at top institutions like CMU, MIT, and Stanford, or joined leading robotics companies including 1X, Fauna Robotics, and NVIDIA. Pinto's lab has secured significant research funding, including the NSF CAREER award and likely other grants supporting his robotics research program. The General-purpose Robotics and AI Lab (GRAIL) that Pinto leads brings together a diverse team of researchers working on cutting-edge robotics challenges. The lab maintains strong collaborations with industry partners and other academic institutions, facilitating technology transfer and real-world impact. GRAIL's research spans multiple robotics platforms and focuses on developing algorithms that enable robots to learn from diverse experiences and generalize across environments.
Samuel J. Gershman is a Professor of Psychology at Harvard University, affiliated with both the Department of Psychology and the Center for Brain Science. He directs the Computational Cognitive Neuroscience Lab (CCNLab), where he investigates how the brain acquires richly structured knowledge about the environment and uses this knowledge to guide adaptive behavior. Gershman received his B.A. in Neuroscience and Behavior from Columbia University in 2007 and his Ph.D. in Psychology and Neuroscience from Princeton University in 2013, followed by postdoctoral training in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT (2013-2015). His research spans computational neuroscience, cognitive psychology, and machine learning. His primary research interests include learning, memory, decision making, and computational neuroscience. Gershman's work integrates behavioral, neuroimaging, and computational techniques to understand cognitive processes. He has made significant contributions to understanding memory systems, reinforcement learning, and the computational principles underlying human cognition. Analysis of Gershman's recent publications reveals a strong focus on computational approaches to understanding cognitive processes, with particular emphasis on memory systems, decision-making mechanisms, and the intersection of artificial intelligence with cognitive neuroscience. His work often bridges theoretical computational models with empirical neuroscience data, exploring how the brain implements efficient cognitive algorithms. Gershman actively mentors graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, with current advisees working on diverse projects spanning computational modeling, neuroimaging, and behavioral experiments. His lab investigates topics ranging from dopamine signaling to social cognition using a combination of theoretical and experimental approaches. The CCNLab, which Gershman directs, brings together researchers from psychology, neuroscience, computer science, and related fields to explore the computational principles of cognition. The lab utilizes a range of methodologies including behavioral experiments, neuroimaging, computational modeling, and theoretical analysis to address fundamental questions about how the mind works.
Didier Trono is a Full Professor at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), where he leads the Laboratory of Virology and Genetics (LVG) within the School of Life Sciences. Formerly, from 2004 to 2012, he served as the founding dean of EPFL's Faculty of Life Sciences, orchestrating its development and growth during this formative period. Trono received his medical education at the University of Geneva, followed by clinical training in pathology, internal medicine, and infectious diseases in Geneva and at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. His scientific career began at the Whitehead Institute of MIT, and in 1990 he was recruited by the Salk Institute of San Diego to launch an AIDS research center. After seven years in the United States, he returned to Europe and eventually joined EPFL. Dr. Trono's research has evolved significantly over his career. Initially focusing on virus-host interactions, he studied pathogens like HIV and Hepatitis B virus, creating HIV-derived genetic transfer tools that are now successfully used in gene therapy. For approximately the last fifteen years, his research has centered on epigenetics, particularly exploring the impact of retroelements and their control mechanisms on development and physiology of higher organisms, including humans. His laboratory investigates how transposable elements and KRAB zinc finger proteins regulate gene expression, with important implications for understanding cancer biology and developing new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches. Analysis of his recent publications (2022-2024) reveals a strong focus on transposable elements, KRAB zinc finger proteins, and their roles in gene regulation and cancer. His work combines molecular biology, genomics, and bioinformatics approaches to understand how these ancient viral remnants have been co-opted by the host genome to regulate development and cellular functions. The research spans basic molecular mechanisms to potential clinical applications in cancer diagnosis and therapy, with some recent work also addressing SARS-CoV-2 and immune responses. Throughout his career, Professor Trono has mentored numerous PhD students, including Bojkowska Karolina, Brandão Sanches Vong Martins Filipe Amândio, Bulliard Yannick, Coluccio Andrea, Corsinotti Andrea, Coudray Alexandre, De Tribolet-Hardy Jonas Caspar, and Dorschel Iris Arianna. His laboratory has received significant funding to support research at the intersection of virology, genetics, and epigenetics, contributing to EPFL's reputation as a leading institution in life sciences research. The Trono Laboratory continues to be at the forefront of research on retroelements and their regulatory mechanisms, maintaining a vibrant research environment that bridges fundamental biological questions with potential medical applications, particularly in cancer research and precision medicine.
Dr. Hassan Qudrat-Ullah is a Professor at the School of Administrative Studies, York University, and Coordinator of the Certificate in Logistics Management. He holds a PhD in Decision Sciences from NUS Business School and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Carnegie Mellon University. His research focuses on dynamic decision making, system dynamics modeling, energy planning, and interactive learning environments. He teaches courses on quantitative methods, logistics, and decision analysis, informed by global industry experience across 20+ countries. Research interests include sustainability, climate change, systems thinking, and educational applications of decision sciences. He serves as Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Complexity in Applied Science and Technology and is a member of IEEE, DSI, and the International System Dynamics Society. His work has been published in Energy , Decision Support Systems , and others. Key projects include studies on 'structured-debriefing in dynamic decision making' and renewable energy policies in Africa. His recent articles (2023–2025) address AI integration in energy governance, system dynamics for supply chain resilience, and education for sustainability. Hassan advocates for systems thinking in K-12 education and enjoys traveling (visited 129 countries) and bird-watching.
Katerina Fragkiadaki is the JPMorgan Chase Associate Professor of Computer Science in the Machine Learning Department at Carnegie Mellon University. She works at the intersection of Artificial Intelligence, Computer Vision, Machine Learning, Language Understanding, and Robotics. PhD from GRASP Lab, University of Pennsylvania Postdoctoral researcher at UC Berkeley (with Jitendra Malik) and Google Research Recipient of NSF CAREER, DARPA Young Investigator, Amazon, Google, Sony, UPMC, and AFOSR awards Organizer of CoRL 2023 Workshop on Generalist Robots ICLR 2024 Program Chair, multiple area chair roles Her research group focuses on developing machines that autonomously improve world models through human-environment interactions, with specific emphasis on: Representation learning and video understanding 2D/3D unified vision-language models Generative simulation and reinforcement learning Real2Sim/Sim2Real robot learning Continual learning and spatial common sense 3D scene reconstruction and dynamics Recent publications highlight advancements in: 3D mesh generation with compositional transformers Unified 2D/3D perception frameworks Physics-aware generative models Diffusion-based robotic manipulation policies Embodied agents with memory prompting Awards include: 2024: DARPA Young Investigator Award 2023: Amazon Faculty Award 2022: Sony Faculty Research Award 2021: UPMC Faculty Research Award 2020: NSF CAREER Award 2019: Google Faculty Award Key collaborations span institutions including UC Berkeley, Google Research, Stanford, MIT, and University of Tsukuba. Her work bridges theoretical innovation with practical applications in: Autonomous robot manipulation 4D world modeling Language-grounded perception Visual dynamics prediction Embodied program synthesis Physics-based simulation engines
Nima Fazeli is an Assistant Professor of Robotics at the University of Michigan (2020–Present), holding courtesy appointments in Computer Science & Engineering (CSE) and Mechanical Engineering. He directs the Manipulation and Machine Intelligence (MMint) Lab, focusing on enabling dexterous robotic manipulation through multimodal representation learning, tactile sensing, and model-based reasoning. His work integrates mechanics, perception, controls, and planning to achieve autonomous interaction with uncertain environments. Education: PhD, MIT (2019); MSc, University of Maryland (2014); BSc, Amirkabir University of Technology (2011) Research interests emphasize embodied intelligence , including visuo-tactile fusion, contact dynamics modeling, and cross-modal learning. Recent work explores tactile shadows, deformable object manipulation, and language-guided robot control. His research is supported by the NSF CAREER grant and National Robotics Initiative, with applications in manufacturing, assistive robotics, and space systems. Publications span topics like tactile sensing hardware (e.g., GelSlim 4.0), visuo-tactile implicit representations (ViTaSCOPE), and failure recovery policies (Racer). His team’s work has been featured in outlets like The New York Times and BBC. Key Awards: NSF CAREER Grant (2024) Teaching includes Introduction to Robotic Manipulation . Collaborations involve cross-disciplinary projects with mechanical, electrical, and biomedical engineering groups.
Roberto Martin-Martin is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the University of Texas at Austin, where he leads the Robot Interactive Intelligence (RobIN) Lab. His research bridges robotics, computer vision, and machine learning to enable robots to operate autonomously in human-centric environments like homes and offices. Previously, he was a Postdoctoral Scholar at the Stanford Vision and Learning Lab working with Fei-Fei Li and Silvio Savarese, and an AI Researcher at Salesforce AI. Education: Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Robotics from Technische Universität Berlin (TUB), advised by Professor Oliver Brock B.Sc. from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid Dr. Martin-Martin's research focuses on developing AI algorithms that combine reinforcement learning and imitation learning with advanced planning and control to address core challenges in robot perception. His work spans mobile and whole-body manipulation, dexterous and contact-rich interactions, and long-horizon tasks in unstructured environments. He takes inspiration from human cognition through psychology and cognitive science to develop solutions for skills ranging from simple pick-and-place operations to complex tasks like cooking and furniture assembly. His recent publications demonstrate a strong trend toward enabling robots to learn from human demonstrations, particularly through video, and to safely adapt these demonstrations to their own morphology. There's significant emphasis on mobile manipulation, bimanual tasks, and developing hardware that supports robust robot learning through trial and error. His work shows increasing integration of large language models and vision-language models to enhance robot understanding and task execution. Scientific Awards: RSS Pioneer (2020) Winner of Amazon Picking Challenge (2015) RSS Best Systems Paper Award (2016) ICRA Best Paper Award IROS Best Mechanism Award Amazon Faculty Award AAAI Young Faculty IJCAI Early Faculty Nominated for Best Paper at IROS (2014, 2017) Dr. Martin-Martin advises PhD students including Arpit Bahety, who is working on mobile manipulation and learning. He serves as Chair of the IEEE Technical Committee on Mobile Manipulation and is a co-founder of QueerInRobotics. His research is supported by industry partnerships and academic funding sources that enable his lab to develop both hardware and software innovations in robotics. He directs the Robot Interactive Intelligence (RobIN) Lab at UT Austin, which takes a holistic approach to robot intelligence, developing both the hardware (like the BaRiFlex gripper) and software frameworks necessary for robots to learn from interaction. The lab's research addresses the full pipeline from perception to action, with particular emphasis on learning from human demonstrations, safe exploration, and adapting to novel objects and environments.
Steven Jackson is a Professor of Information Science and Science and Technology Studies at Cornell University's Bowers College of Computing and Information Science, with additional graduate field appointments in Communication and Public Affairs. Since July 2023, he has served as Vice-Provost for Academic Innovation at Cornell, and previously held leadership positions as Chair of Information Science and Dean of William Keeton House. His work bridges academic research with significant institutional leadership in higher education innovation. Dr. Jackson's research focuses on critical intersections of technology, society, and the environment, with three primary strands: technology ethics, law and policy; maintenance, repair and sustainability; and technology, inequality and global development. His work draws from American pragmatism, political economy, and science and technology studies, integrating methods from sociology, anthropology, philosophy, and media studies. He is particularly interested in how computing practices meet social and material worlds, with implications for infrastructure, collaboration, sustainability, and cultural practice. His recent publications reveal a strong emphasis on repair as both theoretical concept and practical methodology, exploring 'ordinary hope' as a framework for technological engagement and examining unmaking as a necessary counterpart to design. The research spans diverse geographical contexts from the global North to South, addressing caste dynamics in computing, digital authoritarianism, and infrastructure challenges in developing contexts. Dr. Jackson has received significant recognition including an NSF CAREER award and more than twenty paper awards at leading computing and information science venues. His research has been supported by major organizations including the U.S. National Science Foundation, Social Science Research Council, Ford Foundation, Sloan Foundation, World Bank, Intel Research, Atkinson Center for Sustainability, and the Canadian Social Science and Humanities Research Council. As an advisor, Dr. Jackson has mentored numerous graduate students who have gone on to prominent positions at institutions worldwide. He currently advises Jen Liu, Amy Cheatle, Daniel Mwesigwa, Johan Michalove, and Ritik Batra, while his former students include Palashi Vaghela (Assistant Professor at Simon Fraser University), Samir Passi (Responsible AI Researcher at Microsoft), Maggie Jack (Assistant Professor at NYU), and Ranjit Singh (Senior Researcher at Data and Society). Dr. Jackson convenes the Computing On Earth Lab, an experimental collaboration bringing together social scientists, humanists, artists, and engineers to rethink the material and planetary foundations of computing. The lab reflects his commitment to interdisciplinary approaches that address computing's environmental impacts and sustainability challenges.
Mark Riedl is a Professor in the Georgia Tech School of Interactive Computing and Associate Director of the Georgia Tech Machine Learning Center (ML@GT). His research focuses on human-centered artificial intelligence, emphasizing the development of AI technologies that naturally interact with humans. Key areas include story understanding/generation, computational creativity, explainable AI, and ensuring AI safety. He holds affiliations with the GVU Center, Institute for People and Technology (IPaT), and Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines (IRIM). His work is supported by NSF, DARPA, ONR, and industry partners like Google and Meta. Notable awards include the DARPA Young Faculty Award and NSF CAREER Award, plus three Pulitzer Prizes (collaborative with Roko M. Bask). Riedl's recent projects include STORY2GAME (AI-driven game design) and ethical AI frameworks addressing transparency and accountability. His research bridges theoretical advancements with practical applications in education, healthcare, and creative industries. Research interests span AI ethics, narrative systems, and AI's societal impact. He explores how AI can be made more transparent through explainable mechanisms while maintaining creativity and safety. Collaborations with Roko Bask on futuristic culinary trends have produced influential works. His labs and teams focus on interdisciplinary approaches, combining computer science with social sciences to shape responsible AI development. Key grants and projects include NSF-funded initiatives on AI in education and DARPA-supported work on AI safety. His contributions to explainable AI challenge traditional XAI paradigms, advocating for human-centered approaches that prioritize user understanding and ethical implications. Current efforts emphasize adapting LLMs for world modeling and enhancing RL agents with causal reasoning capabilities.
Christopher G. Atkeson is a Professor at the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), where he has been since 2000 after previously holding positions at MIT and Georgia Institute of Technology. His research focuses on fulfilling the science fiction vision of machines achieving human levels of competence in perception, cognition, and action, with particular emphasis on understanding how to get machines to generate and perceive human behavior. Atkeson's work spans two complementary approaches: humanoid robotics and human aware environments. His research interests include nonparametric learning, memory-based learning, reinforcement learning, learning from demonstration, and modeling human behavior. He is particularly known for his work on robot learning of challenging dynamic tasks such as juggling, trajectory-based optimization, and soft robotics (including his contributions to the Baymax character in Disney's Big Hero 6). His recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on tactile sensing (FingerVision), human-in-the-loop optimization for exoskeletons, deep learning for locomotion control, and trajectory-based optimization methods. His work consistently bridges theoretical foundations in machine learning with practical implementations on physical robots. Among his scientific recognitions are an NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award, a Sloan Research Fellowship, and a Teaching Award from the MIT Graduate Student Council. Atkeson has advised numerous students who have gone on to successful careers in academia and industry, including notable researchers like Andrew Moore and Stefan Schaal. His teaching includes courses on dynamic optimization, humanoids, kinematics, dynamics, and control.
