Dr. Alexander Mantzaris is an Associate Professor in the Department of Statistics & Data Science at the University of Central Florida, College of Sciences. His research bridges physics and sociology through Social Physics frameworks, focusing on statistical mechanics and thermodynamic analogies to model social phenomena. Current research explores criticality points in social systems Developing computational tools for NLP and big data Former work on Graph Convolutional Networks in social analysis Specializes in entropy-based modeling of polarization and segregation His publications emphasize interdisciplinary approaches combining network science, computational modeling, and sociological dynamics. Recent articles address thermodynamic formulations of political cycles, energy states in Schelling models, and memory-efficient data processing algorithms. Dr. Mantzaris teaches graduate courses in big data analytics and statistical learning theory. He maintains active research in computational social science with applications to political dynamics, media influence, and complex systems analysis.
Donald French is a Full Professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Cincinnati, holding this position since 1999. Additionally, he has been a Contractor/Consultant at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base since 2010. He earned a PhD in Applied Mathematics from Cornell University (1985), an MS in Applied Mathematics from Cornell (1983), and a BA in Mathematics and Physics from the State University of New York at Oswego (1980). His research focuses on interdisciplinary mathematical modeling, particularly in Cellular Physiology and Neuroscience. Key areas include inverse problems in olfactory cilia dynamics, neuronal networks, and biofilms. He has also contributed extensively to numerical analysis, specializing in error analysis for finite element methods, meshfree techniques, and discontinuous Galerkin methods. Research Highlights: Development of energy-preserving numerical schemes for time-dependent PDEs in phase transitions and viscoelasticity. Analysis of meshfree and discontinuous Galerkin methods for diffusion problems. Collaboration with Steven Kleene on olfactory cilia modeling since 2001. His work spans computational neuroscience, fluid dynamics, and aerospace engineering, with recent advancements in trajectory planning for unmanned vehicles using PDE-based models. French has secured over $600,000 in NSF grants for projects like ion channel distribution modeling (2005–2009) and mathematical physiology career development (2002–2004). French has held leadership roles, including Graduate Program Director at UC (2015–2017 and 1999–2001), and served on Taft Research and departmental committees. His teaching includes advanced courses in numerical analysis, PDEs, and mathematical biology, which he helped pioneer at UC.
Dr. Kaushalya G. Amarasekare is an Associate Professor and Extension Specialist in Entomology at the Department of Agricultural Sciences and Engineering, College of Agriculture, Tennessee State University. Her research focuses on integrated pest management (IPM), biological control, and pesticide efficacy. She joined TSU in November 2015 and holds a Ph.D. in Entomology from the University of Florida, an M.S. from Oklahoma State University, and a B.S. (Honors) in Agriculture from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. Her research interests include pest-natural enemy interactions, effects of reduced-risk pesticides, and invasive pest management. She has authored numerous publications in journals like Journal of Economic Entomology and Biological Control , focusing on pesticide selectivity, insecticide residues, and biological control strategies in orchards. Her work often combines field and laboratory studies to assess ecological impacts of agricultural chemicals. Dr. Amarasekare has received grants totaling over $300,000 for projects like improving IPM practices for cucurbits and enhancing biological control in orchards. She is actively involved in professional societies such as the Entomological Society of America and the International Organization for Biological Control. Awards include the Outstanding Young Researcher Award (2019) and multiple ESA participation awards. Teaching responsibilities include AGSC 5900/7900 Applied Entomology (graduate) and AGSC 4900 Entomology (undergraduate). She leads Extension activities including farmer training, K-12 outreach, and stakeholder field visits. Her lab, the Fruit, Vegetable and Field Crop Entomology Lab, contributes to applied research and community education.
Associate Professor Jason Thompson holds an Associate Professor position in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Melbourne. He is affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences and previously served as Co-Director of the Transport, Health and Urban Systems (THUS) Research Laboratory at the Melbourne School of Design. He earned a PhD in Medicine (2015) from Deakin University, a Master's in Clinical Psychology, and a Bachelor of Science with Honours. His research focuses on computational social science applied to injury rehabilitation, compensation systems, and healthcare design. He has attracted over $5M in research funding and published over 100 articles. Key areas include agent-based modeling, systems dynamics, and policy analysis for public health challenges such as pandemic response and urban mobility. Thompson currently leads the NHMRC Centre of Excellence in Compensable Injury after Road Crashes. Grants: ARC Future Fellowship (2022), DECRA (2017) Awards: Best Paper Award (Computational Social Science Society of the Americas, 2017) Labs: THUS Research Lab (until 2024) His work bridges epidemiological modeling (e.g., influencing Victoria's 2020 pandemic exit strategy) and complex systems analysis for injury prevention and health system design.
Sachi Horibata is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology at Michigan State University (MSU), affiliated with the College of Human Medicine. She is also associated with the Precision Health Program and the Neuroscience Program. Her research focuses on cancer biology, drug discovery, and computational genomics, with a particular emphasis on understanding mechanisms of drug resistance in cancers like acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and breast cancer. Dr. Horibata’s work integrates proteomics, transcriptomics, and cellular models to uncover therapeutic targets and biomarkers. She holds a PhD in Biological and Biomedical Sciences from Cornell University (2010–2016). Her research interests include genomic analysis of cancer heterogeneity, enzyme-driven cancer progression (e.g., PAD enzymes), and immune evasion mechanisms in tumors. Her recent studies highlight the role of protein citrullination in cancer cell migration and endocrine resistance. Dr. Horibata’s publications span topics in oncology, immunology, and molecular biology, with a focus on translational research. She teaches PHM 802: Cellular, Molecular and Integrated Systems Pharmacology. Her lab is located in the Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Building at MSU.
Nima Monshizadeh Naini is a Professor in the Faculty of Science and Engineering at the University of Groningen. He holds the position of Chair of the IEM Program Committee and serves on the boards of ENTEG and YSEN. His academic journey includes a PhD in Control Systems from the University of Groningen (2013, Cum Laude), followed by postdoctoral research at the University of Cambridge (2016-2017) and the University of Groningen (2014). He has been an Assistant Professor since 2018 and was awarded the NWO Open Competition Grant in 2021. His research focuses on Cyber-Physical Human Systems (CPHS) , addressing two core areas: (1) Coordination of self-interested users in power systems and traffic networks using dynamic information design and game-theoretic mechanisms; and (2) Privacy-aware control and optimization with tailored encryption methods for dynamic systems. Applications include energy markets, microgrids, and smart grids. He has published extensively in top venues like IEEE CDC and Automatica, with key topics including privacy-preserving algorithms, distributed control, and optimal intervention design. His work contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals related to affordable energy and responsible consumption. Education: PhD in Control Systems, University of Groningen (2013) Research Associate, University of Cambridge (2016-2017) Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Groningen (2014) Awards: Cum Laude distinction for PhD thesis (2013) NWO Open Competition Grant (2021) Advising & Grants: Supervised 5 PhD students Editorial roles in IEEE journals and conference proceedings Labs/Teams: Leading the Cyber-physical systems group within the Smart Manufacturing Systems institute.
Anna Gautier is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Chalmers University of Technology, affiliated with the Division of Data Science and AI. Previously, she was a Digital Futures Postdoctoral Fellow at KTH Royal Institute of Technology (2023–2025), focusing on mechanism design for multi-robot systems. Her research emphasizes planning under uncertainty, multi-agent systems, and human-robot interaction. She holds a PhD from the University of Oxford (2023), an MSc from the London School of Economics, and dual undergraduate degrees from Washington University in St. Louis. Education Background: PhD in Computer Science, University of Oxford (2023) MSc in Applied Mathematics, London School of Economics BA in Mathematics and BS in Computer Science, Washington University in St. Louis Research Interests: Dr. Gautier explores planning algorithms for multi-agent systems, particularly in uncertain environments. She designs mechanisms to coordinate robots and humans, leveraging game theory and formal methods. Her work addresses challenges like resource allocation, risk-aware decision-making, and trust in autonomous systems. Recent projects include contingency planning for autonomous vehicles and auction-based resource distribution. Professional Activities: She co-chairs the ECAI 2025 Demonstration Track and teaches the course Safe Robot Planning and Control at KTH. Her projects include collaborations with WASP-Nest (PerCorSo) and TECoSA on trustworthy autonomy. She actively publishes in top venues like AAMAS and AAAI. Labs and Teams: Affiliated with Chalmers' Data Science and AI division, she leads research in multi-agent systems and human-AI collaboration.
Professor Glen Tian is a Professor at the School of Computer Science , Queensland University of Technology . He holds two PhDs: one in computer and software engineering from the University of Sydney (2009) and another in industrial automation from Zhejiang University (1993) . His academic career spans institutions including Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Curtin University, and the University of Maryland at College Park. Editor-in-Chief of the Handbook of Real-Time Computing (Springer) Associate Editor for Information Sciences (Elsevier) and Asia-Pacific Journal of Chemical Engineering (Wiley) His research focuses on big data computing , cloud computing , computer networks , smart grid communication and control , networked control systems , and cyber-physical system security . Applications include power systems , medical big data , vehicular networks , and transport systems . Recent publications highlight advancements in smart grid communications , distributed optimization , secure multi-agent systems , and medical imaging analysis . He has led QUT's Big Data Lab and served as Leader of QUT's Networks and Communications Discipline . Scientific achievements include Over 20 research grants totaling >$6M 6 Australian Research Council (ARC) grants 1 MRFF-TTRA grant ($745,623) 1 ATN-DAAD Australia-Germany Collaborative Grant 1 DEST International Science Linkage grant He supervises PhD students in big data bioinformatics , smart grid optimization , and cyber-physical security , while mentoring 30+ postdocs and research fellows. Current projects include mitigating cyberattacks on power systems and developing AI-based atheroma diagnostic tools .
Do Own (Donna) Kim is an Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois Chicago's Department of Communication. Her research bridges technology studies, cultural studies, and computer-mediated communication, focusing on boundary-crossing practices in human-technology interactions. She examines questions of authenticity, hybrid spaces, and mediated identities through case studies like virtual influencers and K-pop digital cultures. Donna holds a Ph.D. in Communication from USC Annenberg (2022), with earlier degrees from Korea University (BA, 2015) and USC (MA, 2020). Her book project Virtually Real explores virtual influencers' cultural integration through cross-cultural fieldwork. She teaches courses on emerging technologies and communication theory, emphasizing qualitative research methods. Donna serves on Pop Junctions' editorial board and has written for platforms like In Media Res and Civic Imagination Project . Key awards include the KFAS Fellowship and a 2021 Browne Award for her chapter on Korean feminist activism. Her work appears in New Media & Society , International Journal of Communication , and CHI PLAY . Recent presentations include talks on AI ethics at UIC and virtual influencers at Curtin University's symposium.
Sandeep Kumar is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Texas A&M University, College Station. He holds a PhD in Computer Science from Purdue University (1995) and a B.Tech in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi (1985). His research focuses on computer security, networking, and system-level programming. Prior to academia, he worked in industry roles including at VMware in Palo Alto, CA. He currently teaches courses such as CSCE 313 (Introduction to Computer Systems) and CSCE 222 (Discrete Mathematics), emphasizing system software, networking, and cybersecurity. His teaching philosophy incorporates modern tools like GCP and Docker for practical learning. He advises students on technical projects but notes his non-tenure track role limits formal research supervision. Professional interests include curriculum design, educational technology, and bridging industry-academia gaps in cybersecurity. Education: Ph.D., Computer Science, Purdue University, 1995 M.S., Computer Science, University of Tennessee, 1987 B.Tech, Electrical Engineering, IIT Delhi, 1985 Research Interests: Computer Security, Networking, Operating Systems Teaching: CSCE 313 (Computer Systems), CSCE 222 (Discrete Math), CSCE 111 (Java Programming) Industry Experience: VMware (Networking & Security), Former Googler Awards: Hagler Fellow (2023), Google GCP Educational Grants Dr. Kumar’s work emphasizes practical system-level programming and security, with contributions to intrusion detection systems and secure enterprise networks. His courses integrate modern tools like RustRover and Docker, reflecting industry standards. He actively engages with educational technology, including LaTeX-based lecture materials and Gradescope integration.
Ryan Murray is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematics at North Carolina State University (NC State). His research focuses on developing mathematical tools to address problems in applied analysis, including calculus of variations, partial differential equations (PDEs), and their applications to machine learning, fluid dynamics, and control theory. He holds a PhD in Mathematics from Carnegie Mellon University (2016). His expertise spans regularization methods for machine learning, singular perturbations in materials science, algorithms for distributed optimization, and singularity formation in fluid dynamics. His work is supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Simons Foundation. He actively collaborates with researchers in data science, PDE analysis, and optimization. Key research areas include adversarial training in classification, geometric data analysis via statistical depths, and the analysis of vortex sheet singularities. His teaching experience includes courses on partial differential equations, optimal control theory, and linear control systems. Ryan has published extensively in journals such as SIAM Journal on Mathematics of Data Science , Archive for Rational Mechanics and Analysis , and Journal of Machine Learning Research . His articles explore topics ranging from graph-based learning to fluid dynamics instabilities.
Parisa Kordjamshidi is an Associate Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at Michigan State University (MSU), leading the Heterogeneous Learning and Reasoning (HLR) Lab. Her research focuses on Neuro-Symbolic AI, spatial language understanding, and structured learning, with notable contributions to frameworks like Saul for declarative programming. She joined MSU in 2019 after roles at Tulane University and the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition. Education: Ph.D. in Computer Science from KU Leuven (2013), postdoctoral research at UIUC's Cognitive Computation Group, and work in the KnowEng project. Research Interests: Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, Neuro-Symbolic systems, spatial semantics extraction, structured output learning, and multimodal reasoning. Key projects include NSF CAREER awards for spatial language understanding and ONR grants for integrating domain knowledge into AI. Awards: NSF CAREER (2019), Amazon Faculty Research Award (2022), Fulbright Scholar (2025), and Rising Stars at MIT EECS (2015). Grants: Active projects on Neuro-Symbolic compositional generalization (ONR), spatial language learning (NSF), and collaborations with the Department of Media and Information for health misinformation management. Professional Activities: Editorial roles at JAIR, TACL, and Frontiers journals; service on program committees for ACL, EMNLP, and AAAI; organization of workshops like Spatial Language Understanding (SpLU) and CLeaR. Lab and Software: HLR Lab develops Saul (declarative learning-based programming framework) and tools for spatial role labeling. Her team emphasizes mentoring, with structured weekly meetings, reading groups, and conference participation for students.
Prof. Jalal Etesami is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Technical University of Munich (TUM), leading the Decision Sciences & Systems group. He holds a Ph.D. in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and was a Postdoctoral Fellow at EPFL in Switzerland. His research focuses on machine learning, causal inference, multi-agent systems, and game theory, with applications to systemic risk modeling and market design. He teaches advanced courses such as Causal Inference in Time Series , Algorithmic Game Theory , and Optimization, Learning, and Market Design . Notable contributions include work on causal structure learning, stochastic optimization, and non-Gaussian causal models. Recent research explores causal effect identification under confounding, neural networks for market analysis, and optimal experiment design. Prof. Etesami’s work appears in top venues like NeurIPS, AAAI, and IEEE journals. He actively contributes to the academic community, organizing seminars and workshops on topics ranging from causal reasoning to computational social choice.
Bernadette Bucher is an Assistant Professor in the Robotics Department (primary) and Computer Science and Engineering Department at the University of Michigan. Her research focuses on embodied AI, vision-language grounding, and mobile manipulation, with an emphasis on interpretable visual representations and uncertainty estimation for robotics tasks. She previously worked at Boston Dynamics AI Institute, NVIDIA Research, and Lockheed Martin Corporation. Her academic background includes a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Pennsylvania (GRASP Lab) under advisors Kostas Daniilidis and Nikolai Matni, alongside MA degrees in Mathematics and Economics from the University of Alabama (2014). Research interests include robotics, computer vision, and machine learning intersections, particularly autonomous mobile manipulation. Her work emphasizes uncertainty-aware systems and deployable learning-based methods. Notable achievements include the Best Paper in Cognitive Robotics at ICRA 2024. Her research spans projects like EVORA for off-road autonomy and ASHiTA for hierarchical task analysis. She has contributed to open-source projects like RoboNet and actively publishes in top conferences (CVPR, CoRL, ICRA). Key projects: EVORA, ASHiTA, Vision-Language Frontier Maps (VLFM) Grants and funding: Honda Research Institute (Curious Minded Machines project) Labs/Teams: Active participation in robotics labs at University of Michigan and prior collaborations with industry partners
Zhu-Tian Chen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, where he leads research in data visualization, human-computer interaction, and augmented reality. Prior to this, he held postdoctoral positions at Harvard University and UC San Diego, working with leading researchers in visual computing and interactive design. Ph.D. in Computer Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology B.Eng. in Software Engineering, South China University of Technology His research focuses on augmenting human intelligence through hybrid human-AI systems, particularly in everyday and outdoor environments. He specializes in designing intelligent AR interfaces, embedded visualizations, and language-oriented interactions for applications in sports analytics, education, and data analysis. His work integrates human-centered design with applied machine learning to create intuitive and effective visualization tools. The recent trend in his publications shows a strong emphasis on intelligent AR systems for dynamic scenes, LLM-based code generation interfaces, and real-time augmentation of sports videos using natural language and gaze-based interactions. His work frequently appears in top-tier venues such as IEEE VIS, ACM CHI, and UIST. Best Paper Award, ACM CHI'23 Best Short Paper Honorable Mention, EuroVis'23 Best Paper Honorable Mention, IEEE VIS'22 (twice) Certificate of Distinction and Excellence in Teaching, Harvard University Hong Kong Ph.D. Fellowship Dr. Chen actively mentors undergraduate, master’s, and PhD students, as well as visiting scholars and interns, and is building a new research lab focused on visualization for intelligent AR systems. He has served on program committees for major conferences including ACM CHI, IEEE VIS, and EuroVis, and has been invited to speak at institutions such as Apple, JP Morgan, and multiple universities worldwide. He also contributes to the academic community through grant reviewing for NSF and the Department of Energy. He leads research projects in intelligent AR systems for sports, language-oriented interactions with LLMs, and immersive data visualization, often in collaboration with institutions like Harvard, UC San Diego, and HKUST. His lab welcomes students and collaborators interested in visualization, HCI, and applied AI.
