Jason Ritt is an Associate Professor of Brain Science (Research) and Scientific Director of Quantitative Neuroscience at the Robert J. and Nancy D. Carney Institute for Brain Science, Brown University. He holds affiliations with the Data Science Institute and collaborates across disciplines on quantitative research methods. Education : B.S., M.A., and Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Boston University (1997–2003). Research : Focuses on neural processing during active sensing and neuroengineering for neurostimulation. Combines electrophysiology, optogenetics, and theoretical approaches in rodent models. Develops closed-loop systems for studying sensory neural prosthetics and brain-machine interfaces. Key areas include synaptic diversity, neurocontrol algorithms, and sensory restoration. Teaching : Instructs NEUR 2100 NeuroPracticum, integrating hands-on neuroscience research training.
Prof. Bryan Ford leads the Decentralized/Distributed Systems (DEDIS) lab at EPFL. He focuses on secure decentralized systems, including blockchain technology, privacy, and systems security. He earned his Ph.D. from MIT and held faculty positions at Yale University and EPFL. His work spans distributed consensus protocols, peer-to-peer networking, and privacy-preserving systems. Key projects include QuePaxa (timeout-free consensus), UIA (global connectivity for mobile devices), and MedCo (secure healthcare data sharing). He advises numerous PhD students and contributes to open-source projects like Bitcoin collective signing and privacy networks like Riffle. Education: Ph.D., MIT; Postdoctoral work at Yale Research interests include blockchain scalability, consensus algorithms, and cryptographic privacy. His lab develops systems like TRIP for coercion-resistant voting and F3B to mitigate blockchain front-running. His work on NAT traversal and peer-to-peer protocols (e.g., STUN/ICE) remains foundational in network architecture. He emphasizes practical, auditable security solutions such as CertiKOS and atomic cross-chain transactions (Atom). Notable contributions: CoSi (collective signing), OmniLedger (sharded blockchain), and privacy-preserving protocols like PURBs (Protected Unsealable Recursive Boxes). His lab collaborates with Swiss Post to audit e-voting systems and designs democratic cryptocurrencies like PoPCoin.
Sebastian U. Stich is a tenured faculty member at the CISPA Helmholtz Center for Information Security , where he has been since December 2021. He is also a member of the European Lab for Learning and Intelligent Systems (ELLIS) since June 2020. His research focuses on optimization methods for machine learning, collaborative learning algorithms, privacy and security in distributed systems, and theoretical foundations of deep learning. Stich received his PhD in Theoretical Computer Science from ETH Zurich (2014), following a Master's in Mathematics at the same institution (2010-2014). Prior to CISPA, he worked as a research scientist at EPFL (2016-2021) and held positions at ETH Zurich and ICTEAM/CORE. He has been awarded the ERC Consolidator Grant 2024 , Google Research Scholar Award (2023), and Meta Privacy-Enhancing Technologies Research Award (2022). His team includes Dr. Anton Rodomanov (since 2023), Dr. Rotem Mulayoff (since 2024), Xiaowen Jiang (2023), Yuan Gao (2023), and notable alumni like Anastasia Koloskova (defended 2023). Stich actively organizes workshops (e.g., NeurIPS OPT 2024) and serves on editorial boards ( Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications , Transactions on Machine Learning Research ). He teaches advanced courses in optimization at Saarland University and has held visiting positions at MIT. Key scientific contributions include: Developing ProgFed for progressive federated learning (2021) Creating ProxSkip to accelerate communication in federated settings (2022) Formalizing SCAFFOLD with control variates for FL (2020) Introducing RelaySum mechanism for decentralized learning (2021) Proposing Lookahead-Minmax for GAN training (2021) His work addresses fundamental challenges in: Decentralized optimization theory Communication-efficient algorithms Privacy-preserving model training Handling heterogeneous data distributions Stochastic gradient dynamics Second-order optimization methods
Dr. Li Chen is an Alfred and Helen Lamson/BORSF Endowed Associate Professor in the School of Computing and Informatics at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She leads the CELESTIAL research lab, focusing on distributed systems and networking for machine learning and AI. Her research interests include federated learning, cloud computing, and resource optimization. Dr. Chen holds a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto and has received awards such as the NSF EPSCoR RII Track-4 grant and the BoRSF Endowed Professorship. Education: Ph.D. (2018), M.A.Sc. (2015) in Electrical and Computer Engineering from University of Toronto; B.Eng. (2012) in Computer Science from Huazhong University of Science and Technology. She also visited Hong Kong Polytechnic University (2013-2014). Research spans federated learning frameworks (e.g., SEAFL, FedClust), cloud resource scheduling (e.g., Hadar, HarmonyBatch), and applications in weather forecasting (e.g., MMST-ViT). Her work is supported by NSF, Louisiana BoRSF, and industry partners like XRMedix. Awards include the Alfred and Helen Lamson/BORSF Endowed Professorship (2024-2027), NSF EPSCoR grant (2024-2026), and best paper recognitions at IEEE conferences. She advises a diverse group of graduate students and has supervised alumni now in academia and industry. Teaching includes courses on computer networks, operating systems, and distributed systems. She organizes workshops and tutorials (e.g., 2023 Summer Tutorial on ML & Meteorology) and serves on conference committees such as INFOCOM and IWQoS.
Dr. Vincent Fortuin is a tenure-track Assistant Professor at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and a research group leader at Helmholtz AI in Munich. He leads the Efficient Learning and Probabilistic Inference for Science (ELPIS) group and holds multiple prestigious fellowships including the Branco Weiss Fellowship. His academic affiliations include the TUM School of Computation, Information and Technology, the Konrad Zuse School of Excellence in Reliable AI, and the Munich Center for Machine Learning. Dr. Fortuin earned his BSc in Molecular Life Sciences from the University of Hamburg (2012-2015), followed by an MSc in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics from ETH Zürich (2015-2017), where he received the ETH Excellence Scholarship and the Willi Studer Prize. He completed his PhD in Machine Learning at ETH Zürich (2017-2021) under the supervision of Gunnar Rätsch and Andreas Krause, supported by a Swiss Data Science Center PhD Fellowship. Prior to joining TUM, he was a Research Fellow at St. John's College, University of Cambridge (2022-2023). His research focuses on the intersection of Bayesian statistics and deep learning, specifically developing methods for more robust, data-efficient AI systems with reliable uncertainty estimates. His work addresses critical limitations in standard deep learning approaches, particularly their tendency to be overconfident in predictions and require large datasets for training. He investigates better priors and more efficient inference techniques for Bayesian deep learning, deep generative modeling, meta-learning, and PAC-Bayesian theory, with applications in scientific and biomedical domains. Dr. Fortuin's recent publications demonstrate a consistent focus on improving uncertainty quantification in deep learning systems, with increasing emphasis on practical applications in scientific contexts. His work spans from theoretical foundations of Bayesian deep learning to practical implementations in protein design, materials science, and medical applications. A notable trend is his exploration of how to make Bayesian methods more scalable and applicable to modern large-scale AI systems while maintaining theoretical guarantees. Branco Weiss Fellowship (2023) St John's College Research Fellowship (2022) Swiss National Science Foundation Postdoc.Mobility Fellowship (2022) Swiss Data Science Center PhD Fellowship (2018) ETH Excellence Scholarship (2015) Willi Studer Award (2018) Dr. Fortuin actively supervises PhD and Master's students through his ELPIS research group at Helmholtz AI. He serves as a regular reviewer and area chair for major machine learning conferences and is an action editor for TMLR. He co-organizes the Symposium on Advances in Approximate Bayesian Inference (AABI) and the ICBINB initiative, demonstrating his commitment to advancing the field through community building. His research group receives funding from multiple sources including Helmholtz AI, the Branco Weiss Fellowship, and collaborations with international institutions. Dr. Fortuin leads the Efficient Learning and Probabilistic Inference for Science (ELPIS) group at Helmholtz AI, which focuses on fundamental machine learning research motivated by real-world scientific problems. The group collaborates extensively with researchers across Helmholtz centers and international institutions, particularly in biomedical applications where reliable uncertainty estimates are crucial.
Olav Tirkkonen serves as a Full Professor in the Department of Communications and Networking at Aalto University, Finland, a position he has held since August 2006. He leads the Communication Theory research group, driving innovation in wireless communication systems. His academic journey includes a distinguished career spanning industry and academia, with significant contributions to 3G, 4G, and 5G technologies. His educational qualifications are: Doctor of Science (Ph.D.) in Theoretical Physics, Helsinki University of Technology, 1994 Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Theoretical Physics, Helsinki University of Technology, 1990 Professor Tirkkonen's research interests are centered on wireless communications, with a focus on physical layer processing, coding theory, and quantum information processing. His group explores advanced topics including 5G and beyond wireless networks (spectrum management, large-scale MIMO, ultra-reliable low-latency communication), network-level interference coordination, collaborative caching, machine learning applications for wireless channel geography, coding on manifolds, and quantum communication systems. This research bridges fundamental theory with practical implementation in next-generation wireless networks. Analysis of his recent publications (2024-2025) indicates a predominant focus on machine learning techniques for wireless channel modeling (channel charting), pilot allocation in MIMO systems, and quantum error correction. His work is instrumental in addressing key challenges in 5G/6G networks, particularly in scenarios demanding ultra-reliability, low latency, and efficient resource utilization. His scientific contributions include: Co-inventor of approximately 80 families of patents and patent applications Co-author of the book "Multiantenna transceiver techniques for 3G and beyond" Throughout his career, Professor Tirkkonen has mentored numerous graduate students and secured substantial research funding from various sources. His industry experience at Nokia Research Center (1999-2010) and visiting position at Cornell University (2016-2017) have enriched his research perspective and fostered strong industry-academia collaborations. The Communication Theory group, under his leadership, maintains active collaborations with leading institutions and companies worldwide, positioning Aalto University at the forefront of wireless communications research.
Tobi Delbruck is a titular professor of physics and electrical engineering at ETH Zurich, where he leads the Sensors Group at the Institute for Neuroinformatics (INI) in Zurich, Switzerland. He collaborates closely with Shih-Chii Liu and Giacomo Indiveri as part of the 'hardware groups' at INI. Delbruck has also served as visiting faculty at Caltech and is a Fellow of the IEEE. His work focuses on bio-inspired and neuromorphic event-based sensory processing systems. Professor Delbruck's research spans multiple areas of neuromorphic engineering, with particular emphasis on event-based vision systems and low-power analog VLSI circuits. His work has significantly advanced the field of Dynamic Vision Sensors (DVS), which mimic the human retina's response to changes in brightness rather than capturing full frames. This approach enables extremely low-latency vision processing with minimal power consumption, making it ideal for high-speed applications and robotics. His research has applications in robotics, autonomous systems, and low-power embedded vision. Delbruck is an active contributor to the neuromorphic engineering community, co-organizing the annual Telluride Workshop on Neuromorphic Engineering and serving in leadership roles with IEEE. He has authored numerous influential publications and co-authored books including "Event-Based Neuromorphic Systems" and "Analog VLSI: Circuits and Principles." His jAER (Java Address-Event Representation) project provides open-source tools for real-time event-based sensory processing. Analysis of his recent publications shows a clear trend toward integrating event-based vision with deep learning techniques and applying these systems to practical robotics problems. His scientific achievements have been recognized with multiple awards including: IEEE Fellow Winner of Best Live Demonstration award at ISCAS 2012 Honorable Mention Award from Sensory Systems Technical Committee at ISCAS 2012 Overall Best Student Paper Award and Best Paper Award from Sensory Systems Technical Committee at ISCAS 2010 Winner of the 2006 ISSCC Jan Van Vessem Outstanding European Paper Award Professor Delbruck actively mentors students and has supervised numerous PhD and Master's theses in the areas of neuromorphic engineering and event-based vision systems. His group has secured significant research funding from various sources to support their innovative work in bio-inspired sensory processing. He teaches courses on "Electronics for Physicists II (Digital)" and "Neuromorphic Engineering," helping to train the next generation of researchers in this field. The Sensors Group at INI, which Delbruck leads, operates state-of-the-art facilities for designing and testing neuromorphic vision systems. The group maintains close collaborations with researchers worldwide and has developed several important open-source resources including the jAER project and bias generator design kits. Their work continues to push the boundaries of what's possible with event-based sensory processing, with applications ranging from high-speed robotics to low-power embedded vision systems.
Michael Feeley is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of British Columbia (UBC), affiliated with the Institute for Computing, Information and Cognitive Systems (ICICS). His research focuses on operating systems, distributed systems, and their applications in scalable file systems, cloud storage, and mobile computing. He leads projects such as the Unico file system, Parallax storage system, and Remus virtual machine replication framework. His research interests include peer-to-peer file systems, mobile ad hoc networks, interference mitigation in wireless networks, and system software for workstation clusters. He has supervised numerous graduate students, contributing to advancements in distributed systems and networking. His work often addresses challenges in resource management, fault tolerance, and performance optimization. Publications span topics like interference detection in WiFi networks, dynamic program analysis (Tralfamadore), and distributed storage solutions. Feeley teaches courses such as CPSC 213, emphasizing operating systems fundamentals. His office is located in CISR 393, with contact details available via email and phone.
Nam Sung Kim is the W. J. "Jerry" Sanders III-Advanced Micro Devices Inc. Endowed Chair and holds a Professorship in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois. He is also affiliated with the Siebel School of Computing and Data Science, Coordinated Science Lab, and National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA). His research focuses on computer architecture, memory systems, chiplet integration, and hardware security. Key areas include energy-efficient computing, processing-in-memory (PIM), and mitigating hardware vulnerabilities like rowhammer attacks. Kim has received prestigious awards including IEEE Fellow (2016), MICRO Hall of Fame (2018), NAI Fellow (2023), and NSF CAREER Award (2015). His work spans publications in top venues like ASPLOS and IEEE journals, addressing topics such as CXL-based memory systems, DRAM module optimization, and GPU architecture improvements. Collaborations emphasize interdisciplinary research in hardware-software co-design and emerging technologies. His labs and teams at Coordinated Science Lab and NCSA drive innovations in scalable computing, near-memory processing, and cloud infrastructure for AI workloads. Ongoing projects include developing resilient memory hierarchies and accelerating large-scale machine learning models through novel architecture designs.
Edouard Oyallon is a CNRS Researcher at Sorbonne University's MLIA team within the Institute of Intelligent Systems and Robotics (ISIR). His research focuses on machine learning foundations, particularly the symmetries of deep neural networks, and large-scale distributed/decentralized training algorithms. He has contributed to frameworks like Kymatio for wavelet scattering transforms and collaborates on projects such as SHARP (Frugal Learning) and ADONIS (ANR-funded). He advises multiple PhD and postdoctoral researchers and teaches advanced deep learning courses at Institut Polytechnique de Paris (IPP). Grants include the ADONIS project (ANR/Sorbonne) and participation in VHS and CoCa4AI initiatives. His work spans theoretical and applied aspects, with recent emphasis on optimizing LLM training at exascale. He maintains active roles in academic service, including organizing workshops on federated learning and graph machine learning.
Joseph A. Campbell is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Purdue University, leading the Collaborative AI for Machines and People (CAMP) Lab. He holds a Ph.D., M.S., and B.S. in Computer Science and Computer Engineering from Arizona State University. Before academia, he worked as a software engineer for five years. Prior to Purdue, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute. His research focuses on explainable machine learning and robotics, particularly how agents use explanations for self-improvement and decision-making. Key areas include theory of mind in multi-agent systems, lifelong learning, and interpretable transfer learning. His work bridges robotics and AI, with applications in human-robot interaction and prosthetic control. Notable publications include advancements in reinforcement learning with language models, multi-agent collaboration frameworks, and methods for enhancing state estimation in robots. His research has been presented at top conferences like NeurIPS, EMNLP, and CoRL. Dr. Campbell maintains an active GitHub profile (joe-campbell) with repositories such as Interaction Primitives for robotics applications. His lab, CAMP, explores AI systems that collaborate effectively with humans and other machines.
Juan Garay is a Professor in the Department of Computer Science & Engineering at Texas A&M University, affiliated with the College of Engineering. His research focuses on cryptography, information security, and distributed systems, with notable contributions to cryptographic protocols, blockchain technologies, and consensus mechanisms. He holds a leadership role in advancing theoretical and applied aspects of secure computation and network security. Research Interests: Cryptography and Information Security Secure Multiparty Computation Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain Protocols Consensus Algorithms Distributed Computing Game Theory in Cryptography Publications highlight his work on the Bitcoin Backbone Protocol, secure multiparty computation, and post-quantum cryptographic systems. He actively contributes to conferences and workshops in cryptography and distributed systems. He advises graduate students in computer science and engineering, though specific advisee names are not listed. His work is supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and other institutions, focusing on secure protocols and distributed systems. Office: Peterson Building (PETR 429) Contact: garay@cse.tamu.edu
Qiang Tang is currently an Associate Professor (Level D) at the School of Computer Science of The University of Sydney. Previously, he was a Senior Lecturer (2021.1-2024.12) at USYD and an Assistant Professor at the Computer Science Department of New Jersey Institute of Technology (2016.8-2021.1), where he co-directed the JACOBI Blockchain Lab with Prof. Jian Pei and Prof. Zhenfeng Zhang. He completed his PhD at the University of Connecticut under Prof. Aggelos Kiayias and Prof. Alexander Russell, following postdoctoral research at Cornell University with Prof. Elaine Shi. His research spans applied and theoretical cryptography, blockchain technology, privacy, and computer security. His work is supported by ARC, Google, Ethereum Foundation, Stellar Foundation, Protocol Labs, Algorand Foundation, Oracle, and USYD. Previous funding includes NSF, JD.com, AFRL, DoE, and Particl Foundation. His research has led to significant contributions in consensus protocols, distributed randomness generation, secure multi-party computation, and privacy-preserving technologies. Tang's publications reveal a strong focus on practical cryptographic solutions for blockchain and distributed systems. His recent work demonstrates expertise in asynchronous consensus, optimal protocol design, and secure implementations for real-world applications. His research shows consistent innovation in improving efficiency, security, and scalability of distributed systems. Scientific Awards: 2025 DSN Best Paper Award 2024 ICDCS Distinguished Paper Award 2023 SOAR Prize, USYD 2023 Oracle for Research Award 2022 Stellar Foundation Research Awards 2022 Ethereum Academic Award 2019 MIT Technical Review, 35 Chinese Innovators Under 35 Tang actively mentors PhD and Master's students, with several alumni now holding faculty positions or research roles at institutions like City University Hong Kong, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and A*STAR Singapore. He has received significant research funding including a multi-year Google project on End-to-End Secure Cloud and an ARC DP grant on Order Fairness in Decentralized Systems. He leads the research in his lab focusing on blockchain protocols and cryptographic applications, with strong industry connections through collaborations with Google, Ethereum Foundation, Stellar Foundation, and Protocol Labs. His team regularly publishes in top security and cryptography venues including CRYPTO, CCS, USENIX Security, and S&P.
Geoff Pleiss is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Statistics at the University of British Columbia (UBC), affiliated with CAIDA's AIM-SI cluster. He is also a Canada CIFAR AI Chair and faculty member at the Vector Institute. His research bridges deep learning and probabilistic modeling, focusing on uncertainty quantification, Bayesian optimization, Gaussian processes, and ensemble methods. Pleiss earned his PhD in Computer Science from Cornell University (2020), followed by a postdoc at Columbia University. He holds multiple awards, including the AISTATS Top Reviewer and NeurIPS recognitions. His work emphasizes scalable algorithms and open-source contributions, such as the GPyTorch library. Pleiss advises students in Computer Science and Statistics, including Donney Fan (PhD), Tim G. Zhou (MSc), and others. He teaches advanced courses like STAT 547U (Deep Learning Theory) and STAT 520P (Bayesian Optimization). Grants include NSERC Discovery and New Frontiers in Research funding. Pleiss collaborates on interdisciplinary projects, such as astrophysical discovery via machine learning, and actively participates in academic service and outreach. Education: PhD in Computer Science, Cornell University (2020) MSc in Computer Science, Cornell University (2018) BSc in Engineering (Computing with Applied Mathematics), Olin College (2013) Key Research Themes: Uncertainty-aware decision-making with neural networks Scalable Gaussian processes and Bayesian optimization Ensemble methods and their theoretical limitations Recent Grants: NSERC Discovery Grant (2024) New Frontiers in Research Fund (2025, co-PI) His publications span foundational theory to applied machine learning, with over 14,500 citations. He actively mentors students through research internships and advises on open-source software development. Pleiss frequently presents at top conferences and collaborates with industry partners like Microsoft and ASAPP.
Chris De Sa is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Cornell University, affiliated with the Cornell Machine Learning Group and leading the Relax ML Lab. His research focuses on algorithmic, software, and hardware techniques for high-performance machine learning, particularly relaxed-consistency stochastic algorithms like asynchronous and low-precision stochastic gradient descent (SGD). He earned his Ph.D. from Stanford University under advisors Kunle Olukotun and Chris Ré. His work emphasizes constructing efficient, parallel, and distributed machine learning frameworks for deep learning and data analytics. Education: Ph.D. in Computer Science, Stanford University (2017) Research Interests: Algorithmic techniques for scalable ML, quantization, distributed optimization, hyperbolic geometry in ML, and reliable measurement of ML systems. His group develops frameworks for efficient inference/training and explores the intersection of ML with domains like agriculture and plant science through courses like PLSCI 7202. Recent Highlights: DARPA YFA Grant (2024), NSF CAREER Award, Google Research Scholar Award, and multiple best paper recognitions. Key contributions include QuIP quantization methods, Coneheads attention mechanisms, and theoretical advances in decentralized training. Awards: NSF CAREER Award DARPA YFA Grant (2024) Google Research Scholar Award Mr. & Mrs. Richard F. Tucker Teaching Award Grants & Advising: Advises 8 Ph.D. students (including Ruqi Zhang, Yucheng Lu, A. Feder Cooper) and holds leadership roles in MLSys conferences. Active in grant-funded research (e.g., NSF Robust Intelligence). Labs/Teams: Leads the Relax ML Lab and participates in Cornell’s Institute for Digital Agriculture (CIDA).
