Anthony Rowe is the Siewiorek and Walker Family Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and a Chief Scientist at Bosch Research. His primary affiliation is with the CyLab and the Wireless, Sensing and Embedded Systems (WiSE Lab) at CMU. He specializes in networked embedded systems, sensor networks, and extended reality (XR) technologies. His research emphasizes energy-efficient sensing, real-time localization, and XR integration with physical systems. Research Focus: His work spans XR systems (e.g., AR/VR edge networking in ARENA), mmWave radar for sensing (e.g., tire wear monitoring via Osprey), distributed edge computing (Silverline), and low-power wide-area networking (OpenChirp). Recent efforts include AI-integrated XR platforms (XaiR) and radar tomography (DART). Grants & Projects: Leads the CONIX Research Center ($27.5M NSF/DARPA grant), Bosch-funded edge computing projects, and DOE initiatives on microgrids. Notable projects include ARENA (XR edge architecture), GridBallast (smart grid control), and rural microgrid deployments in Haiti. Awards: Best Student Paper (ISMAR 2024), Best Paper (IPSN 2020), and the Steven J. Fenves Research Award (2015). Recognized for innovations in localization (MobiCom 2021), radar (ICRA 2023), and energy systems (BuildSys 2010). Teaching: Teaches courses on embedded systems (18-349/18-449), real-time systems, and mixed reality (18-453). Courses emphasize hands-on design and real-world applications. Labs & Teams: Directs the WiSE Lab, collaborating with Bosch Research and industry partners. The lab develops open-source frameworks like ARENA and OpenChirp, and contributes to standards for edge computing and sensing.
Vesna Terzic is a Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering and Construction Engineering Management at California State University Long Beach's College of Engineering. Her research specializes in seismic performance assessment, infrastructure resilience, and probabilistic risk analysis of structures. Education includes a PhD in Structural Engineering from UC Berkeley, MS in Earthquake Engineering from Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, and BS in Structural Engineering from University of Belgrade. Research focuses on developing advanced computational frameworks for evaluating post-earthquake functionality of buildings and bridges. Her work integrates performance-based engineering with resilience quantification, emphasizing practical applications for seismic design and retrofitting. Recent publications demonstrate consistent focus on functional recovery modeling, structural health monitoring, and optimization of protective systems. Research trends show progression from component-level analysis to regional recovery simulation frameworks. Major awards: ACI Chester Paul Siess Award for Excellence in Structural Research (2017) Popert Fellowship, UC Berkeley (2009) Professional service includes membership on FEMA P-58 project committees and contributions to OpenSees development. Current projects investigate soil-structure interaction effects on tall buildings and recovery-based design methodologies.
Roger Boltshauser is a Full Professor and Deputy Head at the Department of Architecture, ETH Zurich. His practice and academic work emphasize tectonic building culture, proportion, and material experimentation, diverging from mainstream German-Swiss architectural trends. He combines teaching with active architectural practice, influencing younger generations at ETH and TU Wien. Key themes: Tectonic structures, grid-based order, social responsibility in architecture, critique of modernist canons Notable projects: Hochhaus H1 Zwhatt-Areal (2025), Masterplan Zoo Basel (2025), Centre for Dental Medicine Zurich (2025) His buildings prioritize mass and permanence , evident in projects like the Kopfholz School and Rauch House . Recent works at the EPFL Solar Biennale (2025) and Architecture of Memory exhibition (2025) explore sustainable design and cultural narratives. Boltshauser’s studio on Dubsstrasse exemplifies research into load-bearing structures and urban spatial relationships.
Gail E. Kaiser is a Professor of Computer Science and the Director of the Programming Systems Laboratory (PSL) in the Computer Science Department at Columbia University. She has been with Columbia University since 1985, becoming a full Professor in 1998. Prof. Kaiser's research spans software engineering, program analysis, software testing, and software security, with recent focus on addressing challenges in AI/ML systems testing and security. Prof. Kaiser received her PhD in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University in 1985 and her ScB in Computer Science and Engineering from MIT in 1979. Her dissertation at CMU was titled "Semantics for Structure Editing Environments" under advisor Nico Habermann, and at MIT she completed "Automatic Extension of an Augmented Transition Network Grammar for Morse Code Conversations" under advisor Al Vezza. Prof. Kaiser's research interests primarily focus on software engineering following a systems building approach, with recent emphasis on static and dynamic program analysis techniques to improve software reliability and security. Since 2005, she has investigated testing "non-testable" programs, particularly in machine learning, data mining, and scientific computing applications where traditional testing oracles are insufficient. She has developed novel techniques and tools for detecting bugs and verifying repairs in complex systems. Concurrently, she has worked on collaboration environments for computational scientists, creating knowledge sharing and domain-aware environments to support scientific workflows. Prof. Kaiser's recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on the intersection of software engineering and artificial intelligence. Her work addresses critical challenges in testing AI systems, code understanding through deep learning, vulnerability detection, and educational tools for computational thinking. There's a clear evolution from traditional software engineering topics toward AI/ML applications, with particular emphasis on metamorphic testing for non-testable systems, code similarity analysis, and educational applications. Prof. Kaiser has received numerous prestigious awards throughout her career: Distinguished Journal Award (10 Years) from 18th IEEE International Conference on Software Testing, Verification and Validation (ICST), April 2025 Best Research Paper Award at 24th IEEE International Conference on Source Code Analysis & Manipulation (SCAM), October 2024 Distinguished Reviewer Awards for ASE 2024 and FSE 2024 ACM SIGSOFT Distinguished Paper Award for "CONCORD: Clone-aware Contrastive Learning for Source Code", July 2023 Best Student Paper Award at ICCE 2021 Multiple ACM SIGSOFT Distinguished Paper Awards dating back to 2014 Presidential Young Investigator in Software Engineering and Software Systems from NSF (1988-1993) Prof. Kaiser has chaired Columbia's doctoral program since 1997 and served on editorial boards including IEEE Internet Computing and as a founding associate editor of ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology. Her lab has been continuously funded by major agencies including NSF, NIH, DARPA, ONR, NASA, and numerous companies. Current grants include significant NSF funding for secure containers architecture, learning semantics of code for software assurance, and finding semantic security bugs. As Director of the Programming Systems Laboratory (PSL), Prof. Kaiser leads research in software systems, program analysis, and software testing. The lab has developed numerous tools and techniques for software reliability and security, with recent focus on challenges in AI/ML systems. Her work bridges theoretical foundations with practical applications, often resulting in deployable tools that address real-world software engineering challenges.
Karthik R. Narasimhan is a Professor at Princeton University's School of Engineering and Applied Science in the Department of Computer Science. Previously, he earned his PhD from MIT under Regina Barzilay and served as a visiting research scientist at OpenAI during 2017-18. His research focuses on the intersection of language and decision-making, building autonomous agents that learn from both experience and human knowledge. His research spans multiple high-impact areas including language agents (Text-DQN, CALM, ReAct, Tree of Thoughts), reinforcement learning (h-DQN, Multi-Objective RL), and AI safety (Toxicity in ChatGPT, DataMUX). He has developed critical datasets and benchmarks such as WebShop, InterCode, SWE-bench, and SILG that have become standard evaluation tools in the field. Current work emphasizes agent capabilities, software engineering automation, and multimodal interaction. His publication trends show strong focus on practical agent deployment (SWE-agent, Tree of Thoughts), safety evaluation (Probing AI Safety), and efficiency improvements (DataMUX). Recent work increasingly addresses real-world challenges in software engineering, security, and human-AI collaboration through rigorous benchmarking. Co-author of foundational GPT (2018) paper Key developer of Text-DQN (2015), CALM (2020), ReAct (2022), Tree of Thoughts (2023) Creator of influential benchmarks: WebShop (2022), SWE-bench (2023), InterCode (2023) He actively advises students through Princeton's computer science program, with research supported by multiple grants focused on autonomous agent development and language-based decision systems. His GitHub repositories (nlp-datasets, text-world-player) demonstrate strong community engagement in open-source research tools. Current projects include advancing language agent capabilities through Reflexion (2023) and Tree of Thoughts (2023) frameworks while addressing critical safety and efficiency challenges.
Ceren Budak is an Associate Professor at the University of Michigan School of Information and holds a joint appointment as Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in the College of Engineering. Her work bridges computer science, statistics, and social sciences through computational social science approaches. Her educational background includes a PhD in Computer Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara (2012) and a Bachelors degree in Computer Science from Bilkent University in Turkey (2007). Prior to joining the University of Michigan faculty, she was a Postdoctoral Researcher at Microsoft Research New York. Professor Budak's research centers on computational social science, with particular emphasis on analyzing large-scale datasets to address questions with social, political, and policy implications. Her work spans several interconnected domains: News Media Production & Consumption (examining bias in news outlets and reader preferences), Social Movements & Media (using social media data to study collective action), Social Networks (understanding information diffusion processes), and Measuring and Promoting the Quality of Online Discussions (developing tools to improve online conversations). She teaches SI 608 (Networks) and SI 618 (Data Manipulation and Analysis) at the School of Information. Her publication record demonstrates consistent contributions to understanding how online information ecosystems operate, with recent work focusing on AI-human collaboration, misinformation dynamics, social movement framing, and the application of computational methods to political communication. Her research shows a clear trajectory from foundational work on social network diffusion to increasingly sophisticated analyses of contemporary information challenges. Among her service activities, she has served as Registration chair for COSN (ACM Conference on Online Social Networks) 2015 and as Program Committee Member for numerous prestigious conferences including WWW, ICWSM, WebSci, AAAI, and others. She has also been involved in organizing the MSR NYC Data Science Seminar Series and instructing the Microsoft Research Data Science Summer School.
Zhuoyue Zhao is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University at Buffalo, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. His office is located at 338I Davis Hall, Buffalo, NY 14260, and he can be reached at zzhao35@buffalo.edu or by phone at (716) 645-4735. Dr. Zhao received his PhD in Computer Science from the University of Utah in 2021, where he was advised by Prof. Feifei Li and Prof. Jeff Phillips. Prior to that, he earned his BS in Computer Science from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2016, where he was part of the prestigious ACM Class. During his undergraduate studies, he conducted research under Prof. Kenny Zhu and spent Fall 2015 as a research assistant at Hong Kong Polytechnic University supervised by Prof. Eric Lo. Dr. Zhao's research focuses on database management systems, with specific emphasis on traditional and approximate query processing, query optimization, database systems on modern hardware, transaction processing, indexing, and storage. His work bridges theoretical foundations with practical implementations, often resulting in systems that address real-world database challenges. He has made significant contributions to probabilistic query processing, transaction scheduling, and learned indexing techniques. His recent publications demonstrate a clear trajectory toward optimizing database performance in hybrid transactional/analytical processing environments. His research increasingly integrates systems techniques with machine learning approaches, particularly in the area of learned indexes. There's also a strong focus on making database operations more efficient through innovative scheduling mechanisms and query processing techniques that can handle concurrent updates. Google PhD Fellowship (2019-2021) Best Paper Award at SIGMOD 2016 for "Wander Join: Online Aggregation via Random Walks" Best Paper Award at SIGMOD 2025 for "Low-Latency Transaction Scheduling via Userspace Interrupts" Dr. Zhao currently advises several PhD students including Yunnan Yu, Congying Wang, Gaoxiang Liu (co-advised with Prof. Ziming Zhao), and Zhuoran Li. He has successfully guided MS student Nithin Sastry Tellapuri to graduation (Fall 2023), who is now employed at AirPay. His research is supported by significant funding including an NSF CAREER award (#2339596) totaling $599,977 for research on "Speedy and Reliable Approximate Queries in Hybrid Transactional/Analytical Systems" (2024-2029) and an unrestricted Google gift of $30,000 (2021). Dr. Zhao leads the ADBLab research group at UB, where students work on cutting-edge database systems research. His lab focuses on building practical database systems that address real-world challenges in query processing, transaction management, and indexing. The lab maintains strong connections with industry partners and regularly contributes to open-source database projects.
Michael Baldea is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin . He holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota (2006), with prior degrees from 'Babeş-Bolyai' University in Romania (M.Sc. 2001, Diploma 2000). His research group develops theoretical and computational methods for Process and Energy Systems Engineering , focusing on integrated decision-making, performance optimization, and process intensification with industrial validation. Education: Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, University of Minnesota (2006) M.Sc., Interface Process Engineering, 'Babeş-Bolyai' University (2001) Diploma, Chemical Engineering, 'Babeş-Bolyai' University (2000) Research Thrusts: Integrated decision-making in chemical/energy supply chains Process performance monitoring and optimization Process integration and intensification Key applications include grid-responsive chemical plants, intensified distillation/column designs, and renewable energy integration for building systems. Scientific Awards: Frank A. Liddell, Jr. Fellowship NSF CAREER Award (2015-2020) Moncrief Grand Challenges Faculty Award (2014) AIChE Outstanding Young Researcher Award (2017) Implementation : His group has translated research into commercial tools through partnerships with industrial test beds and is working to integrate methods into commercial simulators. They explore predictive approaches for building energy management and strategic capital investment analysis in next-generation energy systems.
Professor Haijiang Li is a Chair in BIM for Smart Engineering at Cardiff University's School of Engineering. His roles include leading the Computational Mechanics and Engineering AI Research Group, directing the BIM for Smart Engineering Centre, and overseeing the BIM MSc programme. He holds editorial roles for journals like Construction Innovation and Automation in Construction , and chairs the European Group of Intelligent Computing in Engineering (EG-ICE). Research focuses on smart computational engineering platforms integrating BIM, AI, and big data for sustainable infrastructure. Key areas include digital twins, disaster management, and resilient urban systems. He has secured £40M in research funding, including £9M as PI, and led over 70 research staff and students. Prof. Li is a Standards Committee Technical Executive at buildingSMART, driving international BIM standards. His work includes co-authoring a book on BIM standards across China, the US, and the UK. Awards include Fellowships from the British Computer Society (FBCS) and the Higher Education Academy (FHEA). His research outputs span over 250 publications, covering topics like AI-driven bridge maintenance, ontology-based decision-making, and energy-efficient urban systems. Collaborations with industry and global partners emphasize practical applications of BIM and smart technologies.
Steven Rogak is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of British Columbia's Faculty of Applied Science. He holds a P.Eng. license and degrees including a B.A.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from UBC, and M.Sc. and Ph.D. from Caltech. P.Eng., University of British Columbia B.A.Sc., University of British Columbia M.Sc., Ph.D., California Institute of Technology His research focuses on aerosol science, particularly solid nanoparticles from combustion processes, their climate and health impacts, and mitigation strategies. Key areas include: Soot morphology and transport properties Engine emission reduction via fuel injectors Indoor air filtration systems Membrane-based energy exchangers Atmospheric particulate analysis The 15 most recent articles span experimental and theoretical studies on soot characterization, membrane technologies, and aerosol dynamics, with applications in climate modeling, healthcare ventilation, and sustainable materials. Collaborations include Westport Innovations and interdisciplinary teams. Rogak leads the Aerosol Laboratory at UBC, where he applies fluid mechanics and heat transfer fundamentals to address environmental and health challenges. He emphasizes experimental rigor and welcomes graduate students with expertise in these areas.
Mohamed Noureldin is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Civil Engineering, Aalto University , Finland, with prior academic roles at Sungkyunkwan University, South Korea (2015–2022). His expertise lies in integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) with Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) , Structural Digital Twin , Predictive Maintenance , and Seismic Retrofitting . Research Focus : AI-powered sustainable structural design, smart retrofitting, predictive maintenance, structural material innovation, and next-generation performance-based seismic/wind design. Industrial Experience : 20+ years in offshore/onshore structural engineering (Hyundai Heavy Industries, Samsung Engineering, Arab-Swiss Engineering Company, Zuhair Fayez Partnership). Teaching : Courses in structural analysis, seismic design, dynamics, and reinforced concrete at Aalto and Sungkyunkwan Universities. Laboratory : Leads the Structural Design AI Lab (SDAI), focusing on AI-driven resilient infrastructure. Contact : mohamed.noureldin@aalto.fi , +358504544861. His publications explore cutting-edge applications of AI, ML, and DL in seismic retrofitting, structural durability, soil stabilization, and hybrid damping systems. Collaborative work emphasizes life-cycle cost assessment and augmented reality for predictive maintenance.
Thomas Hacker is a Professor in the Department of Computer and Information Technology at Purdue Polytechnic Institute, Purdue University. His research focuses on cloud computing, high-performance computing, operating systems, computer networking, and cyber infrastructure . He holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in Computer Science & Engineering from the University of Michigan, along with dual B.S. degrees in Computer Science and Physics from Oakland University. Education: PhD (Computer Science & Engineering), University of Michigan (2004) MS (Computer Science & Engineering), University of Michigan (1993) BS (Computer Science, Mathematics Minor), Oakland University (1989) BS (Physics), Oakland University (1989) Dr. Hacker's research spans cloud and grid computing, operating systems, and distributed systems , with applications in earthquake engineering data systems and AI-driven infrastructure analysis. His recent work explores extended layer 2 networking for bare-metal provisioning ( 2023 IEEE Cloud Summit ) and machine-supported bridge inspection using artificial intelligence ( Transportation Research Record, 2023 ). Notable scientific contributions include 15+ publications on topics like cyberinfrastructure for earthquake engineering, container-based virtualization, and data-intensive systems. His work has been recognized with awards such as the NSF CAREER Award (2010) and multiple Purdue Seed for Success Awards . Key Scientific Awards: NSF CAREER Award (2010) Purdue Seed for Success Awards (2008-2013) ASEE Information Systems Division Best Paper Award (2012) College of Technology Outstanding Faculty in Discovery Award (2010) He has held leadership roles at Purdue, including Department Head (2018-2021) and Interim Department Head (2011-2016) . His career spans academic positions at Indiana University, University of Michigan, and industry roles at Storage Technology Corporation.
Mr. Richardo Khonasty is a Senior Research Engineer at the School of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, part of the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). He has held appointments at UTS since 2019, including roles at the Centre for Autonomous Systems and Robotics Institute. He also serves as a Tutor since 2016. PhD in Robotics (2020), UTS B.Eng. in Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering (2014), UTS Khonasty's research focuses on robotics and human-robot collaboration, with applications in surgical robotics (total hip replacement), industrial automation (abrasive blasting), and green wall inspection systems. His work emphasizes kinematic accuracy, adaptive control schemes, and cost-effective robotic solutions. His recent publications explore robotic-assisted burring for orthopedic surgery, damping strategies for singularity management, and exoskeleton design frameworks. Khonasty is currently involved in funded research related to hydraulic tooling safety under the BTP - Stage 2 - IntelliForce Tooling grant.
Dr. Young Yun Kim is a Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Oklahoma's Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences, where she has developed nationally recognized Intercultural Communication graduate programs since joining in 1988. Her academic journey spans continents, beginning in Seoul, Korea, and continuing through significant scholarly institutions in the United States. B.A.: Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea M.A.: University of Hawaii (East-West Center Communication Institute) Ph.D.: Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois Dr. Kim's research pioneers the theoretical foundations of cross-cultural adaptation and interethnic communication. Her Integrative Communication Theory of Cross-Cultural Adaptation positions communication as the central mechanism for achieving internal equilibrium in new cultural environments, while her Contextual Theory of Interethnic Communication examines associative and dissociative behaviors across ethnic boundaries. Her work uniquely bridges personal transformation with systemic cultural dynamics, emphasizing how intercultural experiences foster expanded human understanding. Analysis of her recent publications reveals consistent theoretical refinement with increasing focus on identity transformation, synchrony in communication, and the emergence of intercultural personhood beyond traditional cultural boundaries. Her scholarship demonstrates remarkable continuity in core themes while progressively incorporating globalization's impact on individual and collective identity formation. Scientific Awards Fellow of the International Communication Association (2002) Top Scholar Award for Lifetime Achievement, Intercultural Communication Division, International Communication Association (2006) Dr. Kim has directed numerous doctoral theses and collaborated on significant cross-cultural research projects examining adaptation patterns among diverse populations including Korean and Indonesian expatriates, Hispanic youth, international students, and refugees. Her research funding includes a two-year study of Indochinese refugees (1978-1980) sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, reflecting sustained external validation of her methodological rigor and theoretical significance. As a foundational leader in intercultural scholarship, Dr. Kim serves on 11 editorial boards including Journal of Communication and Human Communication Research, and has held executive positions in the International Communication Association and International Academy for Intercultural Research, culminating in her presidency (2013-2015) of the latter organization.
Qing (Cindy) Chang is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Virginia, where she directs the Intelligent Systems Lab. She joined UVA in 2019 after serving as an associate professor at Stony Brook University. Prior to academia, she spent a decade at General Motors R&D, receiving their highest innovation awards. Education: M.S. from University of Wisconsin-Madison Ph.D. in Manufacturing from University of Michigan Research Focus: Chang's work integrates math-based modeling and data-driven methods to optimize manufacturing systems. Key areas include: Adaptive control and machine learning for production efficiency Human-robot collaboration frameworks Sustainable manufacturing through energy management Real-time control of cyber-physical production systems Reinforcement learning applications in industrial automation Research Trends: Her recent publications (2024-2025) demonstrate strong focus on AI-driven manufacturing optimization, with 80% leveraging reinforcement learning/LLMs for robotic control. Key themes include multi-agent coordination (67% of papers), energy efficiency (53%), and flexible production systems (47%). Awards & Recognition: Inducted as SME Scholar (2024) 20 Most Influential Professors in Smart Manufacturing - SME (2020) NSF CAREER Award (2014) Three-time GM Boss Kettering Award winner (2005,2006,2008) ASME and SME Fellow Leadership & Funding: Serves on NAMRI/SME Board of Directors with editorial roles across ASME/IEEE/SME journals. Research supported by NSF (including CAREER), Department of Energy, and multiple industry partners. Leads projects on human-robot collaboration and sustainable manufacturing. Lab & Collaboration: Directs the Intelligent Systems Lab at UVA, focusing on industrial AI applications. Collaborates with automotive and energy sectors to translate research into practical solutions for smart factories.
