Bahar Asgari is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Maryland, College Park. She holds appointments in CS, UMIACS, and ECE, and directs the Computer Architecture and Systems Lab (CASL). Her research focuses on domain-specific architecture design, near memory processing, and reconfigurable computing. Before joining UMD, she worked at Google, contributing to system optimization and memory utilization strategies. Education: Ph.D., Georgia Institute of Technology, 2021. Research Interests: Developing energy-efficient architectures for sparse problems, scientific computing acceleration, FPGA optimizations, and reconfigurable hardware systems. Her work addresses challenges in memory efficiency, parallelization, and hardware-software co-design across domains like machine learning and IoT. Key Awards: 2024 UMD Excellence in Teaching Award 2023 DOE Early Career Award Advising & Grants: Supervises 9 graduate students and leads projects sponsored by NSF, DOE, and industry partnerships. Her lab explores systolic arrays, near-data processing, and fault-tolerant computing. Labs/Teams: Directs CASL, which builds next-generation computing systems through hardware innovation and algorithm-architecture co-design.
Ram Rajagopal is an Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Electrical Engineering at Stanford University, and a Senior Fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy. He leads the Stanford Sustainable Systems Lab (S3L), focusing on large-scale monitoring, data analytics, and stochastic control for infrastructure networks, particularly power systems. His research emphasizes renewable energy integration, smart distribution systems, and demand-side data analytics. Education: PhD in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences & MA in Statistics (UC Berkeley), MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering (UT Austin), and BEng in Electrical Engineering (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro). Research interests include power grid optimization, renewable energy systems, and data-driven approaches to infrastructure challenges. He has pioneered work in grid flexibility, distributed energy resources, and machine learning applications for energy systems. His lab develops technologies like Smart Dim Fuses and the EV-EcoSim platform for EV charging infrastructure optimization. Received NSF CAREER Award, Powell Foundation Fellowship, and Berkeley Regents Fellowship Over 30 patents and best paper awards Advises/founded companies in sensor networks, power systems, and data analytics Labs/Teams: Stanford Sustainable Systems Lab (S3L), Powernet Project. His work spans grid resilience, energy equity, and scalable energy solutions.
Dr. K. Max Zhang is a Professor in the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Cornell University. He is the director of the Energy and the Environment Research Laboratory (EERL) and a fellow at the Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future. His research is deeply interdisciplinary, focusing on sustainable energy systems, air quality, and environmental justice, with significant impacts on policy and community development in New York and beyond. Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, University of California-Davis, 2004 B.S., Thermal Engineering, Tianjin University, 1998 B.A., English Language, Tianjin University, 1998 Dr. Zhang’s research centers on the integration of energy and environmental systems. He investigates air pollution dynamics using advanced numerical models like CTAG, with applications in near-source pollution, indoor air quality, and environmental justice. His work on renewable energy systems includes designing sustainable solar farms and managing distributed energy resources such as heat pumps to enhance grid flexibility. He also leads a pioneering initiative to create the first statewide public IoT network in the U.S., enabling hyperlocal weather forecasting and microclimate monitoring. His recent publications reflect a strong trend toward agrivoltaics, peer-to-peer energy markets, and IoT-based environmental monitoring. These works demonstrate a consistent focus on data-driven modeling, community-scale energy solutions, and the integration of social considerations into technical systems. The keywords across his articles highlight expertise in sustainability, machine learning, air quality, and energy transition. Cornell Town-Gown Achievement Award (2022) Engaged Scholar Prize, Cornell University (2017) People's Choice Sign of Sustainability Award, Sustainable Tompkins (2016) Scientific and Technological Achievement Award, Environmental Protection Agency (2015) Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Dr. Zhang is actively involved in mentoring students and securing research grants from agencies such as the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). His projects often involve interdisciplinary collaboration across eight Cornell colleges and 16 academic departments. He has led initiatives such as the Cornell Atkinson Academic Venture Fund projects and the development of a county-level energy roadmap for Tompkins County. He also teaches courses in engineering thermodynamics, future energy systems, and air quality, emphasizing experiential and community-based learning. Dr. Zhang leads the Energy and the Environment Research Laboratory (EERL) and collaborates with the Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future. His lab functions as a hub for innovation in sustainable communities, combining advanced modeling with real-world applications. Through partnerships with community organizations, government agencies, and industry, his team develops science-driven solutions to urban and rural sustainability challenges.
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.
Professor Jiyuan Tu is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering at RMIT University's School of Engineering. He specializes in computational fluid dynamics (CFD), multiphase flows, and their applications in renewable/nuclear energy, biomedical engineering, and built environment systems. His research has led to over 500 peer-reviewed articles, 9 books, and $10M+ in ARC grants. He has supervised over 50 postgraduate students and received prestigious awards such as the RMIT Research Excellence Award (2012) and Fulbright Senior Scholar Award (2008). Research interests include CFD modelling of bioaerosol transport, drug delivery systems, and thermal energy storage. He pioneered numerical models for multiphase flows, contributing to software implementations in industries. Notable works include books on CFD and multiphase flow analysis, and leadership in international conferences like COBEE 2018. He holds honorary professorships at Tsinghua University and is Editor-in-Chief of the Experimental and Computational of Multiphase Flow journal. Industry experience includes roles at ANSTO (1996-2001). Awards span fellowships from JSPS, KOSEF, and Fulbright programs. Grants include ARC Discovery, Linkage, and LIEF projects. His work ranks him among the world’s top researchers in pebble bed reactors and airborne infection studies (SciVal 2016-2025).
Jonathan D. Bray is the Faculty Chair in Earthquake Engineering Excellence and a Distinguished Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley . He is a globally recognized authority in earthquake and geotechnical engineering, with research spanning seismic performance of earth structures, liquefaction, ground failure, and earthquake fault rupture effects. Education: Bray earned his Ph.D. in Geotechnical Engineering from UC Berkeley (1990), M.S. in Structural Engineering from Stanford University (1981), and B.S. from the United States Military Academy (1980). Research Interests: His work focuses on earthquake engineering , geotechnical engineering , physical and numerical modeling , and environmental geotechnics . Key areas include seismic site response, liquefaction of soils, seismic slope stability, and post-earthquake reconnaissance. Contributions: Bray has developed widely used procedures for seismic slope displacement and liquefaction-induced building settlement. He created the NSF-sponsored GEER Association to capture post-earthquake data. His work has influenced seismic design codes and practices globally. Awards & Recognition: He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) . His accolades include the Seed Medal , Terzaghi Award , Ishihara Lecture , Peck Award , Joyner Lecture , Prakash Award , Huber Research Prize , Packard Foundation Fellowship , and the NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award . Grants & Projects: Bray has led major projects funded by the NSF , California Energy Commission , U.S. Geological Survey , and Caltrans , totaling millions in research funding. Advising & Mentorship: He has supervised over 30 Ph.D. students, significantly shaping the next generation of earthquake engineers.
Colin Jones is an Associate Professor at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in the Automatic Control Laboratory, School of Engineering. He earned his BASc and MASc in Electrical Engineering and Mathematics from the University of British Columbia (1994-2002) and a PhD in Control Theory from the University of Cambridge (2002-2005). Prior to EPFL, he was an assistant professor there and a senior researcher at ETH Zürich. Current role: Director of the Robotics, Control, and Intelligent Systems Doctoral Program at EPFL Research focus: Optimization-based and model predictive control (MPC) for renewable energy systems, green energy management, and data-driven control methods His recent work (2023-2025) spans high-speed predictive control , smart grid optimization , and physically consistent neural networks , with applications to buildings, hovercrafts, and power systems. He has secured an ERC Starting Grant for his research on optimal control of building networks. Publications include over 200 papers in journals like Automatica , IEEE Transactions , and Energy and Buildings . Notable article trends include distributed optimization , data privacy in energy systems , and nonlinear MPC for autonomous vehicles . Scientific Awards : ERC Starting Grant for optimal control of building networks Advising : Supervises 10 current PhD students and has advised 19 past PhD students, including Alessandretti Andrea and Diwale Sanket Sanjay. Grants and projects emphasize smart energy systems , predictive demand response , and nonlinear control .
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.
Magda Posani is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at Aalto University, focusing on building physics, hygrothermal behavior of materials, and environmental sustainability. Her research explores the use of bio-based insulation, thermally massive stone and earth walls, and additive manufacturing techniques to enhance indoor comfort and address climate change challenges in Nordic regions. Integrated Master's Degree in 'Building Engineering and Architecture' from the University of Bologna (Italy) Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the National Laboratory for Civil Engineering (LNEC) and the University of Porto (FEUP, Portugal) Postdoctoral Research at ETH Zürich (Switzerland) Her research integrates vernacular solutions with modern technology, such as combining additive manufacturing with super-hygroscopic materials to develop components for passive humidity regulation. She addresses critical issues like occupant comfort, health risks from improper humidity, and climate change impacts on traditional constructions. The articles highlight her work on low-carbon materials, 3D-printed building components, and strategies for enhancing hygrothermal performance in both modern and historic structures. Key themes include moisture buffering, thermal insulation compatibility, and climate-resilient renovation.
Daniel Adelman is the Charles I. Clough, Jr. Professor of Operations Management at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He joined the faculty in 1997 after completing his PhD in industrial engineering and operations research at Georgia Tech. Adelman is a leading expert in Business Analytics and Management Analytics, helping companies deploy data and decision analysis to build world-class strategic and tactical management capabilities. Adelman received his PhD in industrial engineering and operations research in 1997, along with a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering and a master's degree in operations research, all from the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Daniel Adelman's research focuses on applying analytical models to solve complex business problems across multiple industries. He has worked with firms from diverse sectors including internet services, chemical distribution, airlines, third party logistics, fiber-optics manufacturing, semiconductor manufacturing, oil, and healthcare. His research integrates real-world data with analytical models to bring structure and discipline to decision and control processes, enabling firms to achieve higher profits with lower risk. Adelman's recent work has concentrated heavily on healthcare analytics, where he leads the Healthcare Analytics Laboratory at Chicago Booth. This lab works with teams of doctoral and MBA students on projects with major healthcare institutions to optimize clinical, operational, and financial outcomes. His research spans foundational operations research including approximate dynamic programming, inventory theory/supply chain management, and revenue management/pricing optimization, as well as examining the linkage between operational performance metrics and financial performance of firms. Adelman's publications show a clear trend toward increasing focus on healthcare applications while maintaining strong theoretical foundations in operations research. His earlier work focused more on general operations management problems like inventory control and supply chain optimization, while his recent publications demonstrate a strategic shift toward healthcare analytics, particularly examining surgical team dynamics, hospital performance metrics, and resource allocation during public health emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic. George B. Dantzig Prize (1998) for the best dissertation in operations research and management sciences that is innovative and relevant to practice Adelman regularly advises doctoral and MBA students through the Healthcare Analytics Laboratory at Chicago Booth. He has served as Associate Editor for Management Science, currently serves as Associate Editor for Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, and is the Area Editor for Operations and Supply Chain at Operations Research. His industry collaborations include significant projects with Akamai on internet pricing, with GE Global Research Labs on the electricity smart grid, with BP on gasoline supply contract portfolio optimization, and with Symantec on software release planning. Adelman leads the Healthcare Analytics Laboratory at Chicago Booth, which brings together interdisciplinary teams of doctoral and MBA students to work on a portfolio of projects with major healthcare institutions. The lab focuses on optimizing clinical, operational, and financial outcomes through advanced analytics and decision modeling.
Associate Professor Ng Bing Feng leads research in Additive Manufacturing, Aerospace Engineering, and Thermofluids at Nanyang Technological University's School of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering. As Cluster Director for Smart & Sustainable Building Technologies at NTU's Energy Research Institute, he oversees projects spanning energy-efficient cooling technologies, advanced filtration systems, and bio-inspired materials. His interdisciplinary work integrates advanced manufacturing with environmental engineering, focusing on sustainable solutions for air quality management and thermal regulation. Current research explores radiative cooling technologies, acoustic agglomeration for emissions control, and crashworthy structures via biomimetic design. Professor Ng's publications demonstrate consistent innovation in multi-scale manufacturing and fluid dynamics, with growing emphasis on sustainable urban technologies. Methodologies combine experimental fluid dynamics with computational modeling and AI-driven design. Leadership Roles: Cluster Director, Energy Research Institute @ NTU Principal Investigator for multiple industry collaborations in sustainable materials Research Output: 42+ publications in high-impact journals Multiple patents in filtration technologies and cooling systems
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.
Professor Hong Hao is a John Curtin Distinguished Professor at Curtin University, affiliated with the School of Civil and Mechanical Engineering and the Curtin Research Centre for Infrastructural Monitoring & Protection. His expertise spans Structural Dynamics, Earthquake Engineering, Blast and Impact Engineering, and Structural Health Monitoring. He holds prestigious roles like Fellow of ATSE, ISEAM, and ASCE, and has led organizations such as the International Association of Protective Structures and the Australian Earthquake Engineering Society. Education: BE (Tianjin University, 1982), MSc (UC Berkeley, 1985), PhD (UC Berkeley, 1989). Awards include the Tan Chin Tuan Fellowship and multiple Ko Medals. He has authored over 200 journal articles, with recent work focusing on blast-resistant materials, seismic fragility, and AI-driven structural health monitoring. His research emphasizes resilient infrastructure, including metaconcrete structures, corrosion-resistant materials, and sensor-based damage detection. Ongoing projects involve smart tunnel safety under BLEVE explosions and modular building systems.
Soumya Dutta is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IITK), where he leads the INSIGHT: Intelligent Scientific and Visual Computing of Big Data Research Group. He joined IIT Kanpur in October 2022 after working as a Scientist II at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) from July 2019 to August 2022, and previously as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at LANL from June 2018 to July 2019. His educational background includes a Ph.D. and M.S. in Computer Science and Engineering from The Ohio State University (2011-2018), where he was part of the GRAVITY research group, and a B.Tech. in Electronics and Communication Engineering from West Bengal University of Technology, India (2005-2009). Research Interests: Dr. Dutta's research focuses on the intersection of machine learning, visual computing, big data, and high-performance computing. His primary research areas include Machine Learning for Visual Computing and Image Analysis, Big Data Visualization and Analytics, Data Science and HPC, Machine Learning for Scientific Computing, and Explainability and Interpretability of AI Models. His work addresses various big data characteristics including the 5 Vs: Volume, Velocity, Variety, Veracity, and Value. He develops techniques that make complex machine learning models more interpretable and explainable, enabling their effective adoption in real-life applications across scientific domains, social media, IoT, healthcare, and industry applications. Dr. Dutta's research group has secured multiple funded projects including: DAVi: An Intelligent Data Analytics and Visualization Framework (funded by ISRO), Intelligent Visual Computing of Extreme-scale Data for Accelerating Scientific Discovery (IIT Kanpur Initiation Grant), Enabling Interactive Big Data Analytics and Visualization at Exascale (SERB), Development of AI-Enabled National Portal for Efficient Search of Missing People (C3iHub), and Proactive and Generalized Deepfake Defense Mechanisms (C3iHub). Best Reviewer, Honorary Mention Award for IEEE Transactions on Visualization & Computer Graphics (TVCG), 2021 Best Paper Award at ISAV 2021, co-located with Supercomputing (SC) LAAP Award at Los Alamos National Laboratory, 2021 Best Paper Award at TopoInVis 2019 Best Paper Award at ISAV 2018, co-located with Supercomputing (SC) Best Poster Award in 12th Annual CSE Student Poster Exhibition, The Ohio State University, 2018 Best Poster Award in 11th Annual CSE Student Poster Exhibition, The Ohio State University, 2017 Best Paper Honorable Mention Award at IEEE Visualization Conference (IEEE VIS) 2016 Dr. Dutta actively mentors a large group of students including Ph.D., M.Tech., and B.Tech. students. His current Ph.D. students include Shanu Saklani, Sankhadeep Bhowmick, Ananya Chaturvedi, Arpita Santra, Anubhav Dixit (co-supervised), and Robin Shah. He has supervised numerous M.Tech. students with thesis topics ranging from uncertainty-aware neural networks to deepfake detection. Dr. Dutta currently teaches courses including CS360 - Introduction to Computer Graphics and CS661 - Big Data Visual Analytics. The INSIGHT research group collaborates internationally with researchers from Meta, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and National Taiwan Normal University. The group's work focuses on building machine learning and data science-based solutions to analyze large-scale multifaceted data in a scalable way, enabling interactive and interpretable analytics of complex data from scientific simulations, social media, IoT, healthcare, and other application domains.
Yuvraj Agarwal is a Professor in the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University , where he leads the SYNERGY Labs . His research focuses on Systems and Networking with emphasis on Embedded Systems , Security , and Energy Efficiency in computing environments. He has been recognized with the NSF Expeditions in Computing Award for Computational Decarbonization research and multiple best paper awards. Education : PhD in Computer Science from University of California, San Diego Research Leadership : Founder/Director of SYNERGY Labs; Executive Director of NSF Expeditions in Variability (2010-2013) Research Trajectory : Recent publications highlight his work on Privacy-preserving smart classroom systems (EduSense, ClassID) IoT security labeling frameworks Audio privacy protection mechanisms Computational decarbonization of infrastructure His research combines hardware-software co-design with societal impact considerations. Scientific Recognition : NSF Expeditions in Computing Award for CoDec (2024) Ubicomp/IMWUT Distinguished Paper Award (2024) CHI Best Paper Honorable Mention (2022) Advising & Collaboration : Mentors students in IoT systems , privacy research , and green computing . Collaborates with institutions including University of Massachusetts Amherst and industry partners like Johnson Controls. Grants include NSF funding for multi-university research initiatives.
