Benjamin J. Delaware is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Purdue University. His research focuses on programming languages, formal verification, and tools for ensuring software correctness using mechanized theorem provers. He holds a Ph.D. from The University of Texas at Austin (2013), an MSc from Washington University in St. Louis (2007), and a B.S. from Truman State University (2005). His work emphasizes practical formal methods, including static enforcement of privacy policies, compiler design for oblivious computation, and automated verification techniques. Key contributions include tools like Taypsi, KestRel, and HACCLE. His research bridges theory and practice, addressing challenges in software security, correctness, and efficiency. Publications span top venues like POPL, PLDI, and OOPSLA, reflecting a strong focus on foundational programming language concepts. Collaborations with researchers like Suresh Jagannathan and Qianchuan Ye drive advancements in automated reasoning and secure computation.
Carlo A. Furia is an Associate Professor at the Software Institute within the Faculty of Informatics at Università della Svizzera italiana (USI). He leads the ATOM research group and is actively involved in advancing formal methods in software engineering. His work bridges theoretical rigor with practical applicability, particularly in verification, automated repair, and empirical analysis of software systems. PhD in Computer Science, Politecnico di Milano Master of Science in Computer Science, University of Illinois at Chicago Laurea in Computer Science and Engineering, Politecnico di Milano His research focuses on making formal methods practical through automation, combining diverse techniques, and conducting thorough empirical evaluations. He is particularly interested in using Bayesian data analysis to assess software engineering data. His work spans program verification (e.g., AutoProof), contract inference, API usability, and multilingual program analysis. His recent publications highlight trends in automated program repair, JVM bytecode analysis, Android security, and empirical methodologies. These works reflect a consistent emphasis on correctness, reliability, and empirical validation in software development. Scientific service includes: Associate Editor, Empirical Software Engineering (EMSE) journal Program Committee member, FM 2026, FormaliSE 2026, ASE 2025, iFM 2025 He has advised students and leads the ATOM group, which develops tools for software analysis. He teaches courses such as Software Analysis, Programming Fundamentals, and Software Design & Modeling. Current research directions include improving empirical evaluation rigor and enhancing verification at lower code levels like bytecode.
Jeff Zhang is an Assistant Professor in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering at Arizona State University. He joined ASU in January 2023 after completing a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University. His research spans deep learning, computer architecture, embedded systems, and EDA, with particular emphasis on energy-efficient and fault-tolerant design for AI/ML systems and hardware accelerators. Education: Ph.D., New York University M.Eng., B.Eng., Hunan University Dr. Zhang's research bridges theoretical machine learning with practical hardware implementation, developing novel architectures that optimize performance, power consumption, and reliability. He has pioneered approaches for hardware acceleration of large language models, efficient sparse matrix operations, and novel memory technologies for AI workloads. His work has received multiple awards including IEEE Top Picks in Test and Reliability (2023) and IEEE Micro Best Paper Award (2022). His recent publications demonstrate a strong trend toward heterogeneous computing, with significant work in chiplet-based AI accelerators, photonic computing for AI, and 2.5D/3D integration techniques. The research spans from high-level compiler frameworks to circuit-level innovations, with a consistent theme of co-designing algorithms and hardware for optimal AI performance. His work on the SODA toolchain has been particularly influential in bridging Python to silicon. Scientific Awards: IEEE Top Picks in Test and Reliability, IEEE ITC, 2023 Best Paper Award, IEEE Micro, 2022 Best Paper Award Candidate, IEEE DATE, 2022 Best Presentation Award Nomination, ACM SIGDA DATE PhD Forum, 2020 Best Paper Award Nomination, IEEE VLSI Test Symposium, 2018 Ernst Weber Ph.D. Fellowship, New York University, 2015, 2016 Dr. Zhang actively mentors a diverse group of graduate and undergraduate students, with several alumni now working at leading technology companies including Apple, TSMC, and Ansys. His research is supported by prestigious grants from NSF, Sandia National Labs, and industry partners. He serves on technical program committees of numerous top conferences and has organized special sessions on emerging topics like Gen AI for Chip Design and LLM-Aided Design. Dr. Zhang leads a vibrant research group that collaborates extensively with industry partners and national laboratories. Current projects focus on next-generation AI hardware, including chiplet-based systems, photonic accelerators, and novel memory technologies for large language models. His group has developed several open-source tools and frameworks, including the SODA toolchain for bridging Python to silicon.
Jennifer Neville is a Senior Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research Redmond and holds the Samuel Conte Chair Professor of Computer Science and Statistics at Purdue University. With over 100 publications and 10K citations, her research spans data mining, machine learning, and AI algorithms for relational and networked domains including social networks, epidemiology, and web analytics. Education: BS in Computer Science, University of Massachusetts Amherst (2000) MS in Computer Science, University of Massachusetts Amherst (2004) PhD in Computer Science, University of Massachusetts Amherst (2006) Her work focuses on relational learning techniques that exploit connections between entities to enhance pattern discovery. Recent research explores large language models (LLMs), emphasizing alignment with user intent through interaction at scale, while addressing statistical biases from graph structures. Selected scientific awards include the NSF Career Award (2012), ICDM Best Paper (2009), and IEEE’s 10 to Watch in AI (2008). She served on the AAAI Executive Council (2015-2018) and chaired multiple conferences including SIAM Data Mining (2019) and ACM Web Search (2016). Contact: neville@cs.purdue.edu jenneville@microsoft.com
Pavel Panchekha is an Assistant Professor in the School of Computing at the University of Utah, where he holds the Warnock Chair for Junior Faculty. His research spans programming languages, web browsers, and numerical analysis, with a focus on developing programming language techniques to address challenges across computer science. Dr. Panchekha received his educational training at prestigious institutions: PhD in Computer Science from the Paul G. Allen School for Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington, advised by Michael D. Ernst and Zachary Tatlock BS in Mathematics from MIT Panchekha's research program has two major thrusts. First, he works on web browser internals , with projects including fuzzing layout invalidation, multi-tenant garbage collection, and optimizing 2D graphics. He is also authoring a textbook on web browsers that informs much of this research. Second, he focuses on automatic numerical analysis , with projects such as automatic accuracy improvement, synthesis via term rewriting, scalable static accuracy analysis, and math library implementation. He leads the FPBench and Herbie projects, which are major deployments of his research. His scholarly output demonstrates consistent contributions across programming languages, verification, and numerical methods. Recent work shows a growing emphasis on bidirectional typing systems, layout invalidation in browsers, and robust floating-point error analysis. His publications reveal a trajectory from foundational work on floating-point accuracy (notably the Herbie tool that won a Distinguished Paper Award at PLDI 2015) toward more comprehensive systems for program synthesis, verification, and browser optimization. Panchekha has received significant recognition for his research contributions: NSF Fellowship ARCS Foundation Fellowship Adobe Research Fellowship Wissner-Slivka Foundation Fellowship 2015 PLDI Distinguished Paper Award for work on the Herbie numerical analysis and repair tool As an advisor, Panchekha mentors a substantial group of students across multiple levels. He currently advises six students: Marisa Kirisame (PhD), Bhargav Kulkarni (PhD), Yumeng He (PhD), Artem Yadrov (MS), Jesus Ponce (BS), and Jonas Regehr (BS). Previously, he has advised over twenty students including PhD candidates like Ian Briggs and numerous MS and BS students. His advising spans theoretical topics in programming languages and practical applications in web browsers and numerical computing. Panchekha leads research groups focused on programming languages applications to web browsers and numerical analysis. His work on the Herbie tool for floating-point accuracy improvement has become influential in the programming languages community, and his more recent work on browser internals is shaping how researchers understand and optimize modern web rendering engines. He is currently developing a textbook on web browsers that aims to synthesize knowledge about browser architecture and implementation.
Kimia Zamiri Azar serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Central Florida, focusing on hardware security and verification methodologies. Her research bridges theoretical formal methods with practical security implementations in semiconductor design and testing. Her educational background includes: Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering, George Mason University (2021) Postdoctoral Research, University of Florida Dr. Azar's research spans hardware security with emphasis on system-level verification, VLSI design-for-trust, and advanced IC testing. She pioneers techniques in logic locking, secure heterogeneous integration, and IC supply chain security, developing frameworks for authenticated encryption in Systems-in-Package and runtime security monitoring. Her work integrates formal verification with innovative testing methodologies to address hardware trust challenges across the semiconductor lifecycle. Analysis of her recent publications reveals two dominant trends: (1) Application of large language models (LLMs) to hardware design tasks including high-level synthesis code generation and RTL optimization, and (2) Advancement of secure heterogeneous integration techniques for System-in-Package architectures with focus on counterfeit prevention and split-test security protocols. These directions address critical gaps in hardware trustworthiness amid increasingly complex semiconductor supply chains. Her scientific contributions have earned significant recognition: Best Paper Award at ICCAD 2019 Best Paper Award at ISVLSI 2020 Best Paper Award at ICCAD 2020 Best Paper Award at IEEE DCAS 2020 Best Paper Award at HOST 2022 Best Paper Award at DATE 2023 Dr. Azar secures substantial research funding from premier agencies including NSF, SRC, DARPA, AFRL, DoD (NG), and Microsemi. Her grants support projects spanning hardware security validation frameworks, secure heterogeneous integration, and AI-augmented verification methodologies. She actively mentors students in her research group, guiding publications in top venues like IEEE D&T, IEEE TC, and DAC while fostering industry-academic collaborations. Her work directly impacts semiconductor security standards through patented innovations and open-source verification tools. As an active IEEE and ACM member, she contributes to community advancement through conference organization (HOST, DATE), journal editorial roles, and workshop leadership on hardware security standards. Her research group collaborates with semiconductor industry leaders to translate theoretical security frameworks into practical design-for-trust methodologies for next-generation integrated circuits.
Matthieu Sozeau is a prominent researcher at Inria in the Gallinette team in Nantes, France, and a key contributor and coordinator of the Coq/Rocq proof assistant project. His work bridges theoretical computer science and practical software development, focusing on creating reliable formal verification tools. His research interests span Type Theory, Proof Assistants, Functional Programming, and Unification. He has made significant contributions to the development of Coq (recently renamed to Rocq Prover), particularly through the MetaCoq project which aims to verify Coq's kernel within Coq itself, the Equations plugin for dependent pattern matching, and CertiCoq, a verified compiler from Coq to assembly. His work enables stronger guarantees about formalized mathematics and verified software. Sozeau's publications reveal a consistent focus on foundational aspects of proof assistants. His recent work includes verified type checking ('Coq Coq Correct!'), verified extraction from Coq to OCaml, and sort polymorphism for proof assistants. These contributions advance both theoretical understanding and practical implementation of dependently-typed programming languages. Distinguished paper award for Verified Compilation from Coq to OCaml at PLDI'24 As an academic mentor, Sozeau has supervised PhD students including Théo Winterhalter and Antoine Allioux. He regularly teaches courses on proof assistants, notably at MPRI (Master Parisien de Recherche en Informatique), and actively participates in the academic community through program committees, invited talks, and workshops. His work has significantly influenced both the theoretical foundations and practical applications of interactive theorem proving.
Dominique Devriese is a professor at the Department of Computer Science, KU Leuven, and a member of the DistriNet research group. His work bridges computer security, programming languages, and formal verification. Research interests: Functional Programming, Object Capabilities, Secure Compilation, Dependently-typed Programming, Modal Type Theory Teaching: Formal Systems, Object-Oriented Programming, CyberSecurity, Secure Software His research focuses on rigorous software systems security through capability machines and secure compilation techniques. He actively contributes to formal verification using Agda and Haskell, with recent work on multimode type theory and effect parametricity. Key publication trends include: multimode/presheaf type theory, capability-based security models, formal verification of hardware/software abstractions, and parametricity applications in programming languages. Contact: Email: dominique.devriese@kuleuven.be ORCID: 0000-0002-3862-6856
Professor Tony McEnery is a Distinguished Professor of English Language and Linguistics at Lancaster University, where he has held various senior roles, including Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (2008–2014) and Head of the Department of Linguistics and English Language (2000–2005). His research focuses on corpus linguistics, applied linguistics, and sociolinguistics, with notable contributions to corpus-based analyses of historical medical discourse, media representation of Islam, and swearing in English. He has led major research projects, including the ESRC Centre for Corpus Approaches to Social Science (CASS) and the Trinity Lancaster Corpus. McEnery has secured over £10 million in research funding and holds visiting professorships at institutions worldwide, including Zhejiang University of Media and Communications and Shanghai International Studies University. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, Trinity College London, and the Royal Society for the Arts. Education: No explicit details provided, but his career trajectory implies advanced degrees in linguistics. Research Interests: Corpus linguistics applications in theoretical and applied linguistics, historical language analysis, and language as a socially situated phenomenon. McEnery’s work extends to interdisciplinary collaborations, including projects with the Environment Agency and the Home Office. His teaching includes summer schools in corpus linguistics and a Futurelearn MOOC, reaching tens of thousands globally. He advises on research funding for international bodies like the Irish Research Council and the Qatar National Research Foundation. Grants and Awards: Queen’s Anniversary Prize (2015), Changjiang Chair (2021), and multiple fellowships. Current grants include the Lancaster-Northern Arizona corpus and the Trinity Lancaster Corpus projects. Advising and Labs: Supervises postgraduate students in linguistics and collaborates with teams like the ESRC CASS Centre and UCREL (University Centre for Computer Corpus Research on Language).
Chris Peikert is a Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Michigan's College of Engineering. He received his Ph.D. from MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory in 2006 under the supervision of Silvio Micali. Peikert is a leading researcher in cryptography, particularly known for his foundational work in lattice-based cryptography. His research interests span cryptography, lattices, coding theory, algorithms, and computational complexity, with a particular focus on cryptographic schemes whose security can be based on the apparent intractability of lattice problems. Peikert has made significant contributions to the development and analysis of lattice-based cryptographic primitives, including ring-LWE, fully homomorphic encryption, and zero-knowledge proofs. Peikert's recent work demonstrates continued leadership in post-quantum cryptography, with publications in top venues like CRYPTO, EUROCRYPT, and STOC. His research spans theoretical foundations of lattice problems to practical implementations of lattice-based cryptographic systems, including hardware acceleration for fully homomorphic encryption. IACR Fellow (2024) Test-of-Time Award from Crypto 2008 (2023) TCC Test-of-Time Award (2017) Patrick C. Fischer Development Professor of Theoretical Computer Science (2017) Best Paper Award at Eurocrypt 2010 Best Paper Award at STOC 2009 Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellowship Google Research Award Peikert has been actively involved in the cryptographic research community, serving on program committees for major conferences including CRYPTO, EUROCRYPT, FOCS, and TCC (where he was program co-chair in 2021). He has also developed educational resources, including extensive lecture materials on lattice-based cryptography and teaching courses on cryptography and theoretical computer science at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.
Grant Weddell is an Associate Professor in the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science at the University of Waterloo. His research focuses on database technology for real-time applications, including large-scale schema management, information clustering, dependency theory, and query optimization for heterogeneous data sources. He teaches courses such as CS338 (Introductory Databases), CS348 (Advanced Databases), CS446 (Software Engineering), and CS848 (Advanced Database Systems). His research interests emphasize the interplay between description logics and database systems, particularly in optimizing query processing and managing complex schemas. Recent work explores path agreements, functional dependencies, and ontology-mediated querying to enhance data integration and schema management efficiency. Teaching responsibilities include foundational database courses (CS338/348), software engineering (CS446), and advanced topics in information integration (CS848). No scientific awards are explicitly listed, though his contributions to database theory and optimization are extensive.
Andreas Abel is a Senior Lecturer in the Division of Computing Science at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology and the University of Gothenburg. He has previously served as an Assistant Professor at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) Munich and has been a visiting researcher at INRIA in Paris. His primary affiliations are with Chalmers and the University of Gothenburg, where he conducts research and teaches in programming languages and type theory. Chalmers University of Technology, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Senior Lecturer University of Gothenburg, Division of Computing Science LMU Munich, Assistant Professor (former) INRIA Paris, Visiting Researcher Abel’s research lies at the intersection of type theory, functional programming, and formal verification. He is particularly known for his work on dependent types, normalization by evaluation, and the development of the Agda proof assistant. His interests include constructive logic, logical frameworks, modal and linear typing, program verification, and compiler construction. He leads the Modal Dependent Type Theory project funded by the Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet) and has contributed to several other major research initiatives in programming language theory. His recent publications reflect a strong focus on foundational aspects of type systems, including cubical type theory, decidability of conversion, and formalization of algebraic completeness. These works appear in top-tier venues such as ICFP, LICS, POPL, and TYPES, showcasing both theoretical depth and practical implementation in Agda. Distinguished Paper Award, ICFP 2019 Editor, Theoretical Pearls column, Journal of Functional Programming Member, IFIP WG 1.3 on Foundations of System Specification Abel actively supervises students and contributes to the research community through program committee memberships for major conferences including LICS, ICFP, and CPP. He is a senior developer of Agda and the maintainer of the BNFC (Backus-Naur Form Compiler) tool. His work bridges theoretical computer science with practical software development for formal methods. He is involved in several research groups and projects, including the Programming Logic Group at Chalmers and the international EUTYPES network. His role as principal investigator and core contributor in multiple funded projects highlights his leadership in the field of programming language foundations.
Daehyeok Kim is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at The University of Texas at Austin, where he co-leads the UT Networked Systems Research Group and participates in the Wireless Networking and Communications Group and 6G@UT. He serves as co-PI for the LDOS NSF Expeditions in Computing project, a major initiative rethinking operating systems through AI. His educational background includes a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University under advisors Vyas Sekar and Srinivasan Seshan, where his dissertation introduced abstractions for elastic in-network computing. He also earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in Computer Science and Engineering from POSTECH, South Korea, followed by research scientist work at KAIST prior to his Ph.D. Kim's research centers on hardware-software co-design for cloud and edge data centers, targeting speed, efficiency, and resilience. Key projects include resource management for programmable infrastructure, robust cellular network design, end-to-end network transport frameworks, and learning-directed operating systems. His work bridges computer networks, operating systems, distributed systems, and 5G/6G technologies, with emphasis on virtualized radio access networks (vRAN) and edge computing challenges. Analysis of his recent publications reveals a dominant focus on enhancing 5G/6G infrastructure reliability—particularly in virtualized RANs—through innovations in failover mechanisms, integrity protection, and latency-sensitive resource allocation. His research consistently addresses critical industry pain points like sub-second availability requirements, fronthaul security vulnerabilities, and end-to-end service-level objective (SLO) guarantees for mobile-edge applications. Notable scientific awards include: NSF CAREER Award (2025) for advancing cloud hardware efficiency Microsoft Research PhD Fellowship (2019) Bronze Award at Samsung HumanTech Paper Awards (2018) Qualcomm Innovation Awards (2016) His grant portfolio features leadership in the $10M+ LDOS NSF Expeditions project and the NSF CAREER award, both driving transformative work in AI-integrated operating systems and resilient network infrastructure. These projects demonstrate strong industry-academia collaboration with Microsoft Research, wireless vendors, and cloud providers. Kim co-leads the UT Networked Systems Research Group, which operates within the Wireless Networking and Communications Group and 6G@UT consortium. These labs maintain a 5G/6G testbed for Open RAN validation and focus on solving real-world problems in cellular infrastructure, edge computing, and network security through close partnerships with industry leaders.
David A. Plaisted is a Research Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He joined UNC-Chapel Hill as a full professor after serving on the faculty of the Computer Science Department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign until 1984. His academic career spans several decades with significant contributions to automated reasoning and computational logic. Bachelor's degree in Mathematics from the University of Chicago (1970) Ph.D. in Computer Science from Stanford University (1976) Professor Plaisted's research focuses on mechanical theorem proving, term rewriting systems, logic programming, and algorithms. His work in term-rewriting systems investigates methods of combining them with first-order theorem provers, including techniques for applying efficient permutation group algorithms to equational theorem proving. In mechanical theorem proving, he has developed a sequence of methods including clause linking with semantics and ordered semantic hyper-linking. His research in logic programming includes developing tests to eliminate the occurrence check in Prolog while maintaining semantics. His work spans theoretical foundations to practical applications in program verification and generation. His recent publications demonstrate continued innovation in automated reasoning, particularly in semantic guidance for theorem proving. His work shows a consistent focus on improving the efficiency and effectiveness of automated deduction systems, with recent contributions to SGGS (Semantically-Guided Goal-Sensitive) theorem proving and analysis of the relationship between semantics and unification in proof systems. Professor Plaisted has served on numerous program committees and editorial boards including the Journal of Symbolic Computation, Information Processing Letters, Mathematical Systems Theory, and Fundamenta Informaticae. He is currently on the editorial board of ACM Transactions on Computational Logic and the electronic Journal of Functional and Logic Programming. He has organized significant conferences including serving as co-chair of the Second International Conference on Rewriting Techniques and Applications in 1987. He has spent several sabbaticals at prestigious institutions including SRI in Menlo Park (1982-1983), the Max-Planck Institute and University of Kaiserslautern in Germany (1993-1994), and research visits to groups in Grenoble and Nancy, France (1998).
Steve Zdancewic is the Schlein Family President's Distinguished Professor and Associate Chair in the Department of Computer and Information Science at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Engineering and Applied Science. He is a leading researcher in programming languages, formal methods, and computer security with over two decades of impactful contributions to the field. His research interests span programming languages, type theory, logic, computer security, quantum programming, and formal verification. Zdancewic has made significant contributions to information-flow security, memory safety, program synthesis, and the verification of low-level systems. His work often bridges theoretical foundations with practical applications, particularly through the development of verified systems using Coq and other proof assistants. Analysis of his recent publications reveals a strong focus on formal verification techniques, particularly using Interaction Trees and the Coq proof assistant. His research trajectory shows consistent evolution from foundational work on information-flow security toward increasingly sophisticated verification of complex systems including LLVM, quantum computing, and distributed systems. His work demonstrates a commitment to building practically useful verification tools while maintaining rigorous theoretical foundations. Distinguished Paper Award for Semantics for Noninterference with Interaction Trees (ECOOP 2023) Schlein Family President's Distinguished Professor (2021) Distinguished Paper Award for Interaction Trees (POPL 2020) Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation Award for Distinguished Teaching (2018) IEEE MICRO top picks (2013) Alfred P. Sloan Fellow (2009-2010) NSF CAREER award (2004) Zdancewic has advised numerous PhD students who have gone on to successful careers in academia and industry. His research has been supported by significant grants from NSF, including the NSF Expedition on the Science of Deep Specification. He is actively involved in multiple major research projects including Vellvm (verified LLVM), DeepSpec, and quantum programming verification. Zdancewic also co-organizes Penn's PL Club programming languages research group with Benjamin Pierce and Stephanie Weirich.
