Aaqib Saeed is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Industrial Design at Eindhoven University of Technology. His research focuses on Human-Centric AI, Federated Learning, Self-Supervised Learning, and Audio Understanding, with applications in Personal Health. He holds a PhD (cum laude) from TU/e and an MSc (cum laude) from the University of Twente. Education: PhD in Computer Science (cum laude), TU/e (2021) MSc in Computer Science (cum laude), University of Twente (2018) Research Interests: Development of robust federated learning frameworks for decentralized data Self-supervised learning for audio and physiological signal analysis AI-driven solutions for healthcare monitoring Key Contributions: DeltaMask: Reducing communication overhead in federated fine-tuning FedNS: Mitigating noisy decentralized data in federated learning Labeling Chaos to Learning Harmony: Handling label noise in FL Professional Experience: Visiting Industrial Fellow, University of Cambridge (2023) Research Scientist, Philips Research (2019–2023) Research Internships: Google Research, TNO/EIT Digital Awards: UT Scholarship (MSc) Cum Laude awards for both PhD and MSc Labs/Teams: EAISI Health, EAISI Foundational, Computational Design Systems.
Kshirasagar Naik is a Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Waterloo, Ontario. He is actively involved in graduate research supervision and has been a member of IEEE since 1994. His academic career spans decades, with a focus on wireless communication, energy efficiency, and cybersecurity. 1992, Doctorate in Computer Engineering from Concordia University, Ontario 1988, Master of Mathematics in Computer Science from University of Waterloo, Ontario 1983, MTech in Computer Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India 1981, BScEng in Electronics and Telecommunication from Sambalpur University, India His research interests include Mobile and Ad Hoc Networks , Cybersecurity , Internet of Things (IoT) , and Intelligent Transportation Systems . He has published extensively on energy optimization in wireless devices, delay-tolerant networks, and security protocols for vehicular systems. Recent publications highlight the integration of Machine Learning and IoT in environmental monitoring, particularly forest fire detection and prediction. Other works focus on cybersecurity , vehicular networks , and energy optimization in data centers and handheld devices. Professor Naik is currently accepting graduate students for research in mobile systems, network protocols, and green computing at the University of Waterloo.
Andrea Maurino is a Full Professor at the University of Milano-Bicocca and leads the Insid&s LAB. His research focuses on data quality, knowledge graphs, machine learning, and their applications in healthcare, finance, urban planning, and organizational analysis. He explores cutting-edge techniques like Large Language Models (LLMs) for decision support systems and semantic annotation of tabular data. Key research interests include improving data quality frameworks for large RDF datasets, developing enterprise knowledge graphs for organizational insights, and applying AI to social media analysis and hate speech detection. His work bridges theoretical advancements with real-world applications such as smart city mobility prediction and nutritional strategies for healthy aging. Notable contributions include scalable tools like ABSTAT-HD for knowledge graph profiling and the 3d-clost mobility prediction model. Maurino’s interdisciplinary approach integrates data science with fields like psychology (ICD-11 decision support) and environmental science (ESG activity detection in financial texts). His lab collaborates on projects like Food NET, combining nutrition science with social network analysis. While no formal awards are listed here, his prolific publication record reflects sustained innovation in data-driven methodologies.
Prof. Dr. Aljosa Smolic is a Professor and Co-Head of the Immersive Realities Research Lab at Lucerne School of Computer Science and Information Technology, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. He joined HSLU in 2022 and became Co-Head in 2023. Previously, he served as SFI Research Professor at Trinity College Dublin (2016-2021) where he led the V-SENSE group in visual computing, combining computer vision, graphics, and media technology. His career includes positions as Senior Research Scientist at Disney Research Zurich (2009-2016) and Scientific Project Manager at Fraunhofer HHI (2001-2009). He holds a PhD from RWTH Aachen University. Research focuses on immersive technologies including AR/VR, volumetric video, light-fields, and deep learning applications in visual computing. His work has resulted in over 50 Disney R&D projects, publications, patents, and technology transfers. Publications emphasize VR evaluation, volumetric video applications, 3D reconstruction, and XR in education, frequently employing deep learning and computer vision techniques. Awards and Recognition: IEEE ICME Star Innovator Award 2020 TCD Campus Company Founders Award 2020 Multiple best paper awards Co-founded Volograms (volumetric video startup) and holds editorial roles including Associate Editor for IEEE Transactions on Image Processing.
Dr. Uwe Grünefeld is a Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Computer Science , Institute for Computer Science and Business Information Systems (ICB) of the University of Duisburg-Essen. He has been actively contributing to Human-Computer Interaction research through multiple publications in 2025-2022 focusing on Virtual Reality , Augmented Reality , and Robotics . Research Interests span across immersive technology applications for health behavior change (situated artifacts, weight visualization mirrors), haptic feedback systems (EMS for weight perception, vibrotactile directional cues), and behavioral biometrics (hand tracking identification, gaze-based user recognition). His work addresses cross-reality system design , collaborative robotics , and human-in-the-loop simulation methodologies . Key Publications demonstrate significant contributions to VR/AR user engagement, with particular focus on Physical activity promotion through situated artifacts Advanced haptic feedback techniques for immersive environments Behavioral biometric identification systems Robot motion intent communication Cross-reality transition visualization His research often employs mixed-method approaches combining technical implementations with user studies involving quantitative and qualitative data collection.
Ka Ho Chow is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Hong Kong, part of the School of Computing and Data Science. He holds a PhD from Georgia Institute of Technology and was previously a research scientist at IBM Research. His research focuses on the intersection of machine learning, cybersecurity, and scalable systems, emphasizing trustworthy AI and defense against security/privacy threats in federated learning, large language models, and visual recognition systems. Key achievements include IBM PhD Fellowship (2022) and Croucher Scholarship (2021). Education: PhD in Computer Science from Georgia Tech (2020), advised by Prof. Ling Liu. His work spans algorithmic optimization, infrastructure resilience, and adversarial machine learning. Current research explores attack-resilient solutions for centralized/federated learning and AI system vulnerabilities. Recent articles highlight innovations in federated learning security, gradient inversion attacks, backdoor detection, and privacy-preserving techniques. He has openings for PhD students interested in AI security and trustworthy systems. His lab collaborates on projects involving blockchain fraud detection (ZipZap), facial recognition privacy (Personalized Masks), and graph neural network robustness. Awards: IBM PhD Fellowship (2022), Croucher Scholarship (2021). Active in guiding PhD candidates and advising on microservices cloud migration (Atlas/SCAD systems). Research outputs include over 30 peer-reviewed papers spanning cybersecurity, AI ethics, and distributed learning frameworks.
Dr. YANG, Renchi is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Hong Kong Baptist University, Faculty of Science. He earned his BEng in Software Engineering from Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications and his PhD in Computer Science from Nanyang Technological University, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at the National University of Singapore. His research is centered on developing efficient algorithms and systems for large-scale data management and analysis. His research interests include: Big Data Management and Analysis Graph Learning and Network Embedding Databases and Data Management (especially graph query processing and similarity search) The Web and Information Retrieval (search, ranking, recommendation, web mining) Data Mining and Machine Learning (social network analysis, text mining, large language models) Dr. Yang’s recent publications span top conferences such as KDD, SIGMOD, WWW, ICDE, and AAAI, focusing on scalable graph clustering, network embedding, GNNs, and LLM integration. His work emphasizes algorithmic efficiency, scalability, and practical applications in real-world graph data. Scientific honors include: VLDB 2021 Best Research Paper Award 2022 ACM SIGMOD Research Highlight Award Best Paper Award Nominee in WWW 2022 Honorable mention as best PC member in WWW 2022 Dr. Yang actively mentors PhD and research students, currently supervising several RPg students including LIN Xiaoyang, LAI Yurui, and ZHENG Haoran. He has secured research funding enabling PhD scholarships and research assistant positions. He serves on the program committees of major conferences like VLDB, KDD, WWW, and SIGIR, and reviews for journals including TKDE and VLDBJ. He is a key member of the Database Research Group at HKBU, which has published extensively in top venues, including 8 papers at SIGMOD 2023. His research lab, the LAGAS Group, focuses on large-scale graph analytics and systems. The team is actively working on projects involving graph clustering, embedding, GNNs, and integration with large language models. Dr. Yang is currently recruiting PhD students for 2026 and research assistants for 2025, indicating active and expanding research operations.
Fenglong Ma is an Associate Professor at Pennsylvania State University, affiliated with the Institute for Computational and Data Sciences and the Center for Socially Responsible Artificial Intelligence. His research focuses on data mining, healthcare informatics, machine learning, natural language processing, and multimodal learning. He holds a Ph.D. from the University at Buffalo (2019) and degrees from Dalian University of Technology. His work addresses challenges in federated learning, medical AI, adversarial robustness, and multimodal systems. Key contributions include innovations in quantization for large language models, federated knowledge injection, and medical vision-language benchmarking. Recent publications explore topics like collaborative fairness in federated learning, robust medical vision-language models, and adversarial attack mitigation. His research bridges theory and practical applications in healthcare, cybersecurity, and personalized recommendation systems. He leads the PSU Data Science Lab and collaborates on projects involving AI ethics, multimodal data integration, and scalable medical foundation models.
Jingbang Chen is a Research Assistant Professor at the School of Data Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (CUHK-Shenzhen) and holds a joint faculty position at Shenzhen Loop Area Institute (SLAI) starting September 2025. His academic journey includes a Ph.D. from the University of Waterloo, an M.S. from Georgia Institute of Technology, and a B.Eng (Honors) from Zhejiang University under the supervision of Can Wang. Education: Ph.D., Computer Science, University of Waterloo (2023-2025) M.S., Computer Science, Georgia Institute of Technology (2020-2022) B.Eng. (Honors), Pursuit Science Class, Chu Kochen Honors College (Joint Program with College of Computer Science and Technology), Zhejiang University (2016-2020) High School, Guangzhou No.2 High School (2010-2016) Dr. Chen's research focuses on the design, analysis, and implementation of provably efficient algorithms and data structures, with a particular emphasis on graph theory. He is also exploring intersections between traditional algorithm design and artificial intelligence. His work bridges theoretical computer science with practical applications in network analysis, temporal data processing, and optimization. The publication record shows a strong trajectory with papers in top venues including ICML, VLDB, KDD, and theoretical computer science conferences. Scientific Contributions: Published in premier venues including ICML 2025, VLDB 2025, KDD 2024, and multiple theoretical conferences Research spans graph algorithms, optimization techniques, network analysis, and the emerging field of learning-augmented algorithms Active contributor to the competitive programming community as both researcher and practitioner Dr. Chen is deeply involved in Competitive Programming activities, having competed in ICPC World Finals 2018 (Beijing) and 2022 (Egypt), winning regional champion titles and several gold medals. He serves as chief judge for multiple ICPC Asia regionals and coaches training camps including the North American Programming Camp (NAPC). He is also the founder and co-president of the Universal Cup, an international competitive programming contest platform. Currently, he is recruiting highly motivated PhD students with strong backgrounds in competitive programming and interest in research, collaborating with Prof. Chenhao Ma on algorithm design projects.
Kevin Gary is an Associate Professor in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence (SCAI) within the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University (ASU). He joined ASU in 2004 after prior industry experience and faculty work at the Catholic University of America. His research focuses on software agility, open source software, and applications in healthcare and e-learning. He has contributed to mHealth platforms addressing pediatric chronic conditions and adaptive e-learning systems. Education: Ph.D. in Computer Science from Arizona State University (1999). Research Interests: Software Architecture, Agile Methods, Open Source Software, Healthcare Informatics, and Educational Technology. His recent work explores agile impact on regression testing and lean metrics in open source software. He has developed mobile health apps for asthma, epilepsy, and anxiety, leveraging agile principles and AI. Teaching & Innovation: Created the Software Enterprise program, an industry-aligned pedagogy integrated into ASU’s software engineering curriculum. This initiative earned the President’s Award for Innovation in 2011. He has taught courses in software engineering, web applications, and secure software systems. Grants & Projects: Led projects funded by NSF, industry partners (e.g., UNICON, GEORGETOWN UNIV MED CTR), and foundations (Children’s National Medical). Notable projects include the Image-Guided Surgical Toolkit and the ATIC-funded Software Enterprise pedagogy model. Service: Reviewed for journals/conferences, served as Associate Chair of computing programs, and contributed to professional organizations (IEEE, ACM, ASEE).
Eva Eriksson is an Associate Professor at Aarhus University, affiliated with the School of Communication and Culture and the Department of Digital Design and Information Studies. Her work bridges design, technology, and social values, focusing on participatory and human-centered approaches. Her research interests center on Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) , Participatory Design , and Design for Sustainability . She explores how co-design methods can empower youth, support children with learning differences like dyscalculia, and integrate more-than-human perspectives—considering non-human actors such as nature and technology—in design processes. Her work emphasizes ethical, inclusive, and reflective design practices. The recent publications highlight a strong trend in co-design with youth , XR and AR for education , sustainable technology , and methodological innovation in design research . These works span case studies, scoping reviews, and conceptual provocations, often published in top-tier venues like CHI and Interacting with Computers . Honourable Mention Award at CHI 2020 Honorable Mention, Design Space, CHI 2021 Most Cited Paper of 2021, International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction Eva Eriksson leads and contributes to externally funded research projects such as COMPILE (focused on dyscalculia and AR) and MOVA (on more-than-human values in design education), supported by the Independent Research Fund Denmark and Erasmus+. She supervises student projects and teaches courses such as Co-design and Bachelor Project . She also serves on international PhD examination and evaluation panels, demonstrating her active role in the global academic community. She is a core member of the Center for Computational Thinking & Design (CCTD) , a multidisciplinary research center at Aarhus University that fosters innovation in design, education, and technology.
Alvaro Fernandez Quilez is an Associate Professor in Artificial Intelligence at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Stavanger. He leads the Stavanger AI Laboratory (SAIL), fostering interdisciplinary AI research with a focus on healthcare and education applications. Research Interests: His work centers on responsible AI, emphasizing ethics, fairness, transparency, and uncertainty in AI systems. He applies deep learning and machine learning techniques to medical imaging, particularly in prostate cancer and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. His research integrates algorithmic innovation with clinical relevance, addressing challenges in data scarcity, bias, and model interpretability. The recent publications highlight a strong trend in developing and evaluating AI models for diagnostic support in radiology and neurology. Key themes include uncertainty quantification, self-supervised learning, synthetic data generation via GANs, and fairness analysis across gender and centers. The work spans from foundational AI methods to their clinical translation in multi-center studies. Teaching and Academic Leadership: He coordinates the course DAT105 - AI for everyone and has contributed as a guest lecturer in bioinformatics, technological foundations, and PhD ethics, particularly on AI and ethics. He is also enrolled in a PhD supervisory qualification program, underscoring his growing role in graduate education. Advising and Grants: While specific students and grants are not listed in the text, his leadership of SAIL and active publication record suggest involvement in research supervision and project funding. His collaborations span multiple institutions and disciplines, indicating strong team-based research efforts. Laboratories and Teams: He leads the Stavanger AI Laboratory (SAIL), which serves as the central hub for AI research at the University of Stavanger, promoting collaboration across departments and with external partners in healthcare and technology.
Simon Ruffieux is a Senior Researcher and Lecturer at the Department of Computer Science, University of Fribourg, and a member of the Human-IST Institute. He currently leads the HIP-Initiative (Human-IST x SwissPost Initiative) and coordinates academic projects related to Swiss Post. His academic roles include Lecturer and Senior Assistant , reflecting his active engagement in teaching and research. His research focuses on leveraging advanced technologies to support individuals, particularly those with special needs. Key areas include: Machine Learning and Data Science for urban systems (e.g., bike-sharing optimization) Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), especially gesture recognition and multimodal interfaces Augmented and Virtual Reality applications in rehabilitation and assistance Development of smart glasses for visually impaired users Physiological signal analysis for workload classification The 15 most recent publications reveal a strong trend in applying AI and data science to real-world challenges, particularly in assistive technologies and urban mobility. His work often involves interdisciplinary collaboration, integrating computer science with psychology, rehabilitation, and industrial applications. There is a consistent emphasis on user-centered design and real-world usability. Simon Ruffieux has not been mentioned as receiving specific scientific awards in the provided text. He has advised or collaborated with several researchers, including Nicolas Spycher, Samuel Torche, and Nicolas Ruffieux, on projects related to forecasting, AR, and gesture recognition. While no formal grant details are listed, his leadership of the HIP-Initiative suggests involvement in externally funded academic projects. His work is closely tied to the Human-IST Institute, where he contributes to interdisciplinary research in human-centered computing. He is actively involved in research teams focused on assistive technologies, gesture interaction, and data-driven urban solutions. The Human-IST Institute serves as the primary hub for his collaborative efforts, particularly through the HIP-Initiative with Swiss Post.
Professor Li Chen is a full Professor and Associate Head (Research) in the Department of Computer Science at Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU), with an affiliate appointment at the Academy of Wellness and Human Development. She leads the Positive Intelligence Lab , focusing on intelligent technologies for human well-being. Her research spans conversational AI, explainable AI, recommender systems, and human-computer interaction. Education: PhD in Computer Science, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland (Nominee for Best PhD Thesis Award) Master in Computer Software and Theory, Peking University, China Bachelor in Computer Science, Peking University, China Her research interests revolve around personalized conversational and explainable AI, with applications in entertainment, education, e-commerce, and mental well-being. She has published over 150 papers in top venues including ACM TOIS, IJHCS, CHI, SIGIR, AAAI, RecSys, and UMAP . Her work has been recognized with awards such as the RecSys Best Student Paper Award (2024), CHI Honourable Mention (2022), and multiple best paper awards at UMAP and UMUAI. The most recent publications reflect a strong trend toward fair, explainable, and user-centric recommender systems , with increasing integration of large language models , mental health applications , and conversational agents . Her research emphasizes user feedback, negative sampling techniques, and evaluation frameworks grounded in real user behavior. Scientific Awards & Recognition: President’s Award for Outstanding Performance in Teaching (Individual), HKBU (2024/25) President’s Award for Outstanding Performance in Research Supervision (2022/23) World’s Top 2% Most-Cited Scientists, Stanford University (2021–2024) ACM Senior Member (2015) RecSys’24 Best Student Paper Award CHI’22 Honourable Mention Award UMAP’20 Best Student Paper Award UMUAI 2018 Best Paper Award THE Awards Asia 2021 Excellence and Innovation in the Arts (Co-I) Professor Chen is actively involved in mentoring PhD and Master’s students such as Wanling Cai and Yuhan Zhao, who have co-authored award-winning papers. She has secured research funding through grants like the HKBU IRCMS Project. Her editorial leadership includes serving as Co-Editor-in-Chief of ACM Transactions on Recommender Systems (TORS) , Associate Editor for ACM TiiS , and Editorial Board Member for UMUAI . She has chaired major conferences including ACM RecSys’23 (General Co-Chair), RecSys’20 (Program Co-Chair), and UMAP’18 (Program Co-Chair). She leads the Positive Intelligence Lab , which conducts interdisciplinary research on AI for well-being. The lab has developed datasets like the Intent Annotation of Recommendation Dialogue (IARD) and focuses on user-centric AI design, mental health chatbots, and personalized recommendation interfaces.
Hariharan Subramonyam is an Assistant Professor (Research) at Stanford University's Graduate School of Education and Computer Science (by courtesy) . He serves as the Ram and Vijay Shriram Faculty Fellow at the Institute for Human-Centered AI (HAI) and is a core faculty member of Stanford HCI . His research bridges Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and the Learning Sciences , focusing on augmenting human learning through AI via cognitively informed design practices, co-design with learners/educators, and transformative AI-enabled learning experiences. His work emphasizes ethical AI, responsible design, and human values in technology. He earned a PhD in Information from the University of Michigan under Eytan Adar. Current projects include Script&Shift (layered interfaces for LLM writing), AltCanvas (accessible image editing for BVI users), and CogGen (AI tutoring systems). His teaching includes EDUC 432: Designing Explorable Explanations and CS 448B: Data Visualization . Key Research Areas Cognitively Informed AI Systems Human-AI Collaborative Writing Accessible Generative AI Tools Ethical AI Frameworks Interactive Learning Environments Awards & Grants Best Paper Award (CHI 2025) Honorable Mention Award (CHI 2025) HAI Hoffman Yee Grant (2024) Cover Story in Interactions Magazine (2024) Collaborative Networks Co-organizing CHI 2025 Tools for Thought Workshop Contributor to UIST 2024 Dynamic Abstractions Workshop Advising PhD students across Stanford, Georgia Tech, and Duke Collaborations with institutions including University of Michigan, National University of Singapore, and Technical University Munich
