Thomas Bremer is a Professor at HTW Berlin's School of Design and Culture, Department of Game Design. He serves as Program Spokesperson for the Game Design program, Laboratory Director, and member of multiple committees including the Department Council and Examination Board. His research focuses on Game Design, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and Technical System Architectures . He pioneered the GAME CHANGER research cluster in 2007 and co-founded the DE:HIVE Institute in 2016. His work emphasizes visionary game concepts and the aesthetic potential of games as 21st-century cultural expressions. Prof. Bremer initiated the Game Design degree program in 2008 and has developed it continuously since its 2009 launch. His industry collaborations span institutions like the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation and corporations including Volkswagen AG and Deutsche Telekom AG. He holds office hours on Tuesdays from 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM during lecture periods.
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.
Andrew Head is an Assistant Professor at the University of Pennsylvania in the Computer and Information Science department. His research focuses on human-computer interaction, programming, and reading, particularly in developing technology for interactive reading and reasoning. He advises PhD students Alyssa Hwang, Hita Kambhamettu, Litao Yan, Jeffrey Tao, and Jessica Shi, and co-leads the Penn Human-Computer Interaction (Penn HCI) group with Danaé Metaxa. His work is published in top venues like ACM CHI, UIST, and ICSE. Research Interests: Andrew's work bridges interactive systems with programming environments, aiming to enhance how scientists and programmers interact with their tools. Key areas include AI-assisted code understanding, math notation accessibility, and medical note interpretation through interactivity. He employs user studies to identify needs and builds interactive systems to address them. Recent Article Trends: His publications emphasize systems-centric HCI approaches, integrating AI into code and document interfaces. Topics span code explanation (e.g., Ivie), property-based testing (e.g., Tyche), math notation augmentation (e.g., FreeForm), and medical informatics (e.g., Explainable Notes). Recent work also explores notebook environments (e.g., Bolt-on, Tyche) and literate programming (e.g., Colaroid). Scientific Awards: Distinguished Paper Award, ICSE 2024 Best Paper Awards at CHI (2024, 2023, 2022, 2019), UIST (2023, 2018), and others. Nominated for Best Paper at CHI 2023 and VL/HCC 2015. Advising & Grants: Andrew advises multiple PhD students and has secured significant grants, including a $1M NSF award for 'Property-based Testing for the People' (2024). His group collaborates with Penn’s MindCORE center and teams like PLClub and PennNLP. Labs & Teams: He co-leads the Penn HCI group, which works closely with other Penn research teams and labs. The group focuses on creating interactive tools that enhance scientific and programming workflows, supported by grants and cross-institutional partnerships.
Eduardo Araral is an Associate Professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore. With over 30 years of experience in academia and government, he holds a PhD in Public Policy from Indiana University-Bloomington under Nobel Laureate Elinor Ostrom. His research focuses on collective action, institutions, and water governance, with publications in Nature Human Behaviour , Public Administration Review , and World Development . He has held fellowships at Stanford University and centers associated with Coase, Ostrom, and Stigler. Research Interests : Collective action, institutional analysis, water governance, digital technologies in public policy, political economy, and socio-ecological systems. Scientific Awards : Ostrom Prize for the Governance of the Commons, Fulbright PhD Scholarship, and Presidential Award for Outstanding Overseas Filipinos. Leadership Roles : Vice Dean for Research, Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs, and Co-Director of the Institute of Water Policy (2016-2022) at LKYSPP. Global Engagement : Advised 20+ international organizations including ADB, World Bank, UNDP, and Fortune 500 companies, while lecturing to 7,000+ government officials across 50+ countries.
James McCann is an Associate Professor at the Carnegie Mellon Robotics Institute, where he leads the Carnegie Mellon Textiles Lab. He has been a faculty member since May 2017 after working at Disney Research Pittsburgh. McCann's academic journey includes a PhD from Carnegie Mellon advised by Nancy Pollard, followed by a postdoc at Adobe Research and a period developing video games. McCann's research focuses on building creative tools that operate in real-time and build user intuition, with particular emphasis on textiles fabrication and machine knitting. His work spans computer-aided fabrication, simulation, graphics, and creative tools development. He has pioneered systems for machine knitting design, including compilers for knitting instructions and tools for automatic conversion of 3D meshes to knitting patterns. His recent publications demonstrate a strong trend toward computational textiles, with significant contributions to knitting semantics, deployable textile structures, and applications of machine knitting in healthcare and robotics. McCann's work bridges computer science, robotics, and textile arts, creating practical systems for once-off manufacturing with industrial knitting machines. McCann actively mentors students, with current PhD candidates working on solid knitting machines, knit calibration, and assistive devices. His teaching portfolio includes courses on Real-Time Graphics, Algorithmic Textiles Design, and Game Programming. He has taught at CMU since 2017, developing innovative courses that blend computer science with physical fabrication. As director of the Textiles Lab, McCann oversees research projects spanning machine knitting, robotic painting, and real-time graphics systems. His lab develops practical tools for creators, emphasizing intuitive interfaces and real-time feedback that lower barriers to advanced fabrication techniques.
Mark Crowley is an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Waterloo, with a cross-appointment in the Cheriton School of Computer Science. He is a member of the Waterloo Artificial Intelligence Institute (WAII) and the Waterloo Institute for Complexity and Innovation (WICI), and serves as National Secretary of the Canadian Artificial Intelligence Association (CAIAC). His educational background includes a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Computer Science from the University of British Columbia, where he worked in the Laboratory for Computational Intelligence, and a B.A. in Computer Science from York University. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Oregon State University working with Tom Dietterich's machine learning group. Crowley's research focuses on developing dependable and transparent algorithms to augment human decision-making in complex domains with multiple agents, spatial structure, or uncertainty. His work spans Reinforcement Learning , Deep Learning , Ensemble Methods , and Manifold Learning . He frequently collaborates with researchers in applied fields including Computational Sustainability, Sustainable Forest Management, Autonomous Driving, Medical Imaging, and Material Design. His research is motivated by both theoretical opportunities and real-world challenges such as forest fire management, automotive applications, and medical imaging. His recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on addressing challenges in reinforcement learning, particularly around observation costs, multi-agent systems, and causal representation learning. His work on ChemGymRL provides a significant contribution to digital chemistry and material design through reinforcement learning frameworks. The textbook Elements of Dimensionality Reduction and Manifold Learning represents a major contribution to the theoretical foundations of machine learning. Crowley actively supervises graduate students, with recent thesis completions including Shayan Shirahmadi Gale Bagi (PhD, Feb 2025) and Oleksandra Nahorna (MASc, Dec 2024). His lab, UWECEML (Waterloo ECE Machine Learning Lab), focuses on developing new algorithms at the intersection of Machine Learning, Optimization, and Probabilistic Modeling. He teaches courses including ECE 457C (Reinforcement Learning), ECE 657A (Data & Knowledge Modelling & Analysis), and ECE 457B (Fundamentals of Computational Intelligence). His blog Computationally Thinking explores AI, machine learning, and the societal impact of these technologies.
Andrew Childs is a Professor at the University of Maryland, affiliated with the Department of Computer Science and the Institute for Advanced Computer Studies (UMIACS). He serves as Director of the NSF Quantum Leap Challenge Institute for Robust Quantum Simulation (RQS) and is a Fellow at the Joint Center for Quantum Information and Computer Science (QuICS). His research focuses on quantum algorithms for simulating physical systems, algebraic problems, and quantum walk protocols, with applications in quantum computing and computational complexity. University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies (UMIACS) Joint Center for Quantum Information and Computer Science (QuICS) NSF Quantum Leap Challenge Institute for Robust Quantum Simulation Childs' research spans quantum simulation, quantum Fourier transform, phase estimation, and Hamiltonian dynamics. He has developed techniques to reduce quantum computational resources for simulating quantum systems and explored limitations of quantum computers through hidden subgroup problems and non-unitary dynamics. His publications cover diverse areas including quantum walk optimization, Hamiltonian simulation methods, and applications to cryptography and condensed matter physics. Recent works address spatial search algorithms, product formulas for commutators, and quantum routing protocols. As an educator, Childs has taught courses on quantum algorithms and information processing at both the University of Maryland and University of Waterloo, with lecture notes and materials spanning multiple years. Contact: amchilds@umd.edu | Office: ATL 3359 | Affiliated with University of Maryland's quantum research institutes.
Cecilie Schou Andreassen is a Professor at the Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Bergen . She specializes in behavioral addictions , including workaholism, social media addiction, and substance use interactions. Email: cecilie.andreassen@uib.no Visitor Address: Alrek Health Cluster, Årstadveien 17, 5009 Bergen Research Focus: Andreassen's work examines the psychosocial antecedents of addictive behaviors, with emphasis on personality traits , workplace dynamics , and digital platform interactions . Her research spans cross-cultural validation studies and longitudinal health outcomes related to technology and substance misuse. Article Trends (2017-2022): Analyzing 15 recent publications reveals a consistent focus on addiction scale validation , social media epidemiology , and workaholism's health impacts . Key themes include measurement invariance , digital-chemical addiction comorbidity , and psychological withdrawal mechanisms . Scientific Contributions: Co-developer of Bergen Work Addiction Scale Creator of Bergen-Yale Sex Addiction Scale Leadership in behavioral addiction epidemiology Recipient of Norwegian Research Council grants Advising & Collaborations: While no direct advisees are listed, Andreassen collaborates extensively with international researchers in work psychology , social media studies , and public health . Her work involves partnerships with Nottingham Trent University , Yale University , and National Competence Service for Sleep Disorders . Labs & Teams: Affiliated with the Department of Clinical Psychology and previously with the Department of Social Psychology at University of Bergen, she contributes to national health registry studies and cross-occupational research on addiction patterns.
Professor Isabella Alexander is a distinguished legal historian and intellectual property scholar at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Faculty of Law. She specializes in copyright law with a particular focus on its historical dimensions and application to cartography and visual works. As a leading researcher in her field, she holds significant research grants including ARC Discovery projects on copyright law in the 21st century and copyright in cartography. Her educational background includes: PhD from the University of Cambridge LLB (Hons) from the Australian National University BA (Hons) from the Australian National University Professor Alexander's research explores how laws inform and regulate the creation, circulation and reception of knowledge and culture from a historical perspective. Her work bridges legal history with contemporary intellectual property challenges, particularly in areas of copyright for visual works, cartography, and digital creativity. She has made significant contributions to understanding the historical development of copyright principles and their application to modern technological contexts. An analysis of her recent publications reveals a strong focus on the intersection of copyright law with visual culture, cartography, and emerging digital challenges including AI-generated content and memes. Her work demonstrates a clear trajectory toward interdisciplinary approaches that connect historical legal frameworks with contemporary technological and cultural phenomena, showing increasing engagement with how historical understanding can inform solutions to modern intellectual property challenges. Her notable scientific achievements include: 2023 LSAANZ Award for published scholarly book/monograph for "Copyright and Cartography: History, Law, and the Circulation of Geographical Knowledge" Professor Alexander has secured significant research funding as Lead Chief Investigator on the ARC Discovery grant "Hacking Copyright Law in the 21st Century: Art, Law, History and Technology" and as sole Chief Investigator on "Copyright and Cartography: Understanding the past, shaping the future." She has actively contributed to policy development through submissions to the Australian Productivity Commission's Inquiry into IP Arrangements and on addressing copyright infringement online through secondary liability and website blocking mechanisms. She currently serves as President of the Australian and New Zealand Law and History Society and is a member of the Governing Board of the International Society for the History and Theory of Intellectual Property, demonstrating her leadership and influence in both national and international academic communities.
Dr. Wei Peng is a Professor in the Department of Media and Information at Michigan State University, specializing in health communication technology design and human-computer interaction. Her research explores behavior change mechanisms through interactive media. Ph.D. in Communication from University of Southern California (2006) Key research areas include: Psychological and social effects of interactive media AI-driven health promotion systems Conversational agents for wellness Digital games for physical activity Mobile health applications Combating health misinformation through technology Her 2024-2021 publications demonstrate expertise in AI ethics, health gamification, and technology-based behavior change. Grant collaborations include: National Science Foundation (NSF) - Sensor-enabled family routines for child obesity prevention Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) - Exergame development Scientific recognition includes multiple ICA Top Paper Awards and MSU Teacher-Scholar honors. She actively serves on editorial boards of: Journal of Communication Health Communication Games for Health Journal BMC Public Health Currently advising in AI applications for health misinformation and persuasive technology research.
Alenda Y. Chang serves as an Assistant Professor in Film and Media Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. With a multidisciplinary background spanning biology, literature, and film, she integrates ecocritical theory with contemporary media analysis. Her scholarly work appears in journals including Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment , Qui Parle , and electronic book review , focusing on sustainable media practices and ecological frameworks for digital engagement. Her educational background includes: M.A. and Ph.D. in Rhetoric from the University of California, Berkeley M.A. in English Language and Literature from the University of Maryland Chang specializes in environmental media and game studies, developing theoretical frameworks for ecological game design. Her research examines how digital games model environmental systems and foster player engagement with climate change through concepts like "slow violence" and "rambunctious play." She advocates for sustainable design patterns that address gaming's carbon footprint while creating immersive ecological narratives. Analysis of her 15 most recent publications reveals a consistent trajectory from foundational ecological game theory (2013-2018) to current work on thermal contexts of play and sustainable infrastructure (2022-2024). Her scholarship increasingly bridges data-driven activism with critical game design, emphasizing multispecies entanglements and infrastructural play as tools for environmental awareness. As co-founder of Wireframe—a collaborative media studio at UCSB—Chang cultivates critical game design practices through initiatives like growinggames.net . The studio supports data-driven global media art, environmental activism, and experimental pedagogy, serving as a hub for translating ecological theory into tangible digital interventions that challenge anthropocentric perspectives in gaming.
Professor Andrew Hudson-Smith is the Director of the Bartlett Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis (CASA) at University College London (UCL), where he holds the title of Professor of Digital Urban Systems. He leads UCL's academic and applied research in smart cities, digital twins, and urban informatics. His roles include Editor-in-Chief of the Future Internet Journal and academic lead for the Smart Queen Elizabeth Park project. He contributes to strategic initiatives such as the Greater London Authority Smart London Board and EPSRC Digital Economy Programme Advisory Board. Education: PhD (2003), MSc (1996) from UCL; BSc in Geography from the University of Plymouth (1992). Research focuses on digital urban systems, IoT applications, sustainable urban planning, and cyberphysical systems. Notable projects include urban heat island monitoring, participatory planning platforms, and metaverse-driven urban design. His work bridges technology, art, and public engagement, exemplified by initiatives like Tales of Things and the Haggle-O-Tron. Recent publications emphasize digital twins, metaverse urbanism, and IoT integration in urban environments. Awards include a Fellowship of the Royal Society of Arts. His work addresses SDGs 3 (Good Health) and 11 (Sustainable Cities), with a focus on equitable smart city development and public space innovation.
Peter A. Flach is Professor of Artificial Intelligence at the Intelligent Systems Laboratory, School of Computer Science, University of Bristol, where he has been faculty since 1997 and was promoted to Professor in 2003. He currently directs the UKRI AI Centre for Doctoral Training in Practice-Oriented Artificial Intelligence and serves as Vice-President of the European Association for Data Science (EuADS), having previously served as its President. His research centers on rigorous evaluation and improvement of machine learning systems, with seminal contributions to classifier calibration (including Beta Calibration and Precision-Recall-Gain curves), explainable AI frameworks, and data science methodology. He pioneered the extension of CRISP-DM to data science trajectories and developed Explainability Fact Sheets for systematic assessment of XAI approaches. His work bridges theoretical foundations with practical deployment in real-world systems. Analysis of his recent publications reveals a dominant focus on interpretable and reliable machine learning, with strong emphasis on performance evaluation metrics, model calibration techniques, and human-centered explainability. His research increasingly addresses healthcare applications through projects like SPHERE and clinical decision support systems, while maintaining core contributions to fundamental ML theory. His scientific recognition includes prestigious fellowships: Fellow of the European Lab for Learning and Intelligent Systems (ELLIS) Fellow of the European Association for Artificial Intelligence (EurAI) Professor Flach has secured major research funding including UKRI Centre for Doctoral Training grants and EU network funding (TAILOR). He leads extensive collaborations across Engineering, Population Health Science, and international institutions (Monash University, Polytechnic University of Valencia), plus over 20 industry partners in the Practice-Oriented AI CDT including LV= and QinetiQ. His work with the SPHERE project demonstrates successful translation of AI research into residential healthcare settings. He leads the Intelligent Systems Laboratory at Bristol, which develops influential open-source tools including the FAT Forensics Python toolbox for algorithmic fairness and the Explainability Fact Sheets framework. His lab maintains strong connections with the European AI community through ELLIS and EurAI, positioning Bristol as a hub for human-centered and methodologically rigorous AI research.
Dr. Ly Fie Sugianto is an Associate Professor in the Department of Accounting at Monash Business School, Monash University. Her research focuses on the integration of data analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning in accounting and business systems, with applications in the energy sector and organizational behavior. Monash Business School, Monash University Department of Accounting Specialization: Accounting Information Systems, Data Analytics, AI Her research interests span Accounting Information Systems , Agent-Based Simulation , Decision Support Systems , and Technology Adoption . She applies computational methods to study competitive dynamics in deregulated electricity markets and the impact of digital tools on employee well-being and organizational resilience. The recent publications reflect a strong trend in using AI and simulation to analyze complex socio-technical systems, particularly in energy markets and leadership dynamics. Keywords across her work include agent-based modeling , data analytics , servant leadership , and enterprise social media , indicating interdisciplinary research at the intersection of information systems, management, and public policy. Her scientific awards include competitive grants from the ARC (SPIRT/Linkage) , the Australia Indonesia Governance Research Partnership (AIGRP) , and the Sumitomo Foundation . ARC Grant: Dispatch Optimisation in the Australian National Electricity Market Sumitomo Foundation: Technology Use and Employee Well-Being AIGRP: Governance and MSME Resilience during Pandemic Dr. Sugianto has advised research projects and collaborated with industry partners such as Western Power , Ecogen Energy , and AEMO . She is currently accepting PhD students and leads externally funded research initiatives. Her work contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals related to industry innovation and responsible consumption. She is affiliated with research teams focusing on intelligent decision support systems and digital transformation in business , with active collaborations in Australia and Indonesia.
Dr. Damien Charrieras is an Associate Professor at the School of Creative Media , City University of Hong Kong, where he serves as Program Leader for the Master of Art in Creative Media and deputy program leader for the PhD in Creative Media. His work bridges cultural studies, new media theory, and the intersection of financial technologies with artistic practices through the ACIM Laboratory for Interventions in Speculative Finance . Doctoral research on digital artists' trajectories in Montreal FRQSC Postdoctoral Fellowship at McGill University Research spans game engine design , datafication of creativity , blockchain in art , and post-anthropocentric creative processes . With over HK$3.14M in grants as Principal Investigator, he explores situated digital creativity in urban contexts, critical worldbuilding pedagogy , and the mediation of technical systems in cultural production. His publications in Cities , Organized Sound , and Human Relations analyze the reconfiguration of artistic practices through software infrastructures and automation paradigms. Scientific awards include: FRQSC Postdoctoral Fellowship
