Soroosh Shafiee is an Assistant Professor in the School of Operations Research and Information Engineering at Cornell University since July 2023. Before joining Cornell, he held postdoctoral positions at the Tepper School of Business (Carnegie Mellon University) and the Automatic Control Laboratory (ETH Zurich). He earned a B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Tehran and a Ph.D. in Operations Research from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). His research focuses on optimization under uncertainty, robust optimization, optimal transport, and their applications in machine learning and finance. Specific interests include designing algorithms for data-driven optimization, analyzing statistical and computational complexity, and exploring nonconvex optimization structures. Swiss National Science Foundation Early PostDoc Mobility Fellowship (2020) PhD Thesis Distinction Award, EPFL (2020) His work bridges theoretical foundations with practical applications, contributing to areas such as distributionally robust optimization, Wasserstein-based methods, and scalable algorithm development. His research has been published in top venues like Journal of Machine Learning Research and Operations Research .
Ioannis Athanasiadis is a Full Professor and Chair of Artificial Intelligence at Wageningen University & Research (The Netherlands). He leads the Artificial Intelligence (AIN) group, focusing on advancing AI methods for global challenges in agriculture, ecology, and sustainability. Previously, he was faculty at the Dalle Molle Institute for Artificial Intelligence (IDSIA, Switzerland) and the Democritus University of Thrace (Greece). He holds a PhD (2005, cum laude) in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. His research integrates machine learning, knowledge engineering, and environmental modeling to address food security, climate adaptation, and ecosystem services. He leads initiatives like AgML (AgMIP's machine learning benchmarking effort) and coordinates European grants such as LTER-LIFE and CYBELE . Prof. Athanasiadis has supervised over 40 PhD/postdoc researchers and serves as Editor of Environmental Modelling and Software . He collaborates internationally on projects involving AI for crop modeling, digital twins, and sustainable agriculture. His team develops frameworks like Crop2ML and PyCrop2ML to enhance interoperability between process-based models and machine learning systems.
Xuemin (Sherman) Shen is a University Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Waterloo. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the Royal Society of Canada, the Canadian Academy of Engineering, and the Engineering Institute of Canada. Professor Shen serves as Editor-in-Chief of multiple prestigious journals including the IEEE Internet of Things Journal and Springer Peer-to-Peer Networking and Applications. Dr. Shen received his Doctorate in Electrical Engineering from Rutgers University in 1990, following a Master of Applied Science from the same institution in 1987. His undergraduate degree is a Bachelor of Applied Science in Electrical Engineering from Dalian Marine University, China (1982). Professor Shen's research spans wireless communications and networking, with particular expertise in resource allocation, mobility management, wireless network security, and privacy preservation. His work extends to IoT applications, connected and automated vehicles, network digital twins, and satellite-terrestrial networks. His research has been applied to vehicular networks, wireless body area networks, remote e-healthcare systems, and smart grid technologies, demonstrating both theoretical depth and practical impact across multiple domains. His recent publications reveal strong trends in AI-assisted networking, security and privacy preservation for IoT applications, and energy management in vehicular and smart grid systems. The research shows an increasing focus on integrating AI techniques with traditional networking approaches, addressing critical challenges in security, privacy, and resource management for next-generation wireless systems. R.A. Fessenden Award (2019) from IEEE Canada James Evans Avant Garde Award (2018) from the IEEE Vehicular Technology Society Joseph LoCicero Award (2015) from the IEEE Communications Society Education Award (2017) from the IEEE Communications Society West Lake Friendship Award from Zhejiang Province (2023) President's Excellence in Research from University of Waterloo (2022) Canadian Award for Telecommunications Research (2021) Professor Shen has mentored over 100 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows throughout his career, with many now holding prominent academic positions at top universities worldwide. His supervision has been recognized with multiple awards including the Award of Excellence in Graduate Supervision (2006) from the University of Waterloo. He has served in numerous leadership roles including Past President of the IEEE Communications Society and has chaired major international conferences including IEEE Globecom 2024.
Stratis Ioannidis is a Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Northeastern University, with a courtesy appointment in the Khoury College of Computer Sciences. His research focuses on distributed systems, networking, machine learning, big data, and privacy. He earned his B.Sc. from the National Technical University of Athens, and M.Sc. and Ph.D. from the University of Toronto. Prior to Northeastern, he worked at Technicolor and Yahoo Labs. Education: B.Sc. in Electrical and Computer Engineering (2002, National Technical University of Athens); M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Computer Science (2004, 2009, University of Toronto). Research interests span machine learning, distributed systems, optimization, and privacy. Key projects include the NSF AI Institute for Future Edge Networks and Distributed Intelligence (AI-EDGE), and work on federated learning, continual learning, and privacy-preserving algorithms. His research has been supported by NSF, Google, and Facebook grants. Recent publications emphasize federated learning, continual learning, and edge computing. Awards include the NSF CAREER Award, Søren Buus Outstanding Research Award, and multiple best paper awards. He advises numerous PhD students and collaborates across disciplines, including healthcare and wireless networks. Lab activities include SPIRAL and WIoT labs, focusing on machine learning at the edge and network optimization. Grants include the NSF AI Institute and multiple collaborative projects with industry and academia.
David Basin is a Full Professor at the Department of Computer Science, ETH Zurich, and heads the Information Security Group. He has held academic positions since 2003, including roles at the University of Freiburg (1997–2002) and the Max-Planck-Institut für Informatik (1992–1997). His research focuses on Information Security, including methods and tools for secure systems, formal verification, and cryptographic protocols. He is Editor-in-Chief of the ACM Transactions on Privacy and Security and Springer's Information Security and Cryptography book series. Basin founded the Zurich Information Security Center (ZISC) in 2003 and led it until 2011. Education: B.Sc. in Mathematics (Reed College, 1984), Ph.D. (Cornell University, 1989), and Habilitation (University of Saarbrücken, 1996). Research interests span formal methods for security protocol verification, privacy-preserving systems, and cryptographic implementations. He has contributed to foundational work on security protocols, including the Tamarin verification framework. His work addresses real-world systems like payment protocols (EMV), DNS security, and database isolation guarantees. Awards: ACM Fellow (2018) for contributions to Information Security and Formal Methods, IEEE Fellow. He has organized numerous conferences, including IEEE S&P, Euro S&P, and ACM CCS. Labs/Teams: Leads the Information Security Group at ETH Zurich and co-founded Anapaya Systems, a startup focused on network security solutions. His team develops tools like VeriMon (formally verified monitoring) and Tamarin for protocol analysis.
Tianzheng Wang is an Associate Professor and Director of the Dual-Degree and Partnerships Programs at the School of Computing Science, Simon Fraser University. His research focuses on database systems, transaction processing, parallel and distributed computing, and embedded systems. He holds a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Toronto (2017) and a BSc in Computing from Hong Kong Polytechnic University (2012). Research Interests: Database systems optimized for modern hardware, parallel programming, synchronization, and distributed architectures. His work emphasizes high-performance transaction processing and efficient indexing techniques, with applications in cloud and embedded systems. Awards: ACM SIGMOD Best Paper Award (2025), IEEE TCSC Early Career Award (2019), and multiple distinguished reviewing recognitions (SIGMOD/VLDB 2021-2024). His research has been integrated into systems like Amazon Redshift and DragonflyDB. Teaching: Leads courses such as CMPT 454 (Database Systems II), CMPT 300 (Operating Systems), and special topics in databases. Actively mentors graduate and undergraduate students in research projects. Labs & Collaborations: Heads the Data-Intensive Systems Lab, part of SFU's Data Science and Systems groups. Collaborates on tools like PiBench for persistent memory benchmarking and contributes to open-source projects like CoroBase and Tabular.
Leysia Palen is a Distinguished Professor of Computer Science and Information Science at the University of Colorado Boulder. She was the founding chair of the Department of Information Science, which launched in 2015, and maintains appointments in both the Department of Information Science and Computer Science. Palen is also a faculty fellow with the Institute of Cognitive Science and ATLAS Institute. She received her PhD from the University of California, Irvine in Information and Computer Science in 1998 and has been a faculty member at CU Boulder ever since. Her educational background includes: BS in Cognitive Science from University of California, San Diego MS and PhD in Information and Computer Science from University of California, Irvine Palen is a leader in crisis informatics, an area she forged with her graduate students and colleagues. Her research integrates human-computer interaction (HCI), computer-supported cooperative work, and social computing to address socio-technical issues of societal importance. She conducts empirical research in the interpretivist tradition while adapting quantitative techniques for analyzing large-scale online interactions during crisis events. Her work has earned her the ACM Computer Human Interaction Social Impact Award in 2015, and she was elected to the ACM CHI Academy in 2016. Palen's research examines how people use technology to communicate during emergencies and disasters. Her work spans hurricane response, earthquake recovery, terrorist attacks, and pandemic situations, analyzing social media usage, risk communication patterns, and emergent information infrastructures. She directs Project EPIC (Empowering the Public with Information during Crisis) and co-directs the Center for Software & Society at CU Boulder. Her publication record demonstrates consistent contributions to understanding human-technology interaction in critical situations, with over 90 articles spanning two decades. Palen has secured approximately $5 million in research funding as Principal Investigator from the National Science Foundation, including an NSF CAREER award in 2006. She serves as an Associate Editor for both the Human Computer Interaction Journal (Taylor and Francis) and the Computer-Supported Cooperative Work Journal (Springer), reflecting her leadership in these academic communities. Palen has held positions at Xerox PARC, Boeing Commercial, USWEST Advanced Technologies, and Microsoft Commercial, and has been a faculty member at the University of Aarhus in Denmark and University of Agder in Norway.
Mingsheng Ying is a Distinguished Professor and Research Director of the Centre for Quantum Computation and Intelligent Systems (QCIS) at the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, University of Technology Sydney, Australia. He also holds the position of Cheung Kong Professor at the State Key Laboratory of Intelligent Technology and Systems, Department of Computer Science and Technology, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. Professor Ying graduated from the Department of Mathematics, Fuzhou Teachers College, Jiangxi, China, in 1981. His primary research interests span quantum computation (particularly quantum programming and model-checking quantum systems), programming theory and formal methods, and the foundations of artificial intelligence (focusing on logic and uncertainty). As an author of the books "Foundations of Quantum Programming" (Elsevier - Morgan Kaufmann 2016) and "Topology in Process Calculus: Approximate Correctness and Infinite Evolution of Concurrent Programs" (Springer-Verlag, 2001), he has published over 100 papers in top international journals and conferences. His recent research publications demonstrate a strong focus on quantum programming languages, verification techniques for quantum systems, and the theoretical foundations of quantum computation. The trend in his work shows increasing emphasis on formal verification methods for quantum systems, particularly model-checking techniques for quantum Markov chains and quantum processes. His research bridges theoretical computer science with quantum information theory, creating frameworks for reliable quantum software development. Editorial Board, Artificial Intelligence, Elsevier, Amsterdam Editorial Board, Fuzzy Sets and Systems, Elsevier, Amsterdam Vice President, International Fuzzy Systems Association (elected in 2005) Program Chair, IFSA 2005, World Congress of International Fuzzy Systems Association Chairman, Chinese Association of Fuzzy Systems and Mathematics Professor Ying has secured significant research funding including multiple Australian Research Council Discovery Projects such as "Model-checking quantum Markov chains: towards verification techniques for quantum cryptographic systems" (2013-2015) and "Process algebra approach to distributed quantum computation and secure quantum communication" (2011-2013). His work has also received funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China and Tsinghua University. At QCIS, he leads research in quantum software theory and methodology, with applications in quantum cryptography and secure communication.
Kartik Hosanagar is the John C. Hower Professor of Technology and Digital Business and a Professor of Marketing at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He is also the Co-Director of the Wharton Human-AI Initiative. His work spans the Department of Operations, Information and Decisions, focusing on the intersection of technology, business, and society. Education: PhD in Management Science and Information Systems, Carnegie Mellon University MPhil in Management Science, Carnegie Mellon University Masters in Information Systems, Birla Institute of Technology and Sciences (BITS, Pilani), India Bachelors in Electronics Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology and Sciences (BITS, Pilani), India Research Interests: Kartik’s research focuses on the digital economy, particularly the impact of AI, algorithms, and analytics on consumers, businesses, and society. His work explores internet marketing, e-commerce, digital media, information diffusion, platform economics, and the ethical implications of AI. He investigates how technology transforms business models and consumer behavior in online environments. Publication Trends: His recent research combines machine learning, causal inference, and behavioral modeling to study digital platforms, user behavior, and AI applications in marketing and operations. The articles reflect a strong focus on empirical analysis of social media, search engines, and platform design, with applications in advertising, content sharing, and product adoption. Scientific Awards: Best Information Systems paper published in Management Science, 2013-2016 Finalist for Best Information Systems paper in Management Science (2012-2015) Recognized as one of the world’s top 40 business professors under 40 Eleven-time recipient of teaching excellence awards at Wharton MBA Excellence in Teaching Award, 2007 “Goes above and beyond the call of duty” award (multiple years) Advising and Grants: While no formal PhD students are listed, Kartik has supervised independent studies and mentored numerous students through research projects. His entrepreneurial ventures, such as Yodle and Jumpcut Media, reflect real-world applications of his research. He has also secured significant industry engagement through consulting and executive education with major firms like Google, American Express, and Citi. His work is supported by academic recognition, editorial roles, and media outreach. Labs and Teams: Kartik co-directs the Wharton Human-AI Initiative, a research hub exploring the integration of human and artificial intelligence in business. He also leads research groups focused on digital platforms and AI ethics, collaborating with scholars across disciplines to advance understanding of algorithmic decision-making and its societal impact.
About Vipul Jain: Associate Professor Vipul Jain leads Supply Chain and Logistics Management at RMIT University’s School of Accounting, Information and Supply Chain Management. With over 20 years of academic experience, he has held senior roles at institutions like Victoria University of Wellington (NZ) and IIT Delhi (India), contributing to curriculum development, research strategy, and academic-industry collaboration. His international collaborations span over 20 global institutions, emphasizing interdisciplinary research in supply chain resilience, sustainability, and Industry 4.0. Education & Academic Leadership: Previously served as Programme Director for Master of Technology (Industrial Engineering) at IIT Delhi, leading the establishment of the Modelling and Analysis of Supply Chain (MASC) Lab. Holds editorial roles for journals like International Journal of Intelligent Enterprise and Computers & Industrial Engineering . Research Focus: Specializes in supply chain design, sustainability, circular economy, and business analytics. His work integrates ICT and big data to address complex supply chain challenges, with notable contributions to vaccine distribution, blockchain adoption, and post-pandemic resilience. Over 145 peer-reviewed publications, including high-impact journals like OMEGA and International Journal of Production Economics , reflect his prolific output. Industry Impact: Conducted management training for organizations like JCB and IBM. Served as an expert assessor for New Zealand’s Ministry of Business and Industry and advised the Indian Railways. His research has been funded by the Department of Science and Technology (India) and EU initiatives like FP6 I*PROMS. Awards & Recognition: Ranked #7 in India’s top logistics academics (2018), recipient of Literati Awards (2024, 2020), and multiple editorial leadership roles. Active in global conferences, including co-chairing ANZAM 2023. Labs & Collaborations: Founded MASC Lab at IIT Delhi. Collaborates with Coventry University, Monash University, Hong Kong Polytechnic, and institutions in Switzerland, Spain, Canada, and the U.S. Focus areas include sustainable supply chains, digital transformation, and crisis resilience.
Heiner Litz is an Associate Professor in the Computer Science & Engineering Department at UC Santa Cruz's Baskin School of Engineering. He holds the Kumar Malavalli Endowed Chair of Storage Systems Research and serves as Director of the Center for Research in Storage Systems (CRSS). He is also a member of UCSC's Hardware Systems Collective (HSC). Litz earned his PhD from Mannheim University and previously held positions at MIT, Google, and Stanford University. His research focuses on computer architecture and systems optimization , specifically improving hardware-software interfaces for data center workloads. Key areas include microarchitectural mechanisms (branch prediction, prefetching, cache design), profile-guided optimizations, and storage/disaggregated memory systems. His work bridges compiler techniques and hardware efficiency for emerging cloud applications. Recent publications emphasize profile-guided optimization across microarchitecture layers, storage scalability, and resource allocation in distributed systems. Trends include hardware-software co-design for data centers, RDMA-based protocols, and real-time control systems. Awards & Honors: Kumar Malavalli Endowed Chair of Storage Systems Research Best Paper Award at MICRO (2022) IEEE Micro Top Picks (2019, 2023) Best Paper Awards at ICPP (2008) and ARC (2009) Advising & Grants: He currently advises 11 PhD students and has graduated 8 MS/PhD students. Research is supported by NSF, Intel, Samsung, Google, Meta, Nutanix, HPE, ARM, Marvell, Cerabyte, Western Digital, and Broadcom. Labs & Teams: Directs CRSS, focusing on storage systems innovation, and collaborates with HSC on hardware-software integration projects.
Steven N. Evans is a Distinguished Professor at the University of California, Berkeley , affiliated with the Department of Statistics and the Center for Computational Biology . With over three decades of service since 1987, his work bridges probability theory , stochastic processes , and their applications in mathematical biology , computational genetics , and phylogenetics . His research spans: Probability on Algebraic Structures , including random matrices and local fields. Measure-Valued Processes and coalescent models in population genetics. Phylogenetic Inference in historical linguistics and ecology. Stochastic Models for gene expression, fitness landscapes, and mutation-selection balance. Markov Processes and their applications in phylodynamics. Recent publications highlight his contributions to phylogenetic networks , Frechet mean sets , and Levy process analysis , with keywords spanning Probability , Computational Biology , and Population Genetics . He has mentored 10 PhD students, including Boyan Xu (2024) and Nicholas Bhattacharya (2022). His email is evans@stat.berkeley.edu .
Pratyush Mishra is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer and Information Science at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Engineering and Applied Science, where he is a member of the Security and Privacy Laboratory. His academic career bridges theoretical cryptography with practical implementations in secure computation systems. University of Pennsylvania (Current) UC Berkeley (Alma Mater) Dr. Mishra's research focuses on cryptography and computer security, particularly zkSNARKs, secure computation, and cryptographic proof systems. His work enables efficient privacy-preserving systems through innovations in zero-knowledge proofs and verifiable computation. He is a co-author and co-maintainer of the arkworks ecosystem, which provides foundational libraries for zkSNARK implementations used across industry and academia. His recent publications demonstrate significant contributions to proof accumulation, delegation-friendly zkSNARKs, and scalable zero-knowledge systems. These works appear consistently in top-tier security and cryptography venues including CRYPTO, IEEE S&P, and USENIX Security. ACM SIGSAC Doctoral Dissertation Award Runner-Up (2022) Dr. Mishra serves on prestigious program committees including IEEE S&P (2023-2026), CRYPTO (2023, 2025), and FC (2025). He currently advises five PhD students and teaches advanced cryptography courses covering both theoretical foundations and practical implementations of cryptographic systems. His research has practical impact through his role as founding scientist at Aleo, a startup based on his Zexe research project.
Svetlana Stanišić is an Associate Professor at Singidunum University's Faculty of Informatics and Computer Science, Department of Applied Artificial Intelligence. She holds a dental degree from the University of Belgrade's Dental Faculty (1998-2004) and a PhD in Physical Chemistry from the University of Belgrade's Faculty of Physical Chemistry (2007-2011). Her interdisciplinary research bridges environmental science, artificial intelligence, and public health. Her research interests focus on environmental science, air pollution modeling, and artificial intelligence applications . She investigates the atmospheric fate of pollutants using advanced machine learning techniques, with particular emphasis on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and particulate matter. Her work combines environmental chemistry, computational modeling, and public health impact assessment to address urban air quality challenges. Analysis of her recent publications reveals a clear trend toward explainable AI applications in environmental science . She has pioneered the use of SHAP (SHapley Additive exPlanations), XGBoost, and metaheuristic optimization for pollutant fate prediction and source apportionment. Her research spans indoor and outdoor environments, with particular attention to health implications of air pollution exposure in urban settings like Belgrade. Dr. Stanišić leads significant research projects including "crAIRsis" (2024-2026) , which characterizes crisis-caused air pollution alternations using AI frameworks, and "ATLAS" , focusing on artificial intelligence theoretical foundations for spatio-temporal modeling. She has also authored influential books including "Ako je hrana Vaš porok" (2024) and "Ishrana i zdravlje" (2018). Her research group focuses on environmental informatics , developing computational tools to understand pollutant behavior in complex urban environments. The team combines atmospheric chemistry measurements with advanced machine learning techniques to create predictive models with practical applications for urban air quality management and public health protection.
Goran Avlijas serves as an Assistant Professor at Singidunum University's Faculty of Business in Belgrade, Serbia. His academic profile spans project management, operational research, and retail logistics with significant industry experience at Delta Holding, Strabag AG, and Efektus Consulting Group. His research interests focus on project management methodologies including Agile and Earned Value Management, retail operations optimization through automatic replenishment systems, and sustainable project control . Current work examines gig economy impacts on well-being and pandemic business resilience. Recent publications demonstrate strong emphasis on Quantitative project risk analysis using Monte Carlo simulation Retail inventory management and stock-out reduction Agile methodology implementation in Serbian business context Sustainable infrastructure project valuation Professional recognitions include: Project Management Professional (PMP) Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA) Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP) He actively participates in Erasmus+ programs as both teacher and mentor, notably guiding Serbia's championship-winning team at the 2020 International Project Management Championships. His academic contributions include two textbooks on Project Management and Entrepreneurship, along with numerous international conference participations as scientific committee member and reviewer. Avlijas maintains strong industry-academia connections through PMI membership and consulting engagements, while contributing to higher education accreditation processes as a National Accreditation Body delegate.
