Brett Bligh is a Senior Lecturer at Lancaster University's Department of Educational Research and Director of the Doctoral Programme in E-Research and Technology Enhanced Learning. His work focuses on technology-driven institutional change in post-compulsory education through Activity Theory and interventionist methodologies like the Change Laboratory. Current roles: Director of Teaching for Department of Educational Research Leadership in International Society for Cultural-historical Activity Research (ISCAR) Co-editorships: Studies in Technology Enhanced Learning, Bureau de Change Laboratory Research interests center on: Digital transformation in higher education Activity theory applications Change Laboratory interventions Technology-enhanced learning frameworks His recent publications analyze: Open Educational Practices (2025) Virtual sustainability initiatives (2025) Pandemic-era educational pivoting (2022) Networked learning frameworks (2023) He supervises numerous PhD students (20+) working on: AI integration in teaching Blended learning communities Logistics education reform Medical professional identity
Patrick Prax is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Game Design, Uppsala University, specializing in participatory media and critical game studies. His research explores co-creation in digital games as alternative media, focusing on systemic sustainability, cultural heritage preservation, and social justice frameworks within gaming ecosystems. PhD in Media Studies (Uppsala University, 2016) Co-chair, Game Studies Working Group at NordMedia Board member, Cultural Heritage Incubator (Swedish National Heritage Board) Key research areas include: Political economy critiques through game mechanisms (e.g., loot boxes) Reflexive approaches to digital game preservation Esports culture and leadership dynamics Media literacy and civic engagement through gaming Recent publications examine sustainability integration in game education, systemic issues in game monetization, and community-driven adaptations of Warhammer 40k. He actively engages with public discourse through TEDx talks, national media appearances (TV4, UNT24), and policy advisory roles.
Georgios Lappas is a Professor of Information Technology with emphases on Social and Political Informatics at the Department of Communication and Digital Media, University of Western Macedonia. He serves as Head of the Department, Director of the Digital Media and Strategic Communication Laboratory, and Vice-Director of the MSc Programs "Public Discourse and Digital Media" and "Digital Games and Multimedia Development". He is also a member of the Regional Council for Research and Innovation of the Region of Western Macedonia. Professor Lappas holds a PhD in Computer Science and an MSc in Applied Artificial Intelligence. His academic career spans numerous research contributions and leadership roles within the university and research community. His primary research interests focus on Social Informatics, E-Government, E-Democracy, Online Politics, Human-Computer Interaction, Digital Marketing, Online Reputation Management, Web Mining, Opinion Mining, Artificial Intelligence, Web Intelligence, and Social Network Analysis. His work bridges computer science with social and political sciences, particularly examining how digital technologies impact governance, political communication, and social interactions. Professor Lappas has published extensively, with over 100 papers in international journals, conference proceedings, and book chapters. His recent work examines social media campaigns in political contexts, citizen engagement with digital government services, and the application of emerging technologies like augmented reality in various sectors. His publications appear in prestigious journals such as New Media and Society, Journal of Information Technology and Politics, Local Government Studies, and International Journal of Electronic Governance. He has served as Program Committee member in more than 130 international conferences and on editorial boards of journals including Journal of Information Technology and Politics, International Journal of Entertainment Technology and Management, and Journal of E-Government. Professor Lappas has chaired or co-chaired four international conferences, served on organizing committees for seven conferences, acted as publicity chair for two conferences, and chaired sessions at over 20 international conferences. Professor Lappas has participated in numerous national and EU-funded projects. Currently, he coordinates the "Wine Live Label Innovative Augmented Reality Applications in Wine Product Labeling" project under the "Research-Create-Innovate" program, and leads work package 5 of the "AGRO-TOUR" project focused on mixed reality applications for promoting mountain trails in Western Macedonia. He teaches courses including Human-Machine Communication, Digital Marketing and Online Entrepreneurship, Online Reputational Management, E-Government, E-Democracy and Political Campaigns on the Internet, Special Issues on Social Informatics, and Big Data and Web Intelligence.
Prof. Dr. Haris Gačanin is a faculty member at RWTH Aachen University, affiliated with the Institute for Distributed Signal Processing under the College of Electrical Engineering. His research focuses on integrating machine learning with wireless communication systems, particularly in industrial IoT, edge computing, and network optimization. Current academic rank: Professor Contact: harisg@dsp.rwth-aachen.de Research Interests: Wireless systems, machine learning, signal processing, and network optimization. Key contributions include: Adaptive resource allocation in IIoT and vehicular networks AI-driven channel estimation and feedback mechanisms Security-oriented emitter identification via metric learning Federated/transfer learning for edge environments Hardware-efficient deep learning models for mmWave and THz communications Methodological Focus: Combines reinforcement learning, attention mechanisms, and robust neural architectures with practical implementations on FPGA and vehicular systems.
Arianna Bisazza is an Associate Professor in the Computational Linguistics Group at the University of Groningen, where she leads the InClow research group focused on Interpretable, Cognitively inspired, Low-resource language models. Her work bridges computational linguistics, cognitive science, and language acquisition to develop more robust and interpretable language processing algorithms that can adapt to diverse linguistic phenomena worldwide. Dr. Bisazza's research interests span statistical modeling of human languages in multilingual contexts, with particular focus on improving language model performance for "challenging" or low-resource languages. Her work explores how insights from human language acquisition can inform better language modeling techniques, and she investigates methods to make state-of-the-art NLP systems more interpretable and transparent. As a cross-disciplinary researcher, she actively seeks to enhance our understanding of human language processing and evolution through computational modeling tools. Her recent publications reveal a strong emphasis on multilingual evaluation frameworks (like TurBLiMP and MultiBLiMP), interpretability of language models, and connections between human language acquisition and neural network learning. Her work consistently addresses the challenge of making language technology more robust across diverse linguistic structures and typological features. Outstanding Paper Award at the BabyLM Challenge (CoNLL'24 Shared Task) for "BabyLM Challenge: Exploring the Effect of Variation Sets on Language Model Training Efficiency" Dr. Bisazza currently leads a Vidi project funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) on improving low-resource language modeling through child language acquisition insights. She is also part of two national consortium projects funded by NWA-ORC initiatives: InDeep (Interpreting deep learning models for language, speech & music) and LESSEN (Low Resource Chat-based Conversational Intelligence). She supervises multiple PhD students, including two China Scholarship Council (CSC)-funded researchers working on simulating human patterns of language learning and change. Her earlier research was supported by a Veni grant (2017-2021) focused on understanding and improving the encoding of linguistic structure in Neural Machine Translation models. As head of the InClow research group, Dr. Bisazza oversees a team investigating interpretable, cognitively inspired approaches to low-resource language modeling. The group's work combines insights from cognitive science and linguistics with cutting-edge NLP techniques to develop language models that better reflect human language processing capabilities, particularly in resource-constrained settings.
Gaang Lee is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Alberta's Faculty of Engineering, where he joined in 2022 after earning his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. His research pioneers 'sympathetic' built environments that enhance safety, health, productivity, and comfort for workers and users through integration of wearable biosensors, AI, extended reality, and robotics with psychophysiological theories. Education: Ph.D in Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (2022) - Emphasis: Construction Engineering and Management; Graduate Certificate in Computational Discovery and Engineering Graduate Certificate in Computational Discovery and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (2022) M.S. in Architectural Engineering, Yonsei University, South Korea (2012) - Emphasis: Construction Engineering and Management B.S. in Architectural Engineering, Yonsei University, South Korea (2010) Dr. Lee combats technological exclusion for marginalized groups (construction workers, older adults) by developing empathetic technologies for workplaces, buildings, and urban spaces. His work applies human sensing, AI, and digital twins to create environments that adapt to diverse human needs, with key projects spanning psychophysiological safety monitoring, human-robot collaboration, and inclusive urban design. He integrates psychophysiological and socio-cognitive theories to address real-world gaps in construction engineering and computer science. His recent publications (2023-2025) reveal strong trends in AI-driven safety hazard identification, biosensor-based stress/fatigue monitoring, and virtual reality for construction team dynamics. A critical emerging focus is equity-centered technology design, with increasing publications addressing inclusive built environments and technological access for vulnerable populations through graph-based algorithms, domain adaptation, and interpretable AI models. Scientific Awards: No awards mentioned in the provided text. Dr. Lee actively recruits students for his 'Empathetics' research group starting in 2026, prioritizing candidates with empathy, research motivation, and commitment to diversity and inclusion. While specific grants are not detailed, his research program receives institutional support from the University of Alberta and likely external funding given its interdisciplinary scope and industry relevance. He leads the 'Empathetics' research group (part of Attentive Hub) which emphasizes diversity as fundamental to innovation. Current projects include psychophysiological monitoring for occupational safety, trustable human-robot collaboration systems, and extended reality frameworks for empathetic built environments. The group collaborates with IHT LAB (https://www.iht-lab.com/) and focuses on deploying technologies that make daily surroundings safe, healthy, and truly inclusive for all individuals.
Professor Ai-Chun Pang is affiliated with the National Taiwan University , serving in both the Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering and the Graduate Institute of Networking and Multimedia . He held leadership roles including Associate Dean (2018-2022) and Director (2013-2016) within the College of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. His research spans Fog/Edge Computing , Wireless Networking , Mobile Computing , and AIoT Systems , with recent advancements in federated learning security, energy-efficient network design, and 5G/6G optimization. Collaborative work includes applications in vehicular networks, industrial control systems, and non-terrestrial connectivity. Key publication themes: Edge Intelligence and Privacy (2024) Federated Learning for Heterogeneous Devices (2023-2024) 5G Backhaul Optimization (2017-2021) Wireless Energy Transfer (2022) Awarded IEEE Fellow 2021 for contributions to mobile edge networks, he has received multiple IEEE Vehicular Technology Society awards, the CES 2019 Innovation Award , and teaching accolades including National Taiwan University Distinguished Teaching Award (2010) . His lab has produced 16 PhD students now in academia and industry. As Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Wireless Communications Letters and active in conference organization, he shapes global research directions. Current projects focus on GenAI for Networking and Non-Terrestrial Networks , with recent 2024 admissions for new students.
Dr. Jie Gao is an Assistant Professor at the School of Information Technology , Carleton University, with cross-appointments at Dalhousie University (Adjunct Faculty, 2024) and Carleton University (2025). He holds a Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Alberta (2014) and has held postdoctoral and research associate positions at Ryerson University (2017-2019), University of Waterloo (2019-2020), and Marquette University (2020-2022). His research focuses on machine learning for communications/networking , 6G wireless networks , cloud/multi-access edge computing , IoT/industrial IoT solutions , and network virtualization/digital twins . Research Leadership: Co-investigator on projects related to AI-assisted network slicing, digital twin-driven resource allocation, and integrated satellite-terrestrial networks Led work on energy-efficient UAV-assisted edge computing (IEEE Best Land Transportation Paper Award 2024) Professional Roles: Senior Member, IEEE Lead Associate Editor, IEEE Access Vehicular Technology Society Section (2020-present) Associate Editor, Springer Peer-to-Peer Networking and Applications (2020-present) IEEE Vehicular Technology Society Young Professional Ambassador (2024) Notable Contributions: Authored/co-authored books on Intelligent Computing and Communication for the Internet of Vehicles (Springer, 2023) and Connectivity and Edge Computing in IoT (Springer, 2021) Holds patents on medium access control methods (US Patents 2022, 2024) Received multiple IEEE service awards (2018-2024)
Haining Wang is a Professor in the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Virginia Tech. His research focuses on cybersecurity, networking systems, cloud computing, and cyber-physical systems. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan (2003). His work addresses critical challenges in network security, IoT device fingerprinting, drone navigation security, and 5G/6G infrastructure vulnerabilities. Notable contributions include developing frameworks for detecting deceptive reviews, securing industrial IoT devices, and enhancing geofencing systems with 6G technologies. Wang's IEEE Fellow award (2020) recognizes his contributions to network and cloud security. His research also explores cloud gaming security, data center thermal vulnerabilities, and DNS privacy risks. He actively publishes on topics like container registry typosquatting, acoustic indoor localization, and encrypted DNS censorship analysis. Education: Ph.D., University of Michigan, 2003 Awards: IEEE Fellow (2020) Key Research Areas: Cybersecurity, Network Measurement, IoT Security, 5G/6G Systems Wang's recent work emphasizes securing emerging technologies like drone navigation systems and optimizing sensor placements in indoor environments. His projects often bridge theoretical frameworks with practical implementations in real-world networks and cloud infrastructures.
Ruggero Pagnan is a Contract Professor at the University of Genoa. His research focuses on educational effectiveness, particularly in distance learning and remedial education programs. He has collaborated on the PER.S.E.O. project analyzing the efficacy of self-directed learning paths for fulfilling university access requirements. Recent publications (2022-2023) concentrate on assessing the impact of digital remedial courses for university access competencies. Earlier work (2016) explored complex logical puzzles' educational applications. No formal academic awards are listed. His professional activities include curriculum development for competency-based education and digital learning environment evaluation.
Scott McCrickard is an Associate Professor at the Department of Computer Science within the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech . He serves as the Co-director of Virginia Tech's Human-Centered Design Program , integrating interdisciplinary approaches into his research and teaching. Ph.D. , Computer Science, Georgia Tech (2000) M.S. , Computer Science, Georgia Tech (1995) B.S. , Mathematical Sciences (Computer Science emphasis), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1992) McCrickard’s research focuses on Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) , particularly in outdoor environments. His work explores how technology can enhance experiences in nature, including the use of smartwatches for group fitness interventions, AR mobile games for social bonding, and diary studies as pedagogical tools. He also investigates mobile application development for low-literacy populations and social media integration in design processes. Recent publications highlight trends in HCI education , outdoor technology adoption, and social gaming dynamics . Key themes include leveraging diary methods for learning, designing context-aware notification systems , and analyzing indigenous knowledge preservation through self-organized online communities. As part of his leadership in the Human-Centered Design Program, he bridges computer science with design theory , emphasizing usability and social impact in technological solutions.
Stephen Dobson is a Professor and Dean of the School of Education and the Arts at Central Queensland University (Australia), and Professor II at Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences. With dual PhDs in Cultural Studies/Refugees (Nottingham Trent University, 2000) and Assessment/Education (University College London, 2008), his expertise spans assessment methodologies, inclusive education, and educational philosophy. He co-leads major EU/Erasmus+ projects like Learn2Learn MicroCred (2024–2026), focusing on micro-credentials for disadvantaged groups. Key affiliations include the Centre for Research in Equity & Advancement of Teaching & Education (CREATE) at CQUniversity and the Centre of Excellence for Educating for the Future, collaborating with institutions globally. His research emphasizes digital inclusion, lifelong learning, and bridging societal divides through education. Notable projects include developing online resources for refugees (ADVENSUS, 2016–2017) and fostering cultural inclusion via creative arts (current PhD supervision). He advocates for oral exams in the AI era and integrates big data/learning analytics into educational practices. Media engagements include analyses of Chinese student success, urban pedagogy, and student well-being in university rankings. Research interests span education policy, assessment innovation, and the philosophy of education, with publications in Springer, The Conversation, and peer-reviewed journals. Current supervisory capacity focuses on education systems and policy, with active involvement in supervising PhD candidates exploring social engineering, disability in arts, and Islamic school frameworks.
Xiao Lin is an Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Pennsylvania, affiliated with the Department of Economics within the School of Arts and Sciences. He holds a PhD from Penn State University (2022). His research focuses on economic theory, with specialization in information economics and robust learning. He has published influential work in top journals like the Journal of Political Economy and Quarterly Journal of Economics , as well as conference proceedings at ACM Conferences on Economics and Computation. Education: PhD in Economics from Penn State University (2022). Key research interests include strategic information transmission, robust decision-making frameworks, and mechanism design. His recent work addresses topics such as credible persuasion mechanisms and the aggregation of correlated information in economic systems. He also collaborates on projects involving clinical and public health topics, though the primary focus remains economic theory. Professional activities include serving as a faculty member at the Ronald O. Perelman Center for Political Science and Economics, where he contributes to interdisciplinary research initiatives. He maintains an active research agenda reflected in over 15 recent publications across economics, medicine, and public health domains.
PD Dr. Kaspar Riesen is the Head of the Pattern Recognition Group at the Institute of Computer Science, University of Bern. His research focuses on graph-based methods for pattern recognition, with applications in document analysis, environmental modeling, and healthcare. Key interests include graph matching, neural networks, and spatio-temporal modeling. His work spans structural pattern recognition, graph embeddings, and keyword spotting in historical documents. Recent projects involve river network analysis using graph regression and hypoglycemia prediction via LSTM-GNN hybrid models. Publications emphasize graph theory advancements, such as normalized graph compression and geometric similarity learning. Collaborations include developing specialized algorithms for automated error detection and improving decision-making in simulated sports. Labs/Teams: Pattern Recognition Group (PRG) at the University of Bern.
Roles & Affiliations: Teresa De La Hera is an Assistant Professor of Persuasive Gaming at Erasmus University, affiliated with the Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication and the Department of Media and Communication. She is a member of the Erasmus Research Centre for Media, Communication and Culture, actively involved in the Gaming Matters research cluster and ERMeCC initiatives like REACT (Responsible Engagement with AI, Culture, and Technology) and VEGAS (Virtual Environments, Games and Society). Education: She holds dual BAs in Journalism (Digital Journalism track) and Audiovisual Communication (Direction and Screenplay track), an MA in Communication and Advertising, and a PhD in Media Studies from Utrecht University (2011–2013). Her PhD thesis, Persuasive Structures in Advergames , won the Best Academic Work award from the Consell de l’Audiovisual de Catalunya (2013). Research: Her work focuses on digital games as tools for communication, persuasion, and intercultural interaction. Key projects include Digital Literacy Games (funded) and an ice-skating game fostering intercultural dialogue. She explores topics like advergames, serious games, and gaming’s role in education and social issues (e.g., racism in sports). Her research bridges media studies, sociology, and educational technology. Awards & Recognition: Her 2013 PhD thesis was honored as the best academic work in media studies by the Consell de l’Audiovisual de Catalunya. She has authored/co-authored over 58 peer-reviewed publications, including books like Digital Gaming and the Advertising Landscape (2019) and Persuasive Gaming in Context (2021, editor). Teaching & Outreach: She teaches in Erasmus’ International Bachelor's in Communication and Media (IBCoM) and the MA Media and Business programs. She actively engages in public discourse, appearing in media like podcasts discussing health-related gaming (e.g., Videojuegos para la salud , 2017) and contributing to policy discussions on digital literacy. Labs & Collaborations: She leads research on digital literacy games and collaborates internationally on projects like Chinese cultural heritage in mobile games. Her work intersects with NWO-funded initiatives and involves partnerships with institutions like the University of Amsterdam and Utrecht University.
