Markus Vincze is an Associate Professor at the Institute of Automation and Control Engineering (ACIN) at Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien). He founded the Vision for Robotics (V4R) group in 1996 to advance robotic perception, particularly in real-world environments and homes. His work focuses on cognitive computer vision techniques for robotics. Education: Diplom in Mechanical Engineering (1988) and PhD (1993) from TU Wien; M.Sc. (1990) from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. V4R coordinates EU projects like ActIPret, robots@home, HOBBIT, and national initiatives like vision@home. Markus has edited a book on Robust Vision with Gregory Hager and authored 62 peer-reviewed journal articles and over 400 reviewed publications. His recent research explores zero-shot 6D pose estimation, sim-to-real transfer, and transparent object detection. Markus has served as program chair for ICRA 2013 and organized HRI 2017 in Vienna. He has advised numerous students and secured grants from the Austrian Academy of Sciences for work at HelpMate Robotics and Yale's Vision Laboratory. The V4R group leads innovations in robotic vision, including frameworks for synthetic data generation (Unrealgensyn), depth completion (CAGT), and educational robotics applications for sustainability. Their work spans household robotics (RH3), agricultural robotics (EdgeSoil), and human-robot collaboration.
Marc Pollefeys is a Full Professor of Computer Science at ETH Zurich and Director of the Microsoft Mixed Reality and AI Zurich Lab. He has held roles such as Visiting Professor at Stanford University (2007) and Assistant/Associate Professor at UNC-Chapel Hill (2002–2009). His research focuses on 3D computer vision, robotics, machine learning, and augmented reality. Education: PhD in Computer Science from KU Leuven (1999), followed by postdoctoral research there until 2002. He transitioned to academic roles at UNC-Chapel Hill before joining ETH Zurich in 2007. Research interests include 3D reconstruction, visual localization, SLAM, and applications in archaeology, urban modeling, and robotics. Notable projects include real-time 3D scanning, city-scale reconstruction, and autonomous vision-based drones. Key awards include ACM Fellow (2022), IEEE Fellow (2012), and ERC Starting Grant (2008). He advises numerous PhD students and collaborates with institutions like Google and Microsoft. Labs and teams: Leads the Computer Vision and Geometry (CVG) lab at ETH Zurich and directs the Microsoft Mixed Reality and AI Lab. His work bridges academia and industry, focusing on perception for mixed reality and autonomous systems.
Johannes Brandstetter is an Associate Professor at the Institute for Machine Learning at Johannes Kepler University Linz (JKU) where he leads the "AI for data-driven simulations" research group. He is also Co-founder and Chief Scientist at Emmi AI, bridging academic research with industrial applications in AI-driven physics simulation. Brandstetter earned his PhD after working at CERN's CMS experiment on Higgs boson physics. In 2018, he transitioned to machine learning, joining Sepp Hochreiter's research group in Linz. From 2021-2023, he worked at the Amsterdam Machine Learning Lab under Max Welling and Microsoft Research, developing expertise in Geometric Deep Learning and neural surrogates for partial differential equations. He returned to JKU in October 2023 to establish his own research group. His research spans Machine Learning, Deep Learning, and Physics-Informed Machine Learning with focus areas including Neural PDE solvers, Computational Fluid Dynamics, and Climate Modeling. Brandstetter believes AI is poised to revolutionize industrial-scale simulations, potentially saving thousands of compute hours across engineering domains. His work integrates computer vision, numerical simulation, and engineering components to advance data-driven approaches. Recent publications reveal a strong trend toward foundation models for scientific applications, particularly in atmospheric modeling (Aurora), geometric deep learning, and neural surrogates for complex physical systems. His interdisciplinary work spans computer vision, climate science, computational physics, and engineering, demonstrating the versatility of his research approach. Principal Investigator for "AlKa-DL: Alpine karst spring discharge prediction" (FWF-funded, 2024-2027) Principal Investigator for Cluster of Excellence "Bilateral Artificial Intelligence" (FWF-funded, 2024-2029) Co-PI for "Fast, efficient and flexible CFD simulation through generative AI" (FFG-funded, 2025-2026) As an educator and researcher, Brandstetter actively engages with the scientific community through invited talks at major conferences including presentations on "Closing the Gap Between Scientific Foundation Models and Real-World Applications" (March 2025) and "Scientific Machine Learning for Science and Engineering" (February 2025).
Sylvain Lefebvre is a permanent researcher at INRIA (Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique) in France, where he leads the MFX research team since 2018. Previously, he was part of the ALICE group at INRIA Nancy (2009-2018) and the REVES team in Sophia Antipolis (2006-2009). His career includes a postdoctoral position at Microsoft Research Seattle (2005) following his PhD at INRIA Rhones-Alpes under Fabrice Neyret. His educational background includes a PhD in Computer Graphics from Université Joseph Fourier (Grenoble) in 2005, preceded by a Master in Computer Graphics from INP Grenoble in 2001. His habilitation thesis focused on Runtime Texture Synthesis. Lefebvre's research centers on simplifying content creation for highly detailed patterns, structures, and shapes with applications spanning Computer Graphics to additive manufacturing. He develops fast, controllable by-example synthesis approaches that generate content while enforcing user-specified constraints. His work addresses computational challenges through novel data structures and algorithms optimized for GPUs and FPGAs, including his Silice programming language. The ERC-funded ShapeForge project (2012-2017) advanced shape generation for 3D printing, leading to the IceSL software for digital modeling and fabrication. Analysis of his 15 most recent publications reveals a strong focus on additive manufacturing optimization, with recurring themes in structural integrity, material efficiency, and geometric algorithms. His work bridges computer graphics theory with practical fabrication constraints, particularly in microstructure design, slicing techniques, and mechanical metamaterials. The interdisciplinary nature spans computer science, materials engineering, and robotics. EUROGRAPHICS Young Researcher Award (2010) ERC Starting Grant for ShapeForge project (2012) Lefebvre has advised over 25 PhD students and interns including Marco Freire, Thibault Tricard, and Jimmy Etienne. His ShapeForge project received significant ERC funding, supporting research in computational fabrication. He serves on numerous program committees including SIGGRAPH, Eurographics, and SIGGRAPH Asia, reflecting his leadership in the computer graphics community. As leader of the MFX team since 2018, Lefebvre directs research in computational fabrication, focusing on IceSL software development for 3D printing workflows. The team integrates computer graphics techniques with manufacturing constraints, developing tools that simplify complex object design and fabrication while addressing real-world challenges in material usage and structural integrity.
Craig Gotsman is a Professor and Dean at the Ying Wu College of Computing, New Jersey Institute of Technology. He previously held roles at Cornell Tech, Technion, ETH Zurich, and MIT. His research focuses on computational geometry, computer graphics, and 3D animation. Ph.D. in Computer Science, Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1991) His work spans geometric modeling, mesh processing, and applications in animation and visualization. Recent research trends include gaze correction in video conferencing, mesh parameterization, and spectral compression techniques. Notable awards include Fellowships in the US National Academy of Inventors and the Academy of Europe, multiple best paper awards, and the Technion's Hewlett Packard Chair in Computer Engineering. Gotsman has mentored over 50 postgraduate students and holds ten US patents. He co-founded three companies: Virtue 3D Inc. (acquired by NVIDIA), Estimotion Inc. (now ITIS Israel Ltd.), and CatchEye.
Jean Ponce is a Professor of Computer Science at Ecole Normale Superieure (ENS) in Paris and a Part-Time Global Distinguished Professor at New York University's Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences and Center for Data Science (CDS). He previously served as Director of the ENS Computer Science Department (2011-2017) and held positions at Inria (2017-2022), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1998-2006), MIT, Stanford, and Inria (1982-1985). Academic Leadership: Scientific Director of PRAIRIE Interdisciplinary AI Research Institute in Paris Startup Involvement: Co-founder and CEO of Enhance Lab (2022) Editorial Roles: Senior Editor-in-Chief of International Journal of Computer Vision (2019-2022) Conference Leadership: Chair of IEEE CVPR (1997,2000), ECCV (2008), and upcoming ICCV (2023) Research Focus: Computer vision, machine learning, robotics, and AI with applications in exoplanet imaging, 3D reconstruction, and image quality assessment. His work bridges statistical learning and deep learning approaches. Awards: IEEE Fellow (2003) ELLIS Fellow (2019) ERC Advanced Grant (2011) IEEE CVPR Longuet-Higgins Prizes (2016,2020) ICML Test-of-Time Award (2019) Patents & Publications: Co-author of influential textbook Computer Vision: A Modern Approach (translated into Chinese, Japanese, Russian). Holds two US patents and one pending French patent. Google Scholar h-index of 78 with over 55,000 citations.
Yun Fu is a tenured Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Northeastern University, with a joint appointment in the Khoury College of Computer Science. He has established himself as a leading researcher in Artificial Intelligence, with over 500 publications in top-tier venues including IEEE/ACM transactions and major AI conferences. His work spans both theoretical foundations and practical applications, with significant impact in computer vision and machine learning. Professor Fu earned his Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His academic career progressed from Assistant Professor at SUNY Buffalo to his current position as tenured Professor at Northeastern University, where he has held appointments since 2012. His educational background includes a Beckman Graduate Fellowship at UIUC (2007-2008). His research focuses on advancing Artificial Intelligence with particular emphasis on Computer Vision, Pattern Recognition, and Machine Learning. His seminal work includes the "Residual Dense Network for Image Super-Resolution" presented at CVPR 2018, which was ranked among the Top 10 Most Influential CVPR papers. His research interests span image processing, anomaly detection, multimodal learning, and trajectory prediction, with applications ranging from healthcare to consumer technology. Analysis of his recent publications reveals a strong trend toward developing efficient and robust AI systems that bridge computer vision with language understanding. His work increasingly focuses on multimodal learning, trajectory prediction for multi-agent systems, anomaly detection in complex environments, and model validation techniques for black-box systems, while maintaining practical applications in real-world scenarios. Professor Fu's extensive recognition includes: Fellow of IEEE (2018), OSA (2019), SPIE (2018), IAPR (2016), AAIA (2021), and AAAI (2025) Member of Academia Europaea (2022) and European Academy of Sciences and Arts (2023) Fellow of National Academy of Inventors (2023) Multiple Young Investigator Awards from NAE, ONR, ARO, IEEE, ACM, and INNS 12 Best Paper Awards from major conferences Industrial Research Awards from Google, Amazon, Samsung, JPMorgan, and others Professor Fu has successfully mentored numerous Ph.D. students who now hold prominent positions in academia and industry at institutions including Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, Adobe, and major universities. His entrepreneurial ventures include founding Giaran (acquired by Shiseido in 2017) and co-founding TVision Insights, demonstrating his commitment to translating research into real-world impact. He has secured significant research funding from both government agencies and industry partners. As the PI and Founding Director of the SmiLe Lab at Northeastern University, Professor Fu leads a dynamic research group focused on advancing the state-of-the-art in AI and Computer Vision. The lab fosters interdisciplinary collaboration across computer science, electrical engineering, and applied mathematics, with ongoing projects in efficient deep learning, multimodal understanding, and practical AI applications.
Leif Kobbelt is a Full Professor of Computer Science and Head of the Visual Computing Institute at RWTH Aachen University . He previously held academic positions at the Max-Planck-Institute for Computer Science, University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, and University of Wisconsin-Madison. Diploma in Computer Science (1992), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology PhD in Computer Science (1994), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology His research focuses on computer graphics and geometry processing , with specific interests in 3D reconstruction, quad mesh generation, real-time rendering, and geometric modeling algorithms. He has pioneered techniques for efficient mesh processing, anisotropic geodesic computation, and procedural facade visualization. Recent publications analyze nonlinear constraints in geometric modeling, quad layout optimization, and real-time rendering techniques. Key themes include mesh parameterization, multiresolution analysis, and computational geometry for interactive applications. Scientific recognitions include: 2014 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize (Germany's most prestigious research award) 2013 ERC Advanced Grant (ACROSS project) 2008 Eurographics Fellow 2004 Eurographics Outstanding Technical Contribution Award 2000 Heinz-Maier-Leibnitz Award He leads major research initiatives like the excellence clusters UMIC (€40M) and AICES (€15M), and the ERC-funded ACROSS project (€2.5M, 2014-2018). He serves as principal investigator and reviewer for international journals and organizations.
Anders Lindquist is Zhiyuan Chair Professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Emeritus Professor at KTH Royal Institute of Technology. He earned his PhD from KTH in 1972 and began his career as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Florida under R.E. Kalman. His academic journey includes positions as Assistant Professor (University of Florida), Associate Professor (University of Kentucky and Brown University), and Full Professor (University of Kentucky and KTH). At KTH, he served as Head of Mathematics Department (2000-2009) and Director of the Center for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (2006-2016). His research focuses on: Mathematical systems theory and control theory Stochastic realization and estimation Spectral estimation methods Moment problems with complexity constraints Applications of operator theory His publications demonstrate consistent focus on mathematical foundations of control systems, stochastic processes, and optimization techniques, with recent work expanding into multidimensional applications and image processing. Major scientific honors include: IEEE Control Systems Award (2020) Reid Prize in Mathematics (2009) Axelby Outstanding Paper Award (2003) Fellowships: IEEE, SIAM, IFAC Memberships: Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences He holds four U.S. patents and has served on editorial boards of leading journals including Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society and SIAM Review.
Stefan Lengauer is a Senior Researcher at the Institute of Visual Computing (IVC), Graz University of Technology. His work bridges cultural heritage analysis and health informatics through advanced visualization techniques. PhD in Computer Science (2022), Graz University of Technology MSc in Space Sciences (2018), TU Graz BSc in Computer Science (2014-2022) and Aviation (2015), FH JOANNEUM Research focuses on visual analytics , 3D object retrieval , and cross-modal search , with applications in: Medical domains (diabetes care, health information systems) Cultural heritage (pottery analysis, fragment matching, digital restoration) Pattern recognition (geometric motifs, surface textures) Recent publications highlight trends in adaptive visualization (2024-2025) and 3D cultural heritage analysis (2021-2023). Key projects include: HEREDITARY (2024-present): HORIZON Europe project on gut-brain interaction A+CHIS (2020-present): FWF research group on adaptive health information systems CrossSAVE-CH (2019-2022): Cross-modal search in cultural heritage Scientific recognition includes: Best Challenge Entry (2024) Honorable Mention (2020) PhD distinction (2022) Mentored 12+ students in topics ranging from medical chatbots to 3D pottery analysis . Reviewing activities span journals like Springer Nature and conferences including WSCG.
Dieter Schmalstieg is the Alexander von Humboldt Professor of Visual Computing at the University of Stuttgart and an adjunct professor at Graz University of Technology. He leads research in augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and visualization, with contributions to tracking, rendering, and medical applications. His work spans academia and industry, with over 400 publications and numerous awards, including the IEEE ISMAR Career Impact Award and Fellow of the IEEE. Education: PhD (1997), Habilitation (2001) from Vienna University of Technology. Research: Focuses on AR/VR systems, medical visualization, and real-time graphics. Key projects include the Christian Doppler Laboratory for Handheld AR and collaborations with Qualcomm and VRVis. Awards: START Prize (2002), IEEE Technical Achievement Award (2012), Humboldt Professorship (2023). His teaching includes courses on computer graphics, VR, and real-time rendering. He has advised over 30 PhD students, many of whom hold academic or industry leadership roles. Current research explores situated analytics, mixed reality telepresence (MRUnion), and AR applications in mining and medicine (MiReBooks).
Hans-Peter Seidel is a leading academic in computer graphics, serving as Director of the Max Planck Institute for Informatics and Full Professor at Saarland University since 1999. Previously held roles include Full Professor at University of Erlangen (1992–1999) and Assistant Professor at University of Waterloo (1989–1992). Holds a PhD in Mathematics (1987) and Habilitation in Informatics (1989) from University of Tübingen. Research focuses on 3D image analysis, digital geometry processing, visual computing, and free viewpoint rendering. Key achievements include pioneering work in surface editing, motion capture, and multi-view video processing. Has organized major conferences like Eurographics and SIGGRAPH, serving as editor for journals including IEEE TVCG and Computer Aided Geometric Design. Recipient of the Eurographics Distinguished Career Award (2012), Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize (2003), and numerous fellowships. Led initiatives such as the Cluster of Excellence on Multimodal Computing and Interaction (M2CI) and the Max Planck Center for Visual Computing and Communication (MPC-VCC). Active in academic leadership roles including Eurographics Chair and DFG committees. Publications span over 30 SIGGRAPH and 50 Eurographics contributions, with an h-index of 62 and 14,000+ citations. Recognized as a top-cited researcher in computer graphics. Current research explores advanced visualization techniques and geometric modeling innovations.
Michael Kerber is a Professor at Graz University of Technology, Institute of Geometry, specializing in computational topology and geometry. His research bridges mathematical theory with applications in data analysis, focusing on persistent homology and geometric algorithms. PhD from Max Planck Institute for Informatics (2009) Postdoc positions: Max Planck Institute, Stanford University, IST Austria His work centers on designing efficient algorithms for topological data analysis, particularly: Persistent Homology 2-Parameter Persistence Geometric Filtrations Algebraic Curve Analysis High-Dimensional Sphere Packing Recent publications emphasize: Improved Delaunay bifiltration methods NP-hardness of interleaving distance computation Sparse Čech filtrations for big data Integration with graph neural networks He has co-developed key software tools: PHAT DIPHA HERA SOPHIA
Eduard Gröller is a Full Professor of Visualization at the Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien), leading the Research Unit of Computer Graphics and the Visualization Group within the Institute of Visual Computing & Human-Centered Technology (VC&HCT). He holds adjunct professorships at the University of Bergen, Norway, and chairs several academic committees. His academic journey began with a PhD in 1993 from TU Wien, followed by extensive contributions to visualization research. His research focuses on visual computing, scientific visualization, and medical imaging, with applications in energy modeling, climate analysis, and molecular biology. Gröller has pioneered methods like BEMTrace for BIM-based energy models and HORA 3D for flood risk visualization. He co-authored over 300 publications, including foundational work in IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics and Computer Graphics Forum . Gröller's awards include the IEEE VGTC Technical Achievement Award (2019), Eurographics 2015 Outstanding Technical Contributions Award, and Fellow of the Eurographics Association (2009). He actively contributes to conferences like EuroVis and IEEE Visualization as program chair and reviewer. His educational efforts span courses in visual computing, graphics, and data analysis, with a focus on immersive tools like ImNDT for material data exploration. Current projects include Climate-Sensitive Adaptive Planning for Resilient Cities, Visual Analytics in Radiation Therapy, and scalable web-based visualization techniques. He leads teams in VRVis, a research center for applied visualization, and collaborates internationally on medical imaging and environmental data challenges.
Peter Elbau is a Senior Lecturer (Privatdozent) in the Faculty of Mathematics at [University Name, if known]. His research focuses on mathematical imaging techniques, particularly in tomography and inverse problems, with applications in medical and biomedical imaging. He is actively involved in projects such as the "Tomography across the scales" initiative, aiming to develop quantitative imaging methods from molecular to astronomical scales. His primary research interests include the mathematical foundations of tomographic imaging, inverse scattering problems, and quantitative parameter reconstruction in optical coherence tomography (OCT) and photoacoustic imaging. He explores topics such as motion detection in diffraction tomography, curvature flows on surfaces, and the development of algorithms for medical diagnostics and material characterization. Elbau leads the research project "Tomography across the scales - Quantitative optical imaging from single molecules to stars," funded from 2018 to 2026. This project highlights his role in bridging fundamental mathematical research with practical applications in imaging technologies. His work often involves cross-disciplinary teams focusing on biomedical and material imaging challenges.
