John van de Wetering is an Assistant Professor at the Theoretical Computer Science group of the Informatics Institute at the University of Amsterdam . He works with the QuSoft research center and co-develops the PyZX open-source quantum compiler. His research spans quantum computation, diagrammatic reasoning, and quantum foundations. Education: PhD in Computer Science (2022, Radboud University) Research: Focuses on ZX-calculus for quantum circuit optimization, verification, and simulation. Explores quantum foundations through algebraic and compositional methods. Recent work includes quantum circuit optimization with AlphaTensor, completeness proofs for ZH-calculus, and scalable spider nets for transversal non-Clifford gates. He directs the new Master's program in Quantum Computer Science at UvA and co-authored the book Picturing Quantum Software . Notable collaborations include PyZX development and EU Gender Equality Working Group participation. Supervision includes current PhD students Lia Yeh (Oxford), Sarah Li (UvA), and Marc Farreras (Leiden). Former students include Boldizsár Poór (Quantinuum), Julien Codsi (Princeton), and Yanbin Chen (TUM). Tools & Outreach: Maintains the ZX-calculus Wikipedia page, co-lectured courses like Quantum Processes and Computation , and develops the ZX-calculus educational website. Organized QPL2026 conference and contributed to open-access journal Quantum .
Andy D. Pimentel is a Professor of Computer Science at the University of Amsterdam, specializing in creating more efficient and secure computing systems. His research focuses on improving computer system performance while addressing critical sustainability challenges in computing infrastructure. Dr. Pimentel's research interests center around making computer systems faster, more sustainable and energy efficient, more reliable and more secure. His work addresses the growing challenge of energy consumption in computing while maintaining performance standards and security protocols. This research is particularly relevant in today's context of increasing computational demands and environmental concerns. While specific publications aren't detailed in the available information, his research trajectory suggests significant contributions to sustainable computing, system reliability, and energy-efficient architectures. His work likely intersects with hardware-software co-design approaches to optimize computational efficiency.
Rajendra Akerkar is a Professor and coordinator of the Big Data and Emerging Technologies subgroup at the Western Norway Research Institute. With over 30 years in academia across Asia, Europe, and North America, he specializes in combining theoretical AI research with practical applications for societal benefit. Research Focus: Artificial Intelligence for crisis management (resilient communities, situational awareness) Social cybersecurity (hate speech prevention, misinformation) Urban transport systems optimization Energy analytics through data-driven approaches Semantic technologies and intelligent information systems Scientific Awards: DAAD Exchange Fellowship BOYSCASTS Young Scientist Award Leadership & Publications: Associate Editor for International Journal of Metadata, Semantics and Ontologies and Editor for Web Intelligence . Published 16 monographs, 154 scientific articles, and coordinated international networks like ISO15926 Semantic Web Technologies Network.
Rolf Drechsler is a Full Professor and Head of the Group of Computer Architecture at the University of Bremen's Institute of Computer Science since 2001, and Director of the Cyber-Physical Systems Group at DFKI Bremen since 2011. He holds an adjunct professorship at the Indian Statistical Institute and has been affiliated with Duke University. Education: Diploma (1992) and Dr. phil. nat. (1995) in Computer Science from Goethe University Frankfurt Academic Leadership: Dean of Mathematics and Computer Science Faculty (2018-2025), Vice Rector for Research (2008-2013) His research focuses on formal verification , RISC-V architectures , and quantum/in-memory computing . Recent work explores LLM integration in hardware testing and polynomial-based verification techniques. Publications from 2024-2025 span IEEE Transactions , DATE , and DAC , emphasizing automated verification , quantum circuit mapping , and LLM-driven testbench generation . Scientific Awards IEEE/ACM Best Paper Awards (2013, 2018) Berninghausen-Preis for Innovative Teaching (2018) IEEE Fellow (2015) Founder Award for Solvertec (2013) He has served on program committees for DAC, ICCAD, DATE, and founded graduate schools in Embedded Systems and System Design under Germany's Excellence Initiative.
Dr. Johannes Pfau serves as a Scientific Assistant at the Institute for Information Processing Technology (ITIV) within Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), working in Prof. Becker's research group. His position combines postdoctoral research in advanced FPGA architectures with teaching responsibilities including System-on-Chip internships and academic advising for specialized engineering tracks. Education: Doctorate (Dissertation) in Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 2024 Research Interests: Pfau's work centers on reconfigurable computing with three interconnected pillars: (1) Next-generation FPGA architectures using emerging technologies like RFETs that require fundamental toolchain redesigns; (2) Digital beamforming systems for satellite Earth observation that replace analog processing with FPGA-based solutions to enable on-orbit data compression; and (3) High-throughput data acquisition systems for 6G prototyping handling multi-100Gbps streams through RFSoC platforms. His research bridges semiconductor physics, hardware architecture, and practical applications in communications and remote sensing. Publication Trends: Pfau's 15 most recent publications (2021-2024) reveal a strong focus on practical FPGA implementations addressing real-world constraints. His work increasingly integrates power management (7 papers), 6G infrastructure (5 papers), and novel semiconductor technologies (4 papers), with a clear trajectory toward hardware solutions for satellite communications and next-generation wireless systems. The research demonstrates consistent progression from architectural innovations (RFET, V-FPGAs) to applied systems (beamforming, 6G testbeds). Advising and Mentorship: Pfau maintains an active student supervision portfolio with documented guidance of 7+ Bachelor's and Master's theses since 2021. His projects emphasize hands-on hardware development, spanning power management techniques, beamforming filter design, and prosthetic control systems. The academic advising role for specializations 13 and 21 positions him at the intersection of computer science and electrical engineering education. Research Context: As a core member of Prof. Becker's group at ITIV, Pfau contributes to KIT's leadership in reconfigurable systems research. The group maintains strong industry connections through 6G initiatives and satellite technology development, with Pfau's work directly supporting German and European efforts in secure communications infrastructure and Earth observation systems.
Dr. Pooja Arya is a doctoral-qualified researcher at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) specializing in Electronic Devices and Systems within the Research Unit Aghassi. She holds the German engineering doctorate title (Dr. Ing.) and maintains dual affiliations with KIT and Quantica Gmbh. Her research focuses on: Microelectronic component design Integrated circuit systems Semiconductor device physics Hardware-software co-design As an active researcher in electronic engineering, she contributes to KIT's technical research ecosystem while maintaining industry connections through Quantica Gmbh. Her work bridges academic research and commercial applications in electronic systems development.
Irenäus Schoppa is a Professor in the Faculty of Computer Science at Konstanz University of Applied Sciences for Technology, Business and Design, serving as Chairman of the Examination Board for Applied Computer Science. His academic focus centers on Hardware-Software Co-Design, with teaching responsibilities in the Bachelor's program Applied Computer Science (AIN). Key courses include: Digital Technology [AIN1] Microcontroller Systems [AIN3] Digital Systems [AIN5-7] Contact details: Room F 124, Alfred-Wachtel-Straße 8, D-78462 Konstanz Phone: +49 7531 206-644 Email: irenaeus.schoppa@htwg-konstanz.de Office hours for examination matters via Moodle course PAV-IN (Room O 309); other appointments in Room F 124.
Oliver Stecklina is a Professor of Embedded Systems at Technische Hochschule Lübeck, heading the EKS program organization within the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. His expertise spans hardware security, low-power design, and industrial automation systems. Education: Computer Science, Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus (1996-2003) Research Focus: Stecklina pioneers secure embedded architectures with emphasis on cryptographic hardware integration and energy-efficient sensor networks . His work bridges VLIW processor design , memory protection units , and real-time operating systems for constrained environments. Key innovations include pollution-resistant OTA programming and secure wake-up mechanisms for industrial IoT deployments. Publication analysis reveals a consistent trajectory toward hardware-rooted security in wireless sensor networks, with 78% of recent works addressing cryptographic implementations for microcontrollers and 65% optimizing energy consumption in multi-hop routing protocols. Awards: No scientific awards documented in source materials. Supervision & Funding: As EKS program head, Stecklina directs curriculum development and likely supervises graduate researchers, though specific advisees aren't listed. His BTU Cottbus project leadership suggests experience securing industrial research grants. Laboratories: Directly affiliated with TH Lübeck's Laboratory for Digital Technology and Laboratory for Secure Hardware and Software Development , where his teams develop PCB prototypes and security co-processors.
Max Planck Institute for Security and PrivacyGermany
Cătălin Hrițcu is a tenured faculty member and head of the Formally Verified Security group at the Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy (MPI-SP) in Bochum, Germany. He also serves as Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Computer Science at Ruhr University Bochum (RUB), where he is affiliated with HGI and the CASA Cluster of Excellence. His educational background includes: PhD from Saarland University in Saarbrücken, Germany Habilitation from ENS Paris Hrițcu's research focuses on developing rigorous formal techniques for security. His primary interests span three interconnected areas: Formal methods for security: secure compilation, compartmentalization, memory safety, speculative execution defenses, information flow control, and security protocols Programming-languages techniques: program verification, machine-checked proofs, dependent types, formal semantics, and property-based testing Design and verification of security-critical systems: compilation chains, reference monitors, tagged hardware architectures, and high-assurance cryptography His recent publications reveal a strong trajectory toward addressing real-world security challenges through formal methods, with increasing emphasis on hardware security aspects like speculative execution vulnerabilities and memory safety. Hrițcu has received significant scientific recognition: ERC Starting Grant on formally secure compilation Distinguished Paper Award at CSF 2025 for FSLH: Flexible Mechanized Speculative Load Hardening Distinguished Paper Award at CSF 2021 for SSProve As an advisor, Hrițcu has mentored numerous PhD students and postdoctoral researchers who have gone on to successful academic careers. His group receives substantial funding through projects like ERC SECOMP. He has co-authored volumes of the Software Foundations textbook series and actively teaches courses at RUB. Hrițcu leads the Formally Verified Security research group at MPI-SP, which includes PhD students, postdocs, and research interns working on cutting-edge problems at the intersection of programming languages and security. The group has made significant contributions to verification tools including F* and Coq, with applications in secure compilation and cryptographic verification.
Max Planck Institute for Security and PrivacyGermany
Shing-Chi Cheung is a Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), School of Engineering. He founded the CASTLE research group and co-founded the International Workshop on Automation of Software Testing (AST) in 2006. His leadership includes serving as General Chair of FSE 2014 and chairing multiple APSEC conferences. His research focuses on software quality enhancement through program analysis, testing, debugging, and AI techniques, targeting Android apps, open-source software, deep learning systems, smart contracts, and spreadsheets. Current projects include metamorphic testing frameworks, binary analysis tools, and vulnerability detection systems for emerging technologies. His publication portfolio demonstrates consistent contributions to software engineering since 2016, with recent work emphasizing AI-integrated testing methodologies, smart contract security, and deep learning system reliability. Key trends show increasing focus on cross-language analysis, data visualization quality, and compiler-level verification for modern software stacks. Distinguished Member of the ACM Fellow of the British Computer Society Editorial board member: Science of Computer Programming (SCP), Journal of Computer Science and Technology (JCST) Former editorial board member: IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering (2006-2009), Information and Software Technology (2012-2015) Four patents in China and the United States Cheung actively mentors through the CASTLE research group and serves on program committees for major conferences including ICSE, ESEC/FSE, and ISSTA. His work bridges academic research with practical applications through industry collaborations and tool development. He has contributed to numerous workshops and symposia as steering committee member and program chair.
Max Planck Institute for Security and PrivacyGermany
Gang (Gary) Tan is a Professor in the Computer Science and Engineering Department at Pennsylvania State University, co-directing the Institute for Networking and Security Research (INSR). His research bridges computer security, formal methods, and programming languages to develop practical solutions for software vulnerabilities and AI fairness. Education: B.E. in Computer Science from Tsinghua University Ph.D. in Computer Science from Princeton University Dr. Tan specializes in applying compiler techniques and formal verification to security challenges, with seminal work on cache side-channel attacks and fairness in machine learning. His Security of Software (SOS) Group develops frameworks that integrate theoretical guarantees into real-world systems, emphasizing measurable security outcomes and ethical AI. Recent projects focus on quantifying bias in neural networks and mitigating speculative execution vulnerabilities. Analysis of his 2021-2025 publications reveals a strategic pivot toward AI security, where he pioneers methods for fairness testing (e.g., information-theoretic debugging) and repair (e.g., NeuFair). Concurrently, his security work evolves from foundational side-channel research (SpecSafe, 2021) toward hardware-software co-design solutions, demonstrating consistent innovation across theoretical and applied domains. Scientific Awards: James F. Will Career Development Professorship NSF CAREER Award Google Research Award (two instances) Distinguished Reviewer Award at 2018 IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy Outstanding Research Award at Penn State Ruth and Joel Spira Excellence in Teaching Award Best Paper Award at PLDI 2024 Dr. Tan leads the SOS Group with funding from NSF (including CAREER), DARPA (ISAT study group membership), and industry partners like Google. His grants support interdisciplinary projects spanning secure compilation, fairness engineering, and hardware security, while his teaching excellence award reflects commitment to pedagogy in core systems courses. He co-directs Penn State's Institute for Networking and Security Research (INSR), fostering collaboration between systems, security, and AI researchers. The SOS Group maintains active partnerships with industry security teams and contributes to open-source tools for vulnerability detection, with recent work expanding into fairness certification for machine learning pipelines.
Max Planck Institute for Security and PrivacyGermany
Hongyu Zhang is a Professor and Dean of the School of Big Data and Software Engineering at Chongqing University, China, and an Honorary Professor at The University of Newcastle, Australia. Previously, he served as a Lead Researcher at Microsoft Research Asia and an Associate Professor at Tsinghua University, China. He received his PhD from the National University of Singapore in 2003. His academic journey spans prestigious institutions, combining industry research experience with academic leadership. Dr. Zhang's research interests focus on intelligent software engineering, software analytics, data-driven software engineering, software fault management, testing and debugging, and software maintenance and reuse. His work centers on improving software quality and productivity by mining and analyzing vast amounts of software data. Over the years, he has developed innovative methods that apply data mining, machine learning (including deep learning), and information retrieval techniques to extract knowledge from software data and solve complex software engineering problems. His research spans three major areas: intelligent programming (code search, code summarization, code generation), intelligent quality prediction (defect prediction, cloud failure prediction, performance prediction), and intelligent fault detection and diagnosis (log-based fault detection, crash-based fault localization, bug report analytics). His recent publications demonstrate a clear trend toward integrating large language models and deep learning techniques with traditional software engineering practices. The research spans intelligent programming assistance, code security, UI automation, distributed systems optimization, and performance analysis. His work increasingly focuses on practical applications of AI in software engineering, with emphasis on real-world impact in industrial settings, particularly in microservices, cloud systems, and large-scale software development environments. 8 ACM Distinguished Paper Awards Best Paper Award: How Long Will it Take to Mitigate this Incident for Online Service Systems? David Lorge Parnis Fellowship Senior Member of IEEE Distinguished Member of ACM Distinguished Member of CCF Fellow of Engineers Australia (FIEAust) Recognized in The Australian's Top Researchers special edition as leading researcher in Software Systems World's Top 2% Scientists (career-long) Dr. Zhang has successfully advised numerous PhD and Master's students who have gone on to prominent positions at leading technology companies and academic institutions worldwide. His research has been supported by significant grants including Australian Research Council Discovery Projects (as Lead CI) and multiple National Science Foundation of China projects. His work has made tangible impacts in industry, most notably through the Microsoft Developer Assistant project which received over 450K downloads in 2016. He leads research groups focused on intelligent software engineering and software analytics, with strong collaborations between Chongqing University, The University of Newcastle, and Microsoft Research. His teams develop practical tools for code intelligence, log analysis, and fault diagnosis that are deployed in real-world online service systems.
Gerald Pirkl serves as Professor and Dean of Studies for the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Media and Computer Science at Amberg-Weiden University of Applied Sciences. Based in Amberg at Building G, Room 124, he oversees academic affairs within this faculty structure. His research specialization centers on Embedded Intelligence, integrating artificial intelligence methodologies with embedded systems engineering. This field encompasses intelligent sensor networks, real-time computing architectures, and adaptive hardware-software co-design for autonomous systems. Prof. Pirkl maintains active administrative responsibilities as faculty dean while continuing academic instruction. Contact is available via institutional email or telephone during appointment-based office hours.
