Dr. Yacine Sam is a Lecturer in Computer Science at the Polytechnic School of the University of Tours (EPU), affiliated with the Fundamental and Applied Computer Science Laboratory of Tours (LIFAT). His research focuses on databases, knowledge representation & reasoning, web services, and semantic web technologies. Doctorate in Computer Science, Paul Cézanne University Aix-Marseille 3 (2008) Master 2 Research in Computer Science, Claude Bernard University Lyon 1 (2005) Dr. Sam's research spans multiple subfields including: Trustworthy execution of adaptive business processes Privacy ontologies for Web of Things Deep learning applications in personalized service recommendations Linked open data frameworks for semantic integration Blockchain implementations in distributed systems Health analytics using collaborative IoT data Contact: yacine.sam@univ-tours.fr
Jorge Camba is an Associate Professor at the School of Engineering Technology and holds a courtesy appointment in the Department of Computer Graphics Technology at Purdue University . He also serves as a Senior Research Scientist (by courtesy) in the Department of Industrial Engineering at the University of Naples Federico II , Italy. PhD in Systems and Engineering Management (Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Spain) MSc in Digital Media (East Tennessee State University) MSc in Computer Science (Universidad de Vigo, Spain) His research explores intelligent CAD systems , digital manufacturing , and mixed reality environments , focusing on model quality assurance , design intent communication , and collaborative design tools . Recent work investigates spatial cognition in CAD education , geometric variability analysis , and annotation-driven knowledge management . Key trends in his publications include parametric modeling strategies , 3D annotation systems , and XR applications in design evaluation. Awards include the Purdue Faculty Scholar (2021) and I3B Fellow (2021). He has presented at conferences on topics like Industry 4.0 , space habitat design , and digital product quality .
Debarun Sarkar is a Research Fellow affiliated with the Department of Linguistic, Literary and Aesthetic Studies at the University of Bergen. He works on the ALGOFOLK project, examining sociotechnical systems and material-semiotic configurations. His research spans digital culture, AI ethics, urban studies, and cultural studies, with a focus on India and the Global South. Research Interests: Debarun focuses on the intersections between algorithms and folklore, exploring how digital technologies shape labor, creativity, and social structures. He critically analyzes blockchain adoption in India, AI auditing frameworks, and the sociopolitical implications of smart/green city initiatives. His cultural studies work includes examining heavy metal subcultures and hip-hop’s role in capitalist realism. Projects: He was co-PI for Audit4SG (2023), funded by the Notre Dame-IBM Technology Ethics Lab, and contributed to a Learning Analytics in Higher Education project (2022-24). Current work involves the ALGOFOLK project (Research Council of Norway and Trond Mohn Foundation funding). Education: PhD in Sociology from the University of Mumbai, where he served as a UGC Junior/Senior Research Fellow. His doctoral work engaged with urban scale debates in New Town, West Bengal.
Niels Henrik Mortensen is a Professor and Head of Section in the Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU). His research focuses on engineering design and manufacturing systems, with emphasis on product architecture, modularization, maintenance performance, and AI-driven design solutions. He leads initiatives in engineer-to-order systems, lifecycle costing, and digital transformation in manufacturing. Key research interests include optimizing product architectures for modular systems, enhancing maintenance strategies through data analytics, and applying AI to improve CAD design reuse. His work aligns with UN Sustainable Development Goals related to innovation and infrastructure, and sustainable energy systems. Supervisor for 5 active PhD projects focused on modular architectures, logistics services, and configuration systems Published 175+ peer-reviewed articles, including work on AI-based maintenance frameworks and configurator development Recipient of industry collaboration projects with offshore energy and manufacturing sectors Notable contributions include frameworks for maintenance performance diagnostics and adaptable configuration models. His team operates through MEK and CONSTRUCT research groups at DTU.
Dr. Sena Ozdemir is a Senior Lecturer in Marketing and PhD Director at the Department of Marketing, Lancaster University Management School. Her research focuses on strategic alliances in new product development (NPD), digital innovation leveraging Big Data Analytics, and sustainable/social innovation across B2B, B2C, and C2C contexts. She is affiliated with the Centre for Marketing Analytics and Forecasting. **Education & Roles**: Serves as editorial board member of Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing , and has reviewed for journals like Journal of Product Innovation Management and Technovation . Currently co-editing a special issue on 'Social Innovation through Strategic Alliances in B2B Relationships'. **Research Interests**: Cross-disciplinary studies in marketing, strategy, and operations. Key areas include global NPD practices, digital technologies in innovation, and stakeholder-driven collaborative innovation. Her work bridges academic scholarship and industry practices for marketing managers and policymakers. **PhD Supervision**: Supervised over 5 completed PhDs in NPD capabilities, brand trust, and B2B network dynamics. Current focus includes strategic alliances and Big Data Analytics in Oil and Gas innovation. Supervision areas span manufacturing and retail/service sectors. **Awards & Grants**: While no specific awards listed, her extensive editorial and peer-review contributions highlight scholarly recognition. **Labs/Teams**: Active in the Centre for Marketing Analytics and Forecasting, contributing to data-driven marketing research.
Prof. Finn Wynstra is a Professor of Purchasing and Supply Management at Rotterdam School of Management (RSM), Erasmus University Rotterdam, and a Fellow of ERIM. He holds an Endowed Chair sponsored by NEVI (2004–2019). His research focuses on purchasing strategy, supply innovation, and buyer-supplier dynamics in business services. He has authored/co-authored influential textbooks like Buying Business Services and Developing Sourcing Capabilities . Education: PhD in Industrial Engineering and Management Science (Eindhoven University of Technology), Licentiate (Uppsala University). Administrative roles include Director of Doctoral Education at ERIM and Chair of Erasmus University’s Scientific Integrity Taskforce. Research interests include performance-based contracting, supply chain alignment, and triadic buyer-supplier-customer relationships. His work appears in top journals like Journal of Operations Management and Journal of Supply Chain Management . Awards include the Hans Ovelgönne Award (2013) for contributions to purchasing research and the ERIM Book Award (2006). He has supervised over 10 PhD students and serves on editorial boards for key journals. Visiting appointments include Kellogg School of Management (US), Chalmers University (Sweden), and University of Bath (UK).
Prof. Keng Hock, Mark Goh is a Professor at the National University of Singapore (NUS) Business School, holding a joint appointment as Director (Industry Research) at The Logistics Institute-Asia Pacific (TLI-AP). He specializes in logistics, supply chain strategy, and operations research. He earned his PhD from the University of Adelaide on a fully funded scholarship and has held adjunct and visiting roles globally. His research focuses on supply chain risk management, healthcare logistics, and strategic decision-making, with over 400 publications in top journals. Notable contributions include work on multi-criteria supplier selection, supply chain resilience, and AI ethics in e-commerce. He has received the Supply Chain Educator Award and is recognized in global directories like *Who’s Who in Asia and the Pacific Nations*. Prof. Goh advises public and private sector organizations on logistics strategy and sits on industry committees such as the World Economic Forum’s Global Advisory Council on Logistics. His current projects emphasize syncretic value-driven logistics models and sustainable recycling frameworks. He leads collaborative research teams addressing global supply chain challenges through interdisciplinary approaches. His articles reflect cutting-edge advancements in AI-driven decision models, risk networks in construction, and data ownership strategies in digital platforms. These contributions underscore his role as a thought leader in logistics and operations research, blending academic rigor with real-world industry applications.
Rebecca Rees is a Professor of Social Policy at University College London’s Social Research Institute. She is an internationally recognized research methodologist specializing in evidence synthesis, stakeholder participation, and policy-relevant research. Her work bridges social policy, public health, and environmental sustainability. She serves as Associate Director of the EPPI-Centre and leads patient/public engagement initiatives in the Department of Health and Social Care Reviews Facility. Key Roles: Director of Social Science Research Unit, Academic Head of Learning and Teaching (2017-2021), Co-Chair of IOE Research Ethics Committee. Research Focus: Qualitative/mixed-methods systematic reviews, stakeholder engagement, research ethics, and policy development. Her research spans public health , environmental management , and education policy , with a focus on synthesizing diverse evidence to inform policy solutions. Recent work includes systematic reviews on mobile learning in health education, active travel interventions, and obesity perceptions among youth. Rees has secured over £4 million in funding from government bodies, UK Research Councils, and charities. She contributes to training programs for researchers globally through collaborations like the Cochrane and Campbell Collaborations. Awards & Fellowships: Research Councils UK Academic Fellowship (2007-2012) HEA Academic Fellowship (2007)
Anna Sparrman is a Professor at the Department of Thematic Studies - Child Studies (TEMAB) at Linköping University, Sweden, and holds a concurrent position as Professor II in Children's Culture at the Department of Art and Cultural Studies, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences (2021-2025). Her academic work bridges visual culture, childhood studies, consumption, and sexuality, with a particular focus on how norms and values are created in the everyday practices of children's lives. Sparrman's research is unified by the concept of visual culture as a social theory that questions taken-for-granted aspects of visual everyday practices. She examines how norms and values are created and reproduced through visual interactions: Who gets to look at whom and who gets to be seen in society? Her work focuses on children aged 6-12 years and how children "are made" both by children themselves and through societal conceptions of childhood. She has developed the theoretical framework "Child Studies Multiple," which views children as unstable, changing, hybrid, and complex rather than solid and universal. Her research spans interconnected fields including children and sexuality, children and consumption, children's cultural heritage, and visual methodology. Her current projects investigate how to integrate children's cultural heritage into Swedish cultural heritage and examine children as professional influencers and internet celebrities in the digital age. Methodologically, she combines visual ethnography, photo-elicited focus group discussions, image analysis, and internet-based visual methods, with special attention to the productivity of research methods themselves. Sparrman serves on the Advisory Board for the Childism Institute, the Editorial Board for Childhood journal, and the Advisory Board for the research project "(Re)configuration of parenthood: Political agendas entangling everyday family life" at Roskilde University. She has also participated in media discussions on topics such as "The pedophile gaze" and children's rights to cultural heritage participation.
Gerhard Friedrich is a Full Professor at the University of Klagenfurt, leading the Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity. He previously served as Dean of the Faculty of Technical Sciences (2013–2021). His roles include Coordinator for International Relations of the Faculty of Engineering and Member of the Faculty Conference of Technical Sciences. He holds a PhD in Computer Science from Vienna University of Technology and has extensive industry experience, including heading departments at Siemens Austria and research roles at Siemens Corporate Research and Stanford Research Institute. Research focuses on knowledge-based systems, recommender systems, configuration and planning, and production informatics. His work bridges theoretical AI with practical applications in manufacturing, software development, and business processes. He has authored a book on recommender systems (translated into Japanese and Chinese) and contributed to prestigious journals like Artificial Intelligence and IEEE Transactions . He has organized major conferences such as the German Conference on Artificial Intelligence (2016) and served as editor and program committee member for leading venues. His awards include Fellowships from the European and Asia-Pacific AI Associations (2012, 2023). His advising and grants include leadership in applied AI projects and international collaborations. He directs the Intelligent Systems and Business Informatics research group, emphasizing interdisciplinary innovation.
Adlen KSENTINI is a Professor at EURECOM's Communication Systems department, specializing in advanced networking technologies. His research focuses on Mobile and Wireless Networks, Software Defined Networking (SDN), Mobile Edge Computing (MEC), Network Function Virtualization (NFV), and Content Delivery Networks (CDN), with an emphasis on performance evaluation and network virtualization. He has contributed to projects like AC3 and 6G-BRICKS, exploring cloud-edge continuum integration and 6G infrastructure. Key research interests include virtualized mobile core networks, carrier cloud systems, and AI-driven network management. He has received Best Paper Awards at IEEE WCNC 2018 and IWCMC 2016 for works on network slicing and LTE modeling accuracy. His work often integrates machine learning for optimization, sustainability, and security in 5G/6G networks. Distinctions: Two Best Paper Awards Labs/Teams: Involved in EU-funded projects like AC3 and 6G-BRICKS Grants: Not explicitly listed, but active in collaborative research initiatives
Sven Apel is Professor of Computer Science at Saarland University, where he holds the Chair of Software Engineering and directs the Saarbrücken Graduate School of Computer Science within the Saarland Informatics Campus. His research aims to advance software engineering into an era of intensive automation by developing methods, tools, and theories for building efficient, reliable, and maintainable software systems, with a strong emphasis on the human factor and interdisciplinary inquiry. His primary research interests include software variability and configuration, AI-based program generation and optimization, socio-technical software analysis, and the application of empirical and neurophysiological methods to study program comprehension. He actively collaborates with industry partners such as Siemens AG, Bosch Engineering, and Airbus Helicopters to apply his research in real-world contexts. His recent publications demonstrate a strong trend towards integrating artificial intelligence and neurocognitive methods into software engineering, focusing on configurable systems, performance modeling, debugging processes, and the scientific validity of empirical studies. His work spans top venues like ICSE, FSE, ASE, and IEEE TSE. ERC Advanced Grant “Brains On Code” ASE Fellow ACM Distinguished Member Hugo Junkers Award for Research and Innovation Heisenberg Professorship (DFG) Emmy-Noether Fellowship (DFG) Best Doctoral Dissertation Awards (University of Magdeburg, Ernst-Denert Foundation, 2007) Most Influential Paper Awards (SPLC'19, ICPC'22, GPCE'23) ACM SIGSOFT Distinguished Paper Awards (ICSE'15, ICSE'21) Best Paper Awards (SPLC'11, Modularity'15, Academy of Management'18) Distinguished Reviewer Awards (ASE'18, ICSE'24, FSE'24) Sven Apel has secured significant research funding, including an ERC Advanced Grant (€2.5M) and multiple DFG grants as Principal Investigator and Project Leader. He has advised numerous PhD and Master’s students and is actively involved in the academic community through program committees for major conferences like ICSE, FSE, and ASE. His work is conducted within a collaborative environment that includes close partnerships with researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Informatics and other institutions within the Saarland Informatics Campus.
Torsten Schaub is a Professor at the Institute of Computer Science , University of Potsdam. His research focuses on Answer Set Programming (ASP) , constraint solving, temporal reasoning, and combinatorial optimization, with applications in multi-agent pathfinding, product configuration, and course timetabling. Key contributions include ASP-based tools for industrial-scale optimization problems, metric temporal logic implementations, and frameworks for dynamic equilibrium logic. Recent work explores efficient design space exploration, stream reasoning, and multi-shot ASP solving for complex domains. His publications emphasize hybrid ASP systems , integrating constraints and temporal logic, with co-authors across Europe and Asia. He actively develops tools like clingo and Clingraph for practical ASP applications in logistics, bioinformatics, and robotics. The articles reveal a trend toward multi-agent systems (e.g., pathfinding algorithms) and temporal extensions in ASP, combining formal logic with real-world problem-solving. Sub-fields include constraint satisfaction, logical abduction, and declarative modeling for optimization tasks.
Professor Manolis Koubarakis is a faculty member at the Department of Informatics and Telecommunications, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. His research focuses on geospatial data science, knowledge graphs, entity resolution, and AI applications in Earth observation. He leads projects like ExtremeEarth and Plato, advancing semantic data cube systems and geospatial question answering engines. His work bridges AI and geospatial technologies, with contributions to frameworks like pyJedAI and Strabo 2 for managing big geospatial data. Research Interests include: Geospatial Question Answering Systems Entity Resolution and Entity Linking Ontology-Based Data Access (OBDA) Knowledge Graph Construction and Applications Earth Observation Data Analytics AI for Geoinformatics Notable Projects: ExtremeEarth: Combines Copernicus satellite data with machine learning for environmental analytics. Plato: Semantic data cube system enabling advanced querying of multidimensional datasets. GeoQA2: A geospatial question answering engine evaluated on large benchmarks. JedAI Family: Tools for scalable entity resolution in structured/semi-structured data. His publications span 20+ years, with recent emphasis on: AI-driven Earth observation systems Geospatial RDF benchmarking 3D geospatial interlinking Large language models for legal and health content delivery
Mehdi Tarkian is a Senior Associate Professor at Linköping University within the Department of Management and Engineering (IEI) , focusing on the Product Realisation division. His research and teaching emphasize Design Automation, leveraging methods like Knowledge-Based Engineering (KBE), Machine Learning, and Optimization. He co-founded the spin-off company XperDi in 2012, based on his research, and returned to LiU full-time in 2017. Current research projects include AutoPack (ML-driven CAD automation), ADAPT (design automation for production preparation), and DeProtion (construction sector design automation). He teaches courses such as Collaborative Multidisciplinary Design Optimization (TMKT79) and Product Modeling (TMKT57) , both highly rated by students. Publications highlight advancements in optical character recognition (OCR) for engineering drawings, reinforcement learning in unstructured production environments, and automated fixture design. His work bridges academic research with industrial applications, aiming to reduce repetitive tasks and enhance engineering intuition. He is part of the Automation Lab and the Unit of Machine Design and Industrial Production (PRODKOP) , collaborating with industry partners to translate research into practical solutions.
