Yannis Kevrekidis is a Professor at Princeton University with a distinguished career in computational mathematics and chemical engineering. He is currently a Hans Fischer Senior Fellow at the Technical University of Munich (TUM-IAS) and has held visiting positions at institutions like the Zuse Institute Berlin and Caltech. Education : National Technical University of Athens (Chemical Engineering) University of Minnesota (PhD in dynamical systems) Research Interests : Equation-Free and Variable-Free Modeling Complex Systems Dynamics Multiscale Computation Integration of Machine Learning with Scientific Computing Pattern Formation & Instability Analysis Key Article Trends : Advanced data-driven modeling of dynamical systems Manifold learning for reaction coordinates Projective integration methods Coarse-grained modeling across disciplines Applications in epidemiology, neuroscience, and fluid dynamics Scientific Awards : Guggenheim Fellowship Humboldt Research Award Computing in Chemical Engineering Award (AIChE) Bodossaki Academic Award Allan P. Colburn Award Collaborations : Extensive international collaborations with institutions in Germany, Austria, and the UK Key role in the Complex Systems Modeling and Computation focus group at TUM-IAS
Professor Dong Xu is a Tenured Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), part of the School of Computing and Data Science. He holds a B.Eng. and Ph.D. from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC). His career includes tenured roles at Nanyang Technological University and the University of Sydney, alongside postdoctoral research at Columbia University. His research focuses on Artificial Intelligence, Computer Vision, Multimedia, and Machine Learning , with applications in autonomous driving, AR/VR, medical image analysis, and video surveillance. Xu has authored over 150 papers in top journals and conferences, including CVPR, ICCV, and IEEE Transactions. He actively contributes to the academic community as an editorial board member for journals like ACM Computing Surveys and IEEE Transactions, and through leadership roles in conferences such as ACM Multimedia and ICME. Notable awards include Fellowships from IEEE and IAPR, and the IEEE Signal Processing Society Distinguished Lecturer title (2021–2022). Education: B.Eng. (USTC, 2001), Ph.D. (USTC, 2005) Professional Service: Program Coordinator of ACM Multimedia 2024, Guest Editor of over ten special issues.
Naoki Saito is a Professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University of California, Davis, and the Director of the UC Davis TETRAPODS Institute of Data Science (UCD4IDS). His research lies at the intersection of applied mathematics, signal processing, and data science, with a focus on multiscale analysis and harmonic analysis on graphs and networks. His research interests include Applied and Computational Harmonic Analysis , Graph Signal Processing , Multiscale Transforms , Wavelets , Spectral Graph Theory , and Mathematical Data Representation . He develops theoretical frameworks and practical algorithms for analyzing complex datasets, particularly through the use of Laplacian eigenfunctions and multiscale basis dictionaries. The recent publications reflect a strong trend toward graph-based signal processing , scattering transforms , and topological data analysis . His work emphasizes the construction of natural, adaptive bases for signals on graphs and simplicial complexes, enabling efficient and interpretable data analysis. The integration of harmonic analysis with machine learning techniques is a recurring theme. Although no specific scientific awards are listed in the provided texts, his sustained scholarly output and leadership in the field are evident. Dr. Saito advises a number of students and postdoctoral researchers, including J. Irion, Y. Shao, H. Li, and others. His research has been supported by various grants, though specific funding sources are not detailed in the provided materials. He leads the UCD4IDS, a research institute focused on data science, indicating active involvement in collaborative, interdisciplinary research and academic leadership.
Alla Sheffer is a Professor and Associate Head of Faculty Affairs in the Department of Computer Science at the University of British Columbia, Faculty of Science. She is affiliated with multiple research centers including CAIDA (Centre for Artificial Intelligence Decision-making and Action), the Institute of Applied Mathematics, and ICICS (Institute for Computing, Information and Cognitive Systems). B.Sc., Hebrew University, Jerusalem (1991) M.Sc., Hebrew University, Jerusalem (1995) Ph.D., Hebrew University, Jerusalem (1999) Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (1999-2001) Assistant Professor, Technion, Israel (2001-2003) Assistant Professor, University of British Columbia (2003-2008) Associate Professor, University of British Columbia (2008-present) Professor Sheffer's research focuses on geometry processing, addressing algorithmic challenges in digital shape modeling and manipulation. Her work primarily deals with discrete geometry representations, specifically meshes (polygonal model representations), with applications in computer graphics and computer-aided engineering. She utilizes tools from computational and differential geometry, discrete mathematics, and graph theory to generate, manipulate, and edit discrete geometric models. Her research spans virtual and augmented reality, visual computing, and 3D modeling, with significant contributions to sketch-based modeling, mesh processing, and cloth simulation. The 15 most recent publications reveal a consistent research trajectory in geometry processing, with recent work focusing on vector sketch processing, VR drawing tools, and advanced mesh manipulation techniques. Her work demonstrates a strong connection between human perception and computational methods, particularly in the interpretation of freehand sketches and the generation of perceptually-accurate geometric representations. The recurring themes across her publications include flowlines, curve networks, mesh parameterization, and the application of perceptual studies to improve algorithmic outputs. Eurographics Fellow ACM Fellow IEEE Fellow Royal Society of Canada Fellow SIGGRAPH Academy Member UBC Killam Research Prize NSERC Discovery Accelerator Supplement IBM Faculty Award Professor Sheffer has supervised numerous doctoral and master's students, with recent theses focusing on geometric mesh processing, vector sketch interpretation, VR drawing tools, and garment modeling. Her research group maintains strong connections with industry through various partnerships and has received substantial grant funding to support their innovative work in geometry processing and computer graphics. She teaches courses in computer graphics, geometric modeling, and video game programming, contributing significantly to both undergraduate and graduate education in computer science.
Charles M. Bachmann is a Professor at the Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science , part of the College of Science at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) . He also holds the Frederick and Anna B. Wiedman Chair and serves as the CIS Graduate Program Coordinator since 2016. His research focuses on hyperspectral remote sensing of coastal and desert environments, with expertise in BRDF and radiative transfer modeling, goniometer development, and manifold/graph algorithms for multi-sensor imagery analysis. Recent work emphasizes UAS-based soil moisture and carbon mapping for climate studies. Education : AB in Physics (Princeton, 1984), Sc.M. (1986) and Ph.D. (1990) in Physics (Brown University). Scientific Awards : U.S. Patents for hyperspectral remote sensing methods. Teaching : Radiometry, Radiative Transfer, Mathematical Methods of Imaging Science, and graduate thesis/research courses. Students : Mentored research on soil moisture, coastal biomass, and UAS applications.
Baris Coskunuzer is a Professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas), part of the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. He holds a PhD from Princeton University (2004) and has held academic positions at institutions including Yale University, MIT, Boston College, and Koç University. His research focuses on Geometric Topology, Topological Data Analysis (TDA), and Machine Learning, with applications in medical imaging, drug discovery, and blockchain analysis. He has led multiple NSF-funded research grants and collaborates internationally. Education: PhD in Mathematics, Princeton University, 2004 M.S. in Mathematics, Caltech, 2001 B.S. in Mathematics, Bogazici University, 1999 Research Interests: Geometric Topology Topological Data Analysis Machine Learning Medical Imaging Blockchain Analysis Data Science Grants & Awards: NSF-DMS ATD Research Grant (2023–2026) NSF-DMS AMPS Research Grant (2022–2025) Young Scientist Award, Turkish Science Academy (2016) Fulbright Scholar Award (2014) Over 60 peer-reviewed publications in journals such as Communications on Pure and Applied Mathematics and NeurIPS Advising & Labs: Supervises a research group focused on Topological Machine Learning (TML) Collaborates on projects like Topo-ML for medical diagnostics and GraphPulse for temporal graph analysis
Gary L. Miller is a Professor of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University's School of Computer Science. His research focuses on Spectral Graph Theory, Algorithms, Computational Geometry, and Scientific Computing. He has developed influential methods in graph partitioning, mesh generation, and numerical linear algebra solvers. Teaching includes advanced courses like Spectral Graph Theory, Algorithms, and Computational Geometry. Active in publishing, recent work involves weighted Cheeger inequalities, exact manifold metric computations, and adaptive graph sketching techniques. Projects include Orasis, 3D Meshing Software, Tumble, and Sangria. His work bridges theoretical foundations with applications in machine learning, image processing, and scientific computing. Current projects emphasize efficient graph algorithms and scalable numerical methods.
Dena Asta is an Associate Professor of Statistics at Ohio State University's College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Statistics. She holds a PhD from Carnegie Mellon University and is affiliated with the Translational Data Analytics Institute. Her NSF-funded research focuses on applying geometric methods to non-parametric inference, network analysis, and manifold learning. Dr. Asta investigates how network structures emerge as finite approximations of latent spaces, studying the interplay between geometric properties (like curvature) and statistical inference challenges. Her work has applications in diverse areas including medical imaging and social network analysis. Her recent publications demonstrate consistent focus on developing statistical methods for non-Euclidean data, particularly in network modeling and spatial statistics. Research often involves collaborations across disciplines and addresses fundamental challenges in inference on structured spaces.
Mahir Can is a Professor of Mathematics at Tulane University, affiliated with the School of Science & Engineering. His research focuses on Algebraic Combinatorics and Geometry, with particular emphasis on algebraic structures, monoid theory, and geometric representation theory. He holds a Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of Pennsylvania (2006) and a B.S. in Mathematics from Middle East Technical University (2001). His work explores intersections between combinatorics, algebraic geometry, and coding theory, including studies on Schubert varieties, toric varieties, and error-correcting codes derived from algebraic structures. Recent research highlights include investigations into irreducible numerical monoids, spherical varieties, and the geometry of flag manifolds. Publications span topics such as metric space constructions via directed graphs, applications of homogeneous fiber bundles, and generalized conjectures in combinatorial monoid theory. No scientific awards or grants are explicitly listed in the provided text. Dr. Can’s advising record and lab affiliations are not detailed here, though his academic profile reflects active engagement in advanced mathematical research and education.
Jure Leskovec is a Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University, affiliated with the Stanford AI Lab, Machine Learning Group, and the Center for Research on Foundation Models. He holds academic appointments in the Department of Computer Science and is a member of Bio-X, the Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI), and the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute. Leskovec earned his BSc from the University of Ljubljana (2004), PhD from Carnegie Mellon University (2008), and postdoctoral training at Cornell University. His research focuses on social networks, data mining, machine learning, and computational biomedicine, with contributions to graph neural networks, drug discovery, and AI applications in healthcare. His work has been applied to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and integrated into products at major tech companies. Leskovec’s publications reflect his expertise in network analysis, medical AI, and biological systems. His recent work includes foundational contributions to graph neural networks (e.g., PyG) and medical AI frameworks. His research has garnered numerous awards, including the Microsoft Research Faculty Fellowship and ICDM Research Contributions Award. Leskovec advises numerous doctoral and postdoctoral researchers, contributing to over 200 publications. His interdisciplinary collaborations span computational biology, healthcare analytics, and social systems, with a focus on leveraging AI to address real-world challenges.
Tuukka Ruotsalo serves as Associate Professor in the Machine Learning Section at the Department of Computer Science, University of Copenhagen. His research bridges human cognition with computational systems through brain-computer interfaces and physiological computing. As Academy Research Fellow at University of Helsinki (2019-2024), he maintained dual institutional affiliations while leading cutting-edge work in neuro-linguistic modeling and affective relevance. His research focuses on brain-computer interfaces for information retrieval , where he pioneers methods to decode cognitive states from neural signals to improve search systems. Key areas include affective relevance modeling that integrates emotional states into search algorithms, and neuro-linguistic reconstruction that translates brain activity into language. His work on fairness-relevance tradeoffs in recommender systems established Pareto frontier evaluation frameworks now widely adopted in ethical AI research. Recent publications demonstrate how physiological signals like EEG and galvanic skin response can create more adaptive human-information interaction systems. Ruotsalo's scientific recognition includes the prestigious Academy Research Fellow position. His publications in IEEE Transactions on Human-Machine Systems , Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology , and Communications Biology reveal growing interdisciplinary impact. His advising spans cognitive neuroscience and machine learning students, with notable collaborations across the SCIENCE AI Centre. Current projects include the TreeSense initiative for remote sensing of global tree resources and development of quantum-inspired neural architectures. His lab leverages the department's powerful compute cluster for large-scale physiological data analysis.
Bert de Vries is a Professor at the Signal Processing Systems Group at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), where he has been employed since January 2012. He maintains a dual career, also working at GN Hearing in the hearing aids industry since April 1999, where he holds both research and managerial roles. His academic journey began at TU/e, where he earned his MSc in Electrical Engineering in 1986, followed by a PhD from the University of Florida in 1991. Between 1992 and 1999, he worked at Sarnoff Research Center in Princeton, NJ, contributing to diverse signal and image processing projects. Professor de Vries's research centers on Bayesian Machine Learning, with particular focus on the Free Energy Principle and its applications to engineering problems. His work bridges theoretical neuroscience with practical signal processing systems, especially in biomedical applications. He directs the BIASlab research team at TU/e, which develops probabilistic programming tools including RxInfer.jl, ForneyLab.jl, GraphPPL.jl, ReactiveMP.jl, and Rocket.jl. His research spans active inference, variational message passing, probabilistic programming, and Bayesian neural networks, with applications ranging from hearing aids to multi-agent systems. Analysis of his recent publications reveals a strong trend toward practical implementations of Bayesian inference frameworks, particularly through Julia-based probabilistic programming tools. His work shows increasing focus on active inference applications, message passing algorithms, and the intersection of Riemannian geometry with probabilistic modeling. The research demonstrates consistent progression from theoretical foundations toward real-world engineering applications, particularly in biomedical signal processing and autonomous systems. Professor de Vries teaches a graduate-level course on Bayesian Machine Learning at TU/e and actively contributes to open-source software development through his GitHub profile (bertdv), with recent activity as recent as August 2025. His research team has developed several influential probabilistic programming libraries that have gained significant attention in the machine learning community. The BIASlab research group continues to advance the state of the art in Bayesian inference methods with applications in hearing technology, robotics, and signal processing.
Professor Jared Tanner is Professor of the Mathematics of Information at the University of Oxford's Mathematics Institute and a Fellow of Exeter College. Previously, he held positions at the University of Edinburgh (2007-2012) as Professor, Reader, and Lecturer in Mathematics, University of Utah (2006-2007) as Assistant Professor, and Stanford University (2004-2006) as an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow. His research focuses on extracting models from high-dimensional data to reveal essential information, with specific contributions including sampling theorems in compressed sensing using stochastic geometry, efficient algorithms for matrix completion, and theoretical understanding of deep neural networks. Recent interests include neural network initialization techniques to preserve geometric and information-theoretic properties, as well as network pruning methods. Professor Tanner has supervised numerous doctoral students at Oxford and Edinburgh, including Alireza Naderi, Thiziri Nait Saada, Ilan Price, Giuseppe Ughi, Charles Millard, Michael Murray, Simon Vary, Bernadette Stolz, Bogdan Toader, Rodrigo Mendoza-Smith, Ke Wei, Bubacarr Bah, and Andrew Thompson, many of whom have gone on to prestigious positions in academia and industry. His publication record spans over two decades with significant contributions to compressed sensing, matrix completion, and more recently deep learning theory. His work demonstrates a consistent progression from foundational theoretical work to practical applications in signal processing and machine learning. As an academic leader, Professor Tanner serves as Founding Editor-in-Chief of Information and Inference: A Journal of the IMA and has held editorial positions at several prestigious journals including Applied and Computational Harmonic Analysis and IEEE Signal Processing Letters . He has organized numerous conferences and workshops including Prospects in Mathematics and the FoCM Computational Harmonic Analysis workshop.
Arijit Bishnu is an Associate Professor at the Indian Statistical Institute in the Advanced Computing and Microelectronics Unit (ACMU). He has taught courses such as Design and Analysis of Algorithms , Randomized Algorithms , Computational Geometry , and Algorithms for Big Data over multiple years (2008–2025), focusing on theoretical and applied aspects of computer science. Research Interests: His work spans Theoretical Computer Science , Randomized and Approximation Algorithms , Computational Geometry , and Combinatorics . He explores problems in sublinear algorithms, streaming computation, geometric data analysis, and complexity theory. Publications: Recent papers include contributions to STOC 2025 , RANDOM 2025 , and APPROX 2024 , covering topics like property testing, triangle counting complexity, and streaming algorithms. Collaborations with researchers like Sourav Chakraborty, Gopinath Mishra, and Sayantan Sen highlight his interdisciplinary approach. Academic Leadership: He has co-organized research courses such as Approximation Algorithms and Topics in Algorithms and Complexity , emphasizing mentorship and knowledge dissemination in theoretical computer science. His comprehensive work integrates algorithmic innovation with rigorous mathematical analysis, advancing computational techniques for large-scale and geometric data.
Dr. HanQin Cai is the Paul N. Somerville Endowed Assistant Professor in the Department of Statistics and Data Science at the University of Central Florida (UCF), also serving as Director of the Data Science Lab. He holds a joint appointment with the Department of Computer Science. His research focuses on theoretical and algorithmic foundations of mathematical optimization, data science, and machine learning, with emphasis on non-convex algorithms, adversarial attacks, signal/image processing, and deep learning integration. He has secured NSF grants totaling over $2.6M, including a $121K single-PI grant and a $2.49M co-PI grant. His work has been recognized with the UCF OSCaR Award (2025) and IEEE Senior Member status (2024). Education: PhD in Applied Mathematical and Computational Sciences from University of Iowa (2018), with M.S. in Mathematics (2014) and M.C.S. in Computer Science (2017). Previously served as a Postdoc at UCLA Mathematics Department under Dr. Wotao Yin. Research highlights include: query-efficient zeroth-order optimization, robust signal processing with corrupted data, adversarial attacks on neural networks, and tensor-based methods for high-dimensional data analysis. His recent publications explore advanced techniques in matrix recovery, tensor decompositions, and explainable AI. Grants & Awards: NSF DMS-2304489 (2022–2025), NSF DUE-2321986 (2024–2029), UCF OSCaR Award, IEEE Senior Membership. Labs & Teams: Directs UCF's Data Science Lab, collaborates across disciplines in statistics, computer science, and engineering.
