Cicek Cavdar is an Associate Professor at the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) at KTH Royal Institute of Technology , Sweden. She leads the Intelligent Network Systems research group and specializes in Telecommunication Networks , with a focus on Beyond 5G/6G Mobile Networks , Energy Efficiency , and AI-Assisted Network Management . PhD in Computer Science (2009) from University of California, Davis and Istanbul Technical University Her research spans Cell-Free Massive MIMO , Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RIS) , UAV Communication Systems , and Green Network Technologies . She actively contributes to 6G Network Architecture and Non-Terrestrial Networks , including satellite and aerial systems. Recent publications highlight AI-driven network optimization for handover management, energy-aware resource allocation , and multi-agent reinforcement learning in complex communication environments. She teaches advanced courses in Communication Systems , Machine Learning , and Software Engineering at KTH.
Pan Xu is a tenure-track assistant professor with joint appointments in the Department of Biostatistics & Bioinformatics, Department of Computer Science, and Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering at Duke University. Previously, Xu was a Postdoctoral Scholar Research Associate at Caltech's Department of Computing and Mathematical Science and earned a Ph.D. in Computer Science from UCLA. Xu's research focuses on developing computationally- and data-efficient machine learning algorithms with strong empirical performance and theoretical guarantees. Xu's research interests center around Machine Learning with broad applications in Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Optimization, Reinforcement Learning, and High Dimensional Statistics. The research specifically targets real-world problems in Bioinformatics and Healthcare, with recent work emphasizing distributionally robust decision making, efficient exploration strategies, and multi-agent systems. Xu has developed novel algorithms that address the challenges of exploration in sequential decision making and robustness to distributional shifts between training and deployment environments. Xu's recent publications demonstrate a strong trend toward developing theoretically grounded yet practical algorithms for reinforcement learning and bandit problems, with particular emphasis on distributionally robust methods, efficient exploration techniques, and applications to healthcare. The work spans both theoretical analysis (providing minimax optimal regret bounds) and practical implementations (validated on benchmarks like Atari games and real healthcare datasets). Whitehead Scholar award from Duke University School of Medicine (2023) Best Paper Award at ACM FAccT 2023 for Queer In AI paper PIMCO Postdoctoral Fellowship in Data Science (2022) TMLR Featured Certification (2023) NSF award on approximate sampling based exploration (2023) Xu actively mentors multiple Ph.D. students across Duke's Biostatistics & Bioinformatics, Computer Science, and Electrical & Computer Engineering programs, with several alumni now pursuing doctoral studies at top institutions. The research group has secured competitive funding including an NSF award for approximate sampling based exploration for sequential decision making. Xu serves as an action editor for TMLR and as an area chair for major conferences including ICML, NeurIPS, AAAI, ICLR, and AISTATS. Xu leads a dynamic research group focused on sequential decision making, with projects spanning theoretical algorithm development, implementation of practical systems, and applications to healthcare and bioinformatics. The group maintains active collaborations across Duke's medical and engineering schools, with recent work applying machine learning to epidemic forecasting during the pandemic.
Xiaoming Hu is a Professor at the Division of Numerical Analysis, Optimization and Systems Theory within the Department of Mathematics at KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan) in Stockholm, Sweden. Born in Chengdu, China, he received his B.S. degree from University of Science and Technology of China in 1983, followed by M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Arizona State University in 1986 and 1989 respectively. After serving as a research assistant at the Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences (1983-1984), he was a Gustafsson Postdoctoral Fellow at KTH (1989-1990) before becoming a faculty member. His educational background includes: B.S. in Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, 1983 M.S. in Engineering, Arizona State University, 1986 Ph.D. in Engineering, Arizona State University, 1989 Xiaoming Hu's research primarily focuses on multi-agent systems, nonlinear feedback stabilization, nonlinear observer design, and sensing and active perception. His work bridges theoretical control theory with practical applications in robotics and autonomous systems. He has made significant contributions to geometric control theory, mathematical systems theory, and nonlinear systems analysis and control. His research often involves developing theoretical frameworks for distributed control, formation control, and cooperative behavior in multi-robot systems. Professor Hu's publication record shows a consistent research trajectory with numerous high-impact publications in top-tier journals like Automatica, IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, and Systems & Control Letters. His research has evolved from fundamental control theory to more applied problems in robotics and multi-agent systems, while maintaining strong mathematical foundations. Recent work shows increasing focus on safety-critical control, inverse problems in estimation, and networked systems. His scientific contributions include: Development of theoretical frameworks for multi-agent coordination and formation control Advances in nonlinear observer design for robotic systems Contributions to geometric control theory and systems theory Research on distributed estimation and control algorithms Applications of control theory to robotics and autonomous systems Professor Hu teaches several advanced courses including Mathematical Systems Theory, Geometric Control Theory, and Nonlinear Systems: Analysis and Control. He has supervised numerous degree projects at both undergraduate and graduate levels in mathematics, optimization, systems theory, and scientific computing. His teaching reflects his research expertise, providing students with both theoretical foundations and practical applications of control theory.
Hedvig Kjellström is a Professor at the Division of Robotics, Perception and Learning within the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at KTH Royal Institute of Technology. She holds significant affiliations with the Swedish e-Science Research Centre and the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Germany. Her work spans multiple interdisciplinary domains and she serves as Editor-in-Chief for CVIU and was Program Chair for CVPR 2025. Her research centers on Computer Vision as a sub-field of AI, with three interconnected themes: Computational Aesthetics (exploring aesthetic aspects of human communicative behavior), Communicative Behavior (developing models of how humans and animals perceive and produce non-verbal communication), and Embodied Artificial Intelligence (creating methodologies for robots and autonomous agents to perceive the world through sensors, primarily vision). Her work has significant applications in medical diagnostics, animal welfare, human-robot interaction, and creative arts. Analysis of her recent publications reveals a strong trend toward multimodal AI systems that integrate vision, language, and action understanding. Her research increasingly focuses on animal-centered applications, particularly equine pain detection and behavior analysis, while maintaining strong foundations in human communication modeling, gesture recognition, and 3D reconstruction techniques. The interdisciplinary nature of her work bridges computer science with veterinary medicine, neuroscience, and performing arts. Hedvig Kjellström actively supervises numerous PhD and Master's students across various projects and maintains extensive collaborations with institutions including Karolinska Institutet, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, and international partners. Her research is supported by major funding bodies including WASP, VR, and SeRC. She leads or participates in several notable projects including OrchestrAI (communication between conductor and orchestra), ANITA (Animal Translator), MARTHA (3D horse motion analysis), and STING (synthesis and analysis with transducers and invertible neural generators). Her work with ACAI (Animal Centered Artificial Intelligence), which she co-founded and directs, demonstrates her commitment to applying AI for animal welfare.
Karl Henrik Johansson is a Professor at the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden, where he also serves as the Founding Director of Digital Futures. He is a Fellow of both IEEE and the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences, and has held leadership positions including Immediate Past President of the European Control Association and IEEE Control Systems Society Vice President Diversity, Outreach & Development. Dr. Johansson earned his MSc in Electrical Engineering and PhD in Automatic Control from Lund University. His academic journey includes visiting positions at prestigious institutions such as UC Berkeley, Caltech, and NTU. His research focuses on networked control systems and cyber-physical systems with applications in transportation, energy, and automation networks. His work investigates fundamental challenges in connecting physical world systems through communication networks, exploring how wireless communication and sensor technology can enhance system robustness, reliability, energy efficiency, and safety. Current research directions include security of cyber-physical systems, distributed optimization, multi-agent systems, and applications to intelligent transportation and energy networks. Analysis of his recent publications reveals a strong focus on distributed optimization algorithms, secure networked control, multi-agent systems, and applications to transportation and energy networks. His work increasingly integrates machine learning techniques with traditional control theory, addressing challenges in privacy-preserving distributed computation, resilient state estimation, and resource allocation in complex networked systems. IEEE Control Systems Society Hendrik W. Bode Lecture Prize (2024) Swedish Research Council Distinguished Professor (2018-2027) Wallenberg Scholar (2009-2026) IFAC Young Author Prize IEEE CSS Distinguished Lecturer (2017-2019) IFAC Outstanding Service Award IEEE Fellow Dr. Johansson has supervised over 100 postdocs and PhD students, with many now holding prominent positions at institutions worldwide. His research has been supported by significant grants including the Swedish Research Council Distinguished Professor Grant (2018-2027), multiple Wallenberg Foundation grants, and numerous EU and national research projects. He has directed major research centers including ACCESS Linnaeus Centre (2009-2016) and Strategic Research Area ICT TNG (2013-2020). His research group operates within the Digital Futures initiative and maintains strong connections with industry partners through projects like the Integrated Transport Research Lab (supported by Scania and Ericsson) and Smart Mobility Lab. The group actively collaborates with international institutions and participates in major EU-funded projects addressing challenges in cyber-physical systems, transportation, and energy networks.
Özer Özkahraman is a postdoctoral researcher at the Division of Robotics, Perception and Learning (RPL) at KTH Royal Institute of Technology. He works under Ivan Stenius and John Folkesson, focusing on underwater mission planning, simulation, and integration of autonomous systems. His email is ozero@kth.se . He completed his PhD at KTH under Petter Ögren, researching large-scale multi-agent coverage planning for autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). Current projects include the SMaRCSim multi-domain simulation platform and development of underwater vehicles like LoLo, SAM, and Evolo. Research interests span autonomous underwater systems, multi-agent coordination, control systems, and simulation infrastructure. He emphasizes modular, accessible frameworks for vehicle testing and real-world deployment. His work bridges theoretical methods (e.g., control barrier functions) with practical applications in marine robotics. Publications focus on AUV navigation, environmental sensing, and adaptive control. Projects like Real2Sim aim to align simulation with real-world vehicle dynamics using motion capture data. He collaborates internationally on topics like data-driven damage detection and model compression for resource-constrained robots. No academic awards are explicitly mentioned. He actively seeks collaborators for projects in sonar simulation, flow field modeling, and cyber-physical system integration.
Anders Karlström is a Professor at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, specializing in Transport Modelling and Economics. His research focuses on sustainable transportation systems, emissions reduction, and energy efficiency. Key interests include activity-based modelling, dynamic discrete choice frameworks, and policy analysis for urban mobility. He has contributed to studies on travel behavior, infrastructure planning, and environmental impacts of transport systems across multiple international cities. His work integrates advanced methodologies such as recursive logit models, spatial regression, and machine learning for predictive analytics. Notable research areas involve evaluating weather variability effects on travel patterns, optimizing traffic state estimation with sensor data, and developing scenario-based models for future employment growth. Karlström collaborates with industries to enhance the competitiveness of sustainable transport solutions globally.
Mikael Johansson is a Professor at Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan (KTH), specializing in Control Technology . He teaches and coordinates courses such as Distributed Optimization (FEL3311) and various advanced-level degree projects in computer science, electrical engineering, and systems engineering. His research spans Control Systems , Machine Learning , and Optimization , with a focus on asynchronous algorithms, federated learning, and applications in energy systems and construction. His work includes 15 recent publications on topics like neural networks, distributed optimization, and battery technology. Notable areas of contribution are in asynchronous learning, federated learning with privacy constraints, and quasi-Newton methods for optimization. His research bridges theoretical advancements with practical applications in urban design, healthcare, and autonomous systems.
Morteza Haghir Chehreghani is a Professor of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning at the Data Science and AI Division of Chalmers University of Technology , Sweden. He leads the Machine Learning and Decision Making Lab and is affiliated with WASP , CHAIR , and ELLIS . Education : PhD in Computer Science (2014) from ETH Zurich under Prof. Dr. Joachim M. Buhmann Prior Roles : Staff Research Scientist at Naver Labs Europe (2014-2018) Research spans Interactive Machine Learning , Sequential Decision Making , Federated Learning , Efficient Deep Learning , and Graph-Based Learning . Key application areas include Transport , Autonomous Systems , Energy , Drug Discovery , and Computational Biology . Selected Publications (2020-2025) demonstrate expertise in Reinforcement Learning for drug design, Minimax Distance Measures for clustering, and Graph Neural Networks for trajectory analysis. Current work focuses on Combinatorial Bandits and Human-in-the-loop AI . Teaching includes graduate courses like Advanced Topics in Machine Learning (DAT441/DIT41), Algorithms for Machine Learning (TDA233/DIT382), and PhD-level Advanced Reinforcement Learning . He has also taught Statistical Methods for Data Science and Theoretical Foundations of ML . Patents include systems for Autonomous Vehicle Motion Control , K-NN Search via Minimax Distances , and Trip Prediction Algorithms . Collaborative projects involve Nature Communications (2022) and multiple ICML / CVPR publications.
Franziska Klügl is a Professor in Computer Science at Örebro University's Faculty of Business, Science and Engineering, affiliated with the Center for Applied Autonomous Sensor Systems (AASS). She currently leads the KKS-funded TeamRob project on Human-Robot Teamwork and serves as Deputy Dean of the faculty since January 2023, chairing the academic appointment committee. Previously, she headed the Computer Science department (2020-2022) and served on the faculty board (2019-2022). Her research focuses on: Multi-agent systems : Development of languages, processes, and tools for agent-based simulation Interdisciplinary applications : Transportation, economics, epidemics, production, and mining simulations Simulation engineering : Integrating AI, machine learning, and formal methods to create accessible modeling tools for domain experts She created SeSAm , a visual programming tool for agent-based simulation that enables rapid prototyping of complex models. Analysis of her recent publications reveals three dominant themes: Human-robot collaboration frameworks and intention recognition systems Economic impacts of automation on labor markets and engineering services Advanced simulation methodologies using affordance theory and reinforcement learning She teaches software engineering, multi-agent systems, and agent-based modeling across multiple programs, including the WASP AI&ML PhD course. She leads research groups at the Machine Perception and Interaction Lab and oversees the TeamRob human-robot teamwork project.
Jana Tumova is an Associate Professor at the Division of Robotics, Perception and Learning, KTH Royal Institute of Technology. Her research focuses on designing algorithms for safe, purposeful autonomous systems using formal methods to ensure rigorous specifications and guarantees. Applications span autonomous driving, UAV exploration, and network control. She teaches courses like Artificial Intelligence (DD2380) and leads the Robotics, Reading Group (FDD3316) . Her work emphasizes formal methods integration with AI, safety-critical control, and human-robot interaction. Notable research directions include risk-aware planning, belief space control, and contingency planning under uncertainty. She has published extensively on motion planning, robust control synthesis, and multi-agent systems. Key technical contributions include techniques like Belief Control Barrier Functions , Backward Underapproximate Reachability (BURNS) , and Transitional Grid Maps . She actively participates in interdisciplinary initiatives like the Control for Societal-Scale Challenges: Roadmap 2030 .
Leila Methnani is a doctoral student at the Department of Computing Science at Umeå University . Her research focuses on ethical and sociotechnical challenges in artificial intelligence, particularly in areas such as AI alignment , trustworthy AI , and human-AI collaboration . She has published extensively on topics including Explainable AI (XAI) , MLOps , and hybrid human-AI systems . Her recent work explores: Trustworthy AI in variable autonomy robotic systems Explainable and counterfactual-based AI interfaces for industrial operators Operationalizing AI ethics through socio-technical assessments Real-time reactive planning with social norms in multi-agent systems She has co-authored publications in journals such as Ethics and Information Technology , ACM Computing Surveys , and Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence . She is reachable via email at leila.methnani@umu.se .
Jonas Beskow is a Professor and Head of Division at the Division of Speech, Music and Hearing at KTH Royal Institute of Technology. His research focuses on multimodal interaction, speech synthesis, robotics, and human-robot interaction. He leads the Learning style variation in nonverbal behaviour for social robots and agents project as part of Digital Futures, a cross-disciplinary research center. His work involves developing social robots like the Furhat head and advancing technologies for gesture synthesis, audio-driven motion, and adaptive intelligent systems. He holds roles as Co-PI for the Advanced Adaptive Intelligent Systems (AAIS) and Adaptive Intelligent Homes (AIH) projects. His research spans robotics, computer graphics, and clinical applications such as dementia detection through multimodal patient behavior analysis. Beskow also contributes to educational initiatives, supervising courses in computer science and engineering, including degree projects in machine learning and systems engineering. Publications highlight innovations in gesture generation, speech-driven animation, and socially-aware robotics. Collaborations with institutions like Stockholm University and RISE Research Institutes drive interdisciplinary solutions. His work bridges artificial intelligence, human-computer interaction, and assistive technologies, emphasizing ethical and societal impacts of emerging digital systems.
Georgios Andrikopoulos is an Assistant Professor at KTH Royal Institute of Technology's Department of Industrial and Environmental Management (ITM), affiliated with the Digital Futures Faculty. He serves as Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI) on the 'Real-time exoskeleton control for human-in-the-loop optimization' project, focusing on advanced robotics and human-technology interaction. His research spans soft robotics, exoskeleton systems, and adaptive climbing robots, with applications in healthcare, aerospace, and education. Key projects include: "Connecting Bodies – Designing Shape-changing Wearables" (Postdoc Fellowship, 2023–2025) "Advancing real-time exoskeleton control for human-in-the-loop optimization" (Demonstrator Project) SEC scholar collaboration with Mohamed Elbadawi (May–June 2024) Research interests emphasize: Soft robotic actuators for safe human interaction Optimization of compliant mechanisms in robotics Vortex adhesion systems for autonomous inspection Design of child-friendly interactive robots His work integrates robotics with control systems, biomechanics, and human-centered design. Over 50 peer-reviewed articles demonstrate contributions to exoskeleton technology, climbing robot algorithms, and soft actuator modeling. He advises students like Laia Turmo Vidal (Postdoc) and Mohamed Elbadawi (SEC scholar). Affiliated with the cross-disciplinary Digital Futures initiative, he collaborates with Stockholm University and RISE Research Institutes to address societal challenges through digital innovation.
Dilian Gurov is a Professor in Computer Science at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, associated with the Digital Futures Faculty and the Division of Theoretical Computer Science. He also coordinates the Doctoral Programme in Computer Science at the CSC school. Before joining KTH in 2002, he earned a Ph.D. from the University of Victoria, Canada (1998), and worked at the Swedish Institute of Computer Science (1997-2002). His research focuses on software specification and verification, including contracts, program models, logics, and tools, as well as multi-agent strategic planning involving knowledge-based strategies in imperfect information settings. Key contributions include the CAV Distinguished Paper Award 2023 for 'Automatic Program Instrumentation for Automatic Verification' and an EASST award for 'Checking Absence of Illicit Applet Interactions: A Case Study' (2004). He leads projects funded by VR (SEFROS, ContraST) and Vinnova (AVerT2) and collaborates with industries like Scania on formal verification of C programs. His service roles span over 30 conference committees and organization roles, including PC memberships for iFM, TAP, and ISoLA. Teaching responsibilities include courses such as 'Formal Methods,' 'Program Semantics and Analysis,' and 'Knowledge in Games with Imperfect Information.' His work emphasizes practical applications of formal methods, bridging academic research with industry needs through collaborations and tool development (e.g., CVPP, ProMoVer, TriCo).
