Professor Omar Matar is a Professor of Fluid Mechanics and RAEng/PETRONAS Research Chair in Multiphase Fluid Dynamics at the Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London. He leads the Matar Fluids Group, focusing on interfacial fluid mechanics, multiphase flows, computational fluid dynamics (CFD), and applications in energy, manufacturing, and nanotechnology. His roles include Head of Department of Chemical Engineering, Director of the PETRONAS Centre for Engineering of Multiphase Systems (PETCEMS), and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Engineering Mathematics. Education: PhD in Chemical Engineering, Princeton University (1993) MEng Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London (1989) Research Interests: Interfacial fluid mechanics, multiphase flows, CFD, and machine learning 2D materials exfoliation and scale-up, immersive technologies (AR/VR) Applications in energy systems, nanotechnology, and personalized education Awards: Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (2020) Recipient of the Imperial College President’s Medal (2020) EPSRC Programme Grant Principal Investigator (MEMPHIS, PREMIERE) Grants & Projects: MEMPHIS: £5M EPSRC-funded Programme Grant (2012–2017) PREMIERE: EPSRC Programme Grant (2019–present) PETCEMS: PETRONAS-funded Centre for Multiphase Systems Engineering Labs & Collaborations: Leads the Matar Fluids Group, collaborating with institutions like UCL, University of Edinburgh, and industry partners such as BP and First Light Fusion. Active in developing high-performance CFD codes (e.g., BLUE) and machine learning-driven models for multiphase systems.
Paolo Gardoni is the Alfredo H. Ang Family Professor and an Excellence Faculty Scholar in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, with additional professorial appointments in Industrial & Enterprise Systems Engineering and Biomedical & Translational Sciences. He also serves as Director of the MAE Center and Editor-in-Chief of Reliability Engineering & System Safety. Education Ph.D. in Civil Engineering, University of California, Berkeley (2002) M.A. in Statistics, University of California, Berkeley (2001) M.Eng. in Structural Engineering, University of Tokyo (1997) Laurea (BS+MS equivalent) in Structural Engineering, Politecnico di Milano (1997) Research Interests Gardoni’s scholarship integrates probabilistic methods with large-scale infrastructure systems to advance reliability, risk, and life-cycle analysis. His work quantifies the performance of deteriorating systems under natural and anthropogenic hazards, models societal impacts of disasters, and develops decision frameworks for sustainable and resilient infrastructure. He also examines ethical, social, and legal dimensions of risk, and investigates optimal strategies for hazard mitigation, disaster recovery, and climate adaptation. Across more than 250 refereed journal papers, he has advanced sub-fields ranging from probabilistic mechanics and earthquake engineering to catastrophe bond pricing and engineering ethics, leveraging tools such as stochastic differential equations, Bayesian networks, and physics-informed machine learning. Awards & Honors Alfredo Ang Award on Risk Analysis and Management of Civil Infrastructure (ASCE, 2021) Best Paper Awards in ASCE Journal of Sustainable Water in the Built Environment (2019) and Geotechnical Research (2018 Telford Premium Prize) Fellowships and named professorships: Alfredo H. Ang Family Professor, Excellence Faculty Scholar, and courtesy or honorary professorships at Tsinghua, IIT Guwahati, Tongji, Jianghan, and Loughborough universities. Research Leadership & Funding Gardoni has secured over $58 million in research funding from NSF, DHS, NIST, USAID, Qatar National Research Fund, and other agencies. He directs the MAE Center—formerly an NSF Engineering Research Center—focused on multi-hazard engineering approaches, and is Editor-in-Chief of Reliability Engineering & System Safety (Elsevier, IF 9.4). He founded and formerly led the journal Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure (Taylor & Francis) and serves on editorial boards of nine additional journals. Advising & Mentorship He has graduated 27 PhD and 35 Master’s students, many of whom now hold faculty positions worldwide. His group maintains an active pipeline of doctoral and post-doctoral researchers working on resilience analytics, infrastructure monitoring, and risk-informed decision-making. Laboratories & Collaborations He leads the MAE Center and is affiliated with the Critical Infrastructure Resilience Institute (CIRI) and the Biomedical and Translational Sciences group. International collaborations span the UK (Loughborough), India (IIT Guwahati), and China (Tsinghua, Tongji, Jianghan), fostering cross-disciplinary research in reliability and resilience engineering.
Dr. Zhenman Fang is an Associate Professor at the School of Engineering Science , Simon Fraser University (SFU) , where he founded and directs the HiAccel Lab . He also holds an associate membership in the School of Computing Science at SFU. His research focuses on customizable computing with software-defined hardware acceleration , addressing performance, energy-efficiency, and reliability in post-Moore’s law computing across domains like machine learning , big data analytics , quantum chemistry , and precision medicine . Education: Ph.D. in Computer Science from Fudan University (2014), with a visit to University of Minnesota during his studies. Postdoctoral Work: University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) (2014-2017). Industry Experience: Staff Software Engineer at Xilinx (2017-2019). Dr. Fang’s research spans the entire computing stack , including application characterization , accelerator-rich architecture design , and programming/tool support . He has developed frameworks like HiSpMV , SyncNN , and SQL2FPGA , emphasizing FPGA acceleration for vision transformers , quantum chemistry , and spiking neural networks . His work has been recognized with 3 best paper awards (FPL 2024, TCAD 2019, MEMSYS 2017) and 3 best paper nominees (FCCM 2025, HPCA 2017, ISPASS 2018). Recent publications highlight trends in low-precision machine learning ( ShiftQuant , ESRU ), quantum chemistry acceleration ( SERI ), and vision transformer optimization ( Quasar-ViT ). His HiAccel Lab actively mentors PhD and MASc students , with notable graduates like Alec Lu (PhD 2024, now at Meta) and Philip Stachura (MASc, now with BC Graduate Scholarship). Scientific Awards: Inaugural SFU Research Excellence Award - Horizon Award (2025) FPL 2024 Stamatis Vassiliadis Best Paper NSERC Alliance Award (2020) CFI JELF Award (2019) Xilinx University Program Award (2019) IEEE Senior Member (2023) Grants: NSERC Discovery Grant (2019) CFI JELF Funding (2019) Huawei and Xilinx sponsorships Dr. Fang leads open-source initiatives like SyncNN , PASTA , and SQL2FPGA , and serves as General Chair for ASAP 2025 and Program Co-Chair for RAW 2025 . His lab collaborates globally with institutions such as UCLA , Northeastern University , and Xidian University .
Marc V Fuccillo is an Associate Professor of Neuroscience at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, where he leads a research laboratory focused on understanding the neural circuit mechanisms underlying behavioral control. His work bridges molecular, synaptic, and behavioral approaches to investigate how striatal circuits regulate mouse behavior from simple motor patterns to complex goal-directed actions. Fuccillo holds dual appointments in the Neuroscience and Cell and Molecular Biology Graduate Groups at Penn and maintains an active laboratory investigating the synaptic and circuit basis of neuropsychiatric disorders. Education: B.A. in Molecular and Cellular Biology and Music Performance (Violin) from Brown University (1998) Ph.D. in Developmental Genetics from New York University School of Medicine (2007) M.D. from New York University School of Medicine (2008) Fuccillo's research centers on the synaptic and circuit mechanisms of behavioral control, with particular emphasis on striatal circuits. His laboratory employs a range of technologies including mouse genetics, in vitro electrophysiology, in vivo imaging, and quantitative behavioral analysis to explore how neural circuits of the striatum regulate behavior and how disruptions in these circuits contribute to neuropsychiatric disorders. His work has particularly focused on autism-associated abnormalities in behavioral control, examining how synaptic adhesion molecules like neuroligins and neurexins shape circuit function and behavior, with significant findings regarding D1 dopamine receptor positive medium spiny neurons in the nucleus accumbens. Analysis of Fuccillo's recent publications reveals a strong focus on striatal circuit function across multiple dimensions. His work spans molecular neuroscience (examining synaptic adhesion molecules), cellular physiology (studying specific neuron types in striatal circuits), systems neuroscience (mapping circuit connectivity), and behavioral neuroscience (quantifying motor learning and decision-making). A unifying theme is how disruptions in specific molecular pathways lead to circuit-level abnormalities that manifest as behavioral phenotypes relevant to neuropsychiatric disorders, with particular attention to autism, OCD, and schizophrenia models. Scientific Recognition: Publications in high-impact journals including Nature Neuroscience, Current Biology, Cell Reports, and Neuron Research supported by multiple NIH grants including NIMH F32, NIMH K01, and HHMI Gilliam Fellowship awards for lab members Fuccillo actively mentors a diverse group of trainees including postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, and undergraduates. His laboratory has produced numerous successful alumni who have gone on to faculty positions, medical residencies, and graduate programs at prestigious institutions. His mentoring approach emphasizes technical skill development across multiple neuroscience disciplines while fostering independent scientific thinking. Current research in his lab is supported by NIH funding focused on understanding the molecular architecture of striatal circuits and their role in behavioral control, with three major research directions exploring molecular logic of striatal circuits, circuit mechanisms of behavioral control, and striatal dysfunction in neuropsychiatric disease models. The Fuccillo Laboratory operates within the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania, with access to state-of-the-art facilities for molecular, electrophysiological, imaging, and behavioral neuroscience research. The lab maintains active collaborations with other neuroscience research groups at Penn and beyond, creating a rich intellectual environment for studying the neural basis of behavior. Current research directions include investigating whether there is a molecular logic to striatal circuit composition, how striatal circuits shape behavioral control, and what mouse models of autism, schizophrenia, and OCD can reveal about striatal circuit dysfunction in disease pathophysiology.
Amilcare Porporato is the Thomas J. Wu '94 Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Princeton University, with joint appointment at High Meadows Environmental Institute. His research integrates hydrology, ecology, and thermodynamics to study soil-water interactions and sustainable resource management. Education includes: Ph.D. Polytechnic of Milan (1996) M.S. Civil Engineering, Polytechnic of Milan (1992) Research explores nonlinear hydrologic systems, soil moisture dynamics, ecohydrology, and environmental complexity using theoretical and experimental approaches. His work advances understanding of water-biota interactions across scales from pore-level processes to landscape evolution. Honors and Awards: Hydrologic Sciences Award, AGU Borland Lecturer American Geophysical Union Fellow Inaugural Landolt Chair, EPFL Teaches courses on Environmental Thermodynamics (ENV 385/CEE 385) and Ecohydrology (CEE 587/ENV 587).
Na Du is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Informatics and Networked Systems at the University of Pittsburgh's School of Computing and Information. She holds a PhD in Industrial & Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan (2021) and a Graduate Certificate in Data Science. Her research focuses on human factors in smart cities, human-centered computing, and user experience design. She is affiliated with the Intelligent Systems Program, Pitt Cyber, and the Center for Governance and Markets. Education: PhD in Industrial & Operations Engineering (University of Michigan, 2021); Undergraduate in Psychology (Zhejiang University). Research emphasizes explainable AI, human-AI teaming, and smart technologies. Recent grants include funding from Honda Research Institute and Pitt Cyber Accelerator for projects on emotions in Human-AI interaction and Metaverse privacy awareness. Her work has been recognized with awards like the HFES Best Paper Award and the IOE Outstanding Student Award. Advising includes PhD students and researchers in human factors and UX design. The HAT Lab under her leadership explores interdisciplinary challenges in human-computer interaction and smart systems.
Dr. Angela Siegel is an Assistant Professor and Assistant Dean, Academic Outreach in the Faculty of Computer Science at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada. She is actively involved in both academic leadership and research. Education: Ph.D. in Mathematics (Combinatorial Game Theory), Dalhousie University, 2011 M.Sc. in Mathematics, Dalhousie University, 2005 B.Sc. in Mathematics & Marine Geophysics, 1997 Her research focuses on combinatorial game theory, graph theory, discrete mathematics, and number theory, with a strong emphasis on computer science education and inclusive teaching . She investigates the challenges students face when transitioning into computer science programs, aiming to improve pedagogical approaches and support systems. Her work bridges theoretical mathematics and practical educational innovation. The recent publications highlight a dual focus: theoretical contributions to combinatorial games (e.g., partizan games, placement games, geography variants) and applied research in computing education, particularly student transition and inclusive practices. Her interdisciplinary work spans mathematics, computer science, and educational theory. Scientific Awards: Dr. Siegel has supervised and collaborated with students and researchers on topics including student transition into higher education computing, LEGO-based pedagogy, and workplace readiness. While no specific grants are listed, her repeated presentations and publications suggest active research funding and scholarly engagement. She has contributed to major conference proceedings and book volumes such as Games of No Chance . She is associated with research teams focused on combinatorial games and computer science education innovation, often collaborating with scholars like Richard Nowakowski, Neil McKay, and Mark Zarb. Her work in inclusive teaching and student support reflects a commitment to building accessible and equitable learning environments in computing.
Virginia Leavell serves as Assistant Professor in Organisational Theory and Information Systems at Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge. Her research investigates how organisations anticipate technological change through digital prediction systems, AI, and infrastructure transformation, drawing on her decade-long background in political organising for non-profits and labour groups across the US and Thailand. Her academic credentials include: BA in Interdisciplinary Studies, Georgetown University MA in Sociology, University of California Santa Barbara PhD in Technology Management, University of California Santa Barbara Leavell's scholarly work centers on organisational anticipation of technological futures, employing ethnographic and social network analysis methods to examine digital transformation in critical infrastructure contexts. She explores how predictive technologies reshape organisational structures and actions before technological change fully materializes, with particular focus on water systems, urban planning, and labor industries where digital twins and simulation technologies create new governance challenges. Analysis of her 2017-2024 publications reveals consistent examination of prediction performativity across sectors, demonstrating how digital models influence physical realities in infrastructure management. Her research trajectory shows increasing emphasis on sociomaterial dimensions of anticipatory organising, with recent work interrogating the equalization of human and technological agency in digital transformation processes. No scientific awards were specified in source materials. Leavell actively contributes to the Organisational Theory and Information Systems subject group at Cambridge Judge Business School, which engages cross-disciplinary leadership themes. Information regarding student advising and research grants remains unspecified in available documentation.
Brett Kolesnik is a Research Fellow in the Department of Statistics at the University of Warwick. His research focuses on probability theory, random structures, bootstrap percolation, and interactions with combinatorics. He has held postdoctoral fellowships at UC Berkeley, San Diego, and the University of Oxford, and was a Senior Demy at Magdalen College. His work includes organizing workshops on bootstrap percolation and collaborating with leading researchers in probability and combinatorics. Education: PhD in Mathematics from the University of British Columbia (advised by Omer Angel). Notable awards include the NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowship and the Florence Nightingale Bicentennial Fellowship in Statistics. Research interests span bootstrap percolation models, random graph dynamics, and stochastic processes. Recent work includes studies on Brownian map geometry, tournament score sequences, and Coxeter group structures. Selected articles explore topics such as critical beta-splitting processes, Catalan percolation, and random walks on algebraic structures. His publications appear in top journals like Electronic Journal of Probability and Annals of Applied Probability . Awards include the Florence Nightingale Fellowship and NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowship. Professional involvement includes organizing the 2024 BIRS workshop on Bootstrap Percolation and contributing to interdisciplinary collaborations in probability and combinatorics.
Justin A. Weibel is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University, affiliated with the School of Mechanical Engineering. He directs the Cooling Technologies Research Center (CTRC), a National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center. His research focuses on advanced electronics cooling, phase-change transport, additive manufacturing for thermal components, and machine-learning-driven design optimization. He has led projects funded by DARPA, ONR, ARPA-E, and industry partners, advancing cooling solutions for high-power electronics and energy systems. Research interests span thermal management, heat transfer, micro/nano-scale engineering, and sustainable energy. Key contributions include topology optimization for heat sinks, two-phase flow modeling, and embedded cooling systems for electric motors. His work integrates computational methods with experimental validation. Grants & Programs: DARPA TGP/ICECool, ONR NEPTUNE, ARPA-E ASCEND/COOLERCHIPS, SRC CHIRP Labs: Cooling Technologies Research Center (CTRC) Future Work: Expanding additive manufacturing applications, improving thermal efficiency in electrified transport, and advancing AI-driven thermal system design. Awards: Fellow of ASME (2023) Outstanding Faculty Mentor (2022) Multiple best paper awards from IEEE ITherm, ASME, and SEMI-THERM conferences
Prof. Dr. Guido Kings is a Professor of Pure Mathematics at the Faculty of Mathematics, University of Regensburg. His research focuses on Special Values of L-functions , Tamagawa Number Conjecture , and Polylogarithms , with significant contributions to Iwasawa Theory and Arithmetic Geometry . He has held leadership roles in research projects such as the CRC Higher Invariants. Prof. Kings has authored influential papers on topics like Eisenstein-Kronecker classes , p-adic interpolation , and regulators in arithmetic geometry . He received the Frontier of Science Award in recognition of his work. His team includes doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers, such as Bernadette Melichar and Julio de Mello Bezerra. Current Affiliations: Faculty of Mathematics, University of Regensburg Recent Courses Taught: Analysis II, Advanced Seminar in Arithmetic Geometry, and Modular Forms Research Group: Comprises scientific staff (e.g., Han-Ung Kufner) and doctoral students working on number theory and algebraic geometry. His publications are widely cited in Annals of Mathematics , Duke Mathematical Journal , and Inventiones Mathematicae , reflecting his expertise in connecting motivic cohomology with p-adic analysis.
Jonathan David Bobaljik is a leading linguist whose research spans formal syntax, phonology, and the documentation of endangered languages, particularly Itelmen. He is actively involved in multiple international research collaborations and regularly presents at major linguistic conferences across Europe and North America. His work is published in top journals such as Natural Language and Linguistic Theory and Language . His research interests lie at the intersection of theoretical and descriptive linguistics. He investigates universal patterns in morphology and syntax, including suppletion, vowel harmony, ergativity, and control structures, often using data from understudied languages like Itelmen. His work combines rigorous formal analysis with deep empirical grounding in language documentation. The recent publications reflect a strong trend toward integrating typological diversity with formal theory. Key areas include morphosyntactic universals (e.g., suppletion in pronouns), information structure in verb-final languages, and the phonology of ejective consonants. There is also a growing emphasis on sociolinguistic and community-based aspects, as seen in collaborative work on language revitalization and the social life of the Itelmen language. He has received recognition through numerous scholarly publications and invited talks, though specific awards are not listed in the provided text. His collaborative projects suggest active grant involvement, particularly in language documentation and cross-linguistic typology. Bobaljik plays a central role in the Itelmen documentation and revitalization project, contributing to the creation of a dictionary app, the publication of historical manuscripts, and public exhibits on Siberian Indigenous knowledge. He collaborates with a team including David Koester, Chikako Ono, Tatiana Degai, and Maria Pupynina.
Brandon Seward is an Associate Professor of Mathematics at the University of California San Diego (UC San Diego), where they conduct research and teach in the Department of Mathematics. They use the pronouns they/them or he/him . Education Ph.D. in Mathematics, University of Michigan , 2015 Research Interests Their work lies at the intersection of ergodic theory, topological dynamics, descriptive set theory, and group theory . They investigate geometric, combinatorial, and entropic properties of actions of countable groups, with special emphasis on the divide between amenable and non-amenable groups. Publications & Research Impact Across 27 refereed papers (2014-2024), Seward has advanced entropy theory for non-amenable groups, Borel combinatorics of group actions, and structure theorems for measure-preserving actions. Their work has appeared in top journals such as Inventiones Mathematicae , Journal of the American Mathematical Society , and Duke Mathematical Journal . Scientific Awards Michael Brin Dynamical Systems Prize for Young Mathematicians (2018) – awarded for outstanding contributions to dynamical systems. Teaching & Mentorship Seward regularly teaches core undergraduate courses (e.g., Math 142A Introduction to Analysis) and organizes the UC San Diego Group Actions Seminar , a weekly research forum featuring international speakers. They serve as a faculty mentor and are actively involved in graduate student supervision and seminar coordination. Contact & Office Email: bseward@ucsd.edu Office: AP&M 5739, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0112
Ville Vuorinen is an Associate Professor at the Department of Energy and Mechanical Engineering, Aalto University. His research focuses on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) in energy technology, particularly using Large-Eddy Simulation (LES) and hybrid LES-RANS approaches with OpenFOAM. Research Interests: Combustion, Turbulence, Hydrogen, Emission Reduction, Biofuels, Marine Engine Hydrodynamics, Primary Atomization, Liquid Cooling. His team explores hydrogen-enriched flames, ammonia combustion, two-phase flows, and virus transmission modeling. Article Trends : Recent work spans hydrogen pre-ignition in engines, LES of ammonia/methanol flames, aerosol transmission in choir rehearsals, atomic layer deposition conformality, underwater noise analysis, and techno-economic waste-to-hydrogen systems. Keywords include combustion modeling, sustainable energy, and cross-disciplinary CFD applications. Scientific Awards Teknologiateollisuus ry Diesel- ja kaasumoottoritoimialaryhmän tunnustusapuraha (2010) Collaborations : Works closely with experimentalists. Advisees include Shervin Karimkashi Arani, Parsa Tamadonfar, Ossi Kaario, and others. Research impacts energy-efficient ships, marine engines, and biomedical applications.
Dr. Yayun Du is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Vanderbilt University School of Engineering. She holds a Ph.D. in Robotics and System Control (Minor: Solid Mechanics) from UCLA (2022) and was a postdoctoral scholar at Northwestern University's Rogers Group through 2024. Current faculty at Vanderbilt University Ph.D. from University of California, Los Angeles Postdoctoral experience at Northwestern University Her research integrates bioelectronics and robotics through three core directions: 1) Developing multimodal wearable/implantable sensors for health monitoring, 2) Creating human-in-the-loop interaction systems using brain-computer interfaces, and 3) Applying machine learning to medical environment robotics. She has deployed four sensor types across seven hospitals globally, serving users from neonates to elderly patients. Dr. Du's recent publications focus on wireless bioelectronic devices ( PNAS ), sustainable sensor materials ( ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering ), and agricultural robotics ( ICRA , IROS ). She serves as Associate Editor for ICRA 2025 and has received two Best Paper Award final nominations at IROS 2021. Finalist - Best Paper Award in Agri-Robotics (IROS 2021) Finalist - Best Paper Award in Robot Mechanisms and Design (IROS 2021) As head of the Du Group, she leads interdisciplinary research with applications in both healthcare and agricultural contexts, collaborating with Vanderbilt Institute for Surgery and Engineering (VISE) and clinical partners. Her work emphasizes deployable systems that transition from academic research to real-world implementation in medical and industrial environments.
