Chris Freeman is a Professor of Robotics and Control at the University of Southampton's Electronics and Computer Science (ECS) school. His research focuses on iterative learning control theory, biomedical engineering, and robotics with applications in industrial automation and healthcare. As Deputy Head of School (Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) and Chair of the ECS Belonging, Inclusion, Diversity and Equity (BIDE) Committee, he drives initiatives promoting inclusive academic environments. Freeman leads multidisciplinary research projects such as "Towards intelligent, pervasive, high performance control system architectures" "Elder Athletes: building incidental interaction at home" "Low-cost personalised instrumented clothing with integrated FES electrodes" . His work combines robotics, functional electrical stimulation (FES), and wearable technologies to develop rehabilitation systems for stroke patients and industrial automation solutions. His recent publications demonstrate expertise in iterative learning control (ILC), model predictive control, and biomedical applications. Research groups include: Digital Health and Biomedical Engineering Institute for Life Sciences Centre for Health Technologies Centre for Robotics
Yi-Jun Chang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the National University of Singapore (NUS). He previously held a Junior Fellow position at the Institute for Theoretical Studies, ETH Zurich (2019–2021), and earned his Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of Michigan (2019). His research focuses on theoretical computer science, particularly distributed, parallel, and sublinear graph algorithms. Ph.D., University of Michigan (2019) M.S., National Taiwan University (2015) B.S., National Taiwan University (2013) Chang’s research explores the complexity and optimization of algorithms in distributed systems, including leader election, graph shattering, expander decomposition, and subgraph detection. His work addresses fundamental challenges in time-energy trade-offs, communication efficiency, and deterministic vs. randomized approaches in models like LOCAL and CONGEST. Recent publications highlight advancements in distributed triangle enumeration, optimal coloring, shortest path computation, and certification in bounded pathwidth graphs. Awards include the PODC 2019 Best Paper and Best Student Paper Awards, followed by the 2020 PODC Doctoral Dissertation Award. PODC 2019 Best Paper Award PODC 2019 Best Student Paper Award 2020 PODC Doctoral Dissertation Award Chang teaches courses such as CS3230 (Design and Analysis of Algorithms) and CS5275 (The Algorithm Designer's Toolkit). He advises Ph.D. students Hung Thuan Nguyen and Haoran Zhou, and has collaborated with postdoctoral researchers including Gopinath Mishra and Dean Leitersdorf.
Rémi Giraud is an Associate Professor at ENSEIRB-MATMECA (Bordeaux INP) in the Electronic department, conducting research at the IMS laboratory within the Signal and Image Processing group (MOTIVE team). He is also a member of the In2Brain research group. Dr. Giraud received his M.Sc. in telecommunications from ENSEIRB-MATMECA and a Master's in signal and image processing from the University of Bordeaux in 2014, graduating with honors as top of his class. He completed his Ph.D. in computer science at the University of Bordeaux in 2017, followed by a year as Assistant Professor before becoming Associate Professor in 2018. Current position: Associate Professor at ENSEIRB-MATMECA (Bordeaux INP), Electronic department Research affiliation: IMS laboratory, Signal and Image Processing group, MOTIVE team Additional affiliation: In2Brain research group Education: PhD in Computer Science (2017, University of Bordeaux), M.Sc. in Telecommunications and Signal/Image Processing (2014, ENSEIRB-MATMECA and University of Bordeaux) His research focuses on image processing and analysis, deep learning, and computer vision, with particular expertise in (un)supervised image segmentation, colorization, matching techniques, irregular under-representations (superpixels), spatial relations, and medical imaging (3D MRI applications). His work bridges theoretical computer vision with practical medical applications, developing algorithms that enhance image understanding in both general and specialized contexts. Dr. Giraud has developed several significant methodologies including SCALP (Superpixels with Contour Adherence using Linear Path), TASP (Texture-Aware SuperPixel), DSP (Dual Superpixel Descriptors), and NNSC (Nearest Neighbor-based Superpixel Clustering). His publications demonstrate consistent advancement in superpixel segmentation techniques with increasing focus on medical imaging applications, particularly brain MRI analysis. He currently supervises multiple PhD students including Julien Walther (working on Deep Learning Models from Structural Image Representations), Eloi Navet (An AI Assembly for Neurological Disease Prediction), Edern Le Bot (Holistic Brain MRI Segmentation), and Matthieu Vilain (Semi-supervised Deep Learning for image sequences). His research has resulted in numerous publications in top-tier conferences and journals, with a clear trajectory from theoretical algorithm development to practical implementation in medical contexts.
Nakul Gopalan serves as an Assistant Professor at Arizona State University's School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence (SCAI) in Tempe, where he founded and leads the Logos Robotics Lab since joining in August 2022. His academic foundation was established through a PhD in Computer Science from Brown University completed in 2019. Education: PhD in Computer Science, Brown University (2019) Research Focus: Dr. Gopalan pioneers work at the critical intersection of language grounding and robot learning, developing algorithms that enable robots to interpret natural language instructions and learn from human demonstrations. His research directly addresses real-world usability challenges by focusing on hierarchical reinforcement learning, task planning, and human-robot collaboration frameworks that empower non-expert users to train robots for home and office environments. Key innovations include plannable representations for natural language instruction following and transfer learning techniques for robotic task execution. Publication Evolution: Recent publications (2023-2025) demonstrate accelerating specialization in language-conditioned robot learning, with 80% of his latest work exploring compositional instruction following, novice-user teaching interfaces, and explainable AI for robotics. His research trajectory shows a deliberate shift from foundational language grounding (2017-2020) toward practical human-robot collaboration systems, evidenced by increased focus on hardware-software co-design, cross-embodiment transfer, and clinical applications of explainable AI in neurology support systems. Scientific Recognition: Best Paper Award at RoboNLP workshop (Association for Computational Linguistics) 2017 RSS 2023 Best Student Paper Finalist Mentorship & Service: As lab director, Dr. Gopalan actively mentors graduate researchers while teaching core courses including Data Structures and Algorithms (CSE 310) and specialized seminars on robot learning. His significant service contributions include organizing the RSS 2021 "Robotics for People" workshop, serving as Action Editor for ICRA 2023/2024, and extensive reviewing for top-tier robotics conferences (RSS, ICRA, CORL) and AI venues (NeurIPS, AAAI). Research Infrastructure: The Logos Robotics Lab operates as his primary research vehicle, focusing on natural language interfaces for robot training, hierarchical task decomposition, and real-world deployment of language-grounded learning systems. Current projects integrate large language models with robotic control frameworks to enable zero-shot task generalization across different robot embodiments.
Gabor Orosz is a Professor at the University of Michigan in both the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering . His work bridges nonlinear dynamics and control , time delay systems , and connected automated vehicles , with a focus on traffic flow optimization and vehicle safety . Education: PhD in Engineering Mathematics, University of Bristol, UK (2006) MSc in Engineering Physics, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary (2002) Research Focus : Orosz's research explores the intersection of vehicle automation , connectivity , and nonlinear dynamics . He investigates time delay effects in teleoperation , intent-sharing protocols for cooperative maneuvering , and control barrier functions for safety-critical systems . His work spans theoretical analysis, numerical validation, and real-world experimentation. Article Trends : Recent publications highlight advancements in latency mitigation for remote driving , nonholonomic vehicle control , intent-sharing frameworks , and energy-efficient strategies for connected vehicle systems . Themes include delayed feedback , stochastic communication , and safety-guaranteed control . Awards & Appointments : NSF CAREER Award (2014) Fulbright Scholar at Budapest University of Technology (2023-2024) Editorial roles in Vehicle System Dynamics (2020) and Time Delay Systems (2017) Student Mentorship : Orosz has advised numerous PhD students, including Anil Alan (2024, TU Delft), Chaozhe He (2018, University at Buffalo), and Tamás Molnár (2020, Wichita State University). His alumni work at institutions like Toyota Research Institute , Ford Motor Co. , and Zoox . Labs & Teams : He leads research at the University of Michigan's Mechanical Engineering Department and collaborates with international institutions such as Caltech and Budapest University of Technology . His team focuses on experimental validation of connected vehicle systems and delay-tolerant control .
Miguel Ángel Sotelo Vázquez is a full Professor at the University of Alcalá, leading the INVETT Research Group (Intelligent Vehicles and Traffic Technologies). He holds the Department of Automatic Control and specializes in autonomous systems, particularly in path planning, sensor fusion, and human-vehicle interaction. His research integrates machine learning, robotics, and control theory to address challenges in intelligent transportation systems. He earned his Ph.D. in 2001 with a thesis on autonomous vehicle navigation in partially known environments. His work emphasizes real-world deployment, explainable AI, and safety-critical systems. Recent projects focus on lane change prediction, pedestrian behavior modeling, and cybersecurity for autonomous systems. Key contributions include neuro-symbolic frameworks for decision-making, real-time multi-physics field reconstruction, and cross-cultural studies of pedestrian interactions. He collaborates internationally on urban mobility resilience and hydrogen refueling infrastructure. Research Highlights : Development of knowledge graph-based prediction architectures Experimental validation of human-vehicle interaction in VR environments Creation of the SCOUT trajectory prediction framework
Huy T Tran is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's College of Engineering, with additional appointments at the Applied Research Institute. His research focuses on the intersection of robotics, artificial intelligence, and multi-agent systems, with applications spanning autonomous navigation, critical infrastructure resilience, and intelligent transportation. Dr. Tran earned his Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology in 2015, following advanced degrees from Georgia Tech and University of Wisconsin-Madison. His academic journey includes research assistant professor positions before achieving his current assistant professor role in 2021. He previously worked as a Senior Multi-Disciplinary Systems Engineer at The MITRE Corporation and served as a Visiting Scholar at the Air Force Institute of Technology. His research interests encompass Autonomy, Reinforcement Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Robotics, Multiagent Systems, Intelligent Transportation Systems, and Critical Infrastructure Resilience. As director of the Lab for Intelligent Robots and Agents (LIRA), he leads cutting-edge research in autonomous systems that interact with humans and other robots. His work has evolved from foundational resilience modeling in aerospace systems toward increasingly sophisticated AI applications in multi-robot coordination and explainable decision-making. Dr. Tran's publication record demonstrates a clear trajectory toward explainable AI and human-AI collaboration, with recent work focusing on generating explanations for reinforcement learning policies, coordination in ad hoc teams, and neuro-symbolic approaches to robot policy interpretation. His research bridges theoretical advances with practical applications in air traffic control, field robotics, and critical infrastructure management. Best Paper Award: Theoretical (2016 Complex Adaptive Systems Conference) Selected for oral presentation at IROS 2023 Workshop 27% full paper acceptance rate at AAMAS 2022 44% acceptance rate at ICRA 2020 As an educator, Dr. Tran teaches core aerospace courses including Computational Systems Engineering, Aerospace Numerical Methods, and Reinforcement Learning. He has secured significant research funding from NASA's Transformational Tools and Technologies program, ARL A2I2 program, ONR Science of AI program, and DARPA. His current projects span ad hoc teaming in multi-robot systems, collective autonomous air mobility, hierarchical reinforcement learning, and interpretable AI agents.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yasemin CEYHAN is an accomplished academic in nursing, currently serving as an Associate Professor at Kırşehir Ahi Evran University's Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Nursing. She has been a full-time faculty member since 2013, initially as a Research Assistant (2013-2020) and subsequently as a Doctoral Teaching Member (2020-present). She holds multiple administrative positions including Head of Department (2020-present), Faculty Council Member (2022-present), and Quality Committee Member (2024-present). Dr. CEYHAN completed her Bachelor's Degree in Nursing at Ahi Evran University (2007-2011), followed by a Master's Degree in Nursing at Erciyes University (2012-2015), and earned her Doctorate in Internal Medicine Nursing from Erciyes University (2015-2019). She has completed numerous specialized courses in statistical analysis, meta-analysis, and healthcare research methodology. Her research primarily focuses on Internal Medicine Nursing with particular expertise in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) management, cultural competency in nursing practice, and patient self-management in chronic diseases. She has developed significant expertise in psychometric evaluation of nursing instruments and has contributed substantially to understanding the relationship between cultural sensitivity and nursing care effectiveness. Her work bridges nursing practice with psychological, cultural, and physiological aspects of patient care. Analysis of her publication record reveals a clear evolution from descriptive studies to sophisticated analytical research employing structural equation modeling and randomized controlled trials. Her recent work demonstrates increasing methodological rigor with a focus on mediation and moderation effects in complex patient care scenarios, particularly in COPD management where she examines intricate relationships between symptoms, psychological factors, and self-management behaviors. Poster Presentation 3rd Prize (2014) from Eskişehir Osmangazi University Dr. CEYHAN has successfully supervised multiple Master's theses and currently mentors additional graduate students. She has secured and led several significant research projects funded by TÜBA, TÜBİTAK, and university research funds, focusing on chronic disease management, cultural competency assessment tools, and COPD patient care. Her research portfolio demonstrates a strong commitment to evidence-based nursing practice and instrument development. As an active member of the Turkish Respiratory Research Association (since 2018) and the Turkish Nurses Association (since 2015), Dr. CEYHAN maintains a robust collaborative research network that spans multiple Turkish universities, particularly Erciyes University. Her work reflects a team-oriented research approach with numerous co-authored publications demonstrating interdisciplinary collaboration.
Paul D. Brooks is a Professor in the Department of Geology/Geophysics at the University of Utah, where he has been a faculty member since July 2014. His research focuses on understanding water, energy, and biogeochemical cycling in seasonally snow-covered catchments, with increasing emphasis on predicting how climate and land use changes impact snow accumulation, ablation, and snowmelt-derived surface and ground water resources. His educational background includes a BS in Biology and Chemistry from Florida State University, followed by an MS in Ecohydrology (1991) and PhD in Biogeochemistry (1995), both from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Prior to his position at the University of Utah, Dr. Brooks was a Professor in the Department of Hydrology and Water Resources at the University of Arizona from December 2000 to June 2014. Dr. Brooks' research spans multiple disciplines within earth sciences, focusing primarily on hydrology, ecohydrology, and biogeochemical cycling in mountainous, snow-dominated environments. His work examines how climate change affects snowmelt processes, groundwater-surface water interactions, and water resource availability in the western United States. He employs a combination of field measurements, isotope hydrology, and modeling approaches to understand complex hydrological processes across multiple spatial and temporal scales. His research increasingly involves collaboration with stakeholders to translate scientific findings into practical water resource management applications. Analysis of Dr. Brooks' recent publications reveals a strong focus on groundwater-surface water interactions in snowmelt-dominated systems, with particular attention to how climate change affects streamflow generation processes. His work bridges fundamental hydrological science with practical water resource concerns, examining topics such as runoff efficiency, groundwater storage dynamics, and the impacts of land cover changes on hydrological processes. A significant portion of his recent research investigates the Western United States water resources under changing climate conditions. AGU Fellow (American Geophysical Union) Dr. Brooks actively mentors graduate students through thesis research (both PhD and Master's level) as evidenced by his teaching activities. His lab conducts research supported by various grants focused on understanding water resources in mountainous regions, particularly examining how climate change affects snowmelt hydrology and water availability. He collaborates extensively with researchers across multiple institutions, as demonstrated by his numerous co-authored publications with scientists from various universities and research organizations. Dr. Brooks leads research efforts through his lab at the University of Utah and is involved with the Wasatch Environmental Observatory, a mountain-to-urban research network in the semi-arid Western US. His work integrates field measurements across complex terrain to understand how topography, vegetation, and climate interact to control water, energy, and biogeochemical cycling in seasonally snow-covered environments.
Lokukaluge Prasad Perera is a Professor in Maritime Technology at UiT The Arctic University of Norway and a Senior Research Scientist in Smart Data at SINTEF Digital . He holds a BSc in Mechanical Engineering from Oklahoma State University (1999), MSc in Systems & Controls from the same institution (2001), and a PhD in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering from Technical University of Lisbon (2012). His research focuses on Maritime and Offshore Systems , Advanced Data Analytics , Autonomous Navigation , Energy Efficiency , and Digital Twin Applications . He has published over 100 peer-reviewed papers and was recognized in the World's Top 2% Scientists (2021-2022) by Stanford University. Key professional experiences include roles at SINTEF Ocean (2014–2017), Center for Marine Technology and Engineering in Portugal (2008–2012), and Wärtsilä Finland (2012–2014). He has also held academic positions at Naval & Maritime Academy and Ocean University of Sri Lanka . His work addresses challenges in emission reduction , renewable energy integration , and safety-critical systems for maritime operations. Current projects emphasize trustworthiness of autonomous ships and data-driven decision frameworks for energy efficiency.
Nicolas Cambier is a Visiting Professor at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, affiliated with the Faculty of Science's Artificial Intelligence department and the Network Institute. His research focuses on swarm robotics, collective behavior, and evolutionary systems. He explores topics like emergent communication, modular robotics, and prosociality in robotic swarms. Key areas include task-driven language evolution, adaptive decision-making, and environmental interaction in constrained environments. His work bridges theoretical models with practical implementations, emphasizing self-organization and cultural evolution in synthetic systems. Recent contributions address challenges in heterogeneous swarms, skill acquisition in modular robots, and decision-making without prior knowledge. He collaborates widely, with publications in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, Nature Communications, and top conferences like GECCO and Distributed Autonomous Robotic Systems. Research interests span robotics, artificial intelligence, and evolutionary computation, with applications to both theoretical frameworks and real-world robotic systems. His studies often involve agent-based simulations and embodied evolution approaches to understand complex collective phenomena.
Jonathan Weare is a Professor of Mathematics at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University. He holds affiliations with the Faculty of Arts and Science and the Graduate School of Arts and Science. His academic journey includes roles as an Associate Professor at the University of Chicago (2014–2019) and Assistant Professor (2011–2014), following postdoctoral work as a Courant Instructor at NYU. He earned his Ph.D. in Mathematics from UC Berkeley in 2007. His research focuses on stochastic algorithms and models, with applications in astrophysics, biophysics, computational chemistry, and climate science. Key areas include Monte Carlo methods, rare event simulation, and machine learning-driven scientific analysis. Collaborations with domain experts ensure his work addresses real-world challenges in diverse fields. Recent publications emphasize advancements in trajectory stratification, rare event prediction using machine learning, and efficient algorithms for high-dimensional problems. Notable contributions include the BAD-NEUS framework and AI-based solar system instability predictions. His group’s interdisciplinary approach bridges computational methods with scientific inquiry. Weare has advised numerous students and mentored postdocs, fostering talent in applied mathematics and computational science. His work on Mercury’s orbital dynamics and extreme weather prediction showcases the societal impact of his research. Current projects explore AI applications in weather modeling and rare event analysis, leveraging cutting-edge machine learning techniques. Labs/Teams: His research group at Courant develops stochastic algorithms and collaborates with interdisciplinary teams in computational chemistry, climate science, and astrophysics. Key collaborations include the University of Chicago and Columbia University.
Bernadette Bucher is an Assistant Professor in the Robotics Department (primary) and Computer Science and Engineering Department at the University of Michigan. Her research focuses on embodied AI, vision-language grounding, and mobile manipulation, with an emphasis on interpretable visual representations and uncertainty estimation for robotics tasks. She previously worked at Boston Dynamics AI Institute, NVIDIA Research, and Lockheed Martin Corporation. Her academic background includes a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Pennsylvania (GRASP Lab) under advisors Kostas Daniilidis and Nikolai Matni, alongside MA degrees in Mathematics and Economics from the University of Alabama (2014). Research interests include robotics, computer vision, and machine learning intersections, particularly autonomous mobile manipulation. Her work emphasizes uncertainty-aware systems and deployable learning-based methods. Notable achievements include the Best Paper in Cognitive Robotics at ICRA 2024. Her research spans projects like EVORA for off-road autonomy and ASHiTA for hierarchical task analysis. She has contributed to open-source projects like RoboNet and actively publishes in top conferences (CVPR, CoRL, ICRA). Key projects: EVORA, ASHiTA, Vision-Language Frontier Maps (VLFM) Grants and funding: Honda Research Institute (Curious Minded Machines project) Labs/Teams: Active participation in robotics labs at University of Michigan and prior collaborations with industry partners
Professor Stefan Glock is an Assistant Professor of Discrete Mathematics at the University of Passau's Faculty of Computer Science and Mathematics, a position he has held since September 2022. Prior to this appointment, he spent three years as a Junior Fellow at the Institute for Theoretical Studies at ETH Zurich, following the completion of his doctorate at the University of Birmingham. Stefan Glock received his mathematics education at Technische Universität Ilmenau from 2009 to 2014, then pursued his PhD at the University of Birmingham, which he completed in 2018. His doctoral dissertation, "Decompositions of Graphs and Hypergraphs," was the runner-up for the Richard-Rado-Preis 2018. Professor Glock's research focuses on discrete mathematical structures, with particular emphasis on their asymptotic properties. His work spans several interconnected fields of combinatorics: Extremal Combinatorics : Investigating the maximum or minimum possible size of mathematical structures satisfying certain properties Probabilistic Combinatorics : Applying probability theory to solve combinatorial problems Graph Theory : Studying properties of graphs and networks Ramsey Theory : Examining conditions under which order must appear in large structures Design Theory : Creating arrangements of elements satisfying specific balance properties Discrete Geometry : Analyzing geometric problems with discrete structures Analysis of Professor Glock's recent publications reveals a consistent focus on solving long-standing open problems in combinatorics using innovative methods that combine probabilistic techniques with structural insights. His work often bridges theoretical mathematics with applications in theoretical computer science, particularly in the analysis of algorithms and network structures. A significant portion of his research addresses fundamental questions about graph and hypergraph decompositions, which have implications for coding theory, cryptography, and network design. Professor Glock has received notable recognition for his contributions to mathematics: Runner-up for the Richard-Rado-Preis 2018 for his dissertation "Decompositions of Graphs and Hypergraphs" Awarded funding through the prestigious DFG Emmy Noether Programme in 2024 for his research group on "the interplay of structure and randomness in mathematics" As a faculty member at the University of Passau, Professor Glock leads the Discrete Mathematics research group and actively collaborates with mathematicians worldwide. He has established a strong research program that has attracted funding for academic visitors and supports multiple research projects. His approach to mathematical problems emphasizes developing new methods that have far-reaching implications beyond the specific problems being solved. Professor Glock's research group at the University of Passau focuses on the interplay between structure and randomness in discrete mathematics. The group maintains active collaborations with leading institutions including ETH Zurich, University of Birmingham, and various research centers across Europe. Through the DFG Emmy Noether Programme funding, his group is expanding its research on combinatorial structures and their applications.
Julia Chuzhoy is the Manuel Blum Professor at the Toyota Technological Institute at Chicago (TTIC) and holds a part-time Professor appointment in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Chicago . She completed her Ph.D. at the Technion under the supervision of Seffi Naor , followed by postdoctoral positions at MIT , University of Pennsylvania , and the Institute for Advanced Study . She also served as a Weizmann Institute Weston Visiting Professor in 2018-2019. Her research in theoretical computer science focuses on graph-related optimization problems , including approximation algorithms, dynamic algorithms, fast graph algorithms, and hardness of approximation. She has received major funding through NSF grants (CCF-1318242, CCF-1616584, CCF-2006464, CCF-2402283) and the NSF HDR TRIPODS award (2216899). Her recent publications highlight advancements in approximation algorithms (e.g., maximum bipartite matching), dynamic graph algorithms (e.g., decremental shortest paths), and structural graph theory (e.g., excluded grid theorem). These works span both algorithmic improvements and theoretical lower bounds. Scientific recognition includes NSF Career Award (2013) Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship (2011) She has advised numerous TTIC and University of Chicago Ph.D. students, including Rachit Nimavat , Zihan Tan , and Parinya Chalermsook (now faculty at Aalto University ).
