Michael Lepech is a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford University. His research focuses on integrating sustainability into civil engineering through quantitative assessment and multi-scale modeling, particularly via the Sustainable Integrated Materials, Structures, Systems (SIMSS) framework. He also leads the Stanford Center at the Incheon Global Campus (SCIGC) in South Korea, exploring smart city technologies for urban sustainability. Education : PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering (2006), MBA in Finance and Strategy (2008) from the University of Michigan. Research Areas : Sustainable infrastructure design, biopolymer composites, life cycle assessment, digital twinning, smart city technologies, and multi-physics deterioration modeling. Leadership : Director of SCIGC, advancing research on smart and sustainable urban environments in Songdo, South Korea. His recent publications focus on biopolymer-bound composites, traffic signal optimization, and life cycle sustainability analysis. He has received recognition as a Senior Fellow at Stanford’s Woods Institute for environmental research.
Stephan Schmidt is an Associate Professor at Cornell University's College of Architecture, Art and Planning, affiliated with the Department of City and Regional Planning. His research bridges urban spatial patterns, planning institutions, and sustainability outcomes across Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, and China. Education: PhD in Urban Planning from Rutgers University MS in Landscape Architecture from the University of Washington His work examines: land-use policy evolution in Europe; urbanization dynamics in African cities; and polycentricity trends in Chinese metropolises. Recent studies focus on climate risk mitigation through urban form, including urban heat island effects and air pollution in German regions. Key trends in his 2024-2022 publications: comparative analysis of polycentric urban systems; GIS-based spatial pattern evaluation; and institutional impacts on sustainable development. Awards include Cornell's Global Strategic Collaboration Award and German Academic Exchange Service grants. Scientific Awards: Cornell Global Strategic Collaboration Award (2024) Cornell Center for Social Sciences Accelerated Research Grant (2024) German Academic Exchange Service (2019) Advising includes mentoring graduate students like Juan Fernandez, Justin Peng, and Hassan Yakubu on projects analyzing urban morphology. His lab investigates intersections between spatial patterns and environmental outcomes, including climate change adaptation in Tanzanian cities and park fragmentation in German metropolises.
Elisa B Schweiger is a Senior Lecturer (equivalent to Associate Professor) in Marketing at King’s Business School, King’s College London. She specializes in retailing, AI applications in marketing, multi-sensory marketing, and pricing strategies. Her research employs behavioral experiments, field studies, and text mining. Education: PhD in Consumer Psychology from the University of Bath. She also holds a background in psychology and marketing. Research Interests: Elisa’s work focuses on retail innovation, AI-driven consumer interactions, luxury branding, and the psychological underpinnings of consumer decisions. She explores how technology (e.g., voice assistants, mixed reality) impacts customer journeys and brand relationships. Her research bridges theory and practice, addressing topics like AI ethics, retail atmospherics, and consumer risk perceptions in energy technologies. Publications: Her work appears in top journals such as the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science , Journal of Retailing , and Journal of Business Research . Recent topics include voice assistant evaluations, AI in lateral markets, and digital retailing trends. Awards: Recipient of the Dean’s Award for Early Career Researcher of the Year (2022), Journal of Retailing Davidson Best Paper Award Runner-up, and MMA Teaching Excellence Award. Teaching & Engagement: Teaches Marketing Analytics, Retailing, and research methods in graduate and executive programs. She serves on the editorial boards of Journal of Retailing and Journal of Business Research , and reviews for top marketing journals. Labs/Teams: Active in King’s Business School’s marketing research teams, focusing on innovation in retail and AI applications.
Dr. Omkar Prabhakar Dastane is a Senior Lecturer and Director of Postgraduate Studies at the Malaysia School of Business, Monash University Malaysia. He holds a PhD in Business from Curtin University and certifications including Certified Management and Business Educator (CMBE) from CABS, UK, and HRDF-approved trainer status in Malaysia. His research focuses on technological impacts on businesses, digital consumer behavior, and customer value perception, with publications in A-ranked journals like the Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services and Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing & Logistics . He has secured MYR 157,549 in research grants and received notable awards like the Best Paper Awards (2017/2018) and Emerald Literati Award (2024). Dr. Dastane has held leadership roles including Head of MBA Programs and Head of Postgraduate Studies at top-tier institutions. He actively contributes to editorial roles for journals like Arab Gulf Journal of Scientific Research and reviews for SSCI/SCIE-indexed publications. His teaching emphasizes strategic branding and services marketing, integrating AR/VR tools for immersive learning. He has also led educational visits across ASEAN countries. His research interests span metaverse applications in business, immersive technologies, and contemporary consumer behavior trends. Recent work explores AI-driven services, live-stream commerce, and digital transformation's role in achieving UN SDGs. He has advised on over 200 research projects and secured multiple teaching grants including the 2025 Learning & Teaching Grant.
Dr. Dahlia El-Manstrly is an Associate Professor (Senior Lecturer) in Marketing and Director of Research for the Marketing and Creative & Cultural Industries (MCCI) group at the University of Sheffield Management School. She previously served as Co-Director of the Center for Service Excellence at the University of Edinburgh. Her expertise spans services marketing, with a focus on service recovery, customer loyalty, and international marketing. Education: BSc (First Class Honours) MSc (Huddersfield University) MRes PhD (Glasgow University) AHEA (Advanced HE Academy) Research Interests: Service Recovery and Complaint Management Customer Loyalty and Satisfaction International Marketing in Services Transformative Services and Well-being Tourism Services and Online Travel Communities Awards and Recognition: Highly Recommended Paper Award (AMA SERVSIG, 2014) Three Teaching Excellence Awards (University of Edinburgh) Grants and Supervision: Supervises PhD students on topics like sustainability in fashion and elderly adoption of self-service technology. Recipient of grants including the British Academy Quantitative Skills Award and ESRC Seminar Series funding. Labs/Teams: Leads the MCCI research group at the University of Sheffield Management School.
Goran Avlijas serves as an Assistant Professor at Singidunum University's Faculty of Business in Belgrade, Serbia. His academic profile spans project management, operational research, and retail logistics with significant industry experience at Delta Holding, Strabag AG, and Efektus Consulting Group. His research interests focus on project management methodologies including Agile and Earned Value Management, retail operations optimization through automatic replenishment systems, and sustainable project control . Current work examines gig economy impacts on well-being and pandemic business resilience. Recent publications demonstrate strong emphasis on Quantitative project risk analysis using Monte Carlo simulation Retail inventory management and stock-out reduction Agile methodology implementation in Serbian business context Sustainable infrastructure project valuation Professional recognitions include: Project Management Professional (PMP) Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA) Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP) He actively participates in Erasmus+ programs as both teacher and mentor, notably guiding Serbia's championship-winning team at the 2020 International Project Management Championships. His academic contributions include two textbooks on Project Management and Entrepreneurship, along with numerous international conference participations as scientific committee member and reviewer. Avlijas maintains strong industry-academia connections through PMI membership and consulting engagements, while contributing to higher education accreditation processes as a National Accreditation Body delegate.
Dr. Tan Viet Tuyen Nguyen is a New Frontiers Fellow (Lecturer) in AI at the University of Southampton, specializing in Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence and Social Human-Robot Interaction. His research focuses on multimodal learning for robots to adapt their behavior to human social needs, with applications in healthcare, education, and service environments. Prior to this role, he was a Research Associate at King’s College London and a Research Assistant on the EU-funded CARESSES project, developing culturally-aware assistive robots for elderly support. Education: PhD in Information Science (Robotics) from Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. He has organized conferences such as the IEEE RO-MAN 2022 special session on nonverbal communication and served as a reviewer for top-tier robotics and AI conferences. Research Interests include: Human-Robot Collaboration, Multimodal Perception, Generative AI for Social Interaction, and Context-Aware Robot Behavior Generation. His work has been recognized with awards including the Best Paper Award at ROMAN 2022 and the Prospective Research Award at ICServ 2023. Teaching Responsibilities include courses on Biologically Inspired Robotics, High-Level Programming, and MSc/Undergraduate project supervision. He currently oversees two PhD students and collaborates on projects like 'Exploring the impact of AI-driven writing of engagement in climate change' and 'Bridging Generations and Cultures through Generative AI.' Labs/Teams: Member of the Agents, Interaction and Complexity Centre and the Centre for Robotics Research at Southampton.
Alan Montgomery is a Professor of Marketing at Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business, where he has held a tenured position since 2018 (previously as Associate Professor from 2005-2017). He also maintains an affiliation with the Machine Learning Department at CMU's School of Computer Science, demonstrating his interdisciplinary research approach at the intersection of marketing, economics, and computational methods. Dr. Montgomery earned his educational credentials from prestigious institutions: Ph.D. in Marketing/Economics, University of Chicago (1994) MBA, University of Chicago (1994) BS in Economics, University of Illinois at Chicago (1989) His research focuses on applying advanced quantitative methods to marketing problems, with particular expertise in consumer behavior modeling, clickstream data analysis, pricing strategies, and micro-marketing. Dr. Montgomery's work bridges traditional marketing theory with computational approaches, making significant contributions to both academic literature and practical business applications. His research often involves large-scale data analysis to uncover patterns in consumer decision-making processes, with recent work exploring mental accounting, bandit algorithms, and the impact of digital phenomena like movie piracy on traditional markets. Dr. Montgomery has received notable recognition including the 1999 Mitchell Prize from the American Statistical Association for his paper "Estimating Price Elasticities with Theory-based Priors." His work has been published in top-tier journals across marketing, economics, and computer science disciplines, demonstrating the interdisciplinary impact of his research. As an educator and mentor, Dr. Montgomery has advised numerous PhD students and collaborated extensively with researchers across multiple institutions. His interdisciplinary approach has led to collaborations with computer scientists studying web browsing behavior and economists examining consumer decision frameworks. His research has been supported by various grants throughout his career, enabling extensive data collection and analysis projects. Dr. Montgomery's work spans multiple research environments, including collaborations with the Machine Learning Department at CMU's School of Computer Science. His research group likely focuses on applying computational methods to marketing problems, particularly in the areas of consumer behavior modeling, clickstream analysis, and data-driven marketing strategies. His recent work shows increasing integration of machine learning techniques with traditional marketing research methodologies.
Timo Rintamäki is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Management and Business , Tampere University . His research focuses on customer value creation, service ecosystems, and retail innovation, with particular expertise in co-creation, sharing economy platforms, and digital transformation. Research Themes : Customer Value Propositions, Service Ecosystems, E-Commerce, Co-Creation, Retail Experience Design Key Sectors : Retail, Healthcare, Social Media, Public Services Timo’s recent work explores sustainable value creation through collaborative platforms, analyzing customer behavior in online return processes, and optimizing value orchestration in multi-channel environments. His studies span both academic and practical perspectives, including policy implications in healthcare and innovation in consumer cooperatives. His scholarly contributions include frameworks for service experience management, insights into customer data utilization, and models for value co-creation across digital and physical touchpoints. While no specific scientific awards are listed, his interdisciplinary research bridges service science, marketing, and organizational behavior.
Marc G. Berman is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychology at the University of Chicago. His research focuses on understanding how environmental factors interact with human cognition, emotion, and behavior, particularly through the lens of environmental neuroscience. He leads the Environmental Neuroscience Lab (ENL), investigating how natural and urban environments influence brain function, memory, attention, and mental health. Dr. Berman holds a B.S.E. in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. in Psychology and Engineering from the same institution. His postdoctoral training was at the Rotman Research Institute in Toronto. Prior to Chicago, he was an Assistant Professor at the University of South Carolina. His research interests include the cognitive and affective benefits of natural environments, brain network efficiency, and the neurobiological underpinnings of self-control and emotion regulation. Recent work explores how urban design elements (e.g., greenspace, street activity) relate to crime rates and mental health outcomes, leveraging big data from social media and geospatial tools. Key contributions include demonstrating that natural environments improve memory and attention by ~20%, and that city characteristics like population diversity and segregation correlate with implicit racial biases. His lab employs fMRI, neuroimaging, computational modeling, and ecological data to quantify brain-environment interactions. Dr. Berman collaborates across disciplines, integrating neuroscience, psychology, urban planning, and data science to inform evidence-based environmental design for public health. Current projects include analyzing social media data to map gang networks and investigating how heat and greenspace influence emotional states in urban populations.
Jennifer Lynes is an Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo in the Department of Environment and Business, where she co-directs the Sustainability & Financial Management program. She also serves as Chair of REEP Green Solutions and co-founded the North American Sustainable Concerts Working Group. Current roles: Associate Professor, Co-Director (Sustainability & Financial Management), REEP Green Solutions Chair Education background: Marketing and Environmental Studies Her research bridges business and environmental sustainability, focusing on: Social and community-based green marketing Youth environmental engagement programs Residential energy conservation behavior Sustainable tourism and hospitality practices Recent publications analyze: Water efficiency programs and behavioral change Electric vehicle adoption strategies Textile waste management in fashion consumption Sustainable eating behaviors in Canadian universities Scientific recognition includes: Emerald Publishing Group Highly Commended Paper (2014) She teaches courses such as: ENBUS 102: Introduction to Environment and Business ENBUS 309: Applied Social Marketing ENBUS 630: Enterprise Strategies for Social Accountability
Robin Kravets is a Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she leads the Mobius research group. She earned her Ph.D. in Computer Science from the Georgia Institute of Technology in August 1999. Her office is located at 3114 Siebel Center for Comp Sci, and she can be contacted via email at rhk@illinois.edu or phone at (217) 244-6026. Courses Taught: CS 438 (ECE 438) - Communication Networks CS 498 WN3 (CS 498 WN4) - Wireless IoT Lab CS 591 PH2 (CS 591 PHD) - PhD Orientation Seminar CS 591 SCH - PhD Job Search Prep CS 591 WN - Wireless Networking Seminar ECE 439 (CS 439) - Wireless Networks ENG 572 - Professional Practicum Research Focus: Dr. Kravets specializes in wireless and mobile systems, with emphasis on IoT security, energy-efficient networking, and privacy-preserving protocols. Her work addresses challenges in dense network environments, vehicular communication, and low-power devices, often leveraging probabilistic models and adaptive protocols to enhance system resilience. Publication Trends: Her recent articles (2016-present) predominantly explore wireless IoT security (e.g., MAC randomization defenses, BLE optimization) and practical applications in environmental sensing/retail. Earlier work (2007-2015) established foundations in vehicular networks, disruption-tolerant communication, and energy-aware protocols. Leadership: She directs the Mobius Group, which develops solutions for mobile and IoT systems, including projects like IVP (Illinois Vehicular Project) and contributions to standards in pervasive computing.
Gergely Baics is an Associate Professor of History and Urban Studies at Barnard College, serving as Helman Endowed Faculty Chair of Urban Studies and Faculty Co-Director of the Barnard Empirical Reasoning Center. He holds a joint appointment between the History Department and Urban Studies Program, with collaborative ties to Columbia University's History Department and the Center for Spatial Research at GSAPP. His research focuses on spatial and urban history, digital public history, and 19th-century U.S. economic and social dynamics. Notable projects include the Envisioning Seneca Village 3D digital model and the Mapping Historical New York spatial atlas. Education: B.A. (2002) and M.A. (2003) from ELTE University and Central European University in Budapest; M.A. and Ph.D. (2009) in History from Northwestern University. His work has been supported by grants from the American Council of Learned Societies, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the Max Weber Fellowship. Research interests emphasize urban food systems, spatial analysis of historical patterns, and digital methods. His book Feeding Gotham (2016) was recognized as one of the Financial Times' Best History Books. Current projects explore 19th-century urban peripheries and Indigenous urban systems in colonial Spanish America. Awards include Barnard's Gladys Brooks Teaching Award and a CaGIS Map Design Competition win. Courses taught include transnational urban history, New York City history, and spatial history methodologies. Collaborative efforts involve multidisciplinary teams across institutions, focusing on public-facing digital history projects.
Mélanie Ouvry is an Associate Professor and Dean of Faculty at MBS Education since 2017. With over 15 years of experience in higher education, she has held roles as program director for specialized master's programs, department head for marketing and interim management, and served as a communication strategy consultant at Publicis Group. Her research focuses on consumer behavior, retail dynamics, and cross-cultural marketing experiences. Her academic expertise includes strategic marketing, buyer behavior analysis, and advertising strategy. Key research themes explore multi-store shopping behaviors, consumer experience valuation, loyalty mechanisms, and the cognitive dimensions of retail environments. She has conducted extensive studies in retail distribution systems, communication strategies, and tourism-related consumer behavior in historical commercial districts like the Medina of Sousse. Her publications span topics from grocery shopping decision-making to television audience engagement, reflecting her interdisciplinary approach bridging marketing, cognitive science, and cultural studies. Teaching responsibilities include advanced marketing strategy courses and consumer behavior analysis modules.
Abdallah Houcheimi is a researcher at Åbo Akademi University's School of Business and Economics within the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. His work focuses on critical e-commerce mechanisms and emerging market digitalization challenges. His research expertise centers on online retailing ecosystems , with particular emphasis on: Secure payment system design and consumer trust dynamics Product information architecture for conversion optimization E-commerce adaptation in developing economies like Lebanon His work directly contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals related to industry innovation and infrastructure. Analysis of his recent publications reveals an evolving research trajectory from context-specific market studies (Lebanon 2022) toward fundamental e-tailing mechanics (global payment systems and product information 2024). This progression demonstrates increasing focus on universal digital commerce frameworks applicable across diverse regulatory and cultural environments. Houcheimi actively publishes in peer-reviewed venues including the Journal of Organizational Computing and Electronic Commerce and WorldCIST proceedings, with multiple open-access publications showing significant download metrics (70+ for payment systems paper). His collaborative work with J. Mezei indicates established research partnerships in information systems.
