Jan Herbst is a Professor of Music at the University of Huddersfield and Director of the Centre for Research in Music and its Technologies. His academic journey includes multiple doctorates (PhD, Dr. habil.) from Leuphana University Lüneburg and research expertise in popular music studies, music production, and systematic musicology. He leads AHRC-funded projects such as 'Heaviness in Metal Music Production' and 'Songwriting Camps in the 21st Century.' His work bridges practical music production and theoretical research, with over 80 publications including books like The Cambridge Companion to Metal Music and Heaviness in Metal Music Production . Herbst’s research focuses on metal music aesthetics, record production techniques, and the cultural dimensions of music technology. He has held roles at German and Swiss universities, including teaching guitar performance and music production. His editorial roles include the Cambridge Companions series and journals like Metal Music Studies . Current projects explore blockchain in music, gear acquisition syndrome, and extreme metal vocal techniques. His academic affiliations include the IASPM UK & I executive committee and editorial boards for major musicology publications. Herbst actively engages with industry through collaborations with producers and performers, maintaining a balance between academic rigor and practical music creation.
David Lindlbauer is an Assistant Professor at the Human-Computer Interaction Institute (HCII) of Carnegie Mellon University, where he leads the Augmented Perception Lab and co-directs the CMU Extended Reality Technology Center. His research bridges human perception, extended reality (AR/VR), and computational interaction techniques, focusing on developing systems that dynamically adapt interface elements based on environmental context, user cognition, and task requirements. He completed his PhD at TU Berlin under Prof. Marc Alexa and held a postdoctoral position at ETH Zurich's Advanced Interactive Technologies lab. His work has been published extensively at top venues including ACM CHI, UIST, and IEEE VR, with research themes spanning gaze tracking, spatial audio optimization, haptic feedback, and multimodal notification systems. Media outlets like MIT Technology Review and Fast Company Design have featured his innovations. Dr. Lindlbauer has received prestigious grants from Meta, NSF, and ETH Zurich, and serves on program committees for CHI, UIST, and ISMAR. He has been recognized with Best Paper awards at ISS 2023 and CHI 2016, and his lab develops tools like MineXR for personalized XR interfaces and RealityReplay for temporal change visualization in mixed reality environments.
Dhruv Jain is an Assistant Professor in the Computer Science and Engineering Department at the University of Michigan , with affiliations in the School of Information and Michigan Medicine . He leads the Soundability Lab , focusing on transforming hearing into a programmable interface through human-centered AI systems. PhD from University of Washington MS from MIT Media Lab Formerly worked at Microsoft Research, Google, and Apple Research Interests intersect Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) , Audio AI , Accessibility , and Hearing Health . His work develops systems like SoundWatch (smartwatch-based sound awareness) and HomeSound (IoT sound visualization) to expand auditory access for DHH individuals and other domains. Recent Publications (2023–2025) span top venues like CHI , ASSETS , and ICMI , with trends including generative AI for real-time captioning , adaptive soundscapes , and clinical communication tools . SIGCHI Outstanding Dissertation Award (2023) William Chan Memorial Dissertation Award (2023) Best Poster Award at ASSETS 2024 Google Academic Research Award (2024) NIH Grant ($450k, 2023) William Demant Foundation Grant ($740k, 2025) Teaching includes Accessible Computing (undergraduate) and Advanced Accessibility (graduate), alongside global DIY workshops in five countries. The Soundability Lab collaborates with neuroscientists, clinicians, and Deaf scholars to create deployable systems like clinical communication tools now at Michigan Medicine and features integrated into Apple devices.
Britney Schmidt is Associate Professor in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and Astronomy at Cornell University, where she leads the Planetary Habitability and Technology Lab. She develops robotic tools like the Icefin underwater vehicle to study Earth's ice shelves and glaciers, providing insights into climate change and analogs for ocean worlds like Europa. Her research bridges glaciology, planetary science, and astrobiology. Research focuses on ocean world habitability, ice-ocean interactions, and Antarctic climate systems. Fieldwork includes extensive campaigns in Antarctica and the Arctic using robotic explorers. Recent publications explore Europa's habitability, Thwaites Glacier dynamics, microbial communities in hypersaline environments, and planetary analog studies. Technical developments include novel instrumentation for under-ice exploration. Awarded the 2024 Blavatnik National Award for groundbreaking research. Leads multiple international collaborations including NASA's Europa Clipper mission and Thwaites Glacier projects.
Golan Levin is Professor of Electronic Art at Carnegie Mellon University's School of Art, with courtesy appointments in the School of Design, School of Architecture, School of Computer Science, and Entertainment Technology Center. From 2009 to 2022, he served as Director and Co-Director of CMU's Frank-Ratchye STUDIO for Creative Inquiry, a laboratory dedicated to supporting atypical, anti-disciplinary research at the intersection of arts, science, technology, and culture. Levin's research spans interactive art, digital fabrication, information visualization, and generative design. He explores the critical potential of visualization, generative computation for expressive form, and how abstraction connects to realities beyond language. His practice engages interactive gestural robotics, nonverbal interaction aesthetics, and tactical applications of personal digital fabrication through responsive artifacts and media provocations that highlight human-machine relationships. His publications reveal consistent innovation in real-time audiovisual systems, interactive fabrication interfaces, and pedagogic tools for artists. Key trends include slit-scan video techniques, tangible augmented-reality performance, and noise-based visualizations, demonstrating his commitment to expanding human action vocabulary through digital media while bridging artistic expression with computational systems. Levin's work has received significant recognition: Permanent collection inclusion at Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) Whitney Biennial exhibition "50 Designers Shaping the Future" by Fast Company (2012) Competitive grants from National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, Creative Capital, and Rockefeller MAP Fund As an educator, Levin teaches "studio courses in computer science" on interactive art, experimental capture, and generative design, emphasizing computation as a medium for critical inquiry. His research funding from major cultural institutions supports interdisciplinary exploration at the arts-technology nexus. The Frank-Ratchye STUDIO for Creative Inquiry, which he directed for 13 years, remains a vital hub for anti-disciplinary collaboration, continuing his legacy of fostering creative agency through technology-infused artistic practice.
Mikael B. Skov is a Vice Dean and Professor at the Technical Faculty of IT and Design of Aalborg University , Denmark. His research spans human-AI interaction, robotics, and user experience, with a focus on trust signaling in clinical AI, swarm robotics, and sound zones for domestic environments. Role: Vice Dean for Research Department: Computer Science Research Interests: Skov investigates how humans interact with AI and robots in healthcare and domestic settings, emphasizing trust calibration, alert design, and acoustic comfort. His work includes developing frameworks for UX maturity in robotics organizations and studying long-term adoption of sound zone systems. Recent Projects: As principal/co-investigator, he leads the HERD project on human-AI collaboration in robot swarms (2021–2025) and supervises Data og Bæredygtig Mad (2020–2023), an HCI perspective on sustainable food systems. Publications: His 2024 work includes studies on AI explanations in clinical training, music applications with intermittent interactions, and multi-robot supervision. Earlier projects (2001–2020) focused on mobile device usability, UX practices, and context-aware computing.
Maarten Hornikx is a Full Professor in Building Acoustics at the Department of the Built Environment , Eindhoven University of Technology. He serves as Vice-Dean of the department, leads the Building Acoustics Chair of Unit Building Physics and Services (BPS), and coordinates the Science of Sound and Music course series since 2013. His research focuses on computational modeling of sound propagation in built environments, with applications in mixed reality platforms and numerical analysis of outdoor/indoor propagation effects like vegetation and meteorological influences. Education : PhD in Applied Acoustics (Chalmers University of Technology, 2009); MSc in Architecture, Building and Planning (2004) Hornikx promotes open research software in acoustics and has received multiple grants, including Marie Curie Individual and Career Integration Grants. His recent publications explore AI-driven diffusion equation modeling, acoustic absorber optimization, and advanced numerical methods like the discontinuous Galerkin technique. He has held international leadership roles, including chairing the Computational Acoustics Technical Committee of the European Acoustics Association and serving as Associate Editor for Acta Acustica . Scientific Awards : Marie Curie Fellowship (2009-2011); Marie Curie Career Integration Grant (2012); 4TU.Built Environment Center Scientific Director (2020-2021); eScience Center Fellow (2022) As a research leader, Hornikx guided the H2020-ITN Acoutect project and conducted sabbaticals at Aalto University, Stockholm University (2018), and Politecnico Torino (2022). His group emphasizes computational acoustics and open-source tools to enhance reproducibility and collaboration.
Florian 'Floyd' Mueller is a Professor of Future Interfaces at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, where he directs the award-winning Exertion Games Lab within the Department of Human-Centred Computing (ranked among the top 20 HCI departments globally). Previously, he held positions at RMIT University, Stanford, University of Melbourne, Microsoft Research, MIT Media Lab, Fuji-Xerox Palo Alto Labs, Xerox Parc, and Australia's CSIRO. Mueller is a member of the prestigious ACM SIGCHI Academy, an honorary group recognizing leaders who have made substantial contributions to Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). Professor Mueller's research focuses on the intersections between technology, the human body, and play. He originated the concept of "Exertion Interface," arguing that we should not just design "easy-to-use" interactions when "hard-to-use" interactions can also be beneficial. His work spans movement-based interactions, whole-body interfaces, uncomfortable interactions, somaesthetics, and exertion games. Mueller's research methodology often employs research through design, design ethnography, and autoethnography to explore these novel interaction paradigms, incorporating mixed-reality, augmented reality, virtual reality, electronic muscle stimulation, biosensors, wearables, and drones. His recent publications demonstrate a continued focus on bodily interactions and human-computer integration, with particular emphasis on emerging subfields like WaterHCI and SportsHCI, brain-computer interfaces, and gustosonic (taste and sound) experiences. Mueller's work has evolved from foundational exertion game concepts to more sophisticated explorations of human-computer integration where technology becomes seamlessly woven into the fabric of human experience. Professor Mueller's contributions have been widely recognized with numerous awards including: Inaugural honouree of the Australian Design Centre's Design Honours Tall Poppy award for "intellectual and scientific excellence" 10 "Best Paper Honorable Mentions" (top 5%) from premier HCI conferences 2 "Best Paper" awards (top 1%) at CHI PLAY and CHI Shortlisted for the European Innovation Games Award (alongside Nintendo's WiiFit) Nokia Mindtrek Ubimedia Award Mueller has successfully secured some of Australia's largest and most competitive research grants, achieving a remarkable 14% success rate on Australian Research Council Discovery Project applications. He has served as General co-Chair for CHI PLAY'18 and CHI'20, becoming the first Australian-based researcher to spearhead HCI's highest-ranked publication outlet, and is currently General co-Chair for CHI'24. He is Associate Editor for tier A journals including Elsevier's IJHCS (International Journal of Human-Computer Studies) and ACM's IMWUT (Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies). As director of the Exertion Games Lab, Mueller leads a research team whose innovations have been experienced by over 20,000 users across 3 continents and featured on the BBC, ABC, Discovery Science Channel, and Wired magazine. The lab has produced groundbreaking work in bodily interfaces, co-founding the CHI PLAY conference series and establishing new research directions in SportsHCI and WaterHCI through recent "Grand Challenges" papers. Mueller's lab continues to push boundaries with projects exploring brain-to-brain interfaces, lucid dreaming induction, and novel gustosonic experiences.
Juha Järvelä is a Staff Scientist at the Department of Built Environment , Aalto University, and a member of the Aalto Environmental Hydraulics Lab . His research focuses on environmental hydraulics, particularly on Hydraulics of environmental channels Modeling of vegetated flows Environmentally sound hydraulic engineering Järvelä's research spans fluid dynamics in river systems, with an emphasis on vegetation-flow-sediment interactions. Key areas include flow resistance in flexible and rigid vegetation, hydrodynamic modeling of floodplains, and nature-based solutions for water management. His recent publications investigate Blockage effects of woody vegetation Longitudinal dispersion in patchy vegetation Two-stage channel performance in agricultural settings Hydrodynamic characterization of natural-like plants Järvelä has received notable scientific recognition, including 2014 : Outstanding Reviewer Award from the American Geophysical Union for Water Resources Research 2005 : Doctoral Dissertation Award from the Oskari Vilamo Foundation Contact: juha.jarvela@aalto.fi | Phone: +358505626727 | Postal: Tietotie 1 E, 02150 Espoo, Finland
Robert Likamwa is an Associate Professor at Arizona State University, affiliated with the School of Arts, Media and Engineering and the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering. His research focuses on the intersection of mobile computing, augmented reality, and sensor design through Meteor Studio. Ph.D., Rice University M.S., Rice University B.S., Rice University His work spans three core research arcs: (i) advanced visual capture systems, (ii) hybrid virtual-physical immersion through sensory augmentation, and (iii) data-driven frameworks for AR/VR storytelling. He explores mobile operating systems, low-power architectures, computational imaging, and holographic computing. Recent publications analyze multi-resolution visual sensing, geospatial cross-virtuality collaboration, planetary data visualization, spatial audio optimization, and multi-sensory virtual environments. His 2013 paper on energy-proportional image sensors received the Best Paper Award at ACM MobiSys. Best Paper Award, ACM MobiSys 2013 LiKamWa advises graduate students through research and thesis courses and leads grants related to mobile vision systems, haptic interfaces, and energy-efficient sensor design. He directs Meteor Studio, a research group focused on immersive technology innovation.
Jonathan Nangle is a Lecturer in Music Technology and Electro-Acoustic Composition at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. His work spans acoustic/electro-acoustic composition, live electronics, installations, and improvisation. Educated at Trinity College Dublin under Donnacha Dennehy, Rob Canning, and later privately with Kevin Volans, his music has been performed by ensembles like RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra and Crash Ensemble. Research interests include spatial music, interactive installations, and hybrid acoustic/digital forms. Notable works include Pause (Ergodos, 2017), Iridescent Cobalt Glow (2015), and our headlights blew softly... which earned a 2009 Rostrum commendation. Awards include dual Irish Rostrum representations (2009/2011) and the 2007 AIC/Music 21 Prize. Recordings span solo piano works to ensemble commissions, often integrating innovative electronic elements. His work has been broadcast internationally and choreographed for stage/film. Current roles include academic teaching and ongoing creative exploration at the intersection of technology and traditional composition.
Brendan Regan is an Associate Professor of Spanish & Linguistics at Texas Tech University, directing the Sociolinguistics & Bilingualism Research Lab. He coordinates Hispanic Linguistics programs at both undergraduate and graduate levels. His research focuses on sociolinguistics, sociophonetics, and language variation, employing mixed-methods approaches including experimental design, corpus analysis, and discourse analysis. Education: Ph.D., The University of Texas at Austin (2017) M.A., Temple University B.A., University of Richmond Research Interests: His work addresses sociolinguistic variation, bilingualism, SLA, dialect contact, and language attitudes. Recent studies explore phonetic variation in Andalusian Spanish, language ideologies in heritage speakers, and place-name variation in Texas. Lab & Collaborations: The lab focuses on language variation in West Texas, offering research opportunities for students. Collaborative projects include corpus-based analyses of Spanish dialects and experimental studies on listener perception.
David Lindlbauer is an Assistant Professor at Carnegie Mellon University's Human-Computer Interaction Institute (HCII), where he leads the Augmented Perception Lab and co-directs the CMU Extended Reality Technology Center. His research focuses on advancing Mixed Reality (MR) and Extended Reality (XR) interfaces through computational interaction methods that optimize spatial, temporal, and multimodal feedback.
Nina Balcan is the Cadence Design Systems Professor of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University's School of Computer Science, with affiliations in both the Machine Learning Department (MLD) and Computer Science Department (CSD). She maintains her office in Gates Hillman Center (GHC) 8205 and is a prominent figure in theoretical machine learning and algorithmic game theory. Her research spans multiple critical areas in computer science, with a strong focus on the theoretical foundations of machine learning, algorithm design and analysis, and computational approaches to game theory and economics. Balcan has made significant contributions to developing principled algorithms for deep learning, learning with limited supervision, representation learning, and life-long learning. Her work uniquely bridges theoretical computer science with practical applications, particularly in the analysis of complex objects and processes, including algorithmic learning and multi-agent systems. Analysis of her recent publications reveals a strong trend toward data-driven algorithm design, with particular emphasis on learning to optimize combinatorial algorithms, revenue-maximizing mechanisms, and robust learning frameworks. Her work consistently demonstrates how theoretical guarantees can inform practical algorithm development across diverse domains from optimization to economics. Major Awards and Honors: ACM Fellow AAAI Fellow Simons Investigator 2019 ACM Grace Murray Hopper Award (awarded to the outstanding young computer professional of the year) Winner of Outstanding Student Paper Award at UAI 2024 Winner of Exemplary Artificial Intelligence Track Paper Award at ACM EC 2019 Runner Up Best Paper Award at COLT 2012 Professor Balcan has served as Program Committee Co-chair for major conferences including NeurIPS 2020, ICML 2016, and COLT 2014, demonstrating her leadership in the machine learning community. Her teaching portfolio at CMU includes foundational courses such as 10-701 Machine Learning, 10-315 Machine Learning, and 10-715 Advanced Introduction to Machine Learning, where she has mentored numerous students in both theoretical and applied aspects of the field. Her research group focuses on developing theoretically sound yet practically applicable machine learning algorithms, with particular attention to algorithm configuration, data-driven optimization, and learning in strategic environments. Current projects involve learning to improve combinatorial algorithms, designing revenue-maximizing mechanisms, and developing robust learning frameworks that can operate effectively in challenging environments.
David Lindlbauer is an Assistant Professor at the Human-Computer Interaction Institute (HCII) within Carnegie Mellon University's School of Computer Science. He leads the Augmented Perception Lab and co-directs the CMU Extended Reality Technology Center (XRTC) . His research bridges Human-Computer Interaction, Computer Graphics, and Computer Vision to create adaptive interfaces that enhance human-digital interaction. Education : PhD (summa cum laude) from Technische Universität Berlin , MSc and BSc from University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria Previous Affiliation : Postdoctoral Researcher at ETH Zurich (2018-2020) David's research focuses on understanding human perception of digital information and developing computational approaches to optimize AR/VR interface usability. Key areas include: Context-aware adaptive interfaces Visual saliency and attention modeling Spatial audio-haptic systems Optimal placement algorithms Object manipulation in Remixed Reality Diminished/ambient MR interfaces His 15 most recent publications (2024-2025) span topics in adaptive XR interfaces, multimodal notifications, haptic systems, and spatial cognition. These works appear at venues like ACM CHI, ACM UIST, IEEE VR, and Frontiers in VR. Common themes include: Machine learning for interface adaptation Human factors in XR design Real-time environment analysis Privacy-aware display systems Collaborative MR interfaces Accessibility enhancements Scientific Recognition : Best Paper Honorable Mention Award (ACM CHI 2024) Best Paper Award (ACM ISS 2023) ETH Zurich Postdoctoral Fellowship Multiple best paper recognitions at CHI, UIST, and IEEE VR Teaching & Leadership : Course developer for CMU's "Interactive Extended Reality" Mentor for NASA SUITS Challenge team Co-chair roles at CHI and UIST Overseeing PhD students and research interns
