Yu-Ru Lin is an Associate Professor at the School of Computing and Information, University of Pittsburgh, and serves as Research & Academic Director at the Institute for Cyber Law, Policy and Security (Pitt Cyber). She leads the Pitt Computational Social Dynamics Lab (PICSO Lab) and holds secondary appointments in Political Science, Computer Science, and the Intelligent Systems Program. PhD in Computer Science from Arizona State University Postdoctoral research at Harvard University and Northeastern University Her research focuses on computational approaches for: Networked social dynamics High-dimensional social information summarization Trust and distrust propagation Misinformation detection Policy diffusion analysis Recent publications span 2014-2020, covering: Social media crisis response Graph visualization techniques Policy diffusion patterns Misinformation mitigation Temporal topic modeling Scientific support includes: National Science Foundation (NSF) awards Minerva/ONR funding AFOSR grant for distrust modeling DARPA Understanding Group Biases program As director of PICSO Lab, she leads interdisciplinary research teams on: Digital accountability Urban mobility patterns Health informatics via crowdsourcing Trust-influence dynamics
Deian Stefan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). His research focuses on building secure systems through interdisciplinary approaches spanning security , programming languages , and systems . Key areas include WebAssembly security , JavaScript JITs , constant-time programming , memory safety , information flow control , and program analysis tools. He co-founded Intrinsic , a web-security startup later acquired by VMWare, and contributed to standards like W3C WebAppSec and Node.js Security Working Groups. Education: PhD in Computer Science from Stanford University (2015), advised by David Mazières, John C. Mitchell, and Alejandro Russo BE and ME in Electrical Engineering from Cooper Union (2011) Research Trends: His work targets secure systems (Web frameworks, sandboxing, runtime systems), language-based security (constant-time programming, memory safety), and verification for security . Recent publications focus on mitigating speculative execution attacks, hardware-assisted sandboxing, and WebAssembly security. Awards & Recognition: Distinguished Paper Award at POPL 2021 and IEEE MICRO Top Picks 2024 Best Paper Award at CollaborateCom 2010 2010.01 Prize by Daniel J. Bernstein (DJB) Most Influential Paper Award at ICFP 2022 Teaching: He has taught graduate and undergraduate courses including Graduate Computer Security (CSE 227) , Building Secure Systems with Rust , and Programming Languages: Principles and Paradigms at UCSD since 2018. Prior teaching experience includes Stanford and Cooper Union.
Catherine Lai is a Reader (~Associate Professor) in the Department of Linguistics and English Language at the University of Edinburgh, with strong affiliations to the Centre for Speech Technology Research (CSTR) and the Institute for Language, Cognition and Computation (ILCC) in the School of Informatics. She is based in the School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences and is actively involved in research, teaching, and academic service. Department: Department of Linguistics and English Language School: School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences Research Institutes: Centre for Speech Technology Research, Institute for Language, Cognition and Computation Email: C.Lai@ed.ac.uk Her research centers on the role of prosody—non-lexical aspects of speech—in spoken communication. She investigates how prosody contributes to discourse structure, information structure, and affect in dialogue, using interdisciplinary methods from linguistics and machine learning. Her work bridges theoretical linguistics and practical speech technology, aiming to improve spoken language understanding and synthesis systems. She is particularly interested in how prosody shapes listener expectations and how affect and topic are expressed and perceived in conversation. Her recent publications reflect a strong focus on self-supervised learning in speech models, emotion recognition, ASR error correction using large language models, cognitive state classification, and ethical considerations in language technology. She explores topics such as the uncanny valley in synthetic speech, gender expression through voice, and community-centered development of language technologies. Prize from Scopus Profile Catherine Lai has supervised several PhD students, including Leimin Tian and Yuanchao Li, and has been involved in significant research projects, such as a Toyota-funded initiative on spoken dialogue for robot companions. She has secured multiple grants and leads a research agenda that integrates theoretical inquiry with real-world applications in assistive technologies and social science. Her academic service includes organizing major conferences like Interspeech and UK and Ireland Speech. She is a key member of research teams at CSTR and ILCC, collaborating across disciplines to advance the understanding of spoken communication and the development of robust, ethical speech technologies.
Adriana Tapus is a Full Professor at ENSTA Paris, affiliated with Institut Polytechnique de Paris, leading the Autonomous Systems and Robotics Laboratory (SAR) within the Computer Science and Systems Engineering Unit (U2IS). She holds an HDR (Habilitation) and a PhD from EPFL, Switzerland, with postdoctoral experience at USC. Her research focuses on socially assistive robotics, human-robot interaction (HRI), and personalized therapy for individuals with physical/cognitive impairments. She directs the IP Paris Doctoral School and coordinates national/international projects like the EU-funded ENRICHME and SWEET. Education: PhD in Mobile Robotics, EPFL (2005) Habilitation (HDR), ENSTA Paris (2011) M.S. Computer Science, University Joseph Fourier Engineer, Politehnica University of Bucharest Research Interests: Tapus pioneers socially assistive robotics, integrating machine learning, human modeling, and multimodal communication (verbal/non-verbal/para-verbal). Her work addresses adaptive therapies for vulnerable populations using robotics, physiological data interpretation, and context-aware interaction. Key themes include: Human-robot cooperation and trust Emotion recognition and expression Personalized rehabilitation systems AI ethics and human-centered design Publications: Over 150 articles, with recent work exploring humor in HRI, teleoperation trust models, and cross-cultural intelligent vehicles. Notable 2025 contributions include studies on robot laughter efficacy and multimodal facial expression frameworks. Awards: 2025: 4 IROS papers accepted 2016: 25 Women in Robotics recognition 2010: Romanian Academy Award Multiple conference best paper awards (RO-MAN, ICRA, etc.) Advising & Grants: Supervised over 20 PhD students and led projects like EU Horizon 2020 ENRICHME. Current students focus on teleoperation dynamics, robot humor, and haptic interfaces. Active in editorial roles (IJSR, THRI) and conference organization (HRI General Chair 2019). Labs/Teams: Founder of RoboticsByDesign lab and co-initiator of the Hi! Paris interdisciplinary AI center. The SAR lab develops systems for healthcare, education, and human-robot collaboration.
Amy Bruckman is a Regents’ Professor and Senior Associate Chair in the School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Institute of Technology. As a Fellow of The ACM and member of the SIGCHI Academy , she contributes to social computing research focusing on online collaboration, cross-cultural understanding, and content moderation. Her 2022 book "Should You Believe Wikipedia? Online Communities and the Construction of Knowledge" explores digital knowledge creation. Education: Ph.D. from MIT Media Lab (1997), B.A. in Physics from Harvard (1987) Research Affiliations: GVU Center, IRI People and Technology Her work addresses social computing challenges including: AI ethics in human-AI interaction Algorithmic bias in content moderation Epistemic justice in online communities Comparative platform analysis (Reddit, Discord, TikTok) Grassroots technology movements Recent publications examine: AI support tools for online counseling Community-driven research frameworks Racial bias mitigation in toxic language detection Designing teachable social media experiences Human trafficking intervention ethics Scientific recognition includes: ACM Fellowship SIGCHI Academy membership She has contributed to: Georgia Tech's Computing Education initiatives Research ethics frameworks for Human-Computer Interaction
Pasquale Bottalico serves as Associate Professor in the Department of Speech and Hearing Science at the University of Illinois, with dual appointments as Associate Professor at the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies and Affiliate Faculty in the School of Music. His unique interdisciplinary profile bridges engineering, music performance, and speech science, reflecting his dual academic training and professional artistry. His educational foundation includes: Bachelor's in Telecommunications Engineering from Univeristà Mediterranea di Reggio Calabria, Italy Concurrent Opera Singing degree from F. Cilea Music Academy, Reggio Calabria Master's in Telecommunications Engineering from Politecnico di Torino, Italy Ph.D. in Metrology specializing in acoustics measurement uncertainty and classroom acoustics Dr. Bottalico's research centers on vocal load quantification and professional voice techniques , with significant contributions to understanding vocal fatigue in teachers and singers. His work spans Speech Intelligibility in educational environments, Room Acoustics for performance and learning spaces, and Musical Acoustics of historical vocal styles. A distinctive thread throughout his research examines how acoustic conditions modulate voice production and perception, increasingly incorporating virtual reality and bone conduction technologies for innovative assessment and intervention approaches. His Colombian vocal health study demonstrates cross-cultural applications of his work. Analysis of his 2023-2025 publications reveals three dominant research trajectories: (1) The impact of noise and dysphonia on children's speech processing in educational settings, using multimodal assessment including EEG; (2) Virtual reality applications for voice production research and therapeutic intervention; (3) Cross-cultural validation of vocal fatigue metrics and development of biofeedback systems. His work consistently bridges engineering precision with clinical applicability, particularly for professional voice users in challenging acoustic environments. No scientific awards were documented in the available information. While specific advising relationships aren't detailed, his research collaborations span international institutions including Colombian and Italian universities, suggesting graduate mentorship in interdisciplinary projects. No grant information was provided, though his systematic reviews and cross-cultural studies imply externally funded research activities. Though no dedicated laboratory is specified, his virtual reality voice studies and acoustic parameter assessments suggest affiliations with audio engineering facilities and voice clinics, likely through the Speech and Hearing Science department's research infrastructure.
Liping Liu is a Professor in the Department of Management at The University of Akron's College of Business. He holds a Ph.D. in Business from the University of Kansas (1995), Master of Engineering in Systems Engineering (1991), and dual bachelor's degrees in Applied Mathematics (1986) and River Dynamics (1987). Ph.D., University of Kansas MS, Huazhong University of Science and Technology B.E., Wuhan University BS, Huazhong University of Science and Technology His research spans Artificial Intelligence , Electronic Business , Systems Analysis , Data Quality , and Belief Function Theory . He pioneered coarse utility theory and linear belief functions , now taught in top Ph.D. programs across multiple disciplines. Key trends in his publications include Belief Function Applications (2012-2024), Medical Data Systems (2003-2015), and Decision Theory (2004-2014). Recent works focus on Gamma Belief Functions (2024) and computational improvements in linear belief function operations (2019-2016). Scientific contributions recognized via: Microsoft Azure Educator Grant (2014-2016) Inclusion in Who's Who in America (2010-2013) and Who's Who in the World (2011-2013) As an editor and committee member for major conferences (INFORMS, AMCIS, Belief Functions conferences), he bridges academic research with practical systems implementation in e-business and healthcare domains.
Alexis Battle is an Associate Professor at Johns Hopkins University with appointments in Biomedical Engineering , Computer Science , and Genetic Medicine (secondary). She directs the Malone Center for Engineering in Healthcare and serves as Deputy Director of the Data Science and AI Institute . Educated at Stanford University (PhD in Computer Science, 2013), Battle transitioned to academia after leadership roles at Google. Research Focus: Battle’s work bridges genomics and machine learning , emphasizing the impact of genetic variation on human health. Her lab develops tools like Watershed to predict functional effects of rare variants, aiming to enhance rare disease diagnosis. Key themes include non-coding DNA analysis , personalized genomics , and systems biology , with applications in cardiovascular disease and neurodegenerative disorders . Publications & Awards: Over 60 peer-reviewed articles in journals like Nature , Science , and Genome Biology , with recent emphasis on single-cell transcriptomics , multiomics integration , and telomere biology . Recipient of the President’s Frontier Award (2022), Microsoft Investigator Fellowship (2019), and Searle Scholar (2016). Scientific Awards: 2022 President’s Frontier Award 2019 Microsoft Investigator Fellowship 2019 Johns Hopkins Discovery Award 2017 Johns Hopkins Catalyst Award 2016 Searle Scholar Advising & Funding: Mentors 11 PhD students, 3 undergraduates, and postdoctoral fellows. Her research is funded by NIH, Searle Scholars, and institutional grants. The Battle Lab collaborates on projects like the GTEx Consortium , focusing on gene regulation and clinical genomics .
Jens Edlund is a Professor at KTH Royal Institute of Technology's Division of Speech, Music and Hearing. His research focuses on speech technology, dialogue systems, prosody, and evolutionary phonetics. He has contributed to foundational work on speech synthesis, conversational interaction, and multimodal corpora like the D64 corpus. Key projects include the MonAMI Reminder system and analysis of primate vocalizations to understand speech evolution. Edlund has collaborated extensively with global researchers, producing over 150 peer-reviewed works. His work integrates computational methods with linguistic and biological insights, emphasizing human-like dialogue systems and cross-species vocal analysis. Education: Ph.D. in Speech Technology (2011, KTH) Grants: Multiple EU and Swedish Research Council grants for speech technology and interdisciplinary studies Research labs include the KTH Speech, Music and Hearing Lab and collaborations with institutions like Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. Current work explores evolutionary origins of speech biomechanics and AI-driven speech synthesis evaluation.
Professor Janet B. Pierrehumbert is a leading academic in computational linguistics and natural language processing, holding the position of Professor of Language Modelling at the Oxford e-Research Centre, University of Oxford. She is also a Senior Research Fellow at Trinity College and affiliated with the Faculty of Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics. Her work bridges interdisciplinary research in phonology, sociolinguistics, and computational models of language dynamics. Education: PhD in Linguistics from MIT (1980), A.B. in Linguistics from Harvard University (1975). Research Interests: Focuses on computational linguistics, dialect variation, language dynamics, and the societal impacts of NLP. Her group develops algorithms for analyzing social media discourse, forecasting trends, and modeling language evolution. Recent work includes studies on dialect fairness in LLMs and semantic shifts in political discourse. Key Projects: EPSRC-funded research on online forum dynamics, the Wordovators project on lexical innovation, and collaborations with institutions like the Oxford Man Institute. Her work emphasizes robust NLP systems and theoretical linguistics. Awards: ISCA Medal (2020), National Academy of Sciences membership (2019), Fellowships from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and Cognitive Science Society. Grants & Advising: Over £6M in research funding, including EPSRC and Templeton grants. Supervised over 30 PhD students and postdocs, many now leading academics and industry researchers in NLP and linguistics. Labs/Teams: Leads the Pierrehumbert Language Modelling Group, collaborating with the Oxford e-Research Centre and international partners like Stanford and the University of Canterbury.
Srijan Kumar is an Assistant Professor in the School of Computational Science and Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology's College of Computing. His research focuses on data science, AI for security, and online safety, addressing challenges in detecting malicious users, misinformation, and enhancing AI robustness. His work has been deployed in platforms like Flipkart and Wikipedia, and recognized through awards such as the NSF CAREER and Forbes 30 Under 30. Education: B.Tech from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur Ph.D. in Computer Science from University of Maryland, College Park Postdoctoral training at Stanford University Research Interests: Multi-modal/multi-lingual detection of harmful content and users Adversarial robustness of AI models Graph and network analysis for early detection Responsible recommender systems Awards & Grants: NSF CAREER Award (2023) Kavli Fellow (2022) Facebook/Adobe Faculty Awards NSF Convergence Accelerator Phase II grant ($5M) Advising & Labs: Leads the CLAWS Lab, advising over 20 students. Active in mentoring through conferences and NSF-funded projects.
Prof. Matthias Nießner is a Professor at the Technical University of Munich , where he leads the Visual Computing Lab . Prior to this, he held a Visiting Assistant Professor position at Stanford University . His work bridges computer vision , graphics , and machine learning , focusing on 3D reconstruction , semantic scene understanding , and AI-driven video synthesis . Prof. Nießner has published over 150 works in top venues like SIGGRAPH , CVPR , and ECCV , with several receiving best paper awards (SIGCHI’14, HPG’15, SPG’18, SIGGRAPH’16 Emerging Tech). His research has garnered international media attention, including features in the New York Times , Wall Street Journal , and MIT Technological Review , as well as TV demonstrations (e.g., Jimmy Kimmel Live for Face2Face technology). Awards : TUM-IAS Rudolph Moessbauer Fellowship (2017–ongoing) Google Faculty Award (2017) Nvidia Professor Partnership Award (2018) ERC Starting Grant (2018, €1.5M) Eurographics Young Researcher Award (2019) Research Trends : 3D Gaussian Splatting for real-time rendering Neural Radiance Fields (NeRF) with mesh supervision Audio-driven facial animation via diffusion models Latent space diffusion for 3D scenes Self-supervised and zero-shot methods for 3D and image analysis As a co-founder and director of Synthesia Inc. , he drives democratization of synthetic media. His YouTube channel has over 5 million views, reflecting his impact beyond academia.
Dr. Olle Järv is an Academy Research Fellow at the University of Helsinki's Department of Geosciences and Geography. As Docent in Human Geography and holder of a joint PhD from University of Tartu and Ghent University, his research focuses on leveraging big data sources like mobile phone records and social media for analyzing human mobility patterns across European cross-border regions. Key research areas: Spatial segregation, urban diversity, transnationalism, and pandemic-induced mobility changes Current projects: BORDERSPACE (2020-2025) – Mapping transnational spaces through mobility data MOBI-TWIN (2023-2026) – Regional mobility patterns in twin transitions WinWin4WorkLife (2024-2027) – Sustainable cross-border remote work His methodological innovations include developing tools for analyzing social media data and mobile phone records to study urban dynamics. Recent recognitions include the 2024 Research Council of Finland Award and 2021 Best Paper Award from Journal of Location Based Services.
James McCann is an Associate Professor at the Carnegie Mellon Robotics Institute, where he leads the Carnegie Mellon Textiles Lab. He has been a faculty member since May 2017 after working at Disney Research Pittsburgh. McCann's academic journey includes a PhD from Carnegie Mellon advised by Nancy Pollard, followed by a postdoc at Adobe Research and a period developing video games. McCann's research focuses on building creative tools that operate in real-time and build user intuition, with particular emphasis on textiles fabrication and machine knitting. His work spans computer-aided fabrication, simulation, graphics, and creative tools development. He has pioneered systems for machine knitting design, including compilers for knitting instructions and tools for automatic conversion of 3D meshes to knitting patterns. His recent publications demonstrate a strong trend toward computational textiles, with significant contributions to knitting semantics, deployable textile structures, and applications of machine knitting in healthcare and robotics. McCann's work bridges computer science, robotics, and textile arts, creating practical systems for once-off manufacturing with industrial knitting machines. McCann actively mentors students, with current PhD candidates working on solid knitting machines, knit calibration, and assistive devices. His teaching portfolio includes courses on Real-Time Graphics, Algorithmic Textiles Design, and Game Programming. He has taught at CMU since 2017, developing innovative courses that blend computer science with physical fabrication. As director of the Textiles Lab, McCann oversees research projects spanning machine knitting, robotic painting, and real-time graphics systems. His lab develops practical tools for creators, emphasizing intuitive interfaces and real-time feedback that lower barriers to advanced fabrication techniques.
Changxi Zheng is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Columbia University's School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS). He directs Columbia's Computer Graphics Group (C2G2) within the Columbia Vision and Graphics Center (CVGC). After receiving his PhD from Cornell University, he joined the faculty of Computer Science Department at Columbia, where he has established himself as a leading researcher in computer graphics and scientific computing. Dr. Zheng's research spans multiple areas of applied computer science with a particular focus on computer graphics and scientific computing. His work centers around developing numerical models for simulating physical phenomena involving complex motions such as fluids, bubbles, and thin rods, along with their resulting acoustic waves. Leveraging computational insights from these models, he devises methods for improving tangible object creation, enabling novel human-computer interactions, and developing software tools for acoustic and photonic devices. His research has attracted significant public interest and media coverage, including projects like FontCode, AirCode, and Computational Metallophone Design. His recent publications reveal a strong interdisciplinary approach, bridging computer graphics, physics simulation, machine learning, and hardware design. His work demonstrates consistent innovation in computational methods for simulating physical phenomena and applying these techniques to practical problems in 3D printing, acoustic modeling, and interactive systems. The breadth of his research spans from fundamental physics-based simulations to practical applications in industry. Columbia SEAS Dean's Fellow (for advised students) NSF Graduate Research Fellow (for Ruilin Xu) Snap Research Fellow (for Rundi Wu) CKGSB Fellow (for Yun Fei) Adobe Research Fellow (for Gabriel Cirio) Marie Sklodowska-Curie Individual Fellow (for Rundi Wu) Best Paper Award at ACM International Conference on Multimedia (ACMMM), 2019 Dr. Zheng actively mentors a diverse group of students, including current PhD candidates and postdoctoral researchers. His research group has received support from various sources that enable their innovative work in computational graphics and physics-based simulation. He has supervised numerous successful students who have gone on to positions at leading technology companies including Adobe, Tencent, Facebook, and academic institutions. As director of Columbia's Computer Graphics Group (C2G2) within the Columbia Vision and Graphics Center (CVGC), Dr. Zheng leads a vibrant research team focused on advancing the state of the art in computer graphics, physics-based simulation, and their applications. The group maintains strong collaborations with industry partners and academic institutions worldwide, fostering an environment of innovation and practical application of theoretical concepts.
