Stefano NASINI is an Associate Professor at the University of Lille 3, specializing in Quantitative Methods within the Economics and Mathematics Sciences. He holds a HDR (Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches) from the University of Lille 3 (2021), a Ph.D. in Statistics and Operations Research from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (2015), and a Master in Statistics (2011). His research focuses on optimization, complex networks, statistical inference, and microeconomic applications. He has held academic positions including a post-doctoral role at IESE Business School (2014–2016) and a visiting researcher role at the University of Lisbon (2014). His work spans scheduling optimization, network analysis, financial contagion modeling, and energy system planning. Key contributions include specialized algorithms for large-scale optimization problems and frameworks for decentralized portfolio management. He is a member of the LEM research group and teaches courses in optimization, econometrics, and social network analysis at the Grande École and MSc levels. Publications highlight interdisciplinary applications, including network-based diffusion models, multi-market financial strategies, and dynamic choice analysis. His research bridges theoretical advancements in operations research with practical challenges in economics, energy, and transportation systems. No scientific awards are explicitly listed in the provided materials. His advising roles and grants are not detailed here, but his extensive publication record reflects active collaboration within academic and applied domains.
Marc Pollefeys is a Full Professor at the Department of Computer Science, ETH Zurich, and Director of the Microsoft Mixed Reality and AI Lab. His work focuses on advanced perception systems for HoloLens, 3D computer vision, robotics, and machine learning. Key contributions include automated 3D modeling from video, real-time reconstruction pipelines, and vision-based autonomous systems. Education: PhD from KU Leuven (1999) Previous Affiliation: Professor at UNC Chapel Hill Research interests span 3D reconstruction , computer vision , robotics , SLAM , augmented reality , and privacy-preserving mapping . His work often integrates geometric modeling , feature matching , and deep learning . Recent projects emphasize implicit 3D representations , open-vocabulary scene understanding , and robust estimation using neural-guided algorithms. Recent publications highlight advancements in neural implicit fields , line-based correspondence , and vision-language integration . Trends include hybrid point-line methods, differentiable RANSAC, and privacy-aware localization frameworks. Scientific recognition includes: IEEE Fellow (2012) David Marr Prize (ICCV 1998) DAGM Best Paper Award (1999) Advisees include current and alumni PhD students such as Yagız Aksoy, Federico Camposeco, and Sudipta Sinha. Collaborations span institutions like UNC Chapel Hill, ETH Zurich, and Microsoft Zurich. Research sponsors include Microsoft, Google, and European research initiatives.
Connor Coley is the Henri Slezynger (1957) Career Development Assistant Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) School of Engineering. His research bridges chemistry and machine learning, focusing on autonomous molecular discovery, predictive chemistry, and laboratory automation. Education: Ph.D., MIT (2019) M.S.CEP., MIT (2016) B.S., Caltech (2014) Research Interests: Dr. Coley’s work centers on domain-informed machine learning for chemistry, computer-aided molecular design, and autonomous laboratories. Key themes include predictive modeling of chemical reactivity, optimization of synthesis pathways, and integration of AI with experimental data for drug discovery and materials science. Publications: His recent articles highlight advancements in AI-driven reaction prediction, molecular representation learning, and laboratory automation. Trends include applications of Bayesian optimization, contrastive learning, and diffusion models to chemical discovery. Scientific Awards: Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award (2025) James W. Swan Outstanding Faculty (2025) Schmidt Futures AI2050 Early Career Fellow (2022) NSF CAREER Award (2021) Forbes 30 Under 30: Healthcare (2019) Software & Tools: He leads the open-source ASKCOS software suite for synthesis planning, adopted by 35,000+ chemists and deployed at 15+ pharmaceutical companies. His team also develops tools for metabolomics and molecular representation learning.
Jacky Bourgeois is an Assistant Professor of Data-Centric Design at Delft University of Technology's Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering (IDE), leading the Data-Centric Delft Design Lab. His work bridges Human-Computer Interaction, Data Science, and Participatory Design, focusing on methods like data donation to empower collaborative data exploration. He holds a computer science background, previously researching ubiquitous technologies for domestic energy practices of 'energy farmers' (solar households). Key projects include the PROMISE study on patient-led oncological care and the Data Donation initiative promoting ethical data practices. Education: Background in Computer Science; academic focus on sustainable design engineering and IoT. Teaching includes courses like 'Data-Centric Design for...' (2024) and 'Digital Product Development' (2023). Research Interests: Data as subjective inquiry material, data intimacy, data commons, and human-data interaction in home contexts. Notable contributions include PAIRcolator for collaborative data reflection and Tangi for 360° video insights. Awards include Best Paper at CHI 2025 and DIS '24 Best Paper. Grants & Collaborations: NWO-funded research on hospital sounds (2024), IoT Rapid Proto Labs for industry-academia partnerships, and ancillary role as a scientific employee at The Open University (2025–2027). Labs & Teams: Director of the Data-Centric Delft Design Lab; collaborates with the HCI Data & Design SIG. Current projects address ethical frameworks for data donation and patient-centered healthcare systems.
Andrea Bajcsy serves as an Assistant Professor in the Robotics Institute and School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University, leading the Interactive and Trustworthy Robotics Lab (Intent Lab). Her work focuses on enabling robots to safely interact with open-world environments through novel algorithms in control theory and machine learning. Her educational background includes a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science from UC Berkeley under Anca Dragan and Claire Tomlin, followed by a postdoctoral position with Jitendra Malik and industry experience at NVIDIA's Autonomous Vehicle Research Group. Research centers on quantifying robot confidence, computing safe interaction policies for nuanced hazards (tearing, spilling, breaking), and aligning AI with human values. Key methodologies integrate optimal control, reinforcement learning, dynamic game theory, and deep learning, applied to robotic arms, quadrotors, quadrupeds, and autonomous vehicles. Core areas include safety for physical human-robot interaction, robot learning for manipulation, and world modeling. Recent publications (2024-2025) reveal a concentrated effort on uncertainty-aware safety mechanisms, out-of-distribution adaptation, and language-based safety specification. Her work increasingly bridges conformal prediction with interactive learning while leveraging vision-language models for real-time policy steering, as evidenced by multiple CoRL, RSS, ICRA, and ICLR acceptances. Scientific Awards: NSF CAREER Award (2025) Advises four active PhD students (Kensuke Nakamura, Ravi Pandya, Junwon Seo, Yilin Wu) and leads research funded by the NSF CAREER grant. Organizes community initiatives including the Northeast Systems and Control Workshop and ICRA workshops on Safely Leveraging VLMs in Robotics and Public Trust in Autonomy. Directs the Intent Robotics Lab, which develops theoretical frameworks and practical implementations for open-world robot safety. The lab maintains strong industry ties through NVIDIA collaborations and emphasizes real-world deployment across multiple robotic platforms.
Bo Li is a Research Associate Professor in the Computer Science Department and Data Science Institute at the University of Chicago, specializing in trustworthy machine learning with emphasis on robustness, privacy, and generalization for real-world systems like autonomous vehicles and federated learning. Her academic journey includes: Ph.D. in Computer Science, Vanderbilt University, 2016 Postdoctoral Researcher, UC Berkeley (2017-2018) under Prof. Dawn Song Faculty position at UIUC (2018) prior to current role Her research bridges theoretical foundations and practical deployments in adversarial robustness, privacy-preserving techniques, and distributed learning frameworks, directly addressing reliability challenges in safety-critical AI applications. This work has established her as a leading voice in trustworthy AI development. Major recognitions include: Sloan Fellowship and MIT Technology Review TR-35 Innovator IJCAI Computers and Thought Award and NSF CAREER Award Intel Rising Star Faculty Award and Symantec Research Labs Fellowship Research funding from Amazon, Facebook, and Google Multiple best paper awards at premier ML/security conferences Her contributions extend beyond academia through media features in Nature, Wired, and New York Times, with research exhibited at London's Science Museum, demonstrating significant societal impact of her work on real-world AI safety.
Professor Winston Hsu is a distinguished faculty member in the Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering at National Taiwan University, where he has served as a full professor since 2015. He is the co-director of the Communications and Multimedia Laboratory (CMLab) and founder of the MiRA (Multimedia indexing, Retrieval, and Analysis) research group. Additionally, he serves as the Founding Director for NVIDIA AI Lab at NTU, the first such lab in Asia. Professor Hsu received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University in 2007 under the supervision of Professor Shih-Fu Chang. Prior to his academic career, he was a founding engineer and research manager at CyberLink Corp., now a public image/video software company. National Taiwan University (2007-Present): Professor (2015-Present), Assistant/Associate Professor (2007-2015) MobileDrive (2021-2024): CTO and Vice President (Joint Venture between Foxconn and Stellantis) IBM TJ Watson Research Center (2016-2017): Visiting Scientist Microsoft Research Redmond (2014): Visiting Researcher Columbia University (2007): Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering Professor Hsu's research focuses on machine learning, computer vision, large-scale image and video search and recognition, and embedded AI. His work spans from fundamental research in visual recognition to practical applications in automotive systems, medical imaging, and e-commerce. He has pioneered work in disguised face recognition, low-resolution face hallucination, 3D model search, and virtual try-on systems. His current research emphasizes Embodied AI, integrating perception, action, and learning technologies for applications in automotive and robotics domains. His research group has produced numerous influential publications, particularly in top computer vision and multimedia conferences like CVPR, where they won first place in the Disguised Face Recognition competition in 2018. Their work spans diverse application areas including security, medical diagnostics, automotive systems, and e-commerce solutions, demonstrating strong translation from academic research to real-world impact. IBM Research Pat Goldberg Memorial Best Paper Award (2018) First Place, IARPA Disguised Faces in the Wild Competition (CVPR 2018) Best Brave New Idea Paper Award, ACM Multimedia 2017 NVIDIA AI LAB Award (First in Asia, 2016) First Place, MSR-Bing Image Retrieval Challenge (2013) World's Top 2% Scientists (2023) Professor Hsu actively mentors students and researchers, with his group consistently recruiting PhD students, postdocs, and research assistants. He has successfully bridged academia and industry through multiple collaborations, including his role as CTO at MobileDrive (a joint venture between Foxconn and Stellantis) from 2021-2024. His research has been supported by significant industry partnerships with Microsoft, IBM, and NVIDIA, as well as government grants from Taiwan's Ministry of Science and Technology. His laboratory, the Communications and Multimedia Laboratory (CMLab), maintains strong industry connections and focuses on cutting-edge research in visual AI. The lab has produced numerous award-winning projects and maintains active collaborations with global technology companies, particularly in the automotive and consumer electronics sectors.
Javier Alonso-Mora is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Delft University of Technology, specializing in Learning & Autonomous Control. His research focuses on autonomous systems, robotics, motion planning, and transportation logistics, with applications in mobile manipulation, dynamic environments, and urban mobility. He leads key projects such as INTERACT (Intuitive Interaction for Robots among Humans) and ACT (Perceptive Acting Under Uncertainty), exploring human-robot interaction, autonomous vehicles, and healthcare robotics. Notable achievements include an ERC Starting Grant (2022) and a Veni Grant (2017). His work addresses challenges in robot navigation, control systems, and fleet optimization, with contributions to both theoretical advancements and practical implementations. Projects like TRiLOGy focus on sustainable water transportation, while HARMONY advances assistive robotics in healthcare. Alonso-Mora’s research leverages geometric fabrics for motion planning, probabilistic modeling for dynamic environments, and multi-agent coordination. He collaborates internationally and contributes to open-source frameworks for robotics. His recent publications emphasize safety-aware control, instance-aware semantic mapping, and adaptive systems for cluttered environments.
Prof. Hayden Kwok Hay SO is an Associate Professor at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), affiliated with the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. He currently serves as Acting Director of the School of Innovation and previously co-directed the Computer Engineering Program. His research focuses on reconfigurable computing systems, FPGA-based architectures, and their applications in AIoT, medical imaging, and high-performance computing. He holds a B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences from UC Berkeley (1998–2007). Prof. So has been recognized with awards such as the IEEE-HKN Teaching Award (2021), Croucher Innovation Award (2013), and multiple teaching excellence awards. He leads the Computer Architecture & System Research Lab (CASR) and co-founded the Joint Lab on Future Cities (JLFC). His work spans FPGA overlay architectures, graph processing systems, and hardware-software co-design for efficient computing. Key research contributions include advancements in FPGA-based reconfigurable systems, sparse dataflow architectures, and medical imaging accelerators. He has secured grants for projects like 'Advanced machine vision guided aquatic surface vehicles' and 'Efficient and Productive Parallel Data Processing in Hybrid FPGA-CPU Clusters.' Prof. So has advised numerous students and researchers, contributing to over 150 peer-reviewed publications. His current projects explore AI hardware acceleration, neuromorphic computing, and FPGA-driven solutions for big data challenges.
Geng Yuan is an Assistant Professor at the University of Georgia's School of Computing, specializing in AI systems, energy-efficient deep learning, and hardware-software co-design. His work bridges machine learning algorithms with emerging hardware technologies like superconducting circuits and ReRAM. He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Engineering from Northeastern University (2023) and a Master's in Electrical & Computer Engineering from Syracuse University (2016). Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Computer Engineering, Northeastern University (2023) Master of Science (M.S.) in Electrical & Computer Engineering, Syracuse University (2016) Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Electrical Engineering, Beijing University of Technology (2014) His research focuses on optimizing deep learning systems for edge computing and mobile platforms through techniques like model compression, sparse training, and hardware-aware neural architecture search. Recent projects include adapting large language models via hybrid-grained pruning and developing ultra-low-power AQFP circuits for binary networks. Geng Yuan's publications span top venues like NeurIPS, CVPR, ICML, ICLR, ISCA, and DAC, with notable awards including a Best Paper Award at ICLR Workshop 2021, Spotlight Papers at ICLR 2023 and NeurIPS 2021, and a Design Contest 1st Place at ISLPED 2020. Best Paper Award (ICLR Workshop'21) Spotlight Paper Award (ICLR'23, NeurIPS'21) Design Contest 1st Place (ISLPED'20) Best Paper Nomination (DATE'21, ISQED'18) He actively recruits Ph.D., Master's students, and interns to his research group, focusing on advancing AI systems through interdisciplinary approaches combining machine learning, computer architecture, and electronic design automation.
Linda P. Franzoni serves as Professor of Practice and Associate Dean for Student Programs at Duke University, holding dual roles in academic leadership and research. Her research expertise spans: Acoustics of enclosures including rooms and vehicle interiors Underwater acoustics focused on submarine radiation and scattering Structural dynamics and vibration analysis Development of computationally efficient prediction methods for high-frequency sound fields Professor Franzoni's work targets practical Navy applications through novel homogenization techniques using local/global decomposition, significantly reducing computational demands while maintaining accuracy in acoustic modeling of complex submerged structures.
Dr. Nanpeng Yu is a Full Professor at the University of California, Riverside , serving as Vice Chair and Graduate Advisor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering . He maintains cooperative faculty affiliations with the Department of Computer Science and Department of Statistics , and directs the Energy, Economics, and Environment Research Center at UCR. Education : B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Tsinghua University (2006), M.S. in Electrical Engineering and Economics, and Ph.D. from Iowa State University (2010) Prior Industry Experience : Senior Power System Planner and Project Manager at Southern California Edison (2011-2014) Dr. Yu’s research bridges smart grid technologies , data-driven optimization , and machine learning for energy systems. Key areas include voltage control , renewable energy integration , transportation electrification , and grid resilience . His recent work focuses on physics-informed graph learning for unit commitment problems and adversarial purification in power system classifiers. The AI-Energy Nexus Laboratory under Dr. Yu has produced impactful publications in Applied Energy , IEEE Transactions on Power Systems , and Transportation Research series, covering topics like heavy-duty EV charging infrastructure and dynamic distribution network reconfiguration . Lab members have won the American-Made Digitizing Utilities Grand Prize ($300,000) from the U.S. DOE. Leadership Roles : Chair, IEEE Power and Energy Society Distribution System Operation and Planning Subcommittee Chair, IEEE Power and Energy Society Working Group on Data-Driven Modeling for Power Distribution Networks Associate Editor, IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid and IEEE Power Engineering Letters Scientific Awards : Regents Faculty Fellowship Regents Faculty Development Award Multiple IEEE Best Paper Awards
Steven Rogak is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of British Columbia's Faculty of Applied Science. He holds a P.Eng. license and degrees including a B.A.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from UBC, and M.Sc. and Ph.D. from Caltech. P.Eng., University of British Columbia B.A.Sc., University of British Columbia M.Sc., Ph.D., California Institute of Technology His research focuses on aerosol science, particularly solid nanoparticles from combustion processes, their climate and health impacts, and mitigation strategies. Key areas include: Soot morphology and transport properties Engine emission reduction via fuel injectors Indoor air filtration systems Membrane-based energy exchangers Atmospheric particulate analysis The 15 most recent articles span experimental and theoretical studies on soot characterization, membrane technologies, and aerosol dynamics, with applications in climate modeling, healthcare ventilation, and sustainable materials. Collaborations include Westport Innovations and interdisciplinary teams. Rogak leads the Aerosol Laboratory at UBC, where he applies fluid mechanics and heat transfer fundamentals to address environmental and health challenges. He emphasizes experimental rigor and welcomes graduate students with expertise in these areas.
Dr. Mohammad Zulkernine is a Full Professor and Canada Research Chair in Cyber-Physical System Security at Queen’s University’s School of Computing (Faculty of Arts and Science). He leads the Queen’s Reliable Software Technology (QRST) research group and directs the Queen’s Centre for Security & Privacy. His research focuses on secure software systems for cyber-physical systems, including autonomous vehicles, IoT, and cloud computing. Dr. Zulkernine holds a cross-appointment in Electrical and Computer Engineering and is a licensed Professional Engineer in Ontario. Education: BSc (Bangladesh BUET), MEng (Japan), PhD (University of Waterloo). He joined Queen’s in 2003 and has held sabbaticals at University of Trento, Italy and Irdeto Canada. He has published over 250 papers, led 35+ research projects, and supervised 120+ students. Awards include Canada Research Chairs (Tier I and II), Queen’s Excellence in Graduate Supervision Award, and Distinguished Supervision Award from the School of Computing. Research Interests: Cyber-Physical System Security, Software Reliability, IoT Security, Vehicle Networks, Secure Software Engineering, and Cybersecurity Risk Assessment. Active industry collaborations include EU-funded projects and Canada-Africa initiatives.
Joydeep Biswas is an Associate Professor in the Computer Science Department at the University of Texas at Austin, where he serves as the Director of the Autonomous Mobile Robotics Laboratory (AMRL). He is also affiliated with Texas Robotics, the UT Machine Learning Laboratory, and UT Good Systems. Previously, he was an Assistant Professor in the College of Information and Computer Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Dr. Biswas earned his PhD in Robotics from Carnegie Mellon University in 2014 and his B.Tech in Engineering Physics from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay in 2008. His educational background has provided him with a strong foundation in both theoretical and applied aspects of robotics and artificial intelligence. Dr. Biswas's research focuses on enabling long-term autonomy for mobile robots operating in human environments. His work spans robot perception, motion planning, control systems, and AI, with the ultimate goal of creating self-sufficient autonomous mobile robots that can perform tasks accurately and robustly in real-world settings. He is particularly interested in perception, planning, and failure recovery for autonomous mobile robots, which supports his vision of having autonomous service mobile robots deployed at campus-to-city scale, both indoors and outdoors, performing assistive tasks over deployments spanning years. His IJCAI 2019 Early Career Spotlight talk summarizes much of his research to date and ongoing interests. His recent research has shown a strong trend toward social navigation, human-robot interaction, and the application of machine learning techniques to robotics problems. There's a clear progression from fundamental robotics research toward more complex, real-world applications that require robots to understand and navigate human social spaces effectively. His work increasingly integrates large language models and other advanced AI techniques with traditional robotics approaches, as evidenced by his recent publications on topics like preference-conditioned navigation, social navigation benchmarks, and instruction-following navigation systems. Dr. Biswas has received numerous prestigious awards including the NSF CAREER Award (2021), J.P. Morgan Faculty Research Award (2019), Amazon Research Award (2019), and a grant from Northrop Grumman Mission Systems (2018). These awards recognize his innovative contributions to the field of robotics and autonomous systems. As a dedicated educator and mentor, Dr. Biswas actively supervises PhD and master's students, with his PhD student Sadegh Rabiee winning the student poster award at the Northrop Grumman University Symposium 2019. He has secured significant grant funding from the National Science Foundation for projects including 'Introspective Perception and Planning for Long-Term Autonomy' and 'Interactive Synthesis and Repair For Robot Programs,' demonstrating his ability to secure competitive research funding and his commitment to advancing the field. Dr. Biswas leads the Autonomous Mobile Robotics Laboratory (AMRL), which serves as a hub for interdisciplinary research in mobile robotics. The lab has developed notable resources such as the UT Campus Object Dataset (CODA) for 3D perception research and SOCIALGYM, a framework for benchmarking social robot navigation. His team regularly deploys robots on the UT Austin campus and in urban environments to test and refine their approaches in realistic settings, bridging the gap between simulation and real-world application.
