Ashok Goel is a Professor of Computer Science in the School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, USA. He obtained his Ph.D. from The Ohio State University. At Georgia Tech, he is also the Director of the Ph.D. Program in Human-Centered Computing, a Co-Director of the Center for Biologically Inspired Design, and a Fellow of Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems. For more than thirty years, Ashok has conducted research into artificial intelligence, cognitive science and human-centered computing, with a focus on computational design, modeling and creativity. His recent work has explored design thinking, analogical thinking and systems thinking in biological inspired design (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiRDQ4hr9i8), and his research is now developing virtual research assistants for modeling biological systems. Ashok teaches a popular course on knowledge-based AI as part of Georgia Tech's program on Online Masters of Science in Computer Science. He has pioneered the development of virtual teaching assistants, such as Jill Watson, for answering questions in online discussion forums (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbCguICyfTA). Chronicle of Higher Education recently called virtual assistants exemplified by Jill Watson as one of the most transformative educational technologies in the digital era. Ashok is the Editor-in-Chief of AAAI's AI Magazine.

Professor Nagi Gebraeel is the Georgia Power Early Career Professor and Professor in the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Georgia Tech. He received his MS and PhD from Purdue University in 1998 and 2003, respectively.

Dr. Gebraeel's research interests lie at the intersection of Predictive Analytics and Machine Learning in IoT enabled maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) and service logistics. His key focus is on developing fundamental statistical learning algorithms specifically tailored for real-time equipment diagnostics and prognostics, and optimization models for subsequent operational and logistical decision-making in IoT ecosystems. Dr. Gebraeel also develops cyber-security algorithms intended to protect IoT-enabled critical assets from ICS-type cyberattacks (cyberattacks that target Industrial Control Systems). From the standpoint of application domains, Dr. Gebraeel has general interests in manufacturing, power generation, and service-type industries. Applications in Deep Space missions are a recent addition to his research interests, specifically, developing Self-Aware Deep Space Habitats through NASA's HOME Space Technology Research Institute.

Dr. Gebraeel leads Predictive Analytics and Intelligent Systems (PAIS) research group at Georgia Tech's Supply Chain and Logistics Institute. He also directs activities and testing at the Analytics and Prognostics Systems laboratory at Georgia Tech's Manufacturing Institute. Formerly, Dr. Gebraeel served as an associate director at Georgia Tech's Strategic Energy Institute (from 2014 until 2019) where he was responsible for identifying and promoting research initiatives and thought-leadership at the intersection of Data Science and Energy applications. He was also the former president of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE) Quality and Reliability Engineering Division, and is currently a member of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS), and IISE (since 2005).

King Jordan is Professor in the School of Biological Sciences and Director of the Bioinformatics Graduate Program at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He has a computational laboratory and his group works on a wide variety of research and development projects related to: (1) human clinical & population genomics, (2) computational genomics for public health, and (3) computational approaches to functional genomics. He is particularly interested in the relationship between human genetic ancestry and health. His lab is also actively engaged in capacity building efforts in genomics and bioinformatics in Latin America. 

Grover’s research activities in process systems engineering focus on understanding macromolecular organization and the emergence of biological function. Discrete atoms and molecules interact to form macromolecules and even larger mesoscale assemblies, ultimately yielding macroscopic structures and properties. A quantitative relationship between the nanoscale discrete interactions and the macroscale properties is required to design, optimize, and control such systems; yet in many applications, predictive models do not exist or are computationally intractable.

The Grover group is dedicated to the development of tractable and practical approaches for the engineering of macroscale behavior via explicit consideration of molecular and atomic scale interactions. We focus on applications involving the kinetics of self-assembly, specifically those in which methods from non-equilibrium statistical mechanics do not provide closed form solutions. General approaches employed include stochastic modeling, model reduction, machine learning, experimental design, robust parameter design, and estimation.

We develop chemical and biological tools for research in a wide range of fields. Some of them are briefly described below; please see our group web page for more details. Chemistry, biology, immunology, and evolution with viruses. The sizes and properties of virus particles put them at the interface between the worlds of chemistry and biology. We use techniques from both fields to tailor these particles for applications to cell targeting, diagnostics, vaccine development, catalysis, and materials self-assembly. This work involves combinations of small-molecule and polymer synthesis, bioconjugation, molecular biology, protein design, protein evolution, bioanalytical chemistry, enzymology, physiology, and immunology. It is an exciting training ground for modern molecular scientists and engineers. Development of reactions for organic synthesis, chemical biology, and materials science. Molecular function is what matters most to our scientific lives, and good chemical reactions provide the means to achieve such function. We continue our efforts to develop and optimize reactions that meet the click chemistry standard for power and generality. Our current focus is on highly reliable reversible reactions, which open up new possibilities for polymer synthesis and modification, as well as for the controlled delivery of therapeutic and diagnostic agents to biological targets. Traditional and combinatorial synthesis of biologically active compounds.We have a longstanding interest in the development of biologically active small molecules. We work closely with industrial and academic collaborators on such targets as antiviral agents, compounds to combat tobacco addiction, and treatments for inflammatory disease.

Faces of Research - Profile Article

Dr. Dickson is the Vassar Woolley Professor of Chemistry & Biochemistry and has been at Georgia Tech since 1998. He was a Senior Editor of The Journal of Physical Chemistry from 2010-2021, and his research has been continuously funded (primarily from NIH) since 2000. Dr. Dickson has developed quantitative bio imaging and signal recovery/modulation schemes for improved imaging of biological processes and detection of medical pathologies. His work on fluorescent molecule development and photoswitching of green fluorescent proteins was recognized as a key paper for W.E. Moerner’s 2014 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Recently, Dr. Dickson’s lab has developed rapid susceptibility testing of bacteria causing blood stream infections. Their rapid recovery methods, coupled with rigorous multidimensional statistics and machine learning have led to very simple, highly accurate and fast methods for determining the appropriate treatment within a few hours after positive blood cultures. These hold significant potential for drastically improving patient outcomes and reducing the proliferation of antimicrobial resistance.

I am currently Professor and KUKA Chair for Robotics in the School of Interactive Computing, and the Executive Director of the Institute for Robotics and Intelligent machines at the Georgia Institute of Technology. I am also Emeritus Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Richard DeMillo is the Charlotte B. and Roger C. Warren Professor of Computing at Georgia Tech. He was formerly the John P. Imlay Dean of Computing. Positions he has held prior to joining Georgia Tech include: Chief Technology Officer for Hewlett-Packard, Vice President of Computing Research for Bell Communications Research, Director of the Computer Research Division for the National Science Foundation, and Director of the Software Test and Evaluation Project for the Office of the US Secretary of Defense. He has also held faculty positions at the University of Wisconsin, Purdue University and the University of Padua, Italy. His research includes over 100 articles, books and patents in algorithms, software and computer engineering, cryptography, and cyber security. In 1982, he wrote the first policy for testing software intensive systems for the US Department of Defense. DeMillo and his collaborators launched and developed the field of program mutation for software testing. He is a co-inventor of Differential Fault Cryptanalysis and holds what is believed to be the only patent on breaking public key cryptosystems. He currently works in the area of election and voting system security. His work has been cited in court cases, including a 2019 Federal Court decision declaring unconstitutional the use of paperless voting machines. He has served as a foreign election observer for the Carter Center and is a member of the State of Michigan Election Security Commission. He has served on boards of public and private cybersecurity and privacy companies, including RSA Security and SecureWorks. He has served on many non-profit and philanthropic boards including the Exploratorium and the Campus Community Partnership Foundation (formerly the Rosalind and Jimmy Carter Foundation). He is a fellow of both the Association for Computing Machinery and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 2010, he founded the Center for 21st Century Universities, Georgia Tech’s living laboratory for fundamental change in higher education. He served as Executive Director for ten years. He was named Lumina Foundation Fellow for his work in higher education. His 2015 book Revolution in Higher Education, published by MIT Press, won the Best Education Book award from the American Association of Publishers and helped spark a national conversation about online education.  He co-chaired Georgia Tech’s Commission on Creating the Next in Education.  The Commission’s report was released in 2018. He received the ANAK Society’s Outstanding Faculty Member Award.