Work with thought leaders and academic experts in robotics

Christos A. Makridis holds academic appointments at Columbia Business School, Stanford University, Baylor University, University of Nicosia, and Arizona State University. He is also an adjunct scholar at the Manhattan Institute, senior adviser at Gallup, and senior adviser at the National AI Institute in the Department of Veterans Affairs. Christos is the CEO/co-founder of [Dainamic](https://www.dainamic.ai/), a technology startup working to democratize the use and application of data science and AI techniques for small and mid sized organizations, and CTO/co-founder of [Living Opera](https://www.livingopera.org/), a web3 startup working to bridge classical music and blockchain technologies. Christos previously served on the White House Council of Economic Advisers managing the cybersecurity, technology, and space activities, as a Non-resident Fellow at the Cyber Security Project in the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, as a Digital Fellow at the Initiative at the Digital Economy in the MIT Sloan School of Management, a a Non-resident Research Scientist at Datacamp, and as a Visiting Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Christos’ primary academic research focuses on labor economics, the digital economy, and personal finance and well-being. He has published over 70 peer-reviewed research papers in academic journals and over 170 news articles in the press. Christos earned a Bachelor’s in Economics and Minor in Mathematics at Arizona State University, as well a dual Masters and PhDs in Economics and Management Science & Engineering at Stanford University.

Serena Booth is a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She received her Ph.D. in robotics from MIT in 2024 and her BS in computer science from Harvard University in 2016. Her research focuses on developing new methods for robotic control and learning.

Team lead in machine learning, neuroscience. <br> I have captured and executed projects for DARPA, NASA, and several international clients (GM, Toyota, Fujitsu). \* 12 projects transitioned--$10M revenue captured (31+ publications, 32+ patents) \* 9 awards including those from NASA, GM, and HRL Laboratories \* I also have startup, contracting and consulting experience \* US citizen (authorized to work) <br> Last updated: Aug 30, 2023

My research focuses on expanding the places where robots can be deployed. My lab, the Living with Robots Laboratory, has the mission of seeing robots in every home and workplace. To that end, I work on technologies to enable robots to operate in places designed for people, and technologies to enable robots to better interact with people. I am on the executive committee for RoboCup@Home. I am an assistant director of the UT Austin robotics research consortium, Texas Robotics. I am an associate editor for top conferences and journals in robotics. I work on problems relating to autonomous social human robot interaction, artificial intelligence, and robotics architectures.

Mengying Li is an Assistant Professor at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. She received her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from University of California, San Diego in 2018. Her research interests include predictive modeling, design optimization, and machine learning. She is also an expert in passive cooling devices.

James C. Kaufman is a Professor of Educational Psychology at the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut. He has written or edited more than 50 books. These include: the recently published *The Creativity Advantage* (Cambridge); the forthcoming *Lessons in Creativity from Musical Theatre Characters* (with Dana P. Rowe; Routledge); two editions of *Cambridge Handbook of Creativity* (with Robert J. Sternberg) and five other Cambridge Handbooks; two editions of *Creativity 101* (Springer); and a book on terrible baseball pitchers with his father and a book on pseudoscience with his wife. James has developed many theories, most notably the Four C’s (with Ron Beghetto). He has developed several self-report measures of creativity and is currently focusing on positive outcomes of creativity. James has won many awards, including Mensa’s research award, the Torrance Award from the National Association for Gifted Children, the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children’s International Creativity Award, and APA’s Berlyne, Arnheim, and Farnsworth awards. He co-founded two major journals, *Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts* and *Psychology of Popular Media Culture* and is the current Senior Associate Editor for *Creativity Research Journal*. He has tested Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s creativity on CNN; written the book and lyrics to the musical *Discovering Magenta* (which played NYC and has a cast album); and appeared onscreen, complete with white lab coat, in the comic book documentary *Independents*.

civil engineering, steel structures, composite structures, structural engineering, design optimisation, modular buildings, nonlinear analysis

Dr Fadekemi Janet Osaye is a mathematician whose primary research interest is in graph theory and network modeling. In particular, she is interested in distance measures in graphs and their applications to solving many real-world problems. Her interest in discrete mathematics was inspired by her research project carried out at AIMS Ghana. She has published several articles in reputable journals and has presented in several conferences across the globe. In 2019, she became the first black female to be awarded a PhD in Mathematics by the University of Johannesburg, South Africa, in its 116 years of its existence. Since June 2021, she has been an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Alabama State University and was previously a Visiting Assistant Professor at Auburn University. She is the founder of GirlsMatics Foundation, a STEM non-governmental organisation for girls in Nigeria which was motivated by her involvement with AIMS Ghana’s outreach programs for high school students in Biriwa, Ghana. She is also the co-founder of FadNna Partners, an analytics and management firm based in Lagos, Nigeria.