MEET THE EXPLORERS - MISSION #3
Alex Norta
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RESEARCHER |
FOCUS AREA Multi-factor identity authentication
PROJECT TITLE
Self-sovereign multi-factor identity authentication using smart-contract blockchain technology
ABOUT
Authcoin is a self-sovereign and smart-contract blockchain using a multi-factor identity authentication system that is configurable with flexible challenge sets depending on the application context. The core idea is that the emerging machine-to-everything (M2X) economy requires such a flexible idenity-authentication system for allowing humans, smart autonomous devices, other machines, and infrastructure units to enter and exit an M2X ecosystem in a trusted way.
BIO
Alex is an associate professor at the TalTech Department of Software Science where his research focus is on blockchains for novel e-governance models that involve many collaborating organizations.
Alexandru Ionut Panait
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INNOVATOR |
FOCUS AREA Blockchain
PROJECT TITLE
Decentralized Public Administration
ABOUT
Blockchain systems have a huge potential to change society as we know it today. The most rigid system in society is the governmental system, it needs a radical change to give it dynamism and adapt it to new technological realities. The proposed solution is to move institutions, documents and procedures into a digital environment. Thus, through well-defined standards, we can create a digital framework suitable for paradigm shift. Blockchain technology will provide the immutability property of all actions in the public space, in a transparent way for any citizen.
BIO
Alexander is a young entrepreneur just 25 years old, he is an expert in cyber security and blockchain technologies. In 2017, he launched the first Romanian cryptocurrency without any financing. He is well known in Romania for helping governments and public institutions strengthen their systems in terms of cyber security. In 2019, he launched the e-PrimariaTa platform through which he digitized the interaction with the citizens of all the mayoralties of the cities in Romania.
Alexis Fourlis
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INNOVATOR |
FOCUS AREA Edge computing
PROJECT TITLE
Edge P.A.T. (Personal Allergy Tracer)
ABOUT
Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a major and growing global health problem. When uncontrolled, it may cause sleep impairment, undermine school performance and work productivity resulting in a disproportional socio-economic burden. Early recognition and monitoring of symptoms are both the cornerstone and the Achilles heel of the established management in AR. Exploiting edge computing, edge PAT monitors patients’ gestures and correlates them to AR potential outbreak and related symptoms.
BIO
Electrical Engineer with MSc in Microelectronics with expertise on designing and developing medical IoT devices and machine learning algorithms optimized for wearable devices.
Chandra De Keyser
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INNOVATOR |
FOCUS AREA AI, digital wellbeing, online collaboration insights
PROJECT TITLE
Engagement Insights for the “next normal” of video collaboration
ABOUT
The focus is unbiased AI to capture emotions & attention of participants in video calls in a way that respects privacy. The goal is to create a new kind of big data to provide actionable engagement insights that helps prevent depression & stress of talents, ensure no students are left behind in online classes, improve happiness & productivity at work in the "next normal".
BIO
Chandra is a multicultural netizen of Spaceship Earth who speaks 7 languages. He holds an engineer degree in nuclear physics (ULB 1983), a master’s in computer science (Uni. Padova 1987), and a Masters in International Relations (ULB 1995). He is an accomplished Technology Executive with global experience with tech giants & startups. Co - Founder & CEO of MoodMe: Face Analytics & AR on a foundation of Unbiased AI and Privacy. Growing MoodMe one happy Customer at a time.
Denis Donadel
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RESEARCHER |
FOCUS AREA Cybersecurity
PROJECT TITLE
A Fingerprinting-Based Countermeasure Against EVSE Relay Attacks
ABOUT
With the increasing spread of electric vehicles, we must address the cybersecurity of the charging infrastructure. We discover a flaw in the communication standard leading to an attack of the relay type. To protect the system against this kind of threat, we designed an authentication system based on the fingerprinting of the charging column. It relies on hardly spoofable information, such as the location and physical properties of the charger.
BIO
Cybersecurity enthusiast and researcher, interested in web security and cyber-physical system security, with a particular focus on electric vehicle security and industrial control system security.
Dimitar Kyosev
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INNOVATOR |
FOCUS AREA Blockchain
PROJECT TITLE
Cross-border regulatory coordination and enforcement of blockchain assets
ABOUT
Blockchain assets are by nature cross-border, however regulators and enforcement mechanisms are strictly jurisdictional. Together with the NMSU we are getting on a journey to a cross-disciplinary exploration for a set of standards that will protect investors from arbitrary action – both by blockchain asset administrators and regulators.
BIO
I am a lawyer that has specialized in complex cross-border bankruptcies and I am currently looking into the blockchain space (just to say I don't expect it to go bust ;))
Efstathios Mitskas
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INNOVATOR |
FOCUS AREA Blockchain
PROJECT TITLE
Non-Fungible Tokens
ABOUT
The purpose of this project is to investigate the NFT market that already exists today, spot any limitations and propose a more advanced system in terms of scalability and cost efficiency. The result of this project is expected to help the blockchain community to consider different architectures that potentially can improve the existing ones. In addition, the NFT marketplace (smart contracts) will enable NFTs to be exchanged between different participants in the network without needing to trust each other.
BIO
Shipping products to the market, since 2018, leveraging blockchain technology to tackle society problems!
Franziska Kirstein
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INNOVATOR |
FOCUS AREA Artificial Intelligence
PROJECT TITLE
Ethical Guidelines for the Development of AI-supported Healthcare Robots - with focus on the Patient Transfer Rehabilitation Robot by Blue Ocean Robotics
ABOUT
The Patient Transfer Rehabilitation Robot brings patient handling to the next level. In the near future, it will be equipped with AI features such as intelligent rehabilitation support. The project aims at investigating AI trends that will play an essential role in healthcare and the potential ethical implications when these trends become a reality. The final result will be a set of ethical guidelines that healthcare robotics companies can use if they equip their robots with AI features.
BIO
Franziska Kirstein is Senior Scientific Domain Lead at Blue Ocean Robotics. Her work is focused on Human-Robot Interaction as well as project management activities for several EU-funded projects.
Gal Morgenstern
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RESEARCHER |
FOCUS AREA Cybersecurity
PROJECT TITLE
Graph-based power system state estimation subsequent to cyber-attack detection
ABOUT
With the increasing cyber-security threat on power systems, cyber security measures are constantly proposed. However, not enough effort is dedicated to the integration of these defensive measures in the power system operation. Thus, by leveraging tools from the fields of graph signal processing and estimation after selection, we aim to design estimation methodologies that will enable a better integration for existing and future cyber security methods in power systems.
BIO
An electrical engineering PhD research student at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in the fields of graph signal processing and power system cyber-security.
Greg Agriopoulos
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INNOVATOR |
FOCUS AREA IoT
PROJECT TITLE
Magos eXtended Reality
ABOUT
Can you imagine physical interaction with limited touch capabilities?
This is exactly the case in eXtended Reality due to technology limitations that restrict the physical interaction. The current controllers try to simulate the touch sense, blocking the natural interaction via fingers.
Via Magos, the end user can interact using their fingers as this happens in the physical world.
Magos, the next gen human-computer-interaction solution, aims to revolutionize the interaction framework in the VR.
BIO
Deep-tech enterpreneur in Human Computer Interaction area, focused in Extended Reality and Telerobotics.
MBA in Technological Innovation Management, MSc Telecommunication systems, signal processing and embedded systems, BSc Electrical Engineering |12+ years of experience in Systems Engineering, Wireless Communications, Embedded systems Business development, Team management, Technology analysis, Technology Architecture, Financials-legal, Contract-Project management.
Kanika Sharma
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RESEARCHER |
FOCUS AREA Cloud/Edge Computing
PROJECT TITLE
Using reinforcement learning to optimize the placement of distributed services on opportunistic clusters of moving vehicles
ABOUT
We propose to leverage mobility patterns of moving vehicles in urban centers to enable an Internet of Vehicles (IoV) system by orchestrating the available resources to deploy vehicular crowd-sensing and object-detection applications. We aim to develop a reinforcement-learning (RL)-based service placement scheme for the dynamic vehicular Fog system. This system can reduce processing costs and facilitate road and traffic management to enable the development of smart cities.
BIO
Ph.D. scholar at Walton Institute, (WIT). Her research is focused on building Fog computing-based models for data collection and processing services for Intelligent Transport Systems.
Levent Gürgen
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INNOVATOR |
FOCUS AREA IoT, AI, Cloud/Edge computing
PROJECT TITLE
Experimenting an edge-computing based AI approach for safe and efficient intersections in urban areas
ABOUT
Road accidents involving pedestrians, in particular at intersections, are still a huge problem to tackle. Intersections have also an important role in the overall traffic flow management in an urban context. IoT, AI, edge/cloud computing are enabling technologies that can help improving the quality of life and security of citizens. This project will experiment the application of those enablers for an important global urban problem to save lives at intersections and to improve traffic management.
BIO
Dr. Levent Gürgen is the founder and CEO of the startup company Kentyou offering an open urban data platform. He is also the president of the international association Urban Technology Alliance.
Maiol Valenti Bertran
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INNOVATOR |
FOCUS AREA Blockchain, IoT
PROJECT TITLE
Technical improvement of Blockchain of Things devices
ABOUT
Data exchanged on IoT devices and in Industry 4.0 is frequently targeted by hackers. One-third of AI projects provides ineffective or dangerous results due to the manipulation of their data. This affects many industries: Automotive, Healthcare, Industry 4.0, Smart Cities, etc. Blockchain-of-Things devices (BoT-d) connects directly to IoT devices and secure each of the data coming from them by linking to a Blockchain transaction, making each piece of the data traceable and unforgeable from their origin.
BIO
IT Engineer specialized in software and Blockchain. CTO in BlockTac: in charge of new developments involving Blockchain integration. Passionate about new technological and engineering challenges.
Refael Shamir
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INNOVATOR |
FOCUS AREA Cloud/Edge Computing
PROJECT TITLE
Privacy-aware Health Sensing, Inferencing, and Remote Monitoring
ABOUT
Remote patient monitoring is a century-old mission that both patients and doctors have sought, especially in circumstances where access to health services is scarce or in high demand. Introducing Letos as a client-centric approach that leverages contact-free, objectively assessed health monitoring, results in a more pleasant experience for patients and a better prediction of a developing stress-related illness for family medicine practitioners to offer corrective actions.
BIO
Founder @ Letos, rethinking the way we evaluate human experiences in our utmost natural surroundings. An avid learner of new technologies that will impact humanity in 10+ years.
Rickard Brännvall
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RESEARCHER |
FOCUS AREA Cloud/Edge Computing
PROJECT TITLE
Privacy Preserving AI and Computation at Edge Data Centers under Homomorphic Encryption
ABOUT
It is data that fuels the progress of AI, but privacy concerns be a show stopper for many applications. This project explores how to operate AI based control and planning under Homomorphic Encryption - a technology that allows computations to be performed on encrypted data by an external party without revealing its content - by building proof of concept applications set in an edge data center context, we want to provide examples for practioners of this promising privacy preservation technology and contribute to its adaption as a building block for trustworthy AI.
BIO
Industrial Ph.D. student with Luleå University of Technology, resident at RISE, Research Institutes of Sweden. Rickard’s research is focused on AI based control and planning for energy efficient edge data centers.
Ridha Azaiz
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INNOVATOR |
FOCUS AREA IoT, Blockchain
PROJECT TITLE
MaMa - Martian Maintenance
ABOUT
I am researching the possibility of metering the distance and path traveled of an aerial ground vehicle (AGV) using blockchain technology. The AGV’s initial application the cleaning solar power plants with airflow to avoid tactile impact on the solar glass. Labour intense Operation and Maintenance (O&M) usually involves servicing companies and EPC’s (engineering, procurement and construction), where utilizing blockchain technologies can benefit the development of new business models embedding smart contracting.
BIO
I am a mechanical engineer (M.Sc., Technical University of Berlin) and the inventor of the drone airflow cleaning method. With ‘Aerial Power’ I research the utilization of the drowndraft every unmanned aerial vehicle produces, for which I received several granted patents.
Rui A. Costa
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INNOVATOR |
FOCUS AREA Blockchain
PROJECT TITLE
GoGreen - Improving sustainable transportation via green behaviours
ABOUT
Sustainability plays a crucial role in everyone’s life, and most of the time, only a few people understand that even a small gesture can have a tremendous effect on everyone’s life. The GoGreen solution consists of a digital rewarding mechanism based on Blockchain technology for integration with existing or third-party applications. The aim is to create awareness about CO2 emissions and encourage people to use the most sustainable means by validating their choices using the GoGreen app.
BIO
CEO and co-founder of Ubiwhere. With a highly technological vision, he’s increasingly focused on optimizing results through the improvement of technology, innovation and mainly the business processes.
Sandip Das
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RESEARCHER |
FOCUS AREA 5G
PROJECT TITLE
Investigate Optical Wireless Integration Technologies for Next-generation Converged Access Networks
ABOUT
Ultra-low end-to-end latency with high reliability is one of the most crucial requirements in 5G networks to support next-generation highly delay-sensitive telecom applications such as tactile internet, logistics, and mission-critical-control. This requires re-architecting the integration between wireless access and optical transport networks which has been a particular focus point to support such requirements of 5G and beyond. This project will try to explore such optical wireless integration technologies from the perspective of real-world systems.
BIO
Sandip Das is currently a post-doctoral researcher in CONNECT centre, Trinity College Dublin (TCD), where he also completed his Ph.D. degree. His research interest includes Enhanced PON architectures for Converged Access/Metro Infrastructures for 5G services with ultra-low latency.
Serena Leka
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RESEARCHER |
FOCUS AREA 5G
PROJECT TITLE
NGI Explorer - “The use of AI for idea management to assist radical innovation in new product development: Case of US firms.
ABOUT
The project emphasises the notion that a hybrid approach to idea management (IM) is superior to sole computational evaluations or sole human decisions. Machines are better in information processing and providing results, while humans present biases. The study aims at proposing a novel method for managing new product development ideas in firms via AI as the toolbox. We would contribute to the innovation management literature, but not only, by extending the current knowledge of IM automation.
BIO
Multidisciplinary and curious PhD researcher, interested in the interplay of Idea management and AI-machine learning, for the ambition of conducting radical innovation in new product development.
Soumya Kanti Datta
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INNOVATOR |
FOCUS AREA IoT
PROJECT TITLE
Secure, interoperable, automatic data portability for IoT (SPIRIT)
ABOUT
Health and fitness data portability is still non-automatic, insecure, and fragmented in European healthcare industry. SPIRIT will research and develop a data portability tool that enables automatic conversion of healthcare data from one standard format to another. This tool will be transparent to its users; ensure privacy preserving features assuring data processing rights, user consent remain tamper proof.
BIO
Soumya has 9+ years of experience and his activities focus on innovation and standardization of next-generation technologies in Blockchain, Cybersecurity, and IoT. He is the founder of Digiotouch.
Stavros Antoniadis
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INNOVATOR |
FOCUS AREA Blockchain
PROJECT TITLE
The Sovereignty of Medical Data
ABOUT
Data is becoming the most valuable asset that a human can possess. Sensitive data such as medical data when not being held solely by their beneficiaries are prone to theft or misuse. Leveraging blockchain technology as a tool can help to solve these potential dangers. The main focus of this project is to design and develop a system, which will be compliant with decentralized identifiers (DIDs) and verifiable credentials (VCs) W3C standards, and it will give control of the data to the respected owner. More specifically, the project aims to build and use an infrastructure layer that will include a Blockchain layer, a protocol layer for the DIDs, and a decentralized storage layer for DID Documents and VCs.
BIO
He holds an MSc in Electrical and Computer Engineering. He Co-Founded Cometogether which he serves as COO and Head of Blockchain. Formerly, he worked as a blockchain engineer/architect at CERTH and as a mobile developer and test automation engineer at Schoox Inc.
Tudor Balinisteanu
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RESEARCHER |
FOCUS AREA AI & HealthTech
PROJECT TITLE
Visual Identities of Virtual Agents with Empathic Traits
ABOUT
The project uses behavioural and neurophysiological data collected in a series of experiments designed to measure the strongest empathic response in human participants engaged in human-AI interaction in order to determine, using supervised machine learning, the configuration of the facial visual identity of virtual agents that is most likely to trigger an empathic response. We aim to develop a human-AI sense-react habitat suitable for medical AIs with empathic, trust-enhancing visual identities.
BIO
Tudor works at the intersection of several fields within neuroaesthetics and medical humanities. He initiated the first neuroaesthetics lab In Romania, where he is Principal Investigator.