Prof. KC Santosh is the Chair of the Department of Computer Science (since 2020) and founding director of the AI Lab (since 2015) at the University of South Dakota (USD). He served as Graduate Program Director for seven years (2017–24) and was previously a research fellow at NIH and a PostDoc at INRIA (France). At USD, he has overseen five degree-granting programs, including six specializations and certificates, managed 15 faculty and three staff, supported ~500 students, and administered a budget of over $2.2 million, including research grants. With over $8.7 million in funding (DOD, NSF, and ED, to name a few), he has authored 10 books and 250+ research articles (such as IEEE TPAMI, IEEE TAI, and IEEE TMI). He serves as an associate editor for IEEE Trans on AI, IEEE Trans of Medical Imaging and Int J of Machine Learning & Cybernetics and leads review panels for NSF and Mitacs (Canada). He is a trained leader, having completed leadership programs such as Deans/Chairs 1.0 (CCAS, Spring 2021), Deans/Chairs 2.0 (CCAS, Summer 2024), and the President Executive Leadership Training (USD, 2021/22). He leads AI+x initiative that primarily includes curriculum innovation, South Dakota Biomedical Computation Collaborative (supported by a $6.5M award from the U.S. Department of Education) and USD’s AI symposium (IEEE). He brings extensive experience in curriculum innovation—particularly in interdisciplinary initiatives and shared governance (e.g., physics, business analytics, psychology, biology, and biomedical engineering, etc.)—as well as in program assessment and evaluation (as PEV), including ABET accreditation during the 2016/17 and 2022/23 cycles. His leadership has driven a 4,000% growth in AI enrollment at USD. His contributions have established USD as a pioneer in AI programs within the state of South Dakota. In fundraising, he secured a $2.0 million endowment to further strengthen the reputation of the department. He is a member of the NIST’s AI Safety Institute Consortium and a U.S. Speaker for AI education

Martin Storath received the Diplom degree in mathematics, the Honours degree in technology management, and the Ph.D. degree in mathematics from Technische Universität München in 2008, 2009, and 2013, respectively. He has contributed as a researcher at institutions such as the Helmholtz Zentrum München, the Biomedical Imaging Group at EPFL, and the Image Analysis and Learning Group at Universität Heidelberg. Currently, he serves as a Professor at the Technical University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt. His research focuses on computer vision, machine learning, and the development of fast algorithms.