Meet the team – HACK-4-SAGES

SAY HI TO THE CREW!

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

Anna Lewkowicz

ETH Zurich, Switzerland

Lead Organizer

Karolina Popowska

Warsaw Univeristy of Technology, Poland

Financial Lead

Lucja Kozicka

Gdansk Univeristy of Technology, Poland

Communications Coordinator

CO-HOSTS

Alessandra Candian, PhD

University of Amsterdam, Netherlands

Joseph Borg, PhD

Univeristy of Malta, Malta

Harrison Smith, PhD

Earth-Life Science Institute, Japan

Eli Sofovich

University of Wisconsin Madison, USA

Charlotte Kelly

Queensland University of Technology, Australia

Matthew Siedlecki

Queensland University of Technology, Australia

Jessica Xhumari

University of Florida, USA

Afonso Mota

University of Porto, Portugal

Alexandre Branco

University of Porto, Portugal

Isabel Sousa

University of Porto, Portugal

Marta Cortesao

University of Porto, Portugal

Trifon Trifonov, PhD

Sofia University, Bulgaria

Vladimir Bozhilov, PhD

Sofia University, Bulgaria

Petar Eftimov

Sofia University, Bulgaria

Justyna Szerement, PHD

Lublin University of Technology, Poland

Katarzyna Debowczyk

Lublin University of Technology, Poland

Zuzanna Zawadzka

Lublin University of Technology, Poland

Shih-Feng Chiu (Ben), PhD

National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan

JUDGES

Marie-Luise Steinmeyer, PhD

Marie-Luise is an astrophysicist and planetary scientist in Institute for Particle Physics and Astrophysics at ETH Zurich. Her research explores the formation and evolution of low-mass planets. She uses numerical simulations to decode the compositional diversity of planets both within our own Solar System and orbiting distant stars.

Dariusz Plewczynski, PhD

Dariusz Plewczyński is a Professor of Bioinformatics and Artificial Intelligence at the Warsaw University of Technology and the University of Warsaw, working at the intersection of AI, genomics, and complex biological systems. His research applies machine learning and biophysical modeling to large-scale genomic and 3D genome data, with growing interest in astrobiology.

Jian Gong, PhD

University of Wyoming, Wyoming, USA

Jian is an early life geobiologist and astrobiologist. He investigates at the interfaces between the origin of life, biosignatures (past evidence of life) and space biology (future of life). Dr. Gong studies complex systems, self-organizational processes and pattern formation mechanisms and uses these theories to better understand how natural systems evolve in their “capacity to compute” and thereby gaining various forms of intelligence over time.

Janusz Petkowski, PhD

Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Poland

Janusz is an astrobiologist and a Deputy PI on the MIT-Morning Star Missions to Venus and the Deputy PI of the Science and Instrument Team for the Rocket Lab mission to Venus - the first private interplanetary space mission. He is interested in biosignature gases, theoretical biochemistry, and research leading to finding life outside Earth. He is one of the founding members of the Polish Astrobiological Society.

Borja Barbero Barcenilla, PhD

Hispansion, Moon Village Association, USA

Borja is a plant and space biologist who leads experiments on how crops grow and cope with stress in extreme environments such as microgravity, radiation, and lunar or Martian regolith. He has served as lead scientist on NASA‑funded ISS missions and regolith agriculture projects, coordinated multi‑institutional research at Texas A&M University and NASA GeneLab, and plays leadership roles with the Moon Village Association and the regolith‑focused startup Hispansion

Carlo Tortora Brayda

Tortora Brayda Institute for AI & Cybersecurity

Carlo is a global technology and policy leader specializing in AI governance, cybersecurity, and large-scale digital resilience. He serves as Founder and Executive Chairman of the Tortora Brayda Institute for AI & Cybersecurity and is a judge for the UN AI for Good program, including its climate and sustainability initiatives. As a judge, he evaluates projects through the lens of purpose, real-world impact, and commercial realism.

Ravi Changle, PhD

Capgemini, France

Ravi is a Chief AI Architect at Capgemini and a globally recognized AI leader specializing in multi-agent systems, LLMOps, and responsible AI at enterprise scale. He contributes to NASA GeneLab, designing AI architectures for space-based omics research, including federated learning and low-power AI for autonomous space environments. His work focuses on ethical, secure, and scalable AI systems across cloud platforms.