Dr. Nikolaos Mavridis, PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is an academic and consultant specializing in the fields of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics. He is the founder and director of the Interactive Robots and Media Lab (IRML) and has served in various professor positions, including the United Arab Emirates University, NYU Abu Dhabi and NYU Poly. He has been a four-time TEDx speaker, as well as a speaker at Singularity University, and is also an active pro-bono contributor to a number of organizations. His research interests include human-robot interaction, artificial intelligence, machine perception, and cognitive systems, and he has more than 80 peer-reviewed academic publications. Nikolaos is currently a member of the MIT Educational Council, a mentor for the MIT Enterprise Forum, and is frequently invited for keynote talks worldwide.