Christian Timmerer (head of ATHENA) is a full professor of computer science at Klagenfurt University, Institute of Information Technology (ITEC). He is a Co-Founder of Bitmovin Inc. where he is the Chief Innovation Officer (CIO) and the Head of Research and Standardization. His research interests include immersive multimedia communication, streaming, adaptation, and quality of experience. Further information is available here.
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Hermann Hellwagner is a full professor of computer science at Klagenfurt University where he leads the research group “Multimedia Communication (MMC)” in the Institute of Information Technology (ITEC). His current research areas of interest are distributed multimedia systems, multimedia communications and adaptation, QoS/QoE, Information-Centric Networking (ICN), and communication multi-UAV networks. Further information is available here.
Hadi Amirpourazarian
is a PostDoc researcher in ATHENA. He received his B.Sc. degrees in Electrical and Biomedical Engineering, and he pursued his M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering. He got his Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Klagenfurt in 2022. He was involved in the project EmergIMG, a Portuguese consortium on emerging imaging technologies, funded by the Portuguese funding agency and H2020. Currently, he is working on the ATHENA project in cooperation with its industry partner Bitmovin. His research interests are image processing and compression, video processing and compression, quality of experience, emerging 3D imaging technology, and medical image analysis. Further information is available here.
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Farzad Tashtarian is a PostDoc Researcher in the ATHENA project. Before joining the team, he was an Assistant Professor at the Azad University of Mashhad, Iran. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Engineering from the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad. His current research areas of interest are End-to-End latency and QoE in Video Streaming, Video Networking, Software-Defined Networking (SDN), Network Function Virtualization (NFV), Mathematical Modeling, and Distributed Optimization. Further information is available here.
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Samira Afzal is a postdoctoral researcher at Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt, Austria, and in collaborating with Bitmovin. Before, she was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Sao Paulo, researching deeply on IoT, SWARM, and Surveillance Systems. She graduated with her Ph.D. in November 2019 from the University of Campinas (UNICAMP). During her Ph.D., she collaborated with Samsung on a project in the area of mobile video streaming over heterogeneous wireless networks and multipath transmission methods in order to increase perceived
video quality. Further information is available here.
Christian Bauer is a Ph.D. candidate at the Institute of Information Technology (ITEC) at the Alpen-Adria Universität (AAU) Klagenfurt and has also received his M.Sc. in Informatics in 2023 from AAU Klagenfurt. He is currently working in the Christian Doppler Laboratory ATHENA and his current research interests are energy consumption in multimedia streaming, machine learning and computer vision. Further information is available here.
Daniele Lorenzi received his M.Sc. in ICT for Internet and Multimedia Engineering in 2021 from the University of Padua, Italy. He is a Ph.D. candidate at the Institute of Information Technology (ITEC) at the Alpen-Adria-Universität (AAU) Klagenfurt. He is currently working in the Christian Doppler Laboratory ATHENA and his research interests include adaptive video streaming, multimedia networking, machine learning, and QoS/QoE evaluation.
Emanuele Artioli is a Ph.D. candidate in the ATHENA project. He received his M.Sc. in Data Science in 2022 from the University of Milan Bicocca, with a Master Thesis in collaboration with Bitmovin on Root Cause Analysis for Video Streaming errors. His current research interests include video analytics, machine learning, and quality of experience.
Mohammad Ghasempour is a Ph.D. student actively contributing to the ATHENA project.He earned his Master’s in Computer Architecture at the University of Tehran in 2018 and completed his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Semnan, Iran, in 2016. His research interests in compressed-domain video processing drive his specialization in video compression, streaming, and transcoding solutions.
Yiying Wei is currently pursuing her doctoral studies at the
Christian Doppler (CD) Laboratory ATHENA based at the University of Klagenfurt. She received her MEng degree in Electronics and Digital Technologies from the University of Nantes, France, in 2023. Her research interests include deep learning and video streaming.
Yuan Yuan is a joint Ph.D. student currently visiting the 
Christian Doppler (CD) Laboratory ATHENA based at the University of Klagenfurt for one year. She is pursuing her doctoral studies in Information Security from the Southwest Jiaotong University, China. Her research interests include JPEG image encryption, security analysis, data hiding, and video coding.
Jameson Daniel Steiner is a MSc student and works on his ongoing MSc thesis “HAS media player improvements for low-latency”.
Milad Ghanbari
is a dedicated scholar in the field of Game Studies and Engineering. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering and earned his Master’s degree in Artificial Intelligence and Robotics from Isfahan University of Technology in 2021. Currently, Milad is contributing his expertise as an intern at the ATHENA Lab, where he focuses on advancing VCA. His current project involves rewriting the VCA using Python and GPU-based technologies, showcasing his proficiency in cutting-edge programming and computational methods.
Manuel Hoi is currently doing his Bachelor of Science in Applied Informatics at the Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt. His studies are centered around his bachelor’s thesis in cooperation with the Christian Doppler Laboratory under the GAIA project, focusing on the CO2-efficient encoding of video segments. His interests lie in blending sustainable practices with multimedia technology. More information about Manuel’s academic journey and projects can be found here.
Armin Lachini is a bachelor student in applied informatics at Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt, working on a thesis focused on the optimization of CO2 emissions in cloud-based video encoding. His project involves creating a scheduler using machine learning predictions to efficiently allocate encoding tasks across different cloud regions. This practical solution is aimed at reducing the environmental impact of video streaming services. More information about Armin’s academic journey and projects can be found here.
