I am happy to introduce Ira Winder, a well-rounded and accomplished researcher, educator, and practitioner in the fields of Computer Science, Mathematical Modeling, City Planning, and Architectural Design. With a Master of City Planning and a Bachelor of Science and Design from the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ira has gained impressive expertise in the end-to-end design, development, and implementation of interactive simulations for solving complex problems in industry, academia, and public agencies.

Currently, Ira holds dual appointments as a Researcher at the MIT Engineering Systems Laboratory (ESL) and the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Frontier Sciences (GSFS). As a Technical Instructor at MIT, he taught Computational Urban Science at the undergraduate and graduate levels. He also served as a Research Scientist at the MIT Media Lab, where he spearheaded the invention of the tangible interactive matrix (TIM), an integrated hardware and software platform that merges parametric, voxelized simulations with user-friendly tangible interfaces. This platform now serves as a cornerstone of interdisciplinary research, particularly for the CityScope Project at the MIT Media Lab's City Science Group.

Ira's impressive work has earned him recognition, and he has exhibited and spoken at high-profile events such as Autodesk University, TEDx Boston, US Chamber of Commerce, APA Planning Conference, Singapore World Cities Summit, Big Data Analytics Tokyo, Edinburgh Culture Summit, Guiyang Big Data Expo, and The G7 Conference for ICT. His appearance in "A Lego Brickumentary" and his feature on CBS, Financial Times Magazine, The Atlantic's CityLab, and a White House report to the President on "Technology and the Future of Cities" are a testament to his influence and expertise.