AIMC 2024 Conference Keynote Speakers
Professor Matthew Montebello, University of Malta
ABOUT: Prof Matthew Montebello is a full professor and the head of Department of Artificial Intelligence at the Faculty of ICT, University of Malta. Before joining the University in 1999 with a PhD in Computer Science he was already heavily involved in Education in secondary schools after graduating in 1990 at the University of Malta B.Ed.(Hons) degree. Having obtained extensive teaching experience and having been involved with the introduction of computer labs through the Ministry of Education, he proceeded to follow the Computer Science domain when he pursued his post-graduate studies obtaining a Masters and a Doctorate at the Cardiff University in Wales in 1996 and 1998 respectively. Furthermore in 2009 and 2016 he also completed an M.A. and an Ed.D. (Higher Education) specialising in the application of artificial intelligence to e-learning. In 2017 he was offered a visiting academic status at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign where he collaborated with the Computer Science department and College of Education on numerous projects and research initiatives. In May 2018 he was appointed Adjunct Professor at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and developed a next generation VLE that employed social media concepts. At the University of Malta he forms part of the Web Editorial Board, the Digital Education Committee, and the University Council.
Professor Sarah Mercer, University of Graz, Austria
ABOUT: Sarah Mercer is Professor of Foreign Language Teaching at the University of Graz, Austria, where she is Head of ELT methodology. Her research interests include all aspects of the psychology surrounding the foreign language learning experience. She is the author, co-author and co-editor of several books in this area. She has served as Principal Investigator on several funded research projects, has worked on the editorial board of various journals, is co-editor of Multilingual Matters’ Psychology of Language Learning and Teaching book series, is currently vice-president of IAPLL, and is ambassador for IATEFL.
