Lav R. Varshney is an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research focuses on the science and engineering of informational systems involving humans and machines, driven by a desire to improve individual and collective intelligence in modern environments. His central results have been in establishing information-theoretic limits, optimal designs, and practical deployments in systems ranging from nanoscale computing and neuroscience to social computing and computational creativity.