Kevin Leach

Kevin Leach is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Vanderbilt University's School of Engineering. His research focuses on designing dependable cybersecurity systems and software engineering practices that withstand sophisticated adversarial attacks. He holds a PhD from the University of Virginia (2016), where he received the Louis T Rader Outstanding Research Award. Prior to Vanderbilt, he was a research scientist and lecturer at the University of Michigan.

Education:

• Ph.D. in Computer Engineering, University of Virginia
• MS in Computer Science, George Mason University
• BS with Distinction in Computer Engineering and Computer Science, University of Virginia

His research investigates two core areas: leveraging hardware capabilities like Trusted Execution Environments for low-overhead security instrumentation, and understanding how developers and operators make decisions in adversarial environments. He has published over 30 refereed articles, 3 of which have received awards. Recent work includes studies on cognitive biases in cybersecurity competitions, AI-driven code assessment, and malware detection techniques.

Awards:

• Louis T Rader Outstanding Research Award (2016)
• 3 award-winning papers (specific awards unspecified)

His research bridges technical security mechanisms with human decision-making processes, emphasizing both system dependability and developer/operator awareness. Current projects include work on federated learning defenses, runtime security optimization for embedded systems, and ethical considerations in crowdsourced data labeling.