Caroline Trippel is an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering at Stanford University. Her research focuses on ensuring correctness and security in computer systems through formal methods, with particular emphasis on hardware verification, memory consistency models, and mitigating vulnerabilities like Spectre/Meltdown. She previously worked at Facebook’s FAIR SysML group before joining Stanford. Education: PhD in Computer Science, Princeton University BS in Computer Engineering, Purdue University Her work has influenced the RISC-V ISA memory consistency model and produced tools like CheckMate, which automatically synthesizes hardware exploits for security verification. She explores privacy-preserving ML, ML-driven hardware optimizations (e.g., neural recommendation), and datacenter reliability. Her research has earned awards including the 2020 ACM SIGARCH Dissertation Award and NVIDIA Fellowship. Key contributions include: Formal analysis of RISC-V memory models Exploitation synthesis frameworks (CheckMate) Hardware-software contracts for security Defenses against microarchitectural side-channel attacks Current projects include: VeriCoder: LLM-enhanced RTL code verification Multi-μPATH synthesis for security validation Near-data processing (RecSSD) for recommendation systems
Prof. Peter Müller is a Full Professor at the Department of Computer Science at ETH Zurich since 2008. Previously, he held positions as Assistant Professor at ETH Zurich (2003-2008), Researcher at Microsoft Research Redmond (2007-2008), and IT project manager at Deutsche Bank. He earned his Diploma in Computer Science from Technical University of Munich (1996) and his Dr. rer. nat. from University of Hagen (2001) with a dissertation on modular verification of object-oriented programs. His research focuses on enabling correct software development through programming languages, verification methods, and tools. Key areas include formal verification for Rust and Go programs (Prusti and Gobra projects), separation logic, security protocols, and distributed systems verification. Müller's work emphasizes practical verification techniques for real-world systems, including secure router implementations and smart contract verification. Recent research trends highlight advancements in hyperproperties, modular reasoning for iterators and closures in Rust, and formal validation of verification tools. His methodologies bridge theoretical foundations with industrial applications, addressing challenges in concurrency, memory safety, and security assurance. Notable contributions include the SCION internet architecture, the Prusti verifier for Rust, and formal verification frameworks for distributed systems. His work often integrates rigorous mathematical foundations with scalable software engineering practices.
Dimitris Mitropoulos is an Assistant Professor at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) in the Department of Business Administration, where he teaches courses on Distributed Ledger Technologies, Data Security and Privacy, Algorithms and Business Analytics, and Introduction to Programming. He also serves as Head of the Reliability Engineering Directorate at the National Infrastructures for Research and Technology (GRNET), Greece's national research and education network organization. Previously, he was a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Computer Science Department at Columbia University. Dr. Mitropoulos received his Ph.D. degree in Secure Software Development Technologies from the Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB) in 2014. His doctoral research was supported by the Heracleitus II Scholarship, co-financed by the European Union and Greek national funds. He is a member of prestigious professional organizations including ACM, IEEE, and USENIX. Dr. Mitropoulos conducts pioneering research at the intersection of software engineering and cybersecurity, with particular expertise in secure software development, vulnerability analysis, and blockchain security. His work spans multiple dimensions of software security including code injection attacks, infrastructure as code security, smart contract analysis, and dependency management in software ecosystems. His research methodology combines static and dynamic analysis techniques with empirical studies of real-world software systems, particularly focusing on Java, Python, and Solidity ecosystems. His recent work has made significant contributions to understanding security vulnerabilities in modern software development practices and infrastructure management. Dr. Mitropoulos has received numerous prestigious awards for his research contributions, including the Research Excellence Award from NKUA (2025), Distinguished Paper and Artifact Awards at PLDI '22, Best Data Showcase Award at MSR 2018, and multiple postdoctoral research funding scholarships. His work on "Finding typing compiler bugs" was recognized with both Distinguished Paper and Artifact Awards at PLDI '22, highlighting the significance and reproducibility of his research. He has also received recognition for his service to the academic community, including a Certificate of Appreciation from ESEC/FSE '21 for his contributions to conference organization. Dr. Mitropoulos has been actively involved in securing research funding and leading significant research projects. He currently serves as Principal Investigator for the SecOPERA project (2023-Today), funded by the European Commission under Horizon Europe. Previously, he contributed to several major EU and US-funded projects including eSSIF-Lab (2019-2022), FASTEN (2019-2022), PRIViLEDGE (2018-2021), CERTCOOP (2017-2020), PANORAMIX (2016-2019), and TREDISEC (2016-2018). His research has been supported by diverse funding sources including the European Commission's Horizon 2020 program, the National Science Foundation, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Dr. Mitropoulos plays an active role in the international research community through various leadership positions. He serves on program committees for top-tier conferences including OOPSLA (2026), ICSE (2026), ESEC/FSE (2025), and ISSTA (2025). He has previously served as Workshop Co-Chair for ISSTA 2025 and Student Volunteer Chair for ESEC/FSE 2021. His contributions to mentoring the next generation of researchers include serving as a mentor for the ICSE Student Mentoring Workshop (2022) and supervising Google Summer of Code projects (2017).
Prof. Dr. Christian Rossow is a faculty member at CISPA – Helmholtz Center for Information Security in Dortmund, Germany. He also serves as a professor at Saarland University and an honorary professor at TU Dortmund. His research focuses on network security , system/software security , and cyber attacks and countermeasures . His recent publications include work on CSS exploitation for browser fingerprinting, Spectre mitigations on ARM, DDoS attack analysis, and hardware-assisted security extensions. Christian Rossow regularly serves as a PC member and track chair for top cybersecurity conferences like ACM CCS and USENIX Security . He advises multiple PhD students and leads a research group exploring foundational and practical security solutions.
Ada Gavrilovska is a Professor at Georgia Tech's School of Computer Science under the College of Computing. Her work focuses on systems software for emerging technologies, including hybrid memory systems, edge computing, and cloud infrastructure. She leads projects in the PRISM Center and ADA Center , with funding from NSF, DoE, SRC, and industry leaders like Cisco and VMware. Education: PhD in Computer Science, Georgia Tech (2004) Research Interests: Designing systems for new hardware and applications, including edge computing, heterogeneous memory management, and LEO satellite platforms. Her work bridges low-level OS mechanisms with high-level distributed systems challenges. Recent Publications highlight trends in LEO satellite resource scheduling Edge-based ML preprocessing Hybrid memory OS abstractions Disaggregated graph analytics Compiler-assisted performance optimization Scientific Awards: Best paper, NFV World Congress (2016) Spotlight paper, IEEE Transactions on Cloud Computing (2014) ISCA-50 25-year retrospective (2023) Advising & Grants: Ada has mentored over 15 PhD students and 10 MS students, with research supported by NSF, DoE, SRC, and industry grants. She serves as PI in the SRC/DARPA PRISM Center.
Dr. Mohamed Hassan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering at McMaster University. His research focuses on Cyber-Physical Systems-on-Chip (iCPSoCs) , emphasizing design, analysis, and deployment for critical domains like Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), Autonomous Cars, and healthcare systems. Key research areas include hardware/software codesign, real-time systems, embedded systems, and security. He teaches courses such as COMPENG 4DM4 (Computer Architecture) and COMPENG 4DS4 (Embedded Systems) . His work bridges foundational theories (e.g., scheduling, AI) with infrastructure-level innovations (e.g., compilers, memory systems). The Fanos Research Lab he leads explores interdisciplinary solutions for efficient CPS-on-Chip, addressing challenges in multicore predictability, memory latency, and edge computing. Recent contributions include frameworks for explainable memory-centric workloads and techniques to accelerate TinyML inference. Dr. Hassan serves on Technical Program Committees for conferences like RTAS and OSPERT, highlighting his role in advancing real-time embedded systems research.
Yonghwi Kwon is a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Virginia. His research focuses on software systems security, cyber forensics, and software engineering. He received the CAREER Award for developing dynamic defenses against cyber threats. His work emphasizes securing software from cyber attacks, recovering forensic evidence, and improving software testing and reverse engineering techniques. Key research areas include memory safety mechanisms, automated vulnerability detection in web applications and mobile systems, and forensic analysis of phishing campaigns. He has pioneered frameworks like CMASan for memory allocator-aware sanitization and Racedb for detecting race conditions in database-backed systems. His contributions span cloud security automation, kernel exploitation analysis, and embedded system fuzzing. Notable achievements include the 2025 CAREER Award supporting his dynamic defense research, and impactful publications in areas like Android information leakage detection (DryJIN), Bluetooth protocol fuzzing (BTFuzzer), and autonomous driving bug discovery (Drivefuzz). His work bridges theoretical computer science with practical cybersecurity solutions.
Benjamin J. Delaware is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Purdue University. His research focuses on programming languages, formal verification, and tools for ensuring software correctness using mechanized theorem provers. He holds a Ph.D. from The University of Texas at Austin (2013), an MSc from Washington University in St. Louis (2007), and a B.S. from Truman State University (2005). His work emphasizes practical formal methods, including static enforcement of privacy policies, compiler design for oblivious computation, and automated verification techniques. Key contributions include tools like Taypsi, KestRel, and HACCLE. His research bridges theory and practice, addressing challenges in software security, correctness, and efficiency. Publications span top venues like POPL, PLDI, and OOPSLA, reflecting a strong focus on foundational programming language concepts. Collaborations with researchers like Suresh Jagannathan and Qianchuan Ye drive advancements in automated reasoning and secure computation.
Lisa Wills serves as Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Duke University's Trinity College of Arts & Sciences and holds a joint appointment in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Pratt School of Engineering since 2019. Her research bridges computer architecture and domain-specific applications, with a focus on hardware acceleration for computationally intensive fields. Dr. Wills earned her Ph.D. from Columbia University in 2014. Her academic journey reflects a deep commitment to advancing hardware-software co-design methodologies for real-world computational challenges. Her research centers on developing efficient hardware accelerators for big data analytics, particularly in genomics, graph processing, and database systems. She pioneers frameworks that simplify accelerator deployment while tackling critical bottlenecks in genomic data analysis, protein structure prediction, and privacy-preserving computing. Current work focuses on hardware-aware machine learning systems and energy-efficient architectures for emerging AI applications. Analysis of her publication record reveals a clear trajectory: from foundational work in database processing units (2014-2016) to specialized genomic accelerators (2019-2021), then evolving toward ML-enhanced design automation (2022-2023) and cutting-edge architectural abstractions (2024-2025). Her research consistently targets the intersection of hardware efficiency and domain-specific computational demands, with increasing emphasis on AI/ML workloads. Google ML and Systems Junior Faculty Award (2025) Dr. Wills actively mentors doctoral students including Chris Kjellqvist (lead architect of Beethoven accelerator framework), Mason Ma (PyTFHE FHE framework), and Mansi Choudhary (COCOSSim accelerator simulator). Her research is supported by significant grants including the NSF AI Institute: Athena ($20M, 2021-2027), Meta-funded ProSE accelerator project (2023-2026), and NSF CAREER award (2021-2026), totaling over $25M in active funding. She directs the APEX Lab (Application-driven Programmable Efficient Accelerated Systems), which develops open-source frameworks like Beethoven for FPGA/ASIC accelerator deployment and focuses on lowering barriers for non-hardware researchers to leverage custom acceleration in genomics, AI, and big data applications.
Riad S. Wahby is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University's College of Engineering. His work focuses on designing secure hardware and software systems, with recent emphasis on cryptographic proof systems. He actively mentors PhD students and collaborates across disciplines in cybersecurity, blockchain, and formal verification. PhD in Computer Science, Stanford University MEng in Electrical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology SB in Electrical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Wahby's research spans cryptography , blockchain security , zero-knowledge proofs , and secure hardware-software co-design . His work addresses challenges in verifiable computation, privacy-preserving protocols, and hardware subversion resistance. Recent publications reveal trends in zero-knowledge proof systems (SNARKs, MPC), blockchain security (anonymous blocklisting, decentralized auctions), and hardware-crypto integration (weird machines, verifiable ASICs). Technical focus areas include formal verification, side-channel analysis, and cryptographic compilers. Distinguished Student Paper Award, IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy (Oakland16), 2016 Best Paper Award, USENIX Annual Technical Conference (ATC18), 2018 Wahby collaborates with researchers across institutions and industries, including Dan Boneh at Stanford, Mike Walfish at NYU, and Silicon Labs in industrial roles. His CyLab affiliations connect him to over $400K in seed funding opportunities and blockchain initiatives at CMU.
Lisa Wu Wills is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Electrical and Computer Engineering at Duke University, leading the APEX Lab (Application-driven Programmable Efficient Accelerated Systems Lab). Her research focuses on hardware acceleration for big data analytics in genomics, graphs, and databases to advance healthcare and natural sciences. Education: Ph.D. in Computer Science, Columbia University, 2014 Research Interests: Dr. Wills pioneers computer architecture and hardware-software co-design to create efficient accelerators for emerging applications. Her work targets genomics , graph analytics , and database systems , emphasizing simplified hardware deployment and energy efficiency for scientific breakthroughs in healthcare and AI. Publication Trends: Her 2022-2025 publications reveal a strong focus on open-source frameworks (Beethoven, PyTFHE) for accelerator development, hardware acceleration in privacy-preserving computing, and optimization for large language models. Key themes include transfer learning for EDA, domain-specific architectures for genomics, and energy-efficient image processing. Scientific Awards: Google ML and Systems Junior Faculty Award (2025) Advising and Grants: Dr. Wills mentors three PhD students: Chris Kjellqvist (Beethoven framework architect), Mason Ma (PyTFHE lead for FHE applications), and Mansi Choudhary (COCOSSim simulator creator). Her 2025 Google award funds research on accelerating vector databases and retrieval-augmented generation for LLMs. Labs and Teams: She directs the APEX Lab at Duke, developing tools like Beethoven (open-source accelerator composer) and PyTFHE for hardware-software integration, enabling domain scientists to leverage custom acceleration with minimal hardware expertise.
Chester Rebeiro is an Associate Professor at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering within the Indian Institute of Technology Madras . His work spans hardware and software security with a focus on cryptographic implementations and microarchitectural vulnerabilities. Research interests include hardware security, applied cryptography, side channel analysis, and operating system security. He develops frameworks for automatic vulnerability detection and mitigation in cryptographic systems. Editorial Board: Associate Editor at Journal of Hardware and Systems Security (Springer, 2021-2024) Conference Leadership: General Co-Chair for SPACE 2024, Program Co-Chair for ATS 2024, and Program Co-Chair for INDOCRYPT 2023 Professional Activities: Organizer of e-CTF Embedded Capture The Flag and contributor to cybersecurity workshops across India and abroad Scientific contributions highlight two major awards: a Distinguished Paper Award at USENIX Security 2024 and a Best Paper Award at IEEE HOST 2020. His research focuses on practical security solutions for processors and cryptographic systems. Advising includes mentoring 11 PhD students and 7 MS by Research candidates, with notable co-guided projects in fault attack detection and side-channel mitigation. He actively contributes to educational initiatives through courses on Secure Processor Microarchitecture and Operating Systems.
Adam Doupé is an Associate Professor at Arizona State University's School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence (SCAI) and Director of the Center for Cybersecurity and Trusted Foundations (CTF). He holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in Computer Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara. His research focuses on cybersecurity, vulnerability analysis, web security, and hacking competitions. Notable awards include the NSF CAREER Award (2017), Best Teacher Award, and Outstanding Assistant Professor Award from ASU's Fulton Schools of Engineering. Education: Ph.D. and M.S. in Computer Science, UC Santa Barbara (2014, 2009). Research emphasizes automated vulnerability analysis, binary analysis, and cybersecurity education. Key contributions include frameworks like SCAMNet and SENSAI for fraud detection, and tools like Fuzz to the Future for uncovering future vulnerabilities. Recent articles highlight advancements in phishing ecosystem analysis, browser fingerprinting mitigation, and compiler-aware decompilation. Awards reflect his impact in both teaching and research. Advising and grants support his work in secure systems and ethical hacking. He co-leads the SEFCOM lab with Drs. Ahn, Shoshitaishvili, Wang, and Bao, and hosts CTF Radiooo for cybersecurity discussions.
Kimia Zamiri Azar serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Central Florida, focusing on hardware security and verification methodologies. Her research bridges theoretical formal methods with practical security implementations in semiconductor design and testing. Her educational background includes: Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering, George Mason University (2021) Postdoctoral Research, University of Florida Dr. Azar's research spans hardware security with emphasis on system-level verification, VLSI design-for-trust, and advanced IC testing. She pioneers techniques in logic locking, secure heterogeneous integration, and IC supply chain security, developing frameworks for authenticated encryption in Systems-in-Package and runtime security monitoring. Her work integrates formal verification with innovative testing methodologies to address hardware trust challenges across the semiconductor lifecycle. Analysis of her recent publications reveals two dominant trends: (1) Application of large language models (LLMs) to hardware design tasks including high-level synthesis code generation and RTL optimization, and (2) Advancement of secure heterogeneous integration techniques for System-in-Package architectures with focus on counterfeit prevention and split-test security protocols. These directions address critical gaps in hardware trustworthiness amid increasingly complex semiconductor supply chains. Her scientific contributions have earned significant recognition: Best Paper Award at ICCAD 2019 Best Paper Award at ISVLSI 2020 Best Paper Award at ICCAD 2020 Best Paper Award at IEEE DCAS 2020 Best Paper Award at HOST 2022 Best Paper Award at DATE 2023 Dr. Azar secures substantial research funding from premier agencies including NSF, SRC, DARPA, AFRL, DoD (NG), and Microsemi. Her grants support projects spanning hardware security validation frameworks, secure heterogeneous integration, and AI-augmented verification methodologies. She actively mentors students in her research group, guiding publications in top venues like IEEE D&T, IEEE TC, and DAC while fostering industry-academic collaborations. Her work directly impacts semiconductor security standards through patented innovations and open-source verification tools. As an active IEEE and ACM member, she contributes to community advancement through conference organization (HOST, DATE), journal editorial roles, and workshop leadership on hardware security standards. Her research group collaborates with semiconductor industry leaders to translate theoretical security frameworks into practical design-for-trust methodologies for next-generation integrated circuits.
Xujie Si is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Toronto. He is also a faculty affiliate at the Vector Institute and an affiliate member at Mila - Quebec AI Institute, holding a Canada CIFAR AI Chair. Previously, he served as an Assistant Professor at McGill University's School of Computer Science. Education: Ph.D., Computer and Information Science, University of Pennsylvania (advised by Mayur Naik) M.S., Computer Science, Vanderbilt University B.E. (with Honors), Nankai University Research Focus: His work bridges AI and program reasoning, emphasizing the integration of statistical and logical methods. Key areas include: Static analysis and verification using deep learning/reinforcement learning Neuro-symbolic systems for urban simulation (e.g., LogiCity) Automated theorem proving via LLMs and symbolic reasoning Program repair and compiler fuzzing Recent Article Trends: Recent work focuses on synergizing LLMs with symbolic reasoning (e.g., Olympiad inequality proving), advancing SAT solving with graph neural networks, and applying neuro-symbolic methods to Euclidean geometry formalization. Awards: Canada CIFAR AI Chair (2023) Lab/Teams: Leads research teams exploring program analysis, neuro-symbolic AI, and formal verification at the University of Toronto and Vector Institute.
