David Mazières is a Professor at Stanford University , affiliated with the School of Engineering and the Department of Computer Science . He serves as a software engineer at the Stellar Development Foundation . His work bridges academic research and industry applications in distributed systems and security. University: Stanford University Academic Rank: Professor Email: dm@scs.stanford.edu Research Interests: David Mazières' research focuses on distributed systems , cryptocurrencies , and computer security . Key areas include consensus protocols (e.g., Stellar ), low-latency scheduling ( Syrup , Shinjuku ), and cryptographic techniques for privacy and security ( SafetyPin , CCFI ). Key Achievements: His notable works include: TCP-ENO (RFC 8547) for secure transport protocols Stellar Consensus Protocol for decentralized finance SOSP 1999 Best Paper for 'Separating key management from file system security' Teaching Contributions: He has taught core and advanced courses at Stanford since 2005, including CS212 (Operating Systems) , CS240h (Functional Systems in Haskell) , and CS251 (Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain Technologies) . Previously taught courses at NYU (2001-2005).
Kenneth P. Birman is the N. Rama Rao Professor of Computer Science at Cornell University, where he has had a long and impactful career in distributed systems, cloud computing, and AI/ML infrastructure. He is known for foundational contributions to reliable and scalable distributed systems, and for leading high-impact projects such as Cascade, Vortex, and Derecho. He is also the author of a widely used textbook on reliable distributed systems and has founded multiple companies based on his research. Education: Ph.D. in Computer Science, University of California, Berkeley M.S. in Computer Science, University of California, Berkeley B.A. in Computer Science, Columbia University Research Interests: Professor Birman's research focuses on building reliable, secure, and scalable distributed systems . His current emphasis is on AI and ML infrastructure , particularly in reducing latency and improving performance through hardware acceleration, RDMA-based communication, and edge computing. He explores how to eliminate data movement bottlenecks in AI pipelines and how to support real-time, mission-critical applications in domains like healthcare, smart grids, and industrial IoT. His work spans systems programming, cloud computing, fault tolerance, and formal verification . He has designed systems that have been deployed in high-stakes environments such as the New York Stock Exchange, the Swiss Exchange, and the French Air Traffic Control system. Scientific Awards: ACM Fellow (1999) IEEE Fellow (2014) IEEE Tsutomu Kanai Award for innovations in distributed computing Teaching and Mentorship: Professor Birman teaches two courses in the fall semester: CS4414: Systems Programming and CS5416: Cloud and ML Systems Programming . He has advised numerous Ph.D. and M.S. students, including Alicia Yang, Tiancheng Yuan, Yifan Wang, Weijia Song, Edward Tremel, Sagar Jha, Jonathan Behrens, and Mae Milano. He has announced that Fall 2025 will be his last semester teaching, and he is no longer recruiting new students, though he will continue supervising current ones. Labs and Projects: He leads the Derecho Project and the Cascade/Vortex Project , both focused on high-performance distributed systems. These projects are collaborative efforts with students and industry partners, and the software is released under open-source licenses. He also maintains strong ties with Cornell's systems group and collaborates with faculty across CS, ECE, IS, and the Cornell Tech NYC campus.
Andrea Coladangelo is an Assistant Professor at the Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering , University of Washington , co-leading the Quantum group and contributing to the Theory and Crypto groups. He coordinates the NSF-funded Quantum@UW REU program , fostering undergraduate research in quantum information. Previously, he was a postdoctoral researcher at UC Berkeley and the Simons Institute , advised by Umesh Vazirani , following a PhD in Computer Science at Caltech under Thomas Vidick . His academic journey began with a B.A. in Mathematics from Oxford and a Master in Mathematics from Cambridge . He co-founded qBraid , a platform for quantum computing education. Research Interests : Andrea explores the intersection of quantum computation and cryptography , focusing on foundational questions in entanglement , quantum correlations , and quantum learning theory . His work investigates quantum pseudorandomness , device-independent security , quantum algorithms , and quantum copy-protection , often leveraging computational assumptions to bridge quantum information theory with cryptographic applications. Scientific Awards : 2025 Google Research Scholar Program Award in Quantum Computing 2023 CSE Undergraduate Teaching Award for his course on quantum computation 2019 Best Student Paper Award at QIP Teaching & Outreach : Andrea designed and taught CSE 434: Intro to Quantum Computation (Spring 2023, 2024, 2025), CSE 534: Quantum Information and Computation (Autumn 2023), and CSE 599C: Quantum Learning Theory (Winter 2025). He also delivered lectures at the 22nd Bellairs Crypto Workshop (2024) and led a quantum programming tutorial using qBraid . Labs & Teams : As co-leader of the Quantum group at the Allen School, he collaborates with researchers in Theory and Crypto , advancing quantum computing through interdisciplinary projects and educational initiatives.
Ian Goldberg is a Professor at the Cheriton School of Computer Science , University of Waterloo, Canada. He holds the Canada Research Chair in Privacy Enhancing Technologies and leads the Cryptography, Security, and Privacy (CrySP) group . He is affiliated with the Cybersecurity and Privacy Institute and the Institute for Quantum Computing . Research Focus: Security, privacy, and privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs) for the Internet, including Off-the-Record (OTR) Messaging , censorship resistance , private information retrieval , and zero-knowledge proofs . Recent Publications: His work addresses metadata protection , deniable authentication , and secure multi-party computation , with applications to anonymous communication and censorship resistance. Scientific Awards: Canada Research Chair in Privacy Enhancing Technologies Students: He advises current and former PhD/Master’s students in projects like Lox , PRSONA , Walkie-Talkie , and SkypeMorph . Notable advisees include Sajin Sasy (Privacy-Preserving Communications), Justin Tracey (PETs Development), and Tao Wang (Website Fingerprinting Defenses). Labs & Teams: Goldberg is a core member of the CrySP group and contributes to the Tor Project and Off-the-Record Messaging open-source initiatives. His research bridges theoretical and applied cryptography, with deployments in real-world systems like Tor and PIR protocols.
Giuseppe Ateniese is a Professor and Eminent Scholar in Cybersecurity at George Mason University, affiliated with the Department of Computer Science and Cyber Security Engineering. Formerly, he held the Farber Endowed Chair and chaired the Department of Computer Science at Stevens Institute of Technology. His research focuses on cloud security, applied cryptography, blockchain technology, and AI-driven cybersecurity solutions. He has received prestigious awards including the NSF CAREER Award and Google/IBM Faculty Awards. AIFurther, he teaches courses on blockchains, cryptography fundamentals, and cryptofinance. His work includes pioneering contributions to rewritable blockchains, password cracking via AI (e.g., PassGAN), and secure decentralized systems. Education: PhD in Computer Science, University of Genoa (2000) Laurea (M.Sc.), University of Salerno (1995) Master of Engineering (Honoris Causa), Stevens Institute of Technology (2020) Research Interests: Ateniese’s work bridges theoretical and applied cryptography, with emphasis on blockchain scalability, privacy-preserving machine learning, and secure data storage. He has developed foundational techniques like proxy re-cryptography and accountable storage systems. His recent efforts address AI’s dual role as both a cybersecurity tool and threat vector, including AI-based password cracking and defense strategies against LLM-driven attacks. Awards: NSF CAREER Award (for privacy/security research) Google Faculty Research Award (cloud security) IBM Faculty Award IEEE CISTC Technical Recognition Award Teaching & Labs: He teaches advanced courses on blockchains (CS695), cryptography fundamentals (CYSE/ECE476), and introductory cryptography (CS487/587). His research team focuses on cryptographic protocols, decentralized systems, and AI-security intersections. Collaborations include projects with Accenture on editable blockchain prototypes and NSF-funded work on password security.
Alexandra Boldyreva is a Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, holding joint appointments in the School of Cybersecurity and Privacy and the School of Computer Science. She serves as Associate Chair for Graduate Studies in the School of Cybersecurity and Privacy and coordinates the Information Security Master’s program in the College of Computing. Her affiliations include the Institute for Information Security & Privacy (IISP), the Algorithms, Combinatorics and Optimization (ACO) program, and the Algorithms and Randomness Center (ARC). She earned her Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of California, San Diego, and holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in applied mathematics from St. Petersburg State Technical University, Russia. Her research focuses on cryptography and information security, with notable contributions to encryption methods, authentication protocols, and privacy-preserving systems. Boldyreva’s work emphasizes provable security analysis of protocols like FIDO2 and TLS 1.3, as well as searchable encryption and data privacy techniques. Her recent studies include secure communication channel establishment, leakage quantification in encryption systems, and applications of fuzzy search in encrypted databases. She has received Test of Time Awards for foundational contributions to cryptography. Boldyreva leads initiatives in cybersecurity education and has secured grants for research in secure communication protocols and human-computing approaches to key exchange. Her interdisciplinary collaborations span computer science, mathematics, and privacy engineering.
Gavin McNicol is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). His research focuses on soil biogeochemistry and its connection to Earth’s climate system, particularly methane emissions from wetlands, temperate rainforests, and waste systems. He employs field measurements, laboratory experiments, and data science to study greenhouse gas dynamics across scales. McNicol teaches courses on data science (EAES 420) and climate-ecosystem interactions (EAES 579). His work integrates machine learning with satellite remote sensing to monitor global wetland methane emissions. Key collaborations include FLUXNET-CH4, CRMRCN, and the SOIL NGO in Haiti. McNicol holds a BS from the University of Stirling (2010) and a PhD from UC Berkeley (2016). Research interests span wetland methane budgets, carbon cycling in coastal ecosystems, and climate impacts of sanitation systems. He has secured grants from NASA, DOE, and NSF, totaling over $87,000. His team, the McNicol Lab, emphasizes interdisciplinary approaches combining fieldwork, lab analysis, and computational modeling. Recent publications (2023–2025) address global methane upscaling, tropical wetland monitoring gaps, and boreal-Arctic methane feedbacks. McNicol’s work bridges local measurements to global climate models, with applications in climate change mitigation and sustainable development.
Sean Foley is a Professor of Applied Finance at Macquarie University, specializing in Fintech, Cryptocurrencies, Trading, and Market Design. He leads the Decentralized Assets division at the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (DFCRC), bridging academia, industry, and government. His research focuses on blockchain applications like automated market makers, DeFi protocols, and stablecoins. Education: PhD in Finance from the University of Sydney (2014), focusing on 'The Impact of Regulation on Market Quality'. Research Interests: Decentralized finance (DeFi) systems Cryptocurrency market dynamics and regulation Market microstructure and liquidity provision Energy market crises and policy Regulatory frameworks for financial markets Key Projects: Leading the DFCRC's Industrial PhD Scholarships (2021–2031), mentoring students like Arvind Rangarajan and Juuso Artturi Itkonen. Research on Australia's National Electricity Market (NEM) suspension and energy policy. Awards: Best Paper Award at the Cryptocurrency Conference (2019) Philip Brown Prize for Best Australian Paper (2021) Exceptional Research Prize (2019) Advising & Grants: Supervised over 10 PhD students through DFCRC scholarships. Secured $181 million for the Digital Finance CRC. Lead applicant in the Gunns Ltd shareholder class action. Labs/Teams: Head of Decentralized Assets at DFCRC, collaborating on policy and technology. Co-researcher on 'Electricity Markets in Crisis' and cryptocurrency illicit use studies.
Gene Tsudik is a Distinguished Professor of Computer Science at the University of California, Irvine (UCI), with a career spanning over two decades. He obtained his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Southern California (USC) in 1991, focusing on access control in the Internet. His research spans multiple areas including computer and network security, applied cryptography, and digital privacy, with a recent emphasis on database privacy, genomic privacy, and usable security. His notable contributions include the Inter-Domain Policy Routing (IDPR) protocol, KryptoKnight for network security, and Tree-Based Group Key Agreement protocols. He has over 210 publications and 8 patents. From 2002 to 2007, he served as Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Studies at UCI's School of Information and Computer Sciences and currently directs the UCI Secure Computing and Networking Center (SCONCE). Research Keywords : Cybersecurity, Cryptography, Privacy, Network Security, Digital Signatures, Genomic Data Protection. Scientific Awards : IEEE Fellow (2012), ACM Fellow (2014), AAAS Fellow (2016), Fulbright Senior Scholar (2007), and IFIP Fellow (2020). Professor Tsudik has supervised 18 PhD students and held visiting positions at universities across Europe and Asia. His recent publications focus on secure hardware attestation, biometric authentication, and social media data privacy.
Dr. Amin Sakzad is an Associate Professor in the Department of Software Systems & Cybersecurity at Monash University's Faculty of Information Technology. His research focuses on lattice-based cryptography, wireless communications, and post-quantum security protocols. He holds a PhD in Applied Mathematics from Amirkabir University of Technology (2011) and has held academic roles at Carleton University and Monash since 2012. Dr. Sakzad’s expertise spans lattice coding theory, MIMO systems, and privacy-preserving technologies for genomic databases and blockchain applications. He leads multiple ARC-funded projects, including work on secure databases (SRDBMS) and post-quantum cryptographic primitives for FinTech and energy sectors. His research has been recognized through awards such as the FIT Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence (2021). Key collaborations include projects on blockchain security (CollinStar Lab), genomic data privacy, and energy market cybersecurity. His work addresses UN SDGs through contributions to quality education (SDG 4) and industry innovation (SDG 9). Recent publications highlight advancements in lattice-based cryptography (e.g., CRYSTALS-Kyber variants), privacy-preserving energy trading, and secure blockchain protocols like FPPW watchtower systems. His research bridges theoretical cryptography with practical implementations in embedded systems and 5G telecommunications. Grants: 16 active/completed projects including $1.2M in ARC funding Advising: Supervising PhD projects on lattice applications in post-quantum crypto and blockchain Labs: Core member of Monash’s Software Defined Telecommunications (SDT) Lab and CollinStar Lab
Sushmita Ruj is an Associate Professor in the School of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney. She serves as the Faculty of Engineering Lead for the UNSW Institute for Cybersecurity (IfCyber) and as the Taste of Research (ToR) Coordinator within the School of Computer Science and Engineering. Her academic journey includes previous positions as a Senior Research Scientist at CSIRO's Data61 (2019-2022), Associate Professor at the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, and Assistant Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Indore. Dr. Ruj's primary research interests focus on applied cryptography, post-quantum cryptography, cybersecurity, blockchains, and data privacy. She designs practical, efficient, and provably secure protocols for real-life applications, with particular emphasis on critical infrastructure including smart grids, cloud computing, ad hoc networks, and data sharing frameworks. As quantum technology advances, her work increasingly focuses on developing quantum-safe algorithms to ensure a more secure Internet infrastructure. Her research spans multiple domains including cryptographic key management, proofs of storage, verifiable computation, vector commitments, and privacy-enhancing technologies for cloud and IoT environments. Her recent publications demonstrate a strong trend toward post-quantum cryptography solutions, with particular emphasis on blockchain applications, DNS security, and privacy-preserving protocols for industrial IoT. The research shows increasing focus on practical implementations of theoretical cryptographic concepts, with applications across multiple sectors including finance, healthcare, and critical infrastructure. Her work bridges the gap between theoretical cryptography and real-world security challenges, with growing emphasis on the transition from classical to quantum-resistant systems. Best Paper Award at ACISP 2024 JNCA Best Survey Award (2023) NSW Innovation Award (iAward) Merit Winner (2022) Women in Science Award from CSIRO (2020) ACM Senior Member (2016) IEEE Senior Member (2015) Samsung GRO award (2014) Dr. Ruj has successfully mentored numerous PhD and Master's students, with many of her former students now holding academic positions at institutions like IIT Indore, TU Wien, and CISPA Helmholtz Center. She has secured significant competitive funding including multiple Australian Research Council (ARC) grants, Samsung GRO Award, NetApp Faculty Fellowship, Cisco Academic Grant, and IBM Research grant. Her current research portfolio includes projects on blockchain-based quantum-safe digital medical passports, embedding trust in digital IDs, and resilience of supply chain unstructured data. As Faculty of Engineering Lead for IfCyber, Dr. Ruj plays a key role in UNSW's cybersecurity research initiatives. She has served on editorial boards for prestigious journals including IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security and has held leadership positions in major conferences such as ACISP 2021 and Indocrypt 2020. She was also a member of the working group on "Blockchain For Cybersecurity" for the National Blockchain Roadmap of Australia and the first Blockchain Working group set up by the Reserve Bank of India.
David Jao is a Professor in the Department of Combinatorics and Optimization at the University of Waterloo. His research focuses on post-quantum cryptography, particularly leveraging isogenies of supersingular elliptic curves for secure cryptographic protocols. He is renowned for co-developing the Supersingular Isogeny Key Encapsulation (SIKE) protocol, a leading candidate for post-quantum cryptography standards. His work spans theoretical foundations and practical implementations, including optimizing isogeny-based systems for embedded devices and ARM processors. Research interests include isogeny-based cryptosystems, elliptic curve cryptography, zero-knowledge proofs, and cryptographic security against quantum attacks. He explores applications of expander graphs and Ramanujan graphs in cryptography, alongside algorithmic improvements for cryptographic protocols such as SIDH (Supersingular Isogeny Diffie-Hellman). Key contributions include advancements in key compression techniques for SIKE, side-channel attack mitigation, and formalizing security models for post-quantum key exchange. His publications analyze cryptographic hardness assumptions, such as the discrete logarithm problem in finite groups and the semidirect product structure in isogeny-based systems. Jao’s work bridges theoretical mathematics and applied cryptography, with a focus on ensuring practical security in next-generation cryptographic systems. His research addresses challenges in quantum-resistant authentication, key establishment, and digital signatures, often emphasizing efficiency and resistance to both classical and quantum attacks.
Professor Peter Y. K. Cheung is a Professor of Digital Systems at Imperial College London, holding dual affiliations within the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and the Dyson School of Design Engineering. His work focuses on reconfigurable systems, FPGA architectures, and high-level synthesis tools. He co-founded one of the UK's leading FPGA research groups with Professor Wayne Luk, addressing challenges in variability mitigation, reliability, and application-specific FPGA deployments. His research spans Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) Reconfigurable computing Neural network acceleration Cryptographic protocols Embedded systems He has pioneered techniques such as logic shrinkage for FPGA-based neural networks and developed frameworks like LUTNet for efficient inference. His contributions also include fault-tolerant FPGA designs and methodologies for distributed computation protocols. Key collaborations include work with the Department of Computing on FPGA-based AI acceleration and cybersecurity applications. His recent work explores edge computing, secure decentralized systems, and pandemic modeling using adaptive control strategies. Notable projects include the DSCS protocol for secure distributed computation, acceleration of gravitational wave detection algorithms, and energy-efficient CNN implementations. His research bridges hardware-software co-design with real-world applications in healthcare, finance, and aerospace.
New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT)United States
Qiang Tang is currently an Associate Professor (Level D) at the School of Computer Science of The University of Sydney. Previously, he was a Senior Lecturer (2021.1-2024.12) at USYD and an Assistant Professor at the Computer Science Department of New Jersey Institute of Technology (2016.8-2021.1), where he co-directed the JACOBI Blockchain Lab with Prof. Jian Pei and Prof. Zhenfeng Zhang. He completed his PhD at the University of Connecticut under Prof. Aggelos Kiayias and Prof. Alexander Russell, following postdoctoral research at Cornell University with Prof. Elaine Shi. His research spans applied and theoretical cryptography, blockchain technology, privacy, and computer security. His work is supported by ARC, Google, Ethereum Foundation, Stellar Foundation, Protocol Labs, Algorand Foundation, Oracle, and USYD. Previous funding includes NSF, JD.com, AFRL, DoE, and Particl Foundation. His research has led to significant contributions in consensus protocols, distributed randomness generation, secure multi-party computation, and privacy-preserving technologies. Tang's publications reveal a strong focus on practical cryptographic solutions for blockchain and distributed systems. His recent work demonstrates expertise in asynchronous consensus, optimal protocol design, and secure implementations for real-world applications. His research shows consistent innovation in improving efficiency, security, and scalability of distributed systems. Scientific Awards: 2025 DSN Best Paper Award 2024 ICDCS Distinguished Paper Award 2023 SOAR Prize, USYD 2023 Oracle for Research Award 2022 Stellar Foundation Research Awards 2022 Ethereum Academic Award 2019 MIT Technical Review, 35 Chinese Innovators Under 35 Tang actively mentors PhD and Master's students, with several alumni now holding faculty positions or research roles at institutions like City University Hong Kong, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and A*STAR Singapore. He has received significant research funding including a multi-year Google project on End-to-End Secure Cloud and an ARC DP grant on Order Fairness in Decentralized Systems. He leads the research in his lab focusing on blockchain protocols and cryptographic applications, with strong industry connections through collaborations with Google, Ethereum Foundation, Stellar Foundation, and Protocol Labs. His team regularly publishes in top security and cryptography venues including CRYPTO, CCS, USENIX Security, and S&P.
Adam Khalifa is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering at the University of Florida. His research focuses on low-power analog/RF/Mixed-mode ASIC design, miniaturization of biomedical devices, wireless powering solutions, and neural stimulation/recording techniques in animal models. He holds a PhD from Johns Hopkins University and degrees from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. His work emphasizes implant packaging, electrode microfabrication, and coil design for medical applications. Key research areas include developing energy-efficient wireless systems for implanted devices, such as magnetoelectric antennas and galvanic body-coupled powering. He has pioneered advancements in miniaturized implantable devices, including the 'Microbead' stimulator. His NIH T32 Fellowship (2019) and Ferdinand H. Fellowship (2018) reflect his impactful contributions. Publications highlight innovations in wireless power transfer, metamaterials for biomedical implants, and injectable microdevice fabrication. His work spans from circuit-level modeling to in vivo validation, emphasizing both technical and biological integration challenges. Collaborative efforts address challenges like implant migration tracking via MRI and energy harvesting for battery-free systems.
