Chang Lou

Chang Lou is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Virginia, part of the School of Engineering and Applied Science. His research focuses on enhancing cloud system reliability through runtime assurance, distributed systems, and formal verification techniques. He holds a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University (2023) and a B.S. from Shanghai Jiao Tong University (2016), with a gap year at IPADS under Prof. Haibo Chen.

Education:

• Ph.D., Computer Science, Johns Hopkins University, 2023 (Advisor: Prof. Peng Huang)
• B.S., Computer Science, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 2016

Research Interests: Dr. Lou’s work addresses complex failures in distributed systems, including runtime failure detection, formal verification for ML models, and anomaly mitigation in cloud infrastructure. His lab develops tools like OKLib and RESIN, deployed in production environments such as Microsoft Azure. Recent efforts include NSF-funded research on low-effort runtime assurance for cloud systems.

Awards: Recipient of the NSF CAREER Award (2024), NSDI’20 Best Paper Award, and the ACM SIGOPS Dissertation Honorable Mention (2023).

Teaching: Teaches CS4740: Cloud Computing and CS6501: Cloud System Reliability at UVA. Courses emphasize distributed systems principles, reliability techniques, and practical project-based learning.

Service: Serves on program committees for NSDI’26, SOSP’25, EuroSys’25, and others. Co-organizes workshops on Formal Methods in Networked Systems (SIGCOMM 2024).