Daniel Holcomb

Daniel Holcomb is an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, part of the College of Engineering. He specializes in secure and reliable embedded systems, with research interests spanning embedded systems security, hardware security, formal verification, VLSI design, and cryptography.

Education:

• B.S. Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Massachusetts (2005)
• M.S. Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Massachusetts (2007)
• Ph.D. Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California, Berkeley (2013)

His research focuses on mitigating hardware vulnerabilities in FPGAs and chiplet-based systems, including countermeasures against side-channel attacks, voltage attacks, and IP theft via reverse engineering. He has contributed to the development of secure design methodologies, PUF-based authentication, and fault-resistant cryptographic implementations.

His publications highlight advancements in FPGA security, such as defeating memory protection units (MPUs), preventing trojan insertion during fabrication, and mitigating power distribution attacks in multi-tenant environments. Holcomb is an active member of IEEE and Tau Beta Pi Honor Society.

Labs & Teams: His work aligns with the College of Engineering’s research strengths in hardware security, including collaborations with labs focused on embedded systems and VLSI design.