Elaine Shi

Elaine Shi is a Professor with a joint appointment in the Computer Science Department (CSD) and Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) at Carnegie Mellon University. She is also an Adjunct Professor of Computer Science at the University of Maryland. Her research focuses on cryptography, security, mechanism design, algorithms, blockchains, and programming languages. She co-founded Oblivious Labs, Inc., and her work on Oblivious RAM and differential privacy has been adopted by Signal, Meta, and Google.

Education: Not explicitly listed, but her academic roles imply advanced degrees in computer science.

Research Interests: Shi's work spans foundational areas such as secure computation, privacy-preserving algorithms, and blockchain protocols. She emphasizes practical implementations, such as Oblivious RAM and cryptographic compilers like Viaduct. Her research also explores game-theoretic mechanisms for decentralized systems and explores the intersection of theory and practice in secure distributed systems.

Publications: Over 150+ articles in top venues like Eurocrypt, S&P, and CCS, covering topics like oblivious algorithms, blockchain security, and differential privacy. Recent work includes optimizing obfuscation, secure aggregation, and transaction fee mechanisms.

• Packard Fellow, Sloan Fellow, ACM Fellow, IACR Fellow
• Co-founder of CMU's Crypto Group and Crypto Seminar Series

Advising & Grants: Supervises a large group of students and postdocs, with notable alumni holding academic and industry roles. Active in securing grants for research in secure computation and blockchain technologies.

Labs & Teams: Leads research in Oblivious Labs and collaborates on projects like the Viaduct compiler and secure enclaves for privacy-preserving computation.