Michael Franz

Michael Franz is a Distinguished Professor (academic rank: Professor) in the Department of Computer Science at the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences, University of California, Irvine, with a courtesy appointment as Professor in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the Henry Samueli School of Engineering. He directs UCI's Secure Systems and Software Laboratory and is a Fellow of AAAS, ACM, IEEE, and IFIP.

Franz earned his Dr. sc. techn. degree in Computer Science and Dipl. Informatik-Ing. ETH degree from ETH Zurich under advisor Niklaus Wirth.

His research pioneers compiler and system-level techniques for software safety and performance, focusing on Security (multivariant execution, code randomization), Systems (JIT compilation, memory management), and Software Engineering (binary recompilation, attack surface reduction). Franz created foundational trace compilation technology adopted in Firefox's JavaScript engine and continues developing practical defenses against real-world exploits.

Recent publications reveal escalating integration of machine learning in binary analysis (e.g., StackBERT) and hardware-assisted security (PKRU-Safe), with consistent output in top venues like USENIX Security and EuroSys. His work transitions from theoretical frameworks to deployed solutions, evidenced by patents and industry adoption.

Scientific awards include:

• Fellow of AAAS (2019)
• Fellow of ACM
• Fellow of IEEE
• Inaugural Fellow of IFIP (2019)
• ACM Charles P. "Chuck" Thacker Breakthrough in Computing Award (2021)
• Humboldt Research Award (2018)
• UCI Innovator of the Year Award (2018)
• Best Paper Award at ACSAC 2024
• SIGSOFT Distinguished Paper Award at ESEC/FSE 2023
• Best Paper Award at EuroSys 2022
• Test of Time Award at Dynamic Languages Symposium (2019)

Franz has graduated 40 Ph.D. students as primary advisor and secured over $24 million in federal grants ($16M+ as sole PI), plus $1 million in industry gifts. His advisees hold key roles at Apple, Google, Meta, and Yonsei University, with Dokyung Song becoming an Assistant Professor there.

The Secure Systems and Software Laboratory develops survivable execution environments (A8 MVX) and binary transformation tools (BinRec), bridging academic research with real-world impact like Firefox's TraceMonkey engine and compartmental memory management. Current projects focus on distributed multivariant execution and hybrid binary recompilation.