Richard MA Tianbai

Richard MA Tianbai is an Associate Professor at the School of Computing, National University of Singapore (NUS), and serves as IT Coordinator for Computing Facilities. He holds a B.Sc. (First-Class Honors) and M.Phil. from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, followed by an M.Sc. and Ph.D. from Columbia University, USA. His research focuses on systems & networking, distributed computing, and internet economics, with projects addressing cloud-based big data systems and internet peering agreements. Richard has received multiple awards, including the Best Paper Award Runners-up at ACM Mobihoc 2020 and the Teaching Excellence Award from NUS School of Computing in 2019. His work bridges theoretical models with practical applications in network economics and distributed systems.

Education:

• B.Sc. (First-Class Honors), Computer Science & Engineering, Chinese University of Hong Kong (2002)
• M.Phil., Computer Science & Engineering, Chinese University of Hong Kong (2004)
• M.Sc., Columbia University (2008)
• Ph.D., Columbia University (2010)

Research Interests:

• Cloud-Based Big Data Systems: Innovating serverless paradigms for real-time analytics (e.g., Stream as a Service).
• Internet Economics: Modeling peering agreements, premium peering dynamics, and regulatory alternatives to net neutrality.
• Distributed Computing: Auto-scaling frameworks (e.g., Elasticutor, DRS) for real-time stream processing.

His research emphasizes performance guarantees and resource optimization in dynamic networked systems.

Awards:

• Best Paper Award Runners-up (ACM Mobihoc 2020)
• Teaching Excellence Award (School of Computing 2019)
• Bell Labs Best Paper Award (IEEE SDP 2015)
• Best Paper Awards at ICNP 2014 and IC2E 2013

Grants & Advising:

• Recipient of research grants supporting projects like “Testbed for Innovative Inter-Networking Research.”
• Advises on doctoral projects related to stream processing and network economics.

His work is funded by industry collaborations and institutional grants.

Labs & Teams: Part of the Distributed Network Analysis (DNA) Research Group and Advanced Networking & Systems Research Group, fostering interdisciplinary collaborations in networking and distributed systems.