Sangeetha Abdu Jyothi

Sangeetha Abdu Jyothi is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of California, Irvine, within the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences. She is also affiliate faculty with both the Center for Machine Learning and Intelligent Systems and the UCI Networked Systems Program. Her research focuses on the intersection of computer systems, networking, and machine learning, with particular emphasis on Internet and Cloud Resilience and Systems and Machine Learning.

Dr. Abdu Jyothi earned her Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 2019, where she was advised by Brighten Godfrey. Prior to that, she completed a Master of Science in Engineering in Telecommunications and Networking from the University of Pennsylvania (2010-2012), and a Bachelor of Technology in Electronics and Communication Engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Calicut, Kerala, India (2006-2010), where she received the Gold Medal for being the top graduating student.

Research Interests

Dr. Abdu Jyothi's research lies at the intersection of computer systems, networking, and machine learning. She leads the Networking, Systems, and AI Lab (NetSAIL) at UCI, where her current focus revolves around Internet and Cloud Resilience and Systems and Machine Learning. Her work addresses critical challenges in network reliability, particularly under extreme conditions like solar superstorms, as evidenced by her highly publicized SIGCOMM'21 paper "Solar Superstorms: Planning for an Internet Apocalypse," which received the 2022 IETF/IRTF Applied Networking Research Prize.

Her recent research explores concept-based explainability for learning-enabled systems, distributed LLM inference on mobile devices, and the impact of space weather on satellite networks. She has made significant contributions to understanding LEO satellite topology design parameters and developing frameworks for cross-layer cartography of submarine cables and IP links.

Awards and Honors

• NSF CAREER Award (2025)
• ACM CoNEXT Best Paper Award (2024)
• N2Women Rising Star in Networking and Communications (2022)
• IETF/IRTF Applied Networking Research Prize (2022)
• Rising Stars in EECS, MIT (2018)
• Facebook Ph.D. Fellowship (2017-2019)
• Mavis Future Faculty Fellowship (2017-2018)
• Gold Medal for first rank in Bachelor of Technology, National Institute of Technology, Calicut (2010)

Advising and Professional Service

Dr. Abdu Jyothi currently advises multiple Ph.D., MS, and undergraduate students at UCI. Her current Ph.D. students include Kapil Agrawal, Eunju Kang, Sagar Patel, Alagappan Ramanathan, and Nazmul Takbir. She has previously mentored numerous students who have gone on to pursue advanced degrees at institutions like UMass Amherst, Stanford, and CMU, or joined companies like Amazon, Microsoft, and Epic Systems.

She is actively involved in the research community, having served as General Co-Chair for ACM HotNets (2024), Publications Co-Chair for ACM CoNEXT (2024), and Workshops Co-Chair for ACM SIGCOMM (2023). She has been on the program committees for numerous top conferences including NSDI, SIGCOMM, and MLSys.

Research Lab

Dr. Abdu Jyothi leads the Networking, Systems, and AI Lab (NetSAIL) at UCI, which focuses on developing innovative solutions at the intersection of networking, systems, and artificial intelligence. The lab's work spans multiple domains including Internet resilience, cloud systems, satellite networking, and explainable AI for networked systems.