Simone Silvestri is a Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Kentucky, within the Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering. He has held this position since 2025, having previously served as Associate Professor from 2021-2025 and Assistant Professor from 2017-2021. Prior to his appointment at UK, he was an Assistant Professor at Missouri University of Science and Technology (2014-2017) and held postdoctoral positions at Pennsylvania State University (2012-2014) and Sapienza University of Rome (2010-2012). Dr. Silvestri earned his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Sapienza University of Rome, Italy in 2010, following a Laurea cum Laude in Computer Science from the same institution in 2006. His research focuses on Cyber-Physical-Human Systems, Internet of Things, Smart Grid Security, Terrestrial and Aerial Mobile Networks, and Network Management. His work bridges computer science with practical applications in agriculture, energy management, and disaster response scenarios. His research program has been supported by over $5 million in federal funding, including an NSF CAREER award in 2020. He has published more than 100 papers in top-tier journals and conferences including IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing, IEEE Transactions on Smart Grids, and ACM Transactions on Sensor Networks. His recent work shows a strong trend toward applying cyber-physical systems to agricultural technology, energy management, and precision livestock farming, with increasing integration of machine learning techniques. NSF CAREER Award (2020) Best Demo Runner-Up Paper - IEEE PerCom (2025) Excellent Editor Award - IEEE Transactions on Network Science and Engineering (2024) Best Editor Award - Elsevier Pervasive and Mobile Computing (2024) Best paper award - IEEE International Conference on Network Protocols (2009) Dr. Silvestri has advised numerous graduate students to completion, including Ph.D. candidates Xu Tao and Ashtuoth Timilsina, and Master's students Josh Guess and Seifalla Moustafa. His research group has secured significant funding from NSF, NIFA, NATO, and other agencies for projects totaling over $6 million. He also created the CSMentor resource, providing guidance for computer science graduate students on academic writing, PhD success, and career development. Dr. Silvestri actively collaborates with researchers across multiple disciplines, particularly in agricultural technology and precision farming applications.







