Damon L. Woodard is a Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Florida (UF) and serves as Director of the Florida Institute for National Security (FINS) and the Applied Artificial Intelligence (AAI) Group. His research focuses on applied artificial intelligence, hardware security, and biometrics, with particular emphasis on adversarial AI, AI-enabled hardware assurance, and explainable AI (XAI). He holds IEEE and ACM Senior Member status and is a Kavli Frontiers Fellow. Education: Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering, University of Notre Dame M.E. in Computer Science and Engineering, Penn State University B.S. in Computer Science and Computer Information Systems, Tulane University Research Interests: Dr. Woodard explores cutting-edge areas such as AI hardware acceleration, multi-modal AI systems, and counter-AI strategies. His work bridges cognitive science and technology through projects like text stylometry and psychological analysis frameworks. Key focus areas include semiconductor reverse engineering, hardware trojan detection via SEM imaging and machine learning, and secure IoT biometric systems. Highlighted Awards: National Academy of Science Kavli Frontiers Fellow IEEE Senior Member ACM Senior Member AAAI Membership Leadership & Contributions: As FINS Director, he oversees national security initiatives integrating AI and hardware assurance. His AAI Group develops resource-efficient AI solutions for constrained environments. Notable projects include the SECURE segmentation metric for IC reverse engineering and the MaGNIFIES GAN framework for electronic system inspection. Labs & Teams: Leads the Applied Artificial Intelligence Group and collaborates across disciplines through FINS, fostering innovation in AI-driven security and semiconductor integrity.





