Elaine Shi is a Professor at Carnegie Mellon University's Computer Science Department and Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, with an Adjunct Professor appointment at the University of Maryland. Her research spans cryptography, security, blockchain technology, algorithms, and privacy-enhancing techniques. Co-founder of Oblivious Labs, Inc. Co-developer of cryptographic protocols adopted by Signal, Meta, and Google Co-founder of CyLab's crypto seminar series Her work has been recognized with prestigious awards including the Packard Fellowship, Sloan Research Fellowship, ACM Fellow, and IACR Fellow. She has advised numerous PhD students and postdocs, many of whom now hold academic or industry positions. 2023 ACM CCS Test of Time Award 2020 CyLab Distinguished Alumni Award 2016 ONR YIP Award Recent publications focus on advancing cryptographic protocols, privacy-preserving algorithms, and blockchain security, with key contributions in garbled RAM, oblivious computation, and differentially private mechanisms.
Dr. Yanjie Fu is an Associate Professor in the School of Computing and AI at Arizona State University, part of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering. He maintains his office in BYENG 506 at the Tempe campus and can be reached at yanjie.fu@asu.edu. Dr. Fu received his Ph.D. from Rutgers University in 2016, the B.E. degree from the University of Science and Technology of China, and the M.E. degree from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. His industry research experience includes positions at Microsoft Research Asia and IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center. His research focuses on developing disruption-robust machine intelligence that can handle imperfect and complex data. Dr. Fu's work spans two major efforts: Data for AI (D4AI), exploring how structure knowledge of data can guide AI, and AI for Data (AI4D), investigating how AI can augment, reprogram, and knowledgeize data. His current research interests include space-time intelligence, data-centric AI, sim2decision, multimodal reasoning, and LLM with agentic AI. His lab has contributed projects including D4AI-spatial, D4AI-timeseries, D4AI-causal outliers, AI4D-RL, AI4D-Gen, and AI4D-LLM. Dr. Fu's recent publications reveal a strong trend toward integrating causal reasoning with deep learning for robust anomaly detection, advancing time series forecasting with novel normalization techniques, and applying generative AI to urban planning. His work increasingly bridges traditional machine learning with large language models, particularly focusing on data-centric approaches for tabular data transformation and feature engineering. US NAE FOE early career engineer (2023) US NSF CAREER (2021) NSF CRII (2018) ACM KDD18 Best Student Paper Finalist IEEE ICDM Best Paper Finalist (2014, 2021, 2022) ACM SIGSpatial Best Paper Runner-up (2020) 2022 Baidu Scholar global top Chinese young scholars in AI 2021 Aminer.org AI 2000 Most Influential Scholar Award Honorable Mention Dr. Fu has successfully mentored multiple Ph.D. students who have secured tenure-track faculty positions at prestigious institutions including University of Kansas, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Great Bay University, Portland State University, and University of Macau. His research has been supported by significant grants including the NSF CAREER award, and he currently serves as Associate Editor of ACM Transactions on Knowledge Discovery from Data. He is also a senior member of both ACM and IEEE. Dr. Fu leads a research group focused on developing trusted and safe machine intelligence. The lab connects computing issues across representation learning, self-supervised learning, interactive learning, adaptive learning, and stream learning to build disruption-robust frameworks. The group executes two key steps: data representation construct (integrating structure knowledge, self-optimization, explainability) and learning strategy construct (integrating robust representations with adaptive and interactive learning).
Duong Nguyen serves as an Assistant Professor in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering at Arizona State University. His research integrates operations research, artificial intelligence, economics, and engineering to develop mathematical models for decision-making in large-scale networked systems including cloud/edge computing, smart grids, and crowdsourcing. He directs the NEMO research group focused on building intelligent multi-agent platforms through optimization and market design. His educational credentials include: Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of British Columbia (2020) M.Sc. in Telecommunications from INRS, University of Quebec (2014) B.Sc. in Electronic and Telecommunications from Hanoi University of Science and Technology (2011) Dr. Nguyen's research spans Operations Research, Artificial Intelligence, Decision-Making, Market Design, and Optimization with applications in edge computing, power systems, and network economics. His work emphasizes robust algorithms for uncertain environments and secure multi-agent platforms, recently expanding into quantum machine learning and privacy-preserving distributed systems. Current projects address decentralized federated learning, dynamic pricing, and EV charging network design. Analysis of his publication record reveals consistent focus on distributed optimization techniques for edge/cloud systems, with increasing integration of game theory and quantum computing. His work demonstrates strong methodological innovation in handling spatio-temporal uncertainty while addressing practical challenges in energy flexibility and secure genomic computation. His scientific recognition includes: Finalist for Best Student Paper Award at American Control Conference (ACC) 2024 Finalist for Best Paper Award at International Symposium on Modeling and Optimization in Mobile, Ad Hoc, and Wireless Networks (WiOpt) 2023 Dr. Nguyen actively mentors Ph.D. students including Jiaming Cheng and Long Vu, with student-led research achieving significant recognition. His NEMO group collaborates with institutions including ETH Zurich on projects spanning autonomous driving, edge AI, and quantum optimization. Current research directions emphasize fair resource allocation, privacy-preserving learning, and dynamic pricing frameworks for next-generation networked systems.
Merve Hickok is a Lecturer at the University of Michigan's School of Information, where she teaches data ethics. She also serves as the Responsible Data and AI Advisor at the Michigan Institute for Data Science (MIDAS) and is an affiliated faculty member at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. Additionally, she is the President and Research Director at the Center for AI and Digital Policy (CAIDP), advising governments and international organizations on AI policy and regulation. Her research focuses on AI policy, ethics, and governance, with particular emphasis on fundamental rights, democratic values, and social justice. She examines the impact of AI systems on individuals, society, and organizations, exploring issues like algorithmic bias, privacy concerns, and the societal implications of emerging AI technologies. Her work bridges technical understanding with social and ethical considerations to promote responsible AI development and deployment, with special attention to employment applications, government procurement, and international policy frameworks. 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics™ – 2021 Runner-up for Responsible AI Leader of the Year – 2022 (Women in AI) Lifetime Achievement Award - Women in AI of the Year - 2023 Top AI Leaders in Retail (Ethics & Compliance) - 2024 Hickok provides consultancy to C-suite leaders and training services to public and private organizations on Responsible AI development, due diligence, and governance. She has provided testimony to the US Congress, State of California Civil Rights Office, New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, Detroit City Council, and numerous global organizations. She founded AIethicist.org to help professionals navigate the complex landscape of AI ethics and serves on the founding editorial board of Springer Nature's AI & Ethics journal.
Yazan Otoum is a Part-Time Professor in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Ottawa and concurrently an Assistant Professor in the School of Computer Science and Technology at Algoma University . A licensed Professional Engineer in Ontario, he is internationally recognized for his interdisciplinary work at the intersection of cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things . Education Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Ottawa (September 2022) M.Sc. in Network Engineering and Management, DePaul University (December 2009) Research Interests Dr. Otoum’s research program is dedicated to securing the rapidly expanding IoT ecosystem. His core themes include: Scalable meta-learning models that adapt to evolving threats in resource-constrained IoT devices. Federated and transfer learning to enable privacy-preserving, collaborative intrusion detection across heterogeneous networks. Healthcare IoT (IoMT) security, ensuring safe and trustworthy medical devices and data streams. Smart-city infrastructures , where AI-driven security safeguards critical urban services. His recent work leverages large language models (LLMs) , blockchain , and differential privacy to push the boundaries of next-generation cyber-defence mechanisms. Publication Trends Across 23 peer-reviewed works (2017-2025), a clear evolution is evident: early studies established foundational deep-learning intrusion detection frameworks (DL-IDS), followed by federated and transfer-learning paradigms tailored for IoT and IoMT. The latest 2024-2025 publications integrate cutting-edge generative AI and blockchain techniques, highlighting a shift toward holistic, scalable, and privacy-preserving security ecosystems for IoT, Internet of Vehicles, and healthcare domains. Professional Recognition & Service Licensed Professional Engineer (P.Eng), Ontario Certifications: CEH, CCNA, CHFI, ISO 27001 Lead Implementer Peer reviewer for IEEE, ACM, and Elsevier journals Invited speaker and mentor in cybersecurity education initiatives Teaching & Mentorship Dr. Otoum currently teaches Data Science and Data Structures and Algorithms at the University of Ottawa. His office hours are held Mondays 11:30 AM–1:30 PM in SITE room 4075. While specific student advisees are not listed, he is actively engaged in mentoring emerging researchers and practitioners in secure AI and IoT systems. Labs & Teams Operating at the intersection of academia and industry, Dr. Otoum collaborates with multidisciplinary teams spanning embedded systems, AI laboratories, and healthcare technology partners, fostering innovation that transitions seamlessly from theory to real-world deployment.
Kevin Chetty is a Professor of Wireless Sensing at University College London (UCL), leading the Urban Wireless Sensing Lab within the Department of Security and Crime Science. His work bridges radar technology, machine learning, and healthcare applications, with a focus on passive sensing systems. Education: PhD in Medical Ultrasound Physics (Imperial College London, 2004-2007), MRes in Image and X-Ray Physics (King's College London, 2003), BSc in Physics (King's College London, 1999) Research spans radar micro-Doppler signature analysis for human behavior classification, software-defined radar development, and integrated communication-sensing systems, with applications in security, healthcare, and smart environments. Recent work emphasizes privacy-preserving technologies and edge processing for real-time operations. Scientific awards include the 2022 IET Radar Systems Best Paper Runner-Up, 2022 IEEE Radar Conference 2nd Place, and 2015 National Instruments Engineering Impact Award. He has received funding from government and industry sectors in telecommunications, IoT, security, and healthcare. Teaching roles: Programme Convener for MSc Crime Science and IEP Minor in Crime and Security Engineering; Module Convener for Security Technologies and Crime Mapping & Spatial Analysis Consultancy: Huawei Technologies (2020-2022), Metropolitan Police Service (2019)
Lisa Nathan is an Associate Professor and current PhD Program Chair at the University of British Columbia's School of Information, situated on unceded Musqueam territory. Her academic home resides within the Department of Library, Archival and Information Studies under the Faculty of Arts, where she directs doctoral studies and teaches specialized courses in information ethics and climate justice. Her research examines the critical intersection of information policy, sustainability, and Indigenous knowledge systems, exploring how information ecosystems shape societal values through frameworks like climate justice and multi-lifespan design. Nathan's work consistently centers on disrupting colonial information practices while developing ethical alternatives through community-engaged scholarship, particularly evident in her collaborations with Indigenous communities on language preservation and cultural protocols. Analysis of her recent publications reveals a strong trajectory toward decolonial computing and environmental justice, with increasing emphasis on Indigenous-led information initiatives and the inclusion of 'other-than-human' participants in design processes. Her scholarly output spans high-impact journals including Journal of Documentation and First Monday, alongside influential books like Digital Technology and Sustainability: Engaging the Paradox. Outstanding Information Science Teacher Award (2017) Honorable Mention Paper Award at ACM CSCW (2016) Leadership in ACM SIGCHI Sustainability initiatives British Columbia Library Association Climate Action Committee Nathan actively supervises doctoral research through UBC's Indigenous Information Studies pathway, currently mentoring Rodrigo dos Santos while having guided recent graduates including Shaffer, Shankar, and Kaczmarek to completion. Her service includes chairing the First Nations Curriculum Concentration (2010-2018) and developing innovative courses like LIBR 564: Information Practice and Protocol in Support of Indigenous Initiatives. As Director of the Centre for Climate Justice research cluster, she fosters interdisciplinary collaborations addressing information policy's role in environmental crises.
Jingbo Liu is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Statistics at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, with an affiliate appointment in Electrical and Computer Engineering. He received his B.E. (2012) from Tsinghua University, M.A. (2014) and Ph.D. (2018) from Princeton University, all in Electrical Engineering, followed by a postdoc at MIT IDSS. Education Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Princeton University (2018) M.A. in Electrical Engineering, Princeton University (2014) B.E. in Electronic Engineering, Tsinghua University (2012) His research focuses on statistical inference under systems constraints, information-theoretic inequalities, graphical models, and applications of high-dimensional probability to information sciences. Key areas include mutual covering bounds, hypercontractivity, Brascamp-Lieb inequalities, and their connections to machine learning and communication systems. Recent work applies information theory to generative AI, analyzing diffusion models' utility, privacy enhancements, and computational efficiency. He also investigates statistical physics techniques for high-dimensional problems like Lasso distributional limits and tensor model free energy, with applications in variable selection and PCA. Scientific awards include the Thomas M. Cover Dissertation Award (2018) and Princeton's Wallace Memorial Fellowship (2016). Courses taught include STAT 578 (High-Dimensional Statistics), STAT 430 (Nonparametric Statistics), and STAT 542 (Statistical Learning).
Dr. Joonsang Baek is an Associate Professor at the School of Computing and Information Technology, University of Wollongong (since 2021). His research focuses on Cybersecurity , Cryptography , and Network Security , with notable contributions to digital signature revocation, attribute-based encryption, and privacy-preserving protocols. Member, Institute of Cybersecurity and Cryptology (since 2017) Supervision interests: Cybersecurity, Applied Cryptography, Network Security Research Highlights: Innovations in withdrawable signatures, secure cloud data sharing, and 5G authentication protocols. His work combines theoretical cryptography with practical applications in edge computing and AI-driven security systems. Grants: Led projects on ransomware datasets, dynamic access control, and TLS optimization. Collaborated with Data61, Discovery Projects, and industry partners on cybersecurity resilience initiatives. Collaborations: Frequent co-author with researchers like Willy Susilo, Cao Cao, and Xinyu Liu. Active in ACM Asia CCS, IEEE Transactions, and LNCS publications.
Peng Gao is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Virginia Tech. He is affiliated with the Virginia Tech Security & Intelligence Lab and holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Princeton University. Prior to his faculty position, he was a postdoctoral researcher at UC Berkeley and held research internships at Microsoft Research, Facebook, and NEC Laboratories America. Education includes a B.Eng. from Shanghai Jiao Tong University (2009-2013), M.A. and Ph.D. from Princeton (2013-2019), and an exchange program at the University of Hong Kong (2012). Key roles include Technical Program Committee memberships for conferences like IEEE S&P, USENIX Security, and CCS. Research focuses on Cybersecurity (APT prevention, network security with P4/eBPF) AI applications (LLMs for security, AI safety) Systems security (attack investigation, threat intelligence) AI for science (molecular/materials prediction) Notable awards include the 2022 Amazon-VT Initiative Faculty Award, CCI Fellowships, and multiple best paper nominations. His lab has received grants from CCI, NSF, and industry partners like Google Cloud and Cisco. Teaching includes courses on Principles of Computer Security (CS 4264) and Blockchain Technologies (CS 5594). He advises ~20 students across Ph.D., MS, and undergraduate levels.
Dr. YANG Guomin is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Singapore Management University's School of Computing and Information Systems, where he coordinates the BSc Cybersecurity Track. His research focuses on privacy-preserving cryptography, authentication systems, and secure IoT frameworks. Research spans cryptographic protocols for cloud security, blockchain applications, and federated learning with emphases on efficiency and practical implementation. Recent publications demonstrate innovations in threshold authentication, redactable blockchains, and privacy-aware communication protocols. Advisees include LI Huilin and WANG Jiaheng, with research projects examining hardware-enhanced encryption, biometric authentication policies, and space network security. Work consistently addresses tension between security guarantees and computational efficiency in distributed systems.
Jiaqi Ma is an Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), holding dual appointments in the School of Information Sciences and the Siebel School of Computing and Data Science. Their research focuses on machine learning, graph neural networks, and data attribution, with particular emphasis on fairness in AI, large language models, and scalable algorithms. Ma has contributed to frameworks like dattri for efficient data attribution and GraSS for scalable influence functions. Research interests include graph learning (e.g., structural information analysis in text-attributed graphs), fairness in ML models (e.g., mitigating disparities in unlearning processes), and ethical AI applications. Collaborations span topics like data curation (DCA-Bench benchmark) and reinforcement learning transparency (A Snapshot of Influence). Key contributions include improving data removal while maintaining fairness (Fair Machine Unlearning), analyzing LLMs' graph structural utilization, and developing open-source tools like OpenHexAI for explainable ML evaluation. No scientific awards are explicitly listed, but their work reflects significant contributions to trustworthy AI and machine learning systems. Advising and grants: While specific students/grants are unlisted, Ma leads research teams advancing graph learning (e.g., Graph Learning Indexer platform) and safety-critical AI (e.g., unsafe data detection via attribution). Their work bridges theoretical foundations (e.g., influence functions) with practical applications (e.g., MNL model rankings).
Narges Mahyar is an Associate Professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in the Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences (CICS) . She is currently on sabbatical with the Aviz team at the Inria Center, University of Paris-Saclay . Her research focuses on Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) , Information Visualization , and Digital Civics , aiming to empower communities through technology. Education: She holds a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Victoria, an MS in Information Technology from the University of Malaya, and a BS in Electrical Engineering from Tehran Azad University. She completed postdoctoral fellowships at the University of British Columbia (2014–2016) and the University of California San Diego (2016–2018). Research Interests: Her work addresses complex societal challenges like climate change, urban planning, and healthcare by designing inclusive technologies. Key areas include civic engagement, data visualization for equity, and integrating AR/VR for public participation. Notable projects include CommunityClick and RisingEMOTIONS , which enhance public input in decision-making. Publications & Awards: With over 50 publications, her work has received prestigious awards including Best Paper Awards at CHI 2023 , Eurovis 2022 , and CSCW 2020 . Her research emphasizes ethical design and inclusivity, particularly involving marginalized communities. Grants & Advising: She has secured grants totaling over $1.4 million, including NSF funding for projects like "Mapping Instability" . Advises PhD student Mahmood Jasim and collaborates with Ali Sarvghad and Pari Riahi on interdisciplinary research. Labs & Teams: Leads the HCI-VIS Lab at UMass, focusing on social computing and visualization. Collaborates internationally with teams like Aviz and Inria on civic tech initiatives.
Gerome Miklau is a Professor of Computer Science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, affiliated with the Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences (CICS). He leads the DREAM Lab and focuses on privacy, security, and equitable data management, particularly in differential privacy and fair data analysis. His work includes designing algorithms for private data synthesis, privacy-preserving SQL engines, and auditing systems like AuditGuard. He co-founded Tumult Labs to commercialize privacy technology and advised the U.S. Census Bureau on privacy for the 2020 decennial census. Education: Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Washington (2005), B.S. in Mathematics and Rhetoric from UC Berkeley (1995). Research Interests: Differential privacy, secure data management, fairness in algorithms, privacy-preserving data synthesis, and forensic database analysis. His lab develops tools like Ektelo and PrivateSQL, addressing challenges in privacy-accurate tradeoffs and scalable private data processing. Awards: 2006 ACM SIGMOD Dissertation Award, 2007 NSF CAREER Award, 2013 ICDT Best Paper Award, and two ACM PODS Test-of-Time Awards (2020 and 2012). Grants & Service: Co-chair of OpenDP Advisory Board, steering committee member for TPDP workshops, and organizer of the 'Data, Responsibly' Dagstuhl workshop. His service includes program committees for SIGMOD, ICML, and FAT*. He teaches courses on databases, privacy, and programming. Labs/Teams: DREAM Lab (Data systems Research for Exploration, Analytics, and Modeling) and collaborations with the Center for Data Science and Cybersecurity Institute at UMass Amherst.
Willem Jonker is a Full Professor at the Digital Society Institute, specializing in Semantics, Cybersecurity & Services. His research focuses on encryption schemes, access control, and privacy-preserving technologies. He has contributed to over 120 publications, with recent work addressing CVE-to-CWE mapping, anomaly detection in network traffic, and functional encryption systems. His expertise aligns with UN Sustainable Development Goals related to secure digital systems and privacy. Jonker has supervised 10 students and actively participates in academic conferences, presenting on topics like secure data management and cryptographic protocols. Research interests include cryptographic protocols, secure data management, and cybersecurity solutions. Notable projects involve developing methods for detecting covert channels, enhancing data privacy in healthcare, and improving secure search over encrypted data. He has also contributed to standards in digital rights management and forensic image recognition.
