Florian Kerschbaum is a Professor and NSERC/RBC Industrial Research Chair in Data Security at the Cheriton School of Computer Science, University of Waterloo. His research focuses on data security and privacy, applied cryptography, and confidentiality in data science. Research interests span data collection/preparation management, secure multi-party computation, homomorphic encryption, differential privacy, and machine learning robustness/privacy. His work develops cryptographic solutions for practical data management challenges in distributed systems.
Dr. Yun Lu is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Victoria (UVic), affiliated with the Faculty of Engineering & Computer Science. Their research focuses on differential privacy variants, secure multiparty computation, rational cryptography, and blockchain security under rational attackers. Lu received their PhD from the University of Edinburgh, supervised by Professor Vassilis Zikas, and holds BSc/MSc degrees from UCLA. They advise PhD students in differential privacy and related areas, including Mahboubeh Bahari, Yanchen Fan, Tyler Makaro, and former student Tiger Wu. Their work bridges theoretical foundations with practical applications, emphasizing privacy-preserving technologies and secure cryptographic protocols. Lu teaches courses such as Cryptography (CS 429/529) and Topics on Data Privacy (CS 588A), and has led educational sessions at the Berkeley Math Circle for high school students. Education: PhD (University of Edinburgh), MSc/BSc (UCLA) Research Trends: 2023-2025 focus on differential privacy frameworks, blockchain security, and adversarial model analysis Awards: None explicitly listed
Rongxing Lu is an Adjunct Professor at the Faculty of Computer Science, University of New Brunswick (UNB), Canada, since August 2016. Previously, he held positions at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore (2012–2016) and the University of Waterloo, Canada (PhD in 2012). His research focuses on applied cryptography, privacy enhancing technologies, and IoT-big data security. He has over 7,500 citations and received prestigious awards like the Governor General’s Gold Medal (2012) and the IEEE ComSoc Asia Pacific Outstanding Young Researcher Award (2013). He is an IEEE senior member and serves on editorial boards of journals like IEEE Network. **Education**: PhD in Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Waterloo (2012), awarded Governor General’s Gold Medal Postdoctoral Fellow at University of Waterloo (2012–2013) **Research Interests**: Developing cryptographic protocols for IoT and big data systems Privacy-preserving techniques for distributed systems Secure communication in 5G/6G networks and vehicular systems **Awards and Recognition**: Recipient of multiple best paper awards in IEEE conferences 2016–2017 Excellence in Teaching Award at UNB **Editorial and Leadership Roles**: Symposium co-chair at IEEE Globecom’16 Secretary of IEEE ComSoc CIS-TC Organized special issues on fog computing security (Elsevier) and big data security (IEEE IoT Journal) **Key Contributions**: Pioneered privacy-aware data reporting schemes for vehicular networks Designed lightweight IoT authentication protocols Advanced secure machine learning frameworks with privacy guarantees
Douglas Stebila is an Associate Professor in the Department of Combinatorics and Optimization at the University of Waterloo, Faculty of Mathematics. His research focuses on cryptographic protocols, with an emphasis on post-quantum cryptography, TLS protocol security, and key exchange mechanisms. He has contributed to the design and analysis of cryptographic systems resilient to quantum computing threats, including work on hybrid key exchange methods and post-quantum TLS implementations. Stebila is involved in standards projects such as the Open Quantum Safe initiative, aiming to transition existing infrastructure to quantum-resistant algorithms. His recent work addresses security models for cryptographic protocols, including formal verification of key establishment schemes and analysis of real-world protocols like Signal and TLS. His research spans theoretical cryptography, applied protocol analysis, and implementation security. Key contributions include studies on obfuscated key exchange, verifiable decapsulation of post-quantum KEMs, and optimization of TLS handshake efficiency (e.g., TurboTLS). He also explores challenges in cryptographic protocol design, such as preventing double authentication and ensuring resistance against side-channel attacks. His work frequently bridges academic research with practical applications, emphasizing the transition of cryptographic innovations into real-world systems. Stebila collaborates with industry and academic partners on projects like the Open Quantum Safe initiative, which develops libraries for post-quantum cryptography integration. His publications often address security analyses of emerging protocols and their vulnerability to both classical and quantum adversaries. He has co-authored conference proceedings for major venues like CRYPTO and SAC, and contributed to standards documentation for protocols such as TLS and SSH.
Mohammad Hajiabadi is an Assistant Professor at the University of Waterloo's Department of Computer Science. His research focuses on theoretical cryptography, including cryptographic protocols, functional encryption, and secure communication. He holds a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Victoria (2016), a Master of Science from the same institution (2011), and a Bachelor of Science from Sharif University of Technology (2009). His research explores foundational aspects of cryptography, such as cryptographic assumptions, algorithmic lower bounds, and privacy-preserving techniques. Notable areas include registration-based encryption, secret sharing schemes, and the black-box complexity of cryptographic primitives. His work often intersects with theoretical computer science, addressing challenges in secure computation and efficient protocol design. Dr. Hajiabadi's publications span topics like trapdoor functions, oblivious transfer, and private set intersection, demonstrating a commitment to advancing both the theory and practical applications of cryptography. He has secured collaborative research funding, including a National Science Foundation grant for expanding oblivious transfer tools. His contributions to academic grants and collaborative projects highlight his role in shaping modern cryptographic frameworks.
Bailey Kacsmar is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computing Science at the University of Alberta and an Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii) Fellow. Her research focuses on developing human-centered privacy solutions, combining technical privacy mechanisms (e.g., private machine learning, secure computation) with user perception studies and usability evaluations. She holds a PhD and MMath in Computer Science from the University of Waterloo. Education: PhD in Computer Science, University of Waterloo Masters of Mathematics (MMath), University of Waterloo Research Interests: Privacy-preserving machine learning and AI User-centric privacy design Cryptography for private computation Usability of privacy-enhancing technologies Recent Work Trends: Her publications emphasize practical privacy solutions, including private set intersection protocols, differential privacy in machine learning, and user comprehension of privacy mechanisms. Awards: 2025 U of A Award for Outstanding Mentorship in Undergraduate Research Honorable Mention for CRA Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Award (Jialiang Yan) Teaching & Advising: Courses include Cryptography for Digital Privacy and Privacy, Cryptography, Network Security. Advises graduate students and undergraduate researchers on privacy-preserving technologies. Emphasizes ethical and human-centered approaches in advising. Labs & Teams: Leads the PUPS (Practical Usable Privacy and Security) Lab, focusing on interdisciplinary privacy research spanning technical design, usability, and societal impact.
Ryan Henry is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Calgary. His research focuses on applied cryptography, emphasizing the development of secure systems that prioritize user privacy. His work spans designing privacy-enhancing technologies, implementing cryptographic protocols, and analyzing number-theoretic attacks on cryptographic assumptions. He also explores theoretical aspects of cryptographic efficiency and practical deployment challenges. While specific educational background details are not provided in the text, his research contributions highlight expertise in cryptography, secure systems, and privacy-preserving technologies. His work has addressed topics such as Private Information Retrieval (PIR), secure messaging, and blockchain privacy. Key research interests include: Secure Multiparty Computation Privacy-Preserving Data Access Efficient Cryptographic Protocols Zero-Knowledge Proofs IoT Security Cryptocurrency and CBDC Design His recent publications emphasize advancements in distributed systems security, privacy in recommendation systems, and cryptographic efficiency. Notable contributions include the Grotto and Duoram frameworks for secure computation, and proposals for Canadian CBDC frameworks. Despite extensive research output, no scientific awards or grants are explicitly mentioned in the provided text. Collaborations and lab affiliations are not detailed, though his work suggests involvement in interdisciplinary projects on privacy and security technologies.
Dr. Ali Ghorbani is a Professor and Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Cybersecurity at the University of New Brunswick's Faculty of Computer Science, where he served as Dean from 2008-2017. He is the founding Director of the Canadian Institute for Cybersecurity (CIC), established in 2016. Ghorbani holds BSc (Tehran), MSc (George Washington University), and PhD (UNB) degrees. With 42+ years in academia, his research spans cybersecurity, machine learning, adaptive systems, and critical infrastructure protection. Ghorbani has co-founded three cybersecurity startups (Sentrant Security, EyesOver Technologies, Cydarien Security) and co-invented four awarded patents. He has published 300+ peer-reviewed papers and supervised 250+ researchers. Professional roles include co-founding the National Cybersecurity Consortium (NCC) and serving as co-editor-in-chief of Computational Intelligence journal. Awards & Honors: Canada Research Chair in Cybersecurity Startup Canada Senior Entrepreneur Award (2017) RBC Top 25 Canadian Immigrants (2019) CAIAC Lifetime Achievement Award (2024)
Akshayaram Srinivasan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Toronto and the Department of Mathematical and Computational Sciences at the University of Toronto Mississauga. He is a member of the Theory Group, with a focus on foundational cryptography. Previously, he was at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) and earned his Ph.D. from UC Berkeley under Prof. Sanjam Garg. His research emphasizes Secure Multiparty Computation, Zero-Knowledge Proofs, and Post-Quantum Cryptography. He has received awards such as the Eurocrypt 2018 Best Paper Award and the Google India Research Award (2022). He teaches courses like Cryptography from Lattices and has advised students including Ziyang Jin and Siddharth Agarwal. He serves on program committees for major cryptography conferences and contributes to cryptographic inference systems like Delphi and Muse.
Assistant Professor Bailey Kacsmar leads the Practical Usable Privacy and Security (PUPS) Lab at the University of Alberta as an Amii Fellow. Researches human-centered privacy technologies for data analysis and AI systems. Research integrates technical privacy solutions with user perception studies, focusing on: Privacy-preserving machine learning Secure multiparty computation Usability of cryptographic systems Informed consent mechanisms Teaches graduate courses in cryptography for digital privacy and machine learning privacy. Supervises multiple graduate students and research assistants in the PUPS Lab. Recent publications appear in USENIX Security and ACM SIGSAC conferences. Awarded 2025 University of Alberta Outstanding Mentorship honor for undergraduate research guidance.
Dr. Guang Gong is a Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Waterloo and a former University Research Chair. She is an IEEE Fellow with expertise in cryptography, security, and wireless communications. Her research focuses on lightweight cryptographic systems, IoT security, blockchain-based security, privacy-preserving machine learning, and signal design for CDMA/OFDM/MIMO systems. Notable contributions include the WG stream cipher family and submissions to NIST's Lightweight Cryptography competition. Education: Post-doctorate in Electrical Engineering, Fondazione Ugo Bordani, Italy (1992) Doctorate in Electrical Engineering, UESTC, China (1990) Master's in Applied Mathematics, Northwest Telecommunication Eng. Inst., China (1985) Bachelor's in Mathematics, Xiachang Normal College, China (1981) Research Interests: Lightweight cryptography, IoT security, blockchain, privacy-preserving machine learning, physical-layer security, and signal design for wireless systems. Her work bridges theoretical cryptography with practical implementations for embedded devices and RFID systems. Recent Trends in Publications: Focus on zero-knowledge proofs (zkSNARKs), secure blockchain frameworks, relay attack detection, and optimized cryptographic algorithms. Recent work explores privacy-preserving protocols for high-dimensional data and secure hardware implementations of lightweight ciphers. Awards: 2023 George Boole International Prize 2016 Research Excellence Award (UWaterloo) 2006 Outstanding Performance Award (UWaterloo) Multiple fellowships and recognitions in China and Italy Teaching & Mentorship: Teaches courses like ECE 409 (Cryptography), ECE 628 (Network Security), and ECE 614 (Communications). Actively supervises graduate students in cybersecurity and wireless systems. Current openings for graduate applications. Labs & Collaborations: Leads research on secure IoT systems, blockchain integration, and hardware-software co-design for cryptographic primitives. Collaborations include projects with NIST and industry partners for lightweight cipher implementations.
Esma Aïmeur is a Full Professor at the Université de Montréal's Department of Computer Science and Operations Research (Faculty of Arts and Science). She leads the Laboratoire d'Intelligence Artificielle pour la Cybersécurité and is a member of the Centre de recherche interuniversitaire sur les humanités numériques (CRIHN). Her work bridges computer science, cybersecurity, and education. Research Interests Her research focuses on three pillars: privacy protection (using techniques like k-anonymity and secure multiparty computation), e-commerce personalization (recommender systems and customer profiling), and intelligent tutoring systems (AI-driven learning strategies and learner modeling). She also explores ethical AI, cybersecurity education through serious games, and data-driven approaches to counter misinformation. Grants & Collaborations Recent projects include a CRSNG grant (2024-2030) on privacy in the post-truth era and a FRQSC strategic network (2024-2028) integrating AI into digital humanities. She has led over 50 student theses, demonstrating her mentorship in cybersecurity, AI, and education technology. Affiliations Director: Laboratoire d'Intelligence Artificielle pour la Cybersécurité Member: CRIHN (Interuniversity Centre for Digital Humanities)
Dr. Shaoquan Jiang is an Assistant Professor at the University of Windsor's School of Computer Science. He holds a Ph.D. in Electrical & Computer Engineering from the University of Waterloo (2005). Research interests: His work spans network security architectures, cryptographic protocol design, blockchain implementations, quantum-resistant cryptography, and security education frameworks. Current projects focus on post-quantum security and authentication systems. Teaching: He instructs courses in cryptography, network security, and cyber security fundamentals at undergraduate and graduate levels.
Alain Tapp is a tenured Professor at the Université de Montréal's Faculty of Arts and Science, Department of Computer Science and Operations Research. He is affiliated with the RALI (Linguistics), LITQ (Theoretical and Quantum Informatics), and talents (AI Cybersecurity) laboratories. His research focuses on Artificial Intelligence, Theoretical Computer Science, and Natural Language Processing, with contributions to quantum computing and machine learning applications. He actively collaborates on projects like DEEL (Dependable & Explainable Learning) and NSERC CREATE in Machine Learning for Finance. Tapp has advised over 25 graduate students, guiding them in topics ranging from quantum protocols to reinforcement learning in robotics. He has secured grants from NSERC, CRIAQ, and others, emphasizing AI, cybersecurity, and quantum computing. His work bridges theoretical foundations with practical applications, including privacy-preserving AI models and sim-to-real robotics. Education: Multiple programs in Fundamental and Applied Sciences, specializing in Information and Communication Technologies. Research interests span quantum communication complexity, secure multiparty computation, and machine learning fairness. His recent work explores lossless text encoding and adversarial training for bias mitigation. Tapp is also involved in initiatives like the crypto-democracy model, advocating for privacy through distributed trust frameworks. His contributions to quantum information theory and AI ethics underscore his interdisciplinary impact.
Ibrahim Numanagić is an Assistant Professor in Computer Science and Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) at the University of Victoria, Canada. His research spans computational biology, programming languages, and secure computing. He leads the 0xTCG Lab , developing tools like Aldy for pharmacogenomics and Codon for high-performance Python applications. Education: PhD (Simon Fraser University, Vanier Scholar), Postdoc (MIT CSAIL), BSc (University of Sarajevo). His work focuses on integrating computational methods with genomics, including segmental duplication analysis, compiler design, and secure biomedical data sharing. Research Highlights: Innovations in genotyping tools (e.g., Geny, BISER), dynamic compiler optimization (Vectron), and secure multi-party computation frameworks (Sequre). Active in open-source projects and clinical bioinformatics. Awards: Canada Research Chair (2021–), Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship (2015–2018) Recruitment: Seeking PhD/MSc students (2025 intake) with strong Python/C++ skills; applications must include 'Lab 0xTCG' in emails
