Rabin Yu Acharya
Research Assistant
Advised by: Domenic Forte
Research Interests
Hardware Security and Trust, Analog security, Reverse Engineering, Genetic Algorithm
Rabin is currently pursuing his PhD under the supervision of Dr. Domenic Forte at the University Florida. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the City College of New York in 2015 and worked in the RF and analog IC industry for about 3 years. His current projects include design of polymorphic gates and using Genetic Algorithm to extract key bits from an encrypted circuit. His hobbies include playing guitar, soccer and volleyball, listening to music, and cooking.
Muhammed Kawser Ahmed
Graduate Research Assistant
Advised by: Christophe Bobda
Research Interests
Developing a secure multi-tenant cloud FPGA platform, analyzing security threats and risks of heterogeneous SoC devices, and developing AI-based efficient architectures and systems in innovative advanced SoC technologies.
Developing a secure multi-tenant cloud FPGA platform, analyzing security threats and risks of heterogeneous SoC devices, and developing AI-based efficient architectures and systems in innovative advanced SoC technologies.
He is currently pursuing his doctoral degree in Computer Engineering under Dr. Christophe Bobda at the University of Florida, Gainesville. He completed my B.Sc. in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet. He is currently working as a graduate assistant under Dr. Christophe Bobda in his Smart Systems Lab. (Sep 2020 – present).
Meysam Asghari
Research Assistant
Advised by: Nima Maghari
Research Interests
Data-converters, RF/Analog & Mixed-signal IC design, Physically Unclonable Function (PUF), Low-voltage & low-power IC design.
Meysam Asghari was born in Iran in 1989. He received the A.Sc. degree from the Technical and Engineering College of Shiraz, Shiraz, Iran, in 2008, the B.Sc. degree from Shahid Rajaee Teacher Training University, Tehran, Iran, in 2011, and the M.Sc. degree from the Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, in 2013, all in electrical engineering. He is currently a Ph.D. student at the University of Florida. His research interests include Data-converters, RF/Analog & Mixed-signal IC design, Physically Unclonable Function (PUF), Low-voltage & low-power IC design.
Avinash Ayalasomayajula
Research Assistant
Advised by: Farimah Farahmandi
Research Interests
Security Validation, Obfuscation
Avinash Ayalasomayajula is currently pursuing their Master of Science from Electrical and Computer Engineering department specializing in Computer Engineering. They received their B.Tech degree in Electronics and Communications Engineering from National Institute of Technology Goa(NITG). Their hobbies include reading fictional novels, cooking, swimming and football.
Yihang Bai
Research Assistant
Advised by: Tuba Yavuz
Research Interests: Model extraction, program analysis and IoT security.
Ken(Yihang) Bai is currently a PhD student in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Florida. His work focuses specifically on model extraction, program analysis and IoT security, with applying novel automated software techniques to improve system reliability and software security.
In his spare time he enjoys games, basketball and watching movies. He also likes to go outside with his dog, Molly, a cute Shiba.
Yunkai Bai
Research Assistant
Advised by: Domenic Forte
Research Interests
Electromagnetic analysis and power analysis.
Yunkai is currently pursuing his PhD under the supervision of Professor Domenic Forte.
Wenxuan Bao
Research Assistant
Advised by: Vincent Bindschaedler
Research Interests
Machine Learning Security, Differential Privacy and Adversarial Machine Learning.
Wenxuan received his B.S. degree at Chongqing University of Technology and an M.S. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Florida. His research interests include Machine Learning Security, Differential Privacy and Adversarial Machine Learning.
In his free time, he likes to, read novels, watch movies, and play badminton.
Nathaniel Bennett
Research Assistant
Advised by: Patrick Traynor and Kevin Butler
Research Interests
Cellular and Mobile Network Security, Network & Protocol Analysis
Nathaniel Bennett is currently pursuing his Ph.D. under the supervision of Dr. Patrick Traynor and Dr. Kevin Butler. His research explores vulnerability discovery and hardening of networked systems software, particularly for LTE/5G networks. Prior to attending UF, he was part of the Internet Measurement and Anti-Abuse Lab (IMAAL) at Brigham Young University. In his spare time, Nathaniel enjoys playing soccer, hiking, and videogame development.
Md Kawser Bepary
Research Assistant
Advised by: Mark Tehranipoor
Research Interests
Hardware Security and Trust, Computer Architecture, VLSI Design and Testing
Kawser is currently pursuing his Ph.D. under the supervision of Dr. Mark Tehranipoor at the University of Florida. He completed a BS degree in EEE from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology in 2018 and an MS in Computer Engineering from the University of Alabama in Huntsville in 2020. His hobbies include reading books on science and history, playing soccer, and watching movies.
Sri Hrushikesh Varma Bhupathiraju
Research Assistant
Advised by: Dr. Sara Rampazzi
Research Interests
Cyber-physical system security, Adversarial Machine Learning, Autonomous Systems, Physical Sensor Attacks
Hrushikesh is currently pursuing his Ph.D. under Dr. Sara Rampazzi. He works on securing sensors and cyber-physical systems as part of the Cyber-physical Systems Security (CPSec) Lab and the Florida Institute for Cybersecurity (FICS) Research. In particular, he studies the vulnerabilities in sensors used in autonomous systems. He then builds solutions to mitigate the consequences of these vulnerabilities on the safety of such systems. Aside from his research, he loves traveling, reading, and music.
Liton Kumar Biswas
Research Assistant
Advised by: Navid Asadi
Research Interests
Hardware security, Reverse Engineering and Physical Attack
Biswas is currently pursuing his Ph.D. under the supervision of Dr. Asadi Zanjani in the department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Florida. He completed his B.Sc. and MS from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. In his spare time, he loves to engage in hobbies like listening to music, watching movies, playing games, and traveling.
Ahmed Bulbul
Research Assistant
Advised by: Mark Tehranipoor
Research Interests
Hardware security and hardware and software verification
Ahmed is currently pursuing a Ph.D. under the supervision of Dr. Mark Tehranipoor in the department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Florida. He completed a BS degree from Rajshahi University of Engineering & Technology (RUET) and MS from the University of Virginia. Hardware Security, Hardware and software verification. In his spare time, he enjoys playing the guitar, piano, soccer, and traveling.
Abigail N. Butka
Graduate Assistant
Advised by: Christophe Bobda
Research Interests
Embedded Sytems, Hardware Security, MPSoc
Abigail Butka is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering. She has completed her Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering and a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. During her internship experiences at Robotic Research, in Maryland, she worked with the CEO of the company to write an STTR proposal on protecting the CAN bus with physical hardware security. In her spare time, she likes to read Sci-Fi/Fantasy novels and hang out with her two cats.
Paul Calzada
Research Assistant
Advised by: Mark Tehranipoor
Research Interests
Hardware Security and Trust, PCB Design and Protection, Reverse Engineering, Machine Learning.
Paul Calzada is currently pursuing his undergraduate degree in Computer Engineering at the University of Florida.
Kevin Childs
Research Assistant
Advised by: Kevin Butler
Research Interests
Security and Privacy, Societal impact of technology.
Kevin Childs is currently perusing his Ph.D. under the advisement of Dr. Kevin Butler. His research addresses the unique security challenges faced by groups at heightened risk, such as student-athletes and survivors of intimate partner violence. He is currently focused on projects aimed at understanding how technology is used within athletics, and the data privacy needs of collegiate athletes. Long term he is working toward developing solutions to use data while maintaining privacy in sports, and location sharing domains. Prior to attending the University of Florida, he was part of the Wolfpack Security Lab at NC State. In addition to his academic pursuits, he is passionate about sports, actively competing in Ironman triathlons and ultramarathons.
Patrick Craig
Research Assistant
Advised by: Navid Asadi
Research Interests
Hardware Security, Advanced Packaging, Computer Vision, Machine Learning, Generative AI.
Patrick is currently pursuing his Ph.D. under the supervision of Dr. Navid Asadi in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Florida. He completed his B.S. in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Florida in 2023. In his spare time, he enjoys traveling, working out, and watching movies.
Nicholas U. Costagliola
Research Assistant
Advised by: Sara Rampazzi
Research Interests
Autonomous Vehicles, VLMs, Navigation
Nicholas is currently working on Cyber-Physical System Security & Autonomous Vehicle security under Dr. Rampazzi, by attacking machine learning based depth perception and VLMs for autonomous navigation. Previously, I worked on open-set anomaly detection with machine learning & continual learning for network security. His overall research interests revolve around the practical application of machine learning in the security domain and the risks that entails. He enjoys reading and writing in his spare time.
Anna Crowder
Research Assistant
Advised by: Kevin Butler
Research Interests
Censorship measurement and user experiences with deepfake audio
Anna is currently in her second year of pursuing a PhD at the University of Florida. She grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, before venturing off to college. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree at Harding University. After completing her undergraduate studies, Anna’s passion for service and exploration led her to join the Peace Corp, where she spent two impactful years as a teacher in Ghana. Upon her return, Anna was so inspired to merge her background in computer science with her passion for humanitarian efforts.
Ruochen Dai
Research Assistant
Advised by: Tuba Yavuz
Research Interests
Hardware Security, Formal Verification.
Ruochen is currently pursuing his Ph.D. under the supervision of Dr. Tuba Yavuz in the ECE department at the University of Florida. Before that, he obtained my BS degree in 2018 from Xi’an University of Technology, China, and MS degree in 2020 from the University of Florida. In his spare time he enjoys traveling, reading, listening to music, and cooking.
Nusrat Dipu
Research Assistant
Advised by: Mark Tehranipoor
Research Interests
Hardware Security & Trust, SoC Security Property Generation and Verification, Secure Scan, Analog and Digital IC Design.
Nusrat Farzana Dipu is currently pursuing her Ph.D degree in ECE under Dr. Mark Tehranipoor at UF. She received her BSc degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology. She worked as Chip Design Engineer at Neural Semiconductor Ltd., Bangladesh for 1.5 years. Her current research includes Security Property Generation and Verification for SoC, Micro-architectural Side Channel Attack Detection and Mitigation. Personally, she likes cooking, traveling and watching movies.
Tasnuva Farheen
Research Assistant
Advised by: Domenic Forte
Research Interests
Backside attacks and countermeasures development, Simulation modeling, Fabrication, Reverse Engineering, Image Analysis
Tasnuva’s home country is Bangladesh marked by the possession of world’s longest sea beach. In 2018 she pursued her B.S in Chemical Engineering. After that in 2020, she joined as a research assistant in FICS to pursue a doctorate in Electrical and Computer Engineering. Currently she is working here and super excited to do many collaborations. She loves cooking, traveling, and interior designing.
Caroline Fedele
Research Assistant
Advised by: Kevin Butler
Research Interests Security and privacy in autonomous systems, satellite and space security, space systems and electronics, applied cryptography
Caroline Fedele is a Ph.D. student in Computer Science at the University of Florida under the supervision of Dr. Kevin Butler. In May 2021, she graduated summa cum laude from the University of North Florida with a Bachelor’s degree in Physics and worked for NASA in quantum computing and communications. As part of the Florida Institute for Cybersecurity (FICS) research, she focuses on privacy-preserving computing. In particular, she is looking into advanced encryption schemes, hybrid models, and secure outsourcing of data processing for systems with limited resources, such as UAVs and satellites. Caroline is an Air Force space scholar working in applied security measures for space communications and navigation.
Pallabi Ghosh
Research Assistant
Advised by: Domenic Forte
Research Interests
Computer Vision, Machine Learning, and Deep Learning
Pallabi Ghosh is currently pursuing her Ph.D. under the supervision of Dr. Domenic Forte in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. She received her M.S. degree in Computer Science and Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India, in 2019. Her research interests include computer vision, deep learning, machine learning, and biometrics. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling and cooking.
Shajib Ghosh
Research Assistant
Advised by: Navid Asadi
Research Interests
Hardware Security, Computer Vision, Machine Learning, Biomedical Applications
Shajib is currently pursuing his PhD under the supervision of Dr. Navid Asadi in the department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Florida. He completed his B.Sc in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology. He obtained his M.S. degree in Biomedical Engineering from the department of Biomedical Physics and Technology at the University of Dhaka. He likes reading novels, listening to music, watching movies, reciting poems
Jordan Greene
Research Assistant
Advised by: Patrick Traynor
Research Interests
Cellular Network Security, Wireless Network Security, Network Analysis and Audio Deepfake Security
Jordan graduated from the University of Florida with a BS in Computer Science and a minor in Classical Studies in May 2025. She is continuing her studies at UF by pursuing a PhD under the advisement of Dr. Patrick Traynor. At the Florida Institute for Cybersecurity (FICS), she hopes to investigate vulnerabilities of cellular network protocols and examine the human impact of audio deepfakes. Jordan enjoys ballet and jazz dancing with her friends, crochet, and baking in her free time.
Marino Guzman
Research Assistant
Advised by: Nima Maghari
Research Interests
Nyquist ADCs, Physically Unclonable Function (PUF), Low-voltage & low-power IC design, Scalable amplification solutions
Marino De Jesus Guzman was born in the Dominican Republic in 1994. He completed his BSEE at the University of Florida in 2015. In 2016, he began pursuing his PhD at the University of Florida. He has had several internships at Texas instruments working as a validation, test, and pre-silicon validation engineer. His research interests include nyquist-rate ADCs, hardware trojan detection and prevention, physical unclonable functions, scalable amplification techniques, and low voltage design techniques.
Joel Hirschmann
Research Assistant
Advised by: Kevin Butler
Research Interests
Cryptography and Multi-party Computation
Joel Hirschmann is currently pursuing his Ph.D. under Dr. Butler. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University in 2023 with a double major in Computer Science and Mathematics. He enjoys figuring out the mathematical workings of cryptographic systems and new ways to apply those systems to the real world. In his free time Joel enjoys playing board games and reading.
Muhammad Monir Hossain
Research Assistant
Advised by: Mark Tehranipoor
Research Interests
Hardware Security & amp; Trust, Embedded Systems and Security, Internet of Things, Robotics
Muhammad Monir Hossain is currently pursuing his MS degree in ECE under Dr. Mark Tehranipoor at UF. He received his BSc degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology. He worked as Embedded Software Engineer at ReliSource Technologies Ltd for 3.5 years. His current research includes hardware and software validation. Personally, he likes playing table tennis.
Zahin Ibnat
Research Assistant
Advised by: Farimah Farahmandi
Research Interests
AI Security and Digital Watermarking
Zahin is currently pursuing her PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering under Dr. Farahmandi at the University of Florida. She received her B.Sc. in Computer Engineering at UF in 2020. Her current research focus is in AI Security and Digital Watermarking. Outside of academics, Zahin participates actively in her Bangladeshi community with traditional dance and doing volunteer work. For leisure, Zahin likes making digital art, playing videogames, and watching most media on Netflix.
Azim Ibragimov
Research Assistant
Advised by: Eakta Jain
Research Interests
Biometrics, Privacy, and Computer Vision
Azim Ibragimov is currently pursuing his Ph.D. under the supervision of Dr. Eakta Jain. His research interests center on biometrics and the privacy implications of various sensing modalities. This includes the recognition of individuals based on fingerprints, gait, speech, body movements, and eye movements — as well as the development of techniques that allow individuals to limit or control their identifiability in such systems. He is currently investigating privacy concerns associated with Virtual Reality headsets such as the Meta Quest Pro and Apple Vision Pro. Prior to this, he earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of South Florida under the supervision of Dr. Sudeep Sarkar. In his spare time, he enjoys visiting Starbucks.
Malvika Jadhav
Research Assistant
Advised by: Vincent Bindschaedler
Research Interests
Generative AI, Data Privacy, Cybersecurity, and Deep Learning
Malvika obtained a Bachelor’s in Computer Engineering from the University of Pune, India. After that in 2022, she joined as a research assistant in FICS while pursuing Masters in Computer and Information Science from the University of Florida. In her free time, she enjoys playing PC games, sketching, and reading Renaissance literature.
Jake M Julia
Research Assistant
Advised by: Navid Asadi
Research Interests
Hardware Security, Reverse Engineering, Trojan Detection
Jake is in his fourth year pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Florida and is currently working in UF’s FICS Lab. He wishes to pursue a Masters degree in Electrical Engineering. He enjoys fishing, mountain biking, hiking, grilling, movies, and sports in his free time.
Godstime Kemele
Research Assistant
Advised by: Sandip Ray
Research Interests: Hardware security and design, ML applications, Reconfigurable computing, Automotives
Godstime Kemele is currently pursuing his Ph.D. under the supervision of Dr. Sandip Ray at the University of Florida. He received his B.Eng in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the University of Benin, Nigeria. He is interested in multidisciplinary research in emerging technologies.
In his spare time, he loves traveling, cooking, soccer, and music.
Aslam Khan
Research Assistant
Advised by: Navid Asadi
Research Interests: Hardware security assurance in the Semiconductor fabrication and packaging; Advance packaging(2.5D, 3D, Heterogeneous Integration); Failure Analysis; MEMS/NEMS
Aslam A. Khan is currently pursuing a Ph.D. under the supervision of Dr. Navid Asadi in the department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Florida. He received an M.S. degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Norfolk State University in 2020. He has worked at two companies and as a research assistant at IIT Bombay. He received a B.E degree in Electronics Engineering from Mumbai University in 2016. His research focused on security assurance in Semiconductor fabrication and advanced packaging (2.5D, 3D, Heterogeneous Integration), Reverse Engineering, MEMS/NEMS, Counterfeiting Detection, and Prevention. His hobbies include playing cricket, long driving, exploring new places, hiking, cycling, and watching movies.
Md Shafkat Mahmud Khan
Research Assistant
Advised by: Navid Asadi
Research Interests
Hardware security and trust, IC Packaging Vulnerabilities, SoC design and security, VLSI Design verification, Hardware Trojans.
Shafkat Mahmud completed his BSc from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology in 2019. He is currently pursuing his Phd in EEE under the supervision of Dr. Navid Asadi. His research includes identifying Ic packaging vulnerabilities, interposer security, hardware Trojans and design for secure test. Shafkat also has profound interest in VLSI secure design and verification. In his spare time Shafkat likes to play soccer, workout, listen to music and watch movies . He loves traveling above anything else.
Bernardo B. P. Medeiros
Research Assistant
Advised by: Kevin Butler
Research Interests
Tech and policy, Data Privacy
Bernardo earned his bachelor’s degree in computer science and government from Georgetown University in 2024 and is pursuing his PhD at the University of Florida under the supervision of Dr. Kevin Butler. He is interested in exploring the intersection of technology and policymaking, with a particular focus on technology-facilitated abuse in domestic violence contexts. In his free time, he enjoys hiking, watching movies, reading, and playing video games.
Rasheed Kibria
Research Assistant
Advised by: Mark Tehranipoor
Research Interests
Hardware Security and Trust, Digital VLSI, Computer Hardware and architecture, Electronic Design Automation (EDA).
Rasheed Kibria is currently pursuing his Ph.D. under direct supervision of Dr. Mark Tehranipoor in the Department of ECE, University of Florida. He received his B.Sc. in Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE) from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET). After his graduation, he joined the Department of EEE, BUET as a Lecturer (Adjunct) and served there for one year. He taught eight undergraduate courses offered to the students of the Department of EEE, BUET. In his spare time, he likes reading novels and books related to VLSI, programming and scripting, working with FPGAs and watching movies. He also has an immense interest in travelling and visiting historical places.
Yungwoo Ko
Research Assistant
Advised by: Sara Rampazzi
Research Interests
Systems Security, Cyber Physical Security, Systems Area
Yunwoo Ko is currently pursuing his Ph.D. under Dr. Sara Rampazzi. His research interests include Cyber Physical Security and Systems Security. In his free time, he enjoys taking a walk, reading books and playing video games.
Himanandhan Reddy Kottur
Research Assistant
Advised by: Navid Asadi
Research Interests
Hardware Security, Advanced Packaging, Heterogeneous Integration, Semiconductor Failure Analysis, and Machine Learning.
Himanandhan Reddy K was born in Hyderabad, India. He received his B.E. degree in electrical engineering from Anna University, Chennai, India, in 2021, and later completed his M.S. degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Florida, Gainesville, in 2023. Currently, he is pursuing his Ph.D. at the University of Florida, under the supervision of Professor. Dr. Navid Asadizanjani. In his spare time, Himanandhan enjoys reading, listening to music, watching movies, and playing badminton.
Touhidul Islam
Research Assistant
Advised by: Farimah Farahmandi
Research Interests
Large Language Model, LLM in Electronics, Artificial General Intelligence
Touhidul Islam completed his BSc in EEE from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology in 2024. He is currently pursuing his PhD in ECE under the supervision of Dr. Farimah Farahmandi. He has researched in fields of AI like computer vision, large language models, speech large language model. His current interest includes integrating AI with electronics especially with large language models. He is also interested in the broader development of LLMs. His long-term research interest lies in advancing toward Artificial General Intelligence. In his spare time Touhidul likes to watch movies and explore new stuffs.
Kollin Labowski
Research Assistant
Advised by: Tom Shrimpton and Kevin Butler
Research Interests
Cryptography, Privacy, Machine Learning
Kollin Labowski is currently pursuing his Ph.D. under the direction of Dr. Shrimpton at the University of Florida. He graduated from West Virginia University in August of 2022 with his B.S. in Computer Science, along with a concentration in Cybersecurity and a minor in Mathematics. Before attending the University of Florida, Kollin worked as a Software Engineer at Augustine Consulting Inc., focusing primarily on the development of Android applications. He is currently working on research regarding design-hiding schemes for integrated circuits. In his free time, Kollin enjoys playing bass guitar, going for walks, and playing board games.
Henian Li
Research Assistant
Advised by: Mark Tehranipoor
Research Interests
Fault-Injection Attacks and Countermeasures, Secure Scan, Hardware Security
Henian Li is a Ph.D. student under the supervision of Dr. Mark M. Tehranipoor. He got his B.S. degree in Integrated Circuit Design and Integration System from Hefei University of Technology, China, and M.S. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Florida. In his spare time, he enjoys playing the guitar, singing, cooking, and traveling.
Allison Lu
Research Assistant
Advised by: Patrick Traynor
Research Interests
Reproducibility, Data Science, Machine Learning
Allison is currently pursuing her Ph.D. under the supervision of Dr. Patrick Traynor at the University of Florida. She graduated in 2021 from the University of Wisconsin-Stout with a B.S. in Applied Mathematics and Computer Science and has experience in financial services from working summers at the investment bank, Piper Sandler. Her hobbies include art and baking.
Chaoyi Ma
Research Assistant
Advised by: Shigang Chen
Research Interests
Network traffic measurement, Computer network security
Chaoyi Ma is currently pursuing his Ph.D. degree in computer and information science and engineering at the University of Florida. His advisor is Prof. Shigang Chen. Before that, he obtained his B.S. degree in information security from the University of Science and Technology of China in 2018. His research interests include network traffic measurement and computer network security.
Peter Esenju Mbua
Research Assistant
Advised by: Christophe Bobda
Research Interests
Cloud-based Reconfigurable Computing Systems, Hardware/Software Codesign, SoC Design Optimization
Peter is working on a Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering under the supervision of Dr. Christophe Bobda at the University of Florida. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering and a Master of Engineering in Power Systems at the University of Buea, Cameroon. He has 4 years of industry experience in the oil & gas, and telecommunications sectors working as a production technologist and electrical systems design engineer, respectively. His current projects include the integration of FPGA-related reconfigurable devices into cloud platforms and enabling multitenancy in cloud-based FPGA platforms. In his free time, he enjoys playing Soccer.
Dimitrios Melissourgos
Research Assistant
Advised by: Shigang Chen
Research Interests
Computer network security, Data privacy, Machine learning privacy
Dimitrios Melissourgos is currently pursuing his Ph.D. under the supervision of Dr. Chen at the University of Florida. He received his BS in Computer Engineering from the University of Patras, Greece. His research interests include privacy in multi-party computation, computer network security and privacy in machine learning algorithms. His hobbies include drone racing, scuba diving, playing music, philosophy and cosmology.
Sajeed Mohammad
Research Assistant
Advised by: Farimah Farahmandi
Research Interests
Secure SoC development and life cycle management, CAD tools, Formal Verification, Hardware Security, Secure Firmware
Sajeed Mohammad is currently pursuing his Ph.D. degree under the supervision of Dr. Farahmandi in the ECE department at the University of Florida. He received his bachelor’s degree from VNR Vignana Jyothi Institute of Engineering and Technology, Hyderabad, India in 2018. His research interests include but are not limited to Hardware Security Modules (HSMs), Secure SoC development and life cycle management, Formal Verification, firmware security, CAD tools, and secure firmware booting. He is a Kabaddi player and loves cooking, traveling, and watching movies in his spare time.
Nunrun N Mondol
Research Assistant
Advised by: Mark Tehranipoor
Research Interests
Nurun Nahar Mondol is a Graduate Research Assistant at FICS Lab. She graduated from EEE department Bangladesh University of Engineering and technology majoring in communication in 2018. After graduation, she worked for two years in an MNC as an Engineering manager. she has a fascination for tech products. In her free time, she enjoys watching psychological thrillers and love to plan and execute her next travel destination.
Md Tahsin Mostafiz
Research Assistant
Advised by: Navid Asadi
Research Interests
Computer Vision, Deep Learning, Hardware Security
Tahsin is currently pursuing a Ph.D. under the supervision of Dr. Navid Asadi in the department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Florida. He completed his B.Sc in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET). After graduation, he worked as Machine Learning Engineer in two companies, served as an RA in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, BUET and mentored several undergraduate students in their thesis and research works. His research interests are deep learning, computer vision and hardware security. His hobbies include reading science-fiction books, writing, watching movies, swimming and cycling.
Rouhan Noor
Research Assistant
Advised by: Navid Asadi
Research Interests
Analog Circuit Design, hardware security, Secure Advanced packaging, Deep learning, Neuromorphic Computing
Rouhan Noor is currently pursuing his Ph.D. under the supervision of Dr. Navid Asadi Zanjani in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Florida in Fall 2022. He completed his B.Sc. from Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology, Bangladesh. Before joining the University of Florida, he worked as Analog Circuit Design Engineer at Neural Semiconductor Limited, a leading VLSI design farm in Bangladesh. He has 2.5 years of industry experience in VLSI and the semiconductor industry and has done numerous tape-out up to 12nm FinFET technology. In his spare time, he loves to engage in hobbies like listening to music, brewing coffee, and traveling.
Daniel Olszewski
Research Assistant
Advised by: Patrick Traynor
Research Interests
Cybersecurity, Deepfake Detection, Network Security
Ozzy’s research spans multiple areas of security research. With a focus on measuring reproducibility in security research, he seeks to enhance the reliability and trustworthiness of findings in computational sciences by measuring reproducibility and developing frameworks to help future researchers create reproducible work. Additionally, he explores network measurement aiming to understand malicious applications network behavior to prevent harms (e.g., stalkerware). Furthermore, Ozzy is dedicated to defending against the rising threat of deepfakes, recognizing the potential consequences of synthetic media manipulation. By both understanding how researchers develop defenses and how humans detect deepfakes, Ozzy endeavors to safeguard the integrity of information and protect against malicious exploitation of digital content. In his spare time, he enjoys cooking, reading and spending time with his many cats.
Max Panoff
Graduate Assistant
Advised by: Christophe Bobda
Research Interests
Robotics, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Cyber-Physical Systems, Hardware Security
Max is a third-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He earned a B.E. with a Concentration in Robotics and a Minor in Social Sciences from Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ. During his time here at the University of Florida, he was awarded the Graduate School Preeminence Award at the University of Florida and has assisted in running two classes: IoT Security and Microprocessor Applications 2.
Magdalena Pasternak
Research Assistant
Advised by: Kevin Butler
Research Interests
Cybersecurity, Large Language Models
Magdalena is a PhD student at the University of Florida. Her research focus involves security with large language models, deepfake detection, machine learning, and leveraging electromagnetic signals for obfuscated malware classification.
Mala Paul
Research Assistant
Advised by: Mark Tehranipoor
Research Interests
Hardware Security and Trust, Analog and Digital Circuits and Systems Design, Reverse Engineering, Machine learning and Image Processing
Mala is currently pursuing her Ph.D. under the supervision of Dr. Mark Tehranipoor in the department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Florida. She has joined the FICS team from Spring 2021. She has completed her BSc degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology. Composing and singing her own music is one of her passions. She also likes reading novels, listening to music, traveling, cooking, and sports.
Tanvir Rahman
Research Assistant
Advised by: Mark Tehranipoor and Fahim Rahman
Research Interests
Cryptography, Hardware Security Primitives and Machine Learning.
Tanvir Rahman is currently pursuing PhD under the supervision of Dr. Fahim Rahman and Dr. Mark Tehranipoor. He received his M.Sc. degree from Purdue School of Engineering and Technology and B.Sc. degree from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology. Tanvir has years of North American industry work experience in the field of automotive (OEM) product development, quality, safety, security and manufacturing. His hobbies include traveling, photography, fishing and movies.
Sourav Roy
Research Assistant
Advised by: Domenic Forte
Research Interests
Hardware security and trust
Sourav has completed Bachelors in EEE from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology in 2011 and completed Masters in EEE from Osaka University in 2015. He has worked in manufacturing industry of medical devices and cosmetics in Japan for two years. After that he worked in service industry for two years in Bangladesh. He joined UF as a Phd student from Spring 2021.
Steffi Roy
Research Assistant
Advised by: Domenic Forte
Research Interests
Hardware Security, Cryptography, Machine Learning and Virtualization
Steffi is working under Prof. Domenic Forte as a Ph.D. student. She is in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) at the University of Florida (UF) and she completed her Bachelor’s in Electrical and Electronics Engineering(EEE) from Mahindra University. She enjoys playing tennis, video games. cooking, and traveling.
Dipayan Saha
Research Assistant
Advised by: Farimah Farahmandi
Research Interests
Machine Learning, Hardware Security, Signal Processing
Dipayan Saha is currently pursuing his PhD at the University of Florida. He received the B.Sc. degree from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET). His research interests revolve around machine learning, hardware security, and signal processing. In his spare time, Dipayan likes reading books, listening to music, and playing chess.
Shuvagata Saha
Research Assistant
Advised by: Mark Tehranipoor
Research Interests
Hardware Security and Trust, VLSI Design and Testing
Shuvagata Saha is currently pursuing his PhD under the supervision of Dr. Mark Tehranipoor. He has completed his B.Sc. in EEE from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) in 2018. In his spare time, he likes to read novels, watch movies, and listen to music.
Md Sami Ul Islam Sami
Research Assistant
Advised by: Mark Tehranipoor
Research Interests
Sami is currently pursuing his Ph.D. under the supervision of Dr. Mark Tehranipoor in the ECE department at the University of Florida. He received his B.Sc. in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET). After his graduation he worked as ASIC Physical Design Engineer. His current project includes attack resistant secure SoC design. His hobbies are playing cricket, soccer and watching movies
Pantha Protim Sarker
Research Assistant
Advised by: Mark Tehranipoor
Research Interests
Hardware Security and Trust, VLSI Design and Testing.
Pantha Protim Sarker has joined the FICS team from Spring 2021 under the supervision of Professor Mark M. Tehranipoor. His research interest lies in the field of hardware security and VLSI. He loves to travel and watch football. He is a fan of Real Madrid Club Football.
Aviva Smith
Research Assistant
Advised by: Patrick Traynor
Research Interests
Deepfakes, Network Security
Aviva Smith is a pursing a Ph.D. in computer science under the supervision of Dr. Patrick Traynor in the FICS Research Lab. Prior to coming to UF, she completed her B.S. and M.S. in computer science at the Georgia Institute of Technology. She is interested in deepfakes, network security, and issues at the intersection of critical infrastructure and cybersecurity. In her free time, she enjoys reading and running.
Jennifer Sheldon
Research Assistant
Advised by: Sara Rampazzi
Research Interests
Cyber-physical system security and signal injection.
Jennifer Sheldon is currently pursuing her PhD under the supervision of Dr. Sara Rampazzi. She graduated with a B.S. from the University of Florida in 2020
Amit M Shuvo
Research Assistant
Advised by: Mark Tehranipoor
Research Interests
Hardware Security, VLSI Design, Device Architecture.
Amit had completed his graduation in Electrical & Electronic Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology in 2017. After that, he joined a renowned semiconductor company in Bangladesh which is dedicated to providing the full ASIC design package. he acquired expertise in RTL design, functional Verification & DFT design from more than 3.5 years of professional experience. He love singing, playing guitar, solving mathematical problems, programming & traveling.
Konark Sikka
Research Assistant
Advised by: Farimah Farahmandi
Research Interests
Hardware Security, IoT security, Computer Architecture, ARM and FPGA based Embedded Systems, Vehicular Security
Konark is pursuing a Masters in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Florida. He received a B.Tech degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering from SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur, Chennai, India. His main interests have always been in IoT, Hardware Security, Embedded Systems and AI. His research is specialized in 2 fields in BTech which are ARM/FPGA-based embedded systems and Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning with Neural Networks.
Scott Slinn
Research Assistant
Advised by: Kevin Butler
Research Interests
Network Intrusion Detection, Adversarial Machine Learning
Scott is currently pursuing his Ph.D. under the supervision of Dr. Kevin Butler. He completed a BS degree in Computer Science from BYU. His research hopes to explore machine learning tools for network intrusion detection and protection, particularly for novel and zero-day threats. In his spare time, Scott enjoys running, sports, chess, and movies.
Carson Stillman
Research Assistant
Advised by: Kevin Butler and Sara Rampazzi
Research Interests
Embedded systems security, and Electromagnetic Side-Channels Analysis
Carson is currently pursuing his Ph.D. under the supervision of Dr. Kevin Butler and Sara Rampazzi at the University of Florida. He earned his bachelor’s degree in physics from William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. His current projects include signal analysis for Electromagnetic control-flow attestation. His hobbies include watching movies, reading, cooking, and hiking.
Shams Tarek
Research Assistant
Advised by: Farimah Farahmandi
Research Interests
Hardware Security & Trust, VLSI, Computer Architecture
Shams is currently pursuing his PhD under Dr. Farimah Farahmandi at the University of Florida. He received his B.Sc. in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) in 2019. His hobbies include watching sports, playing video games and watching movies.
John G. True Jr.
Research Assistant
Advised by: Navid Asadi
Research Interests
Non-destructive Failure Analysis, Automated Semiconductor Processing & Characterization, Machine Learning & Big Data Analysis
John is currently a graduate student under Dr. Navid Asadi in the F.I.C.S. Lab here at UF. He received a B.S. in Material Science & Engineering from UF. John’s current work includes Auto-3D, developing automated volumetric hardware assurance methods for use in industry; in addition to THz-Characterization at the transistor and device level. John enjoys mountain biking in Ocala, aerial photography, and woodworking in his free time.
Arash Vafaei
Research Assistant
Advised by: Farimah Farahmandi
Research Interests
Computer architecture, Low-power hardware design, Hardware security, Hardware verification, Machine learning.
Arash Vafaei is currently pursuing his Ph.D. under the supervision of Dr. Farahmandi. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Computer engineering from Sharif University of Technology and his Master’s degree from Tehran University. His current research interests include Hardware design with respect to power, performance, and security. Some of his assorted hobbies include Embedded system design, Volleyball, and playing piano.
Haibo Wang
Research Assistant
Advised by: Shigang Chen
Research Interests
Network traffic measurement; Edge computing
Haibo Wang is a second-year PhD student from the Department of Computer and Information Science and Engineering, University of Florida. Before that, he obtained my BS degree in 2016 and MS degree in 2019, both from the University of Science and Technology of China.
Ethan Wilson
Research Assistant
Advised by: Eakta Jain
Research Interests
Computer graphics, computer vision, machine learning, privacy and security.
Ethan’s main research focus is in designing and evaluating generative algorithms for protecting facial privacy in video. He also explores other privacy solutions, such as adaptive personal space boundaries in virtual reality (VR) and operations to de-identify recorded VR motion data in real time. In these projects, he leverages prior experience in game development to build highly immersive virtual scenes. Ethan is a recipient of the Generation NEXT scholarship and UF Graduate Research Preeminence Award. Ethan received a B.S. in Computational Media at Georgia Tech in 2019, graduating with highest honors
Jiaming Wu
Research Assistant
Advised by: Domenic Forte
Research Interests
Hardware Security and Verification.
Jiaming is currently pursuing his Ph.D at the University of Florida under Dr. Domenic Forte. He got his B.Eng. in Electrical Engineering from Xi’an JiaoTong University and M.S in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Boston University. In his spare time, Jiaming likes playing basketball and other outdoor sports.
Katayoon Yahyaei
Research Assistant
Advised by: Mark Tehranipoor
Research Interests
Hardware Security, Machine Learning and Digital Hardware Design
Katayoon Yahyaei is a Ph.D. student in Electrical and Electronics Engineering at the University of Florida. She works as a research assistant under Dr. Tehranipoor. She received her B.Sc. and M.Sc. from K.N. Toosi University of Technology, IRAN, in 2018 and 2020. Her research interests lie in leveraging artificial intelligence for the security assessment of digital hardware designs. In her free time, she likes to cook, dance, practice yoga, and watch movies.
Tao Zhang
Research Assistant
Advised by: Mark Tehranipoor and Farimah Farahmandi
Research Interests
FPGA Security, Reverse Engineering.
Tao Zhang is currently pursuing his Ph.D. under Dr. Tehranipoor and Dr. Faramandi at the ECE department of the University of Florida. He graduated from the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China with a Master’s degree in Communication and Information Systems. His interests include FPGA security and reverse engineering. In his spare time, he likes running and playing table tennis.
Alumni
Md Mahbub Alam
Research Interests
Hardware Security, Security Primitives, Developing Tools, Internet of Things Security.
Mahbub Alam is currently pursuing his Ph.D. under Dr. Forte and Dr. Tehranipoor at the University of Florida. He got his BS degree from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology. His current projects include Analog and Mixed Signal Security and Counterfeit IC detection and Prevention. His hobbies include playing and watching Cricket, and traveling.
Luke Bauer
Advised by: Vincent Bindschaedler
Research Interests
Information Security, Android Security
Luke Bauer earned his Ph.D. in 2025 under the guidance of Dr. Binschaedler. His research focused on membership inference attacks and Android Bluetooth security. Outside of academics, Luke enjoys tennis, kayaking, video games, and spending time at the beach.
Logan Blue
Advised by: Patrick Traynor
Research Interests
Mobile networks, machine learning, building secure systems, secure protocol design.
Logan Blue earned Ph.D. under Dr. Traynor. He got his MS and BS degree from University of Florida. His projects included Authentication of telephony calls, Using Generative models in a FTE-Encryption scheme, Data driven network study over the Shands network, and Data driven study on the security, use, and misuse of SMS. His hobbies include board games, working out, running, online games, reading, over-baked/half thought out arguments about nothing, anything to do with science (space elevators!), math, or history.
Sreeja Chowdhury
Research Interests
Novel Analog security designs, IOT security, novel FPGA/reconfigurable security designs, security automation.
Sreeja Chowdhury Has received her Ph.D. under Dr. Forte at the University of Florida. She got her B.Tech. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from West Bengal University of Technology in 2013, and her M.S. degree from the University of Florida. Sreeja Her hobbies include listening to music vocals, watching movies, reading fiction/detective novels. Sreeja is currently working as an Applications Engineer at Ansys SCBU
Gustavo K. Contreras
Research Interests
SoC design, Design-for-secure-test, Hardware security, Cross-layer security, penetration testing.
Gustavo K. Contreras is currently a SoC Design Engineer at the Intel Corporation and is the Founder and CEO of Inka Security Solutions.
Aneez Fatima
Research Interests
Data science, machine learning, pattern recognition, natural language processing and computer vision.
Aneez Fatima is currently an Software Engineer II at Cisco Umbrella. She received her MS in Computer Engineering in 2017.
Zimu Guo
Research Interests
Hardware Security, System-level assurance, Biometrics, Machine learning.
Zimu is a postdoctoral fellow at the Florida Institute for Cybersecurity (FICS). He received his Ph.D from the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of Florida .He received his MEng at the State University of New York at Buffalo and B.S. degree from Beijing University of Chemical Technology. Zimu is a proven talent with expertise spanning VLSI, digital design, device reliability, verification, hardware security, data analysis, operations optimization, team collaboration, technology solutions, and project management.
Grant Hernandez
Research Interests
Hardware-assisted software security, systems security, USB devices, program analysis, binary exploitation, and reverse engineering.
Grant Hernandez is a Senior Security Engineer at Qualcomm, specializing in over-the-air security issues. His research interests include firmware analysis, cellular baseband security, and mobile device security. He received his Ph.D in 2020 under the supervision of Dr. Butler.
Yuanwen Huang
Research Interests
Hardware Trojan Detection, Hardware Verification, Reliability and Energy Optimization of Embedded Systems.
Yuanwen Huang is a Software Engineer at Google, where he works on the YouTube infrastructure team. He received his PhD in Computer Engineering from the University of Florida in 2016, and was advised by Dr. Prabhat Mishra.
Robert Karam
Research Interests
Hardware security, reconfigurable computing, and implatable systems.
Robert Karam is currently a Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of South Florida.
Stephen Kirkman
Research Interests
Cloud Security and Big Data.
Stephen (Steve) Kirkman is a faculty member at Regis University. He was advised by Dr. Richard Newman.
David S Koblah
Advised by: Domenic Forte
Research Interests
Hardware Security, Machine Learning, Reverse Engineering, Internet of Things and Computer Vision
David Selasi Koblah earned his Ph.D. under the mentorship of Dr. Forte and currently works as an analyst for the Department of Defense. He received his Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering from Texas Tech University in 2019. His academic projects included PCB reverse engineering and other security-focused initiatives. Outside of research, David is a passionate supporter of Liverpool FC (English Premier League), the Boston Celtics (NBA), and the Seattle Seahawks (NFL). He is also an Otaku and enjoys playing sports in his free time.
Seth Layton
Advised by: Patrick Traynor and Vincent Bindschaedler
Research Interests
Audio deep fakes (landscape meta-analysis, detection, generation), signal processing, machine learning
Seth Layton earned his Ph.D. in 2025 under the mentorship of Dr. Patrick Traynor and Dr. Vincent Bindschaedler. He is currently a Research Scientist II at Pindrop. Prior to beginning his doctoral studies, Seth worked for two years as a software developer in the aviation engineering industry. His research focused on the limitations of current audio deepfake detection datasets and competitions, demonstrating that many existing approaches may hinder rather than advance progress in security.
In his free time, Seth enjoys disc golf, cars, video games, cats, and exploring great food—especially corn nuggets and Wawa bagels (chef’s kiss).
Sam A Markelon
Advised by: Tom Shrimpton
Research Interests
Cryptography, Privacy, and Systems.
Sam Markelon earned his Ph.D. in 2025 under the mentorship of Dr. Kevin Butler and Dr. Tom Shrimpton. He is currently a quantitative researcher at Proof Trading. His research bridged theory and practice, focusing on both foundational aspects of cryptography and its application to real-world systems. Outside of research, Sam enjoys mixed martial arts, trivia, and reflecting on philosophical questions about his place in the universe.
Benjamin Mood
Research Interests
Benjamin Mood is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, where his focus is on computer security and gaming. He received his PhD in Computer Science at the University of Florida in 2016, and was advised by Dr. Kevin Butler.
Md Rafid Muttaki
Advised by: Farimah Farahmandi
Research Interests
Hardware Security and Verification
Mr. Muttaki graduated in 2024 with his Ph.D. under the guidance of Dr. Farimah Farahmandi. Upon graduation, he accepted a position at Caspia Technologies. Md Rafid Muttaki has been working as a Design Engineer in the semiconductor industry for the last 2.5 years. He has completed his Bachelor’s degree from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) in 2017. Right after graduation, he joined the industry with a view to learning design techniques and having hands-on experience with industry compatible tools. He has worked in device modeling and analog IP designs such as Bandgap Reference, SAR ADC, LED driver but also has a great interest in formal verification and hardware security. With this view to working with digital circuits and expanding his field of expertise, he has joined the research group of Dr. Farimah Farahmandi in Fall 2019.
Adib Nahiyan
Research Interests
Hardware Security and Trust.
Adib Nahiyan is a Yield Analysis Engineer at Intel Corporation. He received his PhD in 2019 under the supervision of Dr. Tehranipoor.
Tempestt Neal
Research Interests
Machine learning, biometrics, pattern recognition, cyber security.
Tempestt Neal is currently a Assistant Professor and Director of the Cyber Identity and Behavior Research Lab in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of South Florida.
Angela Newsome
Research Interests
Cybersecurity, Hardware Security & Trust, and Hardware Supply Chain Trust.
Angela Newsome is currently a Nuclear Controls Engineer at PSNS & IMF Bremerton Naval Shipyard.
Tauhidur Rahman
Research Interests
Hardware Security, IoT Security, SoC Security, Supply Chain Integrity.
Tauhidur Rahman is currently a Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical & amp; Computer Engineering Department at University of Alabama in Huntsville.
Brad Reaves
Research Interests
Mobile security, especially Internet and telephone network security and mobile app security.
Brad Reaves is currently a Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science and a member of the Wolfpack Security and Privacy Research (WSPR) Lab at North Carolina State.
Nikolaos Sapountzis
Research Interests
Modeling, performance analysis and optimization of next-generation networks, mobile wireless and wireless communications, 5G systems, optimization and queueing theory, cybersecurity, Dynamic Information Flow Tracking (DIFT) systems.
Dr. Nikolaos Sapountzis is now a Cloud Software Engineer at Cisco in the San Francisco Bay Area. He received his diploma in Electronic and Computer Engineering from the Technical University of Crete (TUC) in Greece. Then, he started his Ph.D. program at the Institute of Eurecom (affiliated with Telecom ParisTech), in southern France. In December 2016, he received his Ph.D. where he specialized in network modeling and optimization. After working for a couple of months at FORTINET as a network security engineer, he joined the Florida Institute for Cybersecurity (FICS) center, where he is currently a Post-doctoral Fellow.
Bicky Shakya
Research Interests
Hardware security and trust, emerging devices, techniques for semiconductor IP protection.
Bicky Shakya is a Senior Engineer at Qualcomm. He received a PhD in Computer Engineering from the University of Florida in 2019.
Adam Soliman
Research Interests
Reverse Engineering, Exploit Development.
Adam Soliman received his MS from the University of Florida in 2019 under the supervision of Dr. Oliveira.
Ruimin Sun
Research Interests
System security, Software reliability, Cyber Security.
Ruimin Sun is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Khoury College of Computer Sciences at Northeastern University. She received her PhD in 2019 under Dr. Oliveira.
Kalaivani Sundararajan
Research Interests
Computer Vision, Machine Learning, Identity Science.
Kalaivani Sundararajan is a Research Engineer at the Netherlands eScience Institute. She received a Ph.D. in Computer Engineering at the University of Florida in 2018, under the supervision of Dr. Woodard.
Jing (Dave) Tian
Research Interests
Systems security, trustworthy computing
Dave Tian is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Purdue University. His research involves embedded systems, operating systems, and trusted computing. He received an NSF CAREER award in 2022. Dave received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Florida in 2019 and was advised by Dr. Kevin Butler.
Tyler Tucker
Advised by: Patrick Traynor
Research Interests
Wireless Network Security, Bluetooth Security, Cellular Network Security, Embedded Device Security, Deepfake Detection.
Tyler Tucker earned his Ph.D. in 2025 under the mentorship of Dr. Patrick Traynor. He is currently a consultant at Analysis Group.
His research has led to the discovery of a major vulnerability in Bluetooth networks and contributed solutions to long-standing security issues in cellular networks, advancing the field of wireless network security.
Outside of work, Tyler enjoys playing guitar, volleyball, and disc golf with friends.
Kevin Warren
Advised by: Patrick Traynor
Research Interests: Voice Security, Deepfake Detection, Dataset Evaluation, and Meta-Analysis
Kevin Warren earned his Ph.D. in 2025 under the mentorship of Dr. Patrick Traynor. His research focused on the detection of audio deepfakes, with an emphasis on evaluating the methodologies used by researchers—specifically in areas such as dataset construction, metric evaluation, and reproducibility. Kevin currently works as a consultant with the Analysis Group. Outside of work, he enjoys playing volleyball, disc golf, and board games with friends.
Yingfei Xiang
Research Interests
Natural language processing, biocomputing and deep learning.
Yingfei Xiang is currently a Senior Research and Development Engineer at Baidu, where he works on the NLP Biocomputing team and is in charge of projects including protein structure prediction, protein design, and DTI. He received his M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Florida in 2017, and was advised by Dr. Woodard.
Yiming Yan
Research Interests
Natural language processing, machine learning and pattern recognition.
Yiming Yan received her M.S. under Dr. Woodard in the department of Electrical and Computer Science, University of Florida. She got her BS degree from Beijing Institute of Technology.
Kai Yang
Research Interests
Hardware Security, Reconfigurable Computing.
Kai Yang is currently a Product Support Engineer at OSIsoft.
Adam Bates Yuile
Research Interests
Adam Bates is an Asssociate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he leads the Secure and Transparent Systems Laboratory. His research confronts a broad array of issues in computer security including operating systems, cloud computing, and network communications, as well as both mobile and embedded devices. He received an NSF CAREER award in 2018. Adam received his PhD in Computer Science in 2016, and was advised by Dr. Kevin Butler.
Weidong Zhu
Advised by: Kevin Butler
Research Interests
System Security, Storage System
Weidong Zhu is currently an Assistant Professor at Florida International University. He earned his Ph.D. in 2025 under the supervision of Dr. Kevin Butler. He holds a B.S. degree from Huazhong University of Science and Technology and an M.S. degree from Xiamen University.
His research focuses on systems and storage security, with current projects exploring the integration of Intel Software Guard Extensions (SGX) and solid-state drives (SSDs) to defend against encryption ransomware, as well as secure deletion mechanisms using emerging non-volatile memory technologies. In his free time, he enjoys playing basketball, swimming, watching movies, and traveling.