Faculty

 

 

Research Faculty and Postdocs

Bahman Abolhassani is a recipient of the esteemed 2023 Virginia Tech Presidential Postdoctoral Fellowships. He is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA. His supervisor is Prof. Tom Hou. He received his Ph.D. degree from The Ohio State University (OSU) in 2023 under the supervision of Prof. Atilla Eryilmaz. He received the B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in electrical engineering from the Sharif University of Technology (SUT) in 2015 and 2017, respectively. His research interests include communication networks, optimization, machine learning, and cybersecurity.

 

Graduate Students

 

Shanghao Shi received his B.E. degree in communication engineering from Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing, China in 2019. Currently, he is a Ph.D. student at Virginia Tech supervised by Prof. Wenjing Lou. His research interests include wireless network security and cyber physical security.

 

Yubo Wu received both B.S. and M.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications (BUPT), China, in 2016 and 2019, respectively. He is currently a Ph.D. student at the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA. His supervisor is Prof. Tom Hou. His current research interests are optimization algorithms design for wireless networks and GPU-based real-time radar signal processing for autonomous vehicles.

 

Shiva Acharya is a PhD student in the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Virginia Tech, supervised by Professor Tom Hou. He earned his M.S. degree in computer engineering from Virginia Tech and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from McNeese State University, Lake Charles, Louisiana. His current research interests include wireless network optimization, real-time algorithm design, spectrum sharing, and machine learning.

 

Md Hasan Shahriar received a B.Sc. degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology in 2016 and an M.S. degree in Computer Engineering from Florida International University in 2020. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. degree in Computer Science at Virginia Tech under the supervision of Prof. Wenjing Lou. His research interests include wireless network security, cyber-physical security, and machine learning.

 

Naru Jai is currently a Ph.D. student supervised by Professor Tom Hou in the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Virginia Tech. She received her Bachelor of Engineering Degree in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering from University of Mumbai, India in 2018. Her current research interests include design and formulation of algorithms for optimization of wireless networks.

 

Chaoyu Zhang received a B.S. degree in electrical engineering from the BUPT (Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications), Beijing, China, in 2018. He also received an M.S. degree in Computer Science from Arkansas State University, AR, USA, in 2021. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. degree in Computer Science at Virginia Tech under the supervision of Prof. Wenjing Lou. His research interests include Machine Learning Security, Blockchain, Hardware Security, and High-Performance Computing.

 

Hexuan Yu is currently a Ph.D. student supervised by Prof. Wenjing Lou in the Department of Computer Science of Virginia Tech. She received her B.S. degree in Communication Engineering from the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications and M.S. degree in Computer Science from the Arkansas State University. Her current research interests include privacy-preserving computing and applied cryptography.

 

Shaoyu Li received his B.S. degree in Information Security and Laws from Nankai University, Tianjin, China in 2020 and M.S. degree in IT Cybersecurity from University of Glasgow, Glasgow, the United Kingdom in 2022. Currently, he is a Ph.D. student at Virginia Tech supervised by Professor Wenjing Lou. His research interests are blockchain and network security.

 

Md Shahedul Haque received a B.Sc. degree in Computer Science and Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology in 2021. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. degree in Computer Science at Virginia Tech under the supervision of Prof. Wenjing Lou. His research interests include cybersecurity, wireless networking and security, security and machine learning.

 

Mohaimin Al Barat is currently a Ph.D. student in Computer Science under the supervision of Prof. Wenjing Lou. He received his B.Sc. degree in Computer Science and Engineering from Khulna University of Engineering & Technology (KUET), Bangladesh. His research interests include cyber security, network security, and machine learning.

 

Ehsan Ghoreishi is currently a Ph.D. student supervised by Professor Tom Hou in the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Virginia Tech. He received his B.Sc. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Isfahan University of Technology (IUT), Isfahan, Iran, in 2021. His research interests include optimization algorithms design for wireless networks, GPU-based real-time systems, and machine learning.

 

Boyang Zhou is currently a Ph.D. student supervised by Professor Tom Hou in the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Virginia Tech. He received his B.S. degree in Computer Science and Mathematics from the Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA in 2022. His research interests include optimization algorithms design for wireless networks, GPU-based real-time systems, and machine learning.

 

Heng Jin received a B.S. degree in Computer Science from Virginia Tech in 2021. He also received an M.S. degree in Computer Science from Virginia Tech in 2022 under the supervision of Prof. Tom Hou. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. degree in Computer Science at Virginia Tech under the supervision of Prof. Wenjing Lou. His research interests include machine learning and cyber security.

 

Sydney Johns received a B.S degree in Electrical Engineering from Morgan State University in 2018. She also received a Master's in Engineering degree in Cybersecurity from University of Maryland Baltimore County in 2020. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. degree in Computer Science at Virginia Tech under the supervision of Prof. Wenjing Lou. Her research interests include cybersecurity, wireless networking, vehicle security, and machine learning.

 

 

Alumni

Research Faculty

• Changlai Du
  Post-doctoral Research Associate (Sept. 2021 - June 2023)
• Qingyu Liu
  Postdoc (Sept. 2019 - June 2021);
  Research Assistant Professor (July 2021 - May 2023)
• Yimin (Ian) Chen
  Post-doctoral Research Associate (Dec. 2019 - Aug. 2021);
  Joined UMass Lowell CS Dept. as Assistant Professor
• Yi Shi
  Senior Research Associate (Nov. 2007 - June 2009);
  Research Scientist (June 2009 - May 2011);
  Joined Intelligent Automation Inc. (IAI), Rockville, MD as a Research Scientist.
• Shiwen Mao
  Post-doctoral Research Associate (Dec. 2003 - April 2005);
  Research Scientist (April 2005 - April 2006)
  Joined Auburn University ECE Dept. as Assistant Professor
  Currently Professor and Earle C. Williams Eminent Scholar Chair at Auburn University
  NSF CAREER award recipient 2010
  IEEE Fellow, Class of 2019

Ph.D.

• Ning Wang, Ph.D. in ECE@VT, August 2023
  Dissertation: Building trustworthy machine learning systems in adversarial environments
  Joined University of South Florida, CS department, as Assistant Professor
• Chengzhang Li, Ph.D. in ECE@VT, December 2022
  Dissertation: Optimizing Information Freshness in Wireless Networks
  Joined Ohio State University as Postdoc fellow
• Shaoran Li: Ph.D. in ECE@VT, September 2022
  Dissertation: Modeling, Analysis, and Real-Time Design of Many-Antenna MIMO Networks
  Joined NVIDIA Corp., Santa Clara, CA
• Yang Xiao, Ph.D. in ECE@VT, August 2022
  Dissertation: Blockchain and Distributed Consensus: From Security Analysis to Novel Applications
  Joined University of Kentucky, CS department, as Assistant Professor
• Yongce Chen, Ph.D. in ECE@VT, August 2021
  Dissertation: Modeling, Analysis, and Real-Time Design of Many-Antenna MIMO Networks
  Joined NVIDIA Corp., Santa Clara, CA
• Yan Huang, Ph.D. in ECE@VT, December 2020
  Dissertation: Real-Time Resource Optimization for Wireless Networks
  Joined NVIDIA Corp., Santa Clara, CA
• Ruide Zhang, Ph.D. in CS@VT, May 2020
  Dissertation: Hardware-Aided Privacy Protection and Cyber Defense for IoT
  Joined ByteDance Inc, Mountain View, CA
• Wenhai Sun, Ph.D. in CS@VT, Aug 2018
  Dissertation: Towards Secure Outsourced Data Services in the Public Cloud
  Joined Purdue University, CIT department, as Assistant Professor
  NSF CAREER award recipient 2023
• Changlai Du, Ph.D. in CS@VT, May 2018
  Dissertation: Exploring the Sensing Capability of Wireless Signals
  Joined University of Louisiana at Lafayette as Postdoc fellow
• Yao Zheng, Ph.D. in CS@VT, Nov 2016
  Dissertation: Privacy Preservation for Cloud-Based Data Sharing and Data Analytics
  Joined University of Hawaii at Manoa, EE department, as Assistant Professor
  NSF CRII award recipient 2020
• Brian Jalaian, Ph.D. in ECE@VT, Oct 2016
  Dissertation: On Programmable Control and Optimization for Multi-Hop Wireless Networks
  Joined the U.S. Army Research Lab
• Xiaoqi Qin, Ph.D. in ECE@VT, Sept 2016
  Dissertation: Exploring Performance Limits of Wireless Networks with Advanced Communication Technologies
  Joined Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications as Instructor
• Ning Zhang, Ph.D. in CS@VT, July 2016
  Dissertation: Attack and Defense with Hardware-Aided Security
  Returned to Raytheon as Cyber Engineer
  Joined Washington University in St. Louis, CSE department, as Assistant Professor, August 2018
  NSF CAREER award recipient 2023
• Xu Yuan, Ph.D. in ECE@VT, May 2016
  Dissertation: Efficient Sharing of Radio Spectrum for Wireless Networks
  Joined University of Toronto as Post-Doctoral Fellow
  Joined University of Louisiana at Lafayette, School of Computing and Informatics, as Assistant Professor, August 2017
  NSF CRII award recipient 2020
  NSF CAREER award recipient 2022
• Bing Wang, Ph.D. in CS@VT, May 2016
  Dissertation: Search over Encrypted Data in Cloud Computing
  Joined Doordash Inc as Software Engineer
• Huacheng Zeng, Ph.D in ECE@VT, January 2015
  Joined Marvell Semiconductor, Inc. as a Senior System Engineer
  Joined University of Louisville, ECE department, as Assistant Professor, in 2016
  Joined Michigan State University, CSE department, as Assistant Professor, in 2020
  NSF CAREER award recipient 2019
• Qiben Yan, Ph.D in CS@VT, June 2014
  Joined University of Nebraska Lincoln, CSE Department, as Assistant Professor
  Joined Michigan State University, CSE department, as Assistant Professor, in 2019
  NSF CRII award recipient 2016
• Liguang Xie, Ph.D in ECE@VT, December 2013
  Joined MicroStrategy (McLean, VA) as a Senior Software Engineer
• Canming Jiang, Ph.D. in ECE@VT, June 2012
  Joined Cisco Inc. as a Software Engineer
• Ning Cao, Ph.D. in ECE@WPI, August 2012
  Dissertation: Secure and Reliable Data Outsourcing in Cloud Computing
  Joined Google, Mountain View, CA
• Ming Li, Ph.D. in ECE@WPI, July 2011
  Dissertation: User-centric Security and Privacy Mechanisms in Untrusted Computing Environment
  Joined Utah State University, CS Department, as Assistant Professor, 2011
  Joined University of Arizona, ECE Department, as Associate Professor, 2015
  NSF CAREER award recipient 2014
  ONR Young Investigator Award 2016
  IEEE Fellow, Class of 2024
• Zhenyu Yang, Ph.D. in ECE@WPI, May 2011
  Dissertation: Network Coding in Multihop Wireless Networks: Throughput Analysis and Protocol Design
  Joined Amazon, Seattle, WA
• Sushant Sharma, Ph.D. in CS@VT, December 2010
  Joined Brookhaven National Laboratory as a Post-doctoral Research Fellow
• Shucheng Yu, Ph.D. in ECE@WPI, August 2010
  Dissertation: Data Sharing on Untrusted Storage with Attribute-based Encryption
  Joined University of Arkansas at Little Rock, CS Department, as Assistant Professor
  Joined Stevens Institute of Technology, ECE Department, as Associate Professor, August 2017
  IEEE Fellow, Class of 2023
• Jia (Kevin) Liu, Ph.D. in ECE@VT, February 2010
  Joined Ohio State Univ. as a Post-doctoral Research Associate
  Joined Iowa State University, CS department, as Assistant Professor, Aug 2017
  NSF CAREER award recipient 2020
• Kai Zeng, Ph.D. in ECE@WPI, August 2008
  Dissertation: Opportunistic Routing in Multihop Wireless Networks: Capacity, Energy Efficiency, and Security
  Joined UC Davis as Post-doctoral Research Fellow, 2008
  Joined University of Michigan at Dearborn, CIS Department, as Assistant Professor, 2011
  Joined George Mason University, ECE Department, as Assistant Professor, 2014
  NSF CAREER award recipient 2012
• Yi Shi, Ph.D. in ECE@VT, December 2007
  Joined VT ECE department as a Senior Research Associate;
  Currently Research Scientist at Intelligent Automation Inc., Rockville, MD
• Sastry Kompella, Ph.D. in ECE@VT, July 2006
  Joined U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DCas a Researcher;
  Currently Chief Scientist and Co-Founder at Nexcepta, Inc.
  IEEE Fellow, Class of 2024

M.S.

• Ethan Gaebel, MS in CS@VT, May 2016
  Thesis: Looks Good to Me (LGTM): Authentication for Augmented Reality
  Joined Google Inc. as a Software Engineer
  
• Alex Buchholz, MS in CS@VT, May 2013
  Thesis: DPP: Dual Path PKI for Secure Aircraft Data Communication
  Employment: Simulation Modeling Engineer, MITRE Corporation, McLean, VA
• Yao Zheng, MS in ECE@WPI, July 2011
  Thesis: Privacy-Preserving Personal Health Record System Using Attribute-based Encryption
  Joined Ph.D. program at Virginia Tech
• Hanfei Zhao, MS in ECE@WPI, February 2011
  First job: Software Engineer, EMC Corporation, Hopkinton, Massachusetts
• Cunhao Gao, MS in ECE@VT, September 2009
  Joined Ph.D. program at Stony Brook University
• Amey Malekar, MS in ECE@WPI, October 2008
  First job: Software Engineer at Netezza Corporation (now IBM), Marlborough, Massachusetts
  Current job: Senior Business Systems Analyst at EMC Corporation, Hopkinton, Massachusetts
• Tong Liu, MS in CS@VT, July 2007
  First job: Software Developer, Blue Ridge Numerics, Inc., Charlottesville, VA
• Xiaojun Wang, MS in CS@VT, January 2006
  First job: Software Developer, Bloomberg L.P., New York City, NY
• Abu Hasnat Sayem, MS in CS@VT, July 2005
  First job: Senior Software Engineer, Motorola Urbana-Champaign Design Center, Champaign, IL
• Xiaolin Cheng, MS in CS@VT, June 2005
  Joined Ph.D. program at Univ. of California at Davis