We develop programmable networking, simulation, and AI techniques to secure modern networked systems and protect
critical infrastructure.
Cybersecurity and AI-assisted cyber defense
Smart-grid security and resilience
Programmable networks and AI-enabled network intelligence
Modeling and simulation of large-scale systems
We continually seek strong students to join us for Honors Thesis, Master's Thesis, and Ph.D.
Dissertation research
(click here for details).
Teaching
CSCE 47503 — Computer Networks
CSCE 53203 — Computer Security
CSCE 56503 — Network Security
CSCE 57903 — Advanced Network Security
Ph.D. Alumni
Jiaqi Yan — Microsoft
Christopher Hannon — Ford
Xin Liu — Meta (Facebook)
Xiaoliang Wu — Meta (Facebook)
Yanfeng Qu — Postdoc at University of Arkansas
Neil Getty (co-advised with Dr. Fangfang Xia) — Argonne National Lab
Gong Chen — Motorola Mobility
Zheng Hu — Assistant Professor, Guangdong Polytechnic Normal University
Awards and Honors
Public Service Award, College of Engineering, University of Arkansas (2026)
CSCE Outstanding Service to Students Award, University of Arkansas (2023)
Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), Young Investigator Program (YIP) Award (2017)
CoS Junior Faculty Research Award, Illinois Institute of Technology (2016)
Teacher of the Year Award, Computer Science, Illinois Institute of Technology (2015)
Best Paper Award
IEEE SmartGridComm (2020)
IET Cyber-Physical Systems: Theory & Applications (2018)
ACM SIGSIM-PADS (2012, 2015, 2019)
2nd Best Paper Award, International Conference on InfoSymbiotics/DDDAS (2024)
Best Poster Award
Workshop on Science of Security through Software-Defined Networking (SoSSDN) (2016)
IIT Research Day (2016)
ACM SIGSIM PADS (2015)
Student Awards
Luke Waind (Ph.D.) — NSF Graduate Internship Fellowship at Sandia National Lab (2024–2025)
Xiaoliang Wu (Ph.D.) — NSF Quantum Information Science and Engineering Network (QISE-NET) Fellowship (2020–2022)
Yanfeng Qu (Ph.D.) — Excellence in Dissertation Award, College of Computing, Illinois Institute of Technology (2020)
Christopher Hannon (Ph.D.) — Excellence in Dissertation Award, College of Science, Illinois Institute of Technology (2019); CS Best Student Paper Award (2020)
Jack Norris — Razorback Classics Class of 2024, University of Arkansas; Arkansas State Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) (2022)
Adnan Haider (co-advised with Dr. Xian-He Sun) — Finalist, CRA Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Award (2016)
NSF REU Fellowship — Jack Norris, Eva Casto, Evan Bonar, Grace Harding, Haden Fowler
