I am an Assistant Professor at Florida Gulf Coast University. Before joining FGCU, I was a Research Assistant at the University of Missouri-Columbia and also worked with the Department of Energy at Argonne National Lab. I graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 2023 with a Ph.D. in Computer Science under the supervision of Dr. Prasad Calyam. I earned my Bachelor’s degree in Software Engineering from Northeastern University (China) in 2016.

I currently serve as the Director of the FGCU EagleCyberNest Cybersecurity Research Lab and as the Faculty Advisor for the FGCU Cybersecurity Club. I also serve as an Executive Committee Chair at DENDRITIC (Human-Centered AI and Data Science) Institute. My work primarily focuses on Cybersecurity, Edge/Cloud Computing, Reinforcement Learning, Unmanned Aerial Systems, and Human-Centered Interaction, among other fields. As an Assistant Professor, I have successfully led teams of graduate, undergraduate, and visiting scholars on various Federal, State, and University-funded projects. My research has also involved collaborations with institutions such as the University of Florida, University of Missouri, U‑Mass Amherst, U-Mass Lowell, RENCI, USC ISI, Purdue, the University of Chicago, University at Buffalo SUNY, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Université de Paris, Ritsumeikan University, Missouri S & T, and Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts.

In addition to my research, I am actively involved in the academic community. I serve as a peer reviewer for several prominent international IEEE/ACM conferences and journals, contributing to the peer-review process for publications like TNSM, MobiSys, GlobeCOM, ICCCN, TMC, TSC, CIoT, ICC, JNCA, FGCS, and IM. I teach Computer Security, Computer Networks, Introduction to Cybersecurity, IoT security, Information Security Compliance, and Introduction to Cloud Computing courses at FGCU. I am a dedicated member of the academic community and am proud to be an IEEE Member and a member of the IEEE Communication Society.

I have open positions for graduate and undergraduate research assistants; Please send me an email (only if you have already been admitted to FGCU) with your resume and a convincing statement of interest.

What’s New?

• [01/2026] Received Funding from UML-FGCU Collaborative Seed Funding Program, together with Dr. Julie Zhang @ UML. See MyUML news for details.
• [12/2025] Our funding on Cybersecurity for Leadership sponsored by CyberFlorida has been extended for one more semester! Congratulations on all your hard work!
• [12/2025] Our paper: ‘DeepSet-Enhanced Edge Reinforcement Learning for UAV Autonomous Landing and Takeoff at Portable Vertiports’, was accepted by IEEE ICNC 2026 (AR: 23%). Congrats, Zhirun! See you all virtually in Hawaii!
• [11/2025] Our paper: ‘HiFINS: A Hierarchical Federated Learning Based Interactive System for Smart Home Security’, was accepted by IEEE Access. This is a huge milestone for your hard work, Kevin! And congratulations to all team members!
• [10/2025] Congratulations to my student Sean Peppers for earning top honors at CyberBay Conference 2025! Linkedin Post
• [08/2025] Our paper: ‘Cross-Domain Adversarial Structural Deformation Model for Post-Disaster Image Generation’, was accepted by IEEE IPTA 2025. Congrats! Xiaodong, Dr. Wang, and the team!
• [07/2025] Give an invited talk at Ritsumeikan University. Looking forward to further collaboration, Dr. Liu!
• [06/2025] Our GenCyber Event is a HUGE success! See Linkedin Post
• [05/2025] Our paper: ‘NetPrompt: LLM-driven Programmable Network Policy Management and Optimization’, was accepted by IEEE ICCCN 2025. Congrats, Kiran, Kevin, and Sean! Thank you, Dr. Pandey and Dr. Calyam, for your support! See you in Tokyo this summer!
• [04/2025] Our paper: ‘Learning-Based UAV Swarm Video Analytics Orchestration in Disaster Response Management’, was accepted by SN Computer Science Journal. Congratulations, Tiying, Dwight, and Chaise. Thank you, Dr. Liu, for your support!
• [02/2025] Attend KEEN National Conference @ Austin, TX.
• [01/2025] Received Funding for GenCyber 2025 Teacher Summer Camp co-organized with FIU, sponsored by NSA and NSF.
• [01/2025] Organized Cybersecurity Executive Seminar for government officials at the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) Fort Myers Regional Operations Center (FMROC). See Linkedin Post for details.
• [12/2024] Attend FGCU Annual Symposium of Undergraduate Research and Internship. Good to see both of the teams’ posters. See Linkedin Post for details.
• [12/2024] Our paper: ‘Design of a Hierarchical Federated Generative Learning Based Smart Home System’, was accepted by HCII 2025. Congratulations, Paulo, Kevin, and Sean! Great work!
• [11/2024] Our paper: ‘Enhancing Human Detection in Post-Disaster Scenarios through Generative Adversarial Networks’, was accepted by HCII 2025.
• [11/2024] Our paper: ‘Q-Learning-Based Dynamic Drone Trajectory Planning in Uncertain Environments’ has been accepted by IEEE ICNC 2025 ‘main’ technical program (AR: 28%). Congratulations, Mizzou team! See you in Hawaii!
• [11/2024] Proposal accepted on ‘Community Workshop on Practical Reproducibility in HPC’, co-operated by SC 2024. Congratulations, Kevin and Dr. Guo! See you at SC 2024!
• [10/2024] Attend Florida Defense Science and Technology Symposium (FDSTS) @ UCF and present on ‘Cybersecurity for Smart IoT Home System for Elderly’.
• [10/2024] DENDRITIC Website going online! Stay tuned for our next steps on the Education Committee!
• [10/2024] Attend FCIE annual conference @ FGCU and present COIL courses and AI in COIL.
• [10/2024] Our paper: ‘Federated Learning-enabled Network Incident Anomaly Detection Optimization for Drone Swarms’, was accepted by ACM/ ICDCN 2025. This work is based on Kevin’s summer work at the Mizzou REU program. Congrats, Kevin, Dr. Reshimi, and Mizzou Team!
• [09/2024] Media Interview on Cryptocurrency @ Fox 4.
• [09/2024] Received WCE Head-start Research Funding on ‘Establishing a Secure Smart Home Environment for Elderly and Senior Communities’.
• [08/2024] Our paper: Learning-based Multi-Drone Network Edge Orchestration for Video Analytics, was accepted by IEEE TNSM.
• [08/2024] Media Interview on SSN Hacking @ WINK News.
• [07/2024] Media Interview on Microsoft Cybersecurity App Outages @ WINK News.
• [07/2024] Media Interview on Scammers and Frauds @ The National Desk.
• [07/2024] Our funding on Cybersecurity for Leadership sponsored by CyberFlorida has been extended for one more year! Congratulations on all your hard work!
• [07/2024] Received Funding as a member of the 2023-24 FGCU Service Learning Cohert
• [07/2024] Our paper: Enhancing Autonomous Intrusion Detection System with Generative Adversarial Networks, was accepted by IEEE eScience 2024. Congratulations, Kevin!
• [07/2024] Our paper: Emotion Recognition in Dance: A Novel Approach Using Laban Movement Analysis and Artificial Intelligence, was accepted by HCII 2024.
• [07/2024] Our paper: Autonomous Video Transmission and Air-to-Ground Coordination in UAV-Swarm-Aided Disaster Response Platform, was accepted by HCII 2024. Congratulations, Paulo!
• [05/2024] Our paper: Enhancing drone video analytics security management using an AERPAW testbed. Congratulations, Kevin and the MIZZOU team!
• [04/2024] Attend a series of workshops on Disaster and resilience given by Nova Southeastern U., present on ‘Learning-based Network-Edge Resource Orchestration of Heterogeneous Drones for Environmental Situational Awareness’.
• [03/2024] Attend CyberFlorida Sunshine Cyber Conference @ Tampa and present on ‘Cybersecurity for the Elderly Healthcare and Senior Communities’. Represent FGCU WCE at the Exhibition. See you all next year!
• [02/2024] Attend KEEN National Conference @ Austin, TX.
• [12/2023] Received Funding as a member of the 2023-24 Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) Cohort
• [12/2023] Our paper: Intelligent UAS-Edge-Server Collaboration and Orchestration in Disaster Response Management, was accepted by IEEE WETICE 2023. Congratulations, Chaise!
• [10/2023] Received Funding on Cybersecurity for Leadership sponsored by CyberFlorida for one year.
• [10/2023] Received WCE Head-start Research Funding on ‘EagleCyberNest: A Cybersecurity Research Workspace for WCE SE and CS Students’.

CV

Please find my detailed CV here.

Last modified: Jan. 2025.