ADAM TAGERT is the technical director the National Security Agency Science of Security Initiative. He sets the technical direction for research projects at 18 Science of Security (SoS) funded universities, leads the NSA Best Cybersecurity Paper Competition, guides the SoS awards at the International Science and Engineering Fair, and builds community with the SoS Virtual Organization. He received his Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University in Engineering and Public Policy where he researched national cybersecurity strategies of small developing nations, particularly Rwanda. He obtained a Computer Science degree from Princeton University.
P R O G R A M C O - C H A I R S
RYAN GABRYS is a senior research scientist at the Naval Information Warfare Center. His research interests include information theory and applied mathematics with applications to computer security, artificial intelligence, and storage systems. He is a former SMART scholar and a recipient of the IEEE/ACM George Michael High Performance Computing Award, IEEE Data Storage Technical Committee Student Best Paper Award, and as well as the NWMW Persistent Impact Award. Dr. Gabrys is currently an Associate Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, and regularly serves as a Technical Program Committee member for numerous conferences related to security and storage.
NIRAV AJMERIis a Lecturer in Artificial Intelligence at the University of Bristol (UoB). His research interests are in AI, intelligent agents, and multiagent systems with an emphasis on ethics, cybersecurity, and privacy.
He received a Ph.D. and an M.S. in Computer Science from North Carolina State University, and a B.E. in Computer Engineering from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Institute of Technology, Gujarat University. His doctoral dissertation was advised by Professor Munindar P. Singh. Nirav's dissertation research is on developing artificial intelligence and software engineering techniques to engineer socially intelligent agents that select ethically-appropriate and privacy-respecting actions for their human users.
S P E C I A L C H A I R S
Publicity Chair / Mentorship Chair
JULIA SHAPIRO is a first year graduate student at Virginia Tech studying Mathematics. She has been a mentor for STEM students, a teaching assistant for five semesters and an ambassador of the mathematics department at her former college, University at Buffalo, where she graduated with a B.S. in Mathematics. Julia's background is in applied mathematics, specifically cryptography, coding theory and numerical analysis. She is passionate about learning more about cybersecurity topics and is excited to mentor students during this conference!
Poster Chair / Undergraduate Chair
MANSI SAKARVADIA is a Ph.D. student at the University of Chicago and a Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Research Fellow. Her research focuses on the intersection of high-performance computing and machine learning with a focus on trustworthy ML. She received her bachelor's degree in Computer Science and Mathematics with a minor in Environmental Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2022.
P R O G R A M C O M M I T T E E
MICHAEL COBLENZ (University of Maryland)
SAUVIK DAS (Carnegie Mellon University)
FRANK DAVIS (National Security Agency/CSD)
WILLIAM ENCK (North Carolina State University)
RYAN GABRYS (NIWC, UCSD)
WERNER HAAS (Cyberus Technology)
KEVIN JIN (University of Arkansas)
GLENN LILLY (National Security Agency)
LEYSAN NURGALIEVA (What's App)
HAMED OKHRAVI (MIT Lincoln Laboratory)
ADAM PETZ (University of Kansas)
STEPHANIE POLCZYNSKI (National Security Agency)
SEETAL POTLURI (North Carolina State University)
BRAD POTTEIGER (JHU APL)
MARVIN RAMOKAPANE (University of Bristol)
AHMAD RIDLEY (National Security Agency)
NATALIE SCALA (Towson University)
ARMANDO SEAY (Dreamport)
TEMMIE SHADE (National Security Agency)
SHANE STRUTZ (National Security Agency)
BENJAMIN UJCICH (Georgetown University)
O R G A N I Z A T I O N
NSA Liason: HEATHER LUCAS (National Security Agency)
Communications and Organization: KATIE DEY (Vanderbilt University)
Virtual Technologies: REGAN WILLIAMS (Vanderbilt University)
Graphic and Web Design: AMY KARNS (Vanderbilt University)
ADAM TAGERT is the technical director the National Security Agency Science of Security Initiative. He sets the technical direction for research projects at 18 Science of Security (SoS) funded universities, leads the NSA Best Cybersecurity Paper Competition, guides the SoS awards at the International Science and Engineering Fair, and builds community with the SoS Virtual Organization. He received his Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University in Engineering and Public Policy where he researched national cybersecurity strategies of small developing nations, particularly Rwanda. He obtained a Computer Science degree from Princeton University.
RYAN GABRYS is a senior research scientist at the Naval Information Warfare Center. His research interests include information theory and applied mathematics with applications to computer security, artificial intelligence, and storage systems. He is a former SMART scholar and a recipient of the IEEE/ACM George Michael High Performance Computing Award, IEEE Data Storage Technical Committee Student Best Paper Award, and as well as the NWMW Persistent Impact Award. Dr. Gabrys is currently an Associate Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, and regularly serves as a Technical Program Committee member for numerous conferences related to security and storage.
NIRAV AJMERI
JULIA SHAPIRO is a first year graduate student at Virginia Tech studying Mathematics. She has been a mentor for STEM students, a teaching assistant for five semesters and an ambassador of the mathematics department at her former college, University at Buffalo, where she graduated with a B.S. in Mathematics. Julia's background is in applied mathematics, specifically cryptography, coding theory and numerical analysis. She is passionate about learning more about cybersecurity topics and is excited to mentor students during this conference!
MANSI SAKARVADIA is a Ph.D. student at the University of Chicago and a Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Research Fellow. Her research focuses on the intersection of high-performance computing and machine learning with a focus on trustworthy ML. She received her bachelor's degree in Computer Science and Mathematics with a minor in Environmental Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2022. 
