University of North Texas 
People
Director
Faculty
Ryan Garlick
Clinical Associate Professor Computer Science & Engineering
Parthasarathy Guturu
Associate Professor Electrical Engineering
Kirill Morozov
Associate Professor Computer Science & Engineering
Victor Prybutok
Regents Professor Information Technology and Decision Sciences
Vice Provost & Dean Toulouse Graduate School
Pradhumna Shrestha
Clinical Assistant Professor Computer Science & Engineering
Andy Wu
Associate Professor Information Technology & Decision Sciences
Students
Hakiza Bucuti
Ph.D. Student Computer Science & Engineering
Cynthia Claiborne
Ph.D. Student Computer Science & Engineering
Leslie Delval
Ph.D. Student Computer Science & Engineering
Leslie is a Research Assistant focusing on Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence.
She also serves as Lab Manager for the Network Security Lab (NSL) since her undergraduate
studies. She earned her B.S. in Computer Engineering at UNT specializing in Artificial
Intelligence with a minor in Mathematics.
Mark Dockendorf
Ph.D. Student Computer Science & Engineering
Research paper:
Investing Data with Untrusted Parties using HE (pdf)
Investing Data with Untrusted Parties using HE (pdf)
Julie Germain
Ph.D. Student Computer Science & Engineering
Julie Germain is currently a PhD student, with a research focus in the area of Quantum
Computing. She has a background as a multidisciplinary engineer, including education
and industry experience in the areas of Mechanical Engineering (Aircraft Structures),
Civil Engineering (with education focused in construction engineering), Manufacturing
Engineering, Producibility Engineering, Systems Engineering (with an educational focus
in Software Engineering) and Technology sales and sales support. 2+ years teaching
engineering courses as an Adjunct Professor (teaching Engineering Graphics and Programming
for Engineers). Have 30+ years of industry experience working for a defense contractor,
a high-performance computing company (SGI) , and a high-performance storage company
(Seagate).
Research: Quantum Computing and Communications
Interest areas: Reducing qubit counts for algorithms, Improving results on NISQ hardware, all with
a focus on quantum for the computer scientist.
Research papers:
Quantum Networks: Reset-and-Reuse can be a Game-changer for Entanglement via Distillation
Qubit Reset and Refresh: A Gamechanger for Random Number Generation
Chris Hickingbottom
Ph.D. Student Computer Science & Engineering
John Long
Ph.D. Student Computer Science & Engineering
Thomas McCullough
Ph.D. Student Computer Science & Engineering
Thomas is a doctoral student studying how traditional natural language pipelines can
be transformed and improved through the use of Large Language Models. He is also exploring
how to make video games more accessible to the blind and visually impaired. While
he isn’t programming, he leads visually impaired students at Criss Cole Rehabilitation
Center in Austin through teambuilding exercises during their journey back into the
workforce.
Apurba Pokharel
Ph.D. Student Computer Science & Engineering
Apurba is a graduate student in the Network Security Lab at UNT. His research areas
include blockchains and formal verification. He also labels himself as a part-time
athlete and loves and participates in all forms of exercise.
Vinh Quach
Ph.D. Student Computer Science & Engineering
Vinh Quach is a doctoral student and a research assistant in the Network Security
Lab at the University of North Texas (UNT). His primary research areas include Zero
Trust, Zero Knowledge Proof, and Cybersecurity for the Internet of Things (IoT). He
obtained his Master's degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Texas
at Arlington (UTA) and has over 10 years of experience in the biotechnology field.
Ishan Ranasinghe
Ph.D. Student Computer Science & Engineering
Ishan Ranasinghe is a doctoral student and a research assistant in the Network Security
Lab (NSL) at the University of North Texas (UNT). The key areas of his research are
Human-Machine Collaboration, Remote Collaboration, and the Future Workforce. Ishan
is studying how humans can intervene to make the autonomous system more efficient
and reliable. He obtained his Master's degree in Computer Science from St. Cloud State
University. He has over seven years of experience in the academic and research field.
Ishan worked as an Adjunct Faculty at Southwest Minnesota State University, Computer
Science Instructor at Century Community and Technical College, and Teaching Assistant
at UNT and St. Cloud State University. He also worked as a Software Engineer at Sumeru
Lanka (Private) Limited in Sri Lanka before he started to pursue his Master's degree.
Sirisha Madhuri Talapuru
Ph.D. Student Computer Science & Engineering
Burak Tufekci
Ph.D. Student Computer Science & Engineering
Burak received his BS degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the Dokuz
Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey, in 2018, and his MS degree in Computer Science from
Ozyegin University, Istanbul, Turkey, in 2020.
He worked as a Computer Hardware and Software Engineer at Baykar Defense Inc. between
March 2021 and September 2021. Since September 2021, he has been pursuing a doctoral
degree in the Computer Science and Engineering department at the University of North
Texas.
His current research interests include vulnerability and threat analysis for UAVs,
drone swarm applications, and secure and lightweight path planning for drone swarms.
Research papers:
Vulnerability and Threat Analysis of UAVs (2021)
Efficient FPGA Implementation of Field Oriented Control for 3-Phase Machine Drives
(2020)
Hardware Implementation of Field Oriented Control for Three Phase Machine Drives (2020)
Logan Widick
Ph.D. Student Computer Science & Engineering
Logan Widick is a doctoral student in the Network Security Laboratory (NSL) at the
University of North Texas (UNT). His current research area is identity management.
Prior to starting doctoral studies at UNT, Logan was an undergraduate research assistant
at the NSL. As an undergraduate, Logan designed, developed, and tested vital sign
monitoring applications for Android smartphones. He participated in a webcast at the
National Science Foundation and presented the vital sign monitoring applications,
and helped conduct field trials of said applications in Boston, MA.
Research Papers:
Blockchain Based Authentication and Authorization Framework for Remote Collaboration
Systems (2019)
A framework for secured collaboration in mHealth (2015)
Shakila Zaman
Ph.D. Student Computer Science & Engineering
Shakila Zaman is a Ph.D. student in the Network Security Lab at the University of
North Texas. She works on Metaverse Interoperability where the Blockchain network
is chosen as the underlying technology. Moreover, she works as a Teaching Assistant
in the Computer Science and Engineering department.