REU Project Archives

• Human factors in security
• Privacy-preserving emotion recognition with federated learning
• Impact of machine translation on toxicity of comments
• User authentication using swipe gestures
• Intelligent reflective surfaces for security applications
• Efficient mm-wave scanning for threat detection
• Using ensemble learning for malware detection on smartphones

• Amherst College
• Hofstra University
• Indiana University
• Lewis and Clark College
• New York Institute of Technology
• University of Cambridge
• Southern Connecticut State University
• Stony Brook University

Project: “Investigating the Effect of Machine-Translation on Automated Classification of Toxic Comments”
REU Fellows: James Roy (University of Cambridge), Siddhi Suresh (Southern Connecticut State University), Mohamed Elsayed (New York Institute of Technology)
Intern: Ronie Rocca (New York Institute of Technology)
Faculty Mentors: Professor Ziqian (Cecilia) Dong, Ph.D., Professor Huanying (Helen) Gu, Ph.D., and Associate Professor N. Sertac Artan

Project: “EnsembleDroid: A Malware Detection Approach for Android System based on Ensemble Learning”
REU Fellow: Sharon Guan (Stony Brook University)
Faculty Mentor: Associate Professor Wenjia Li, Ph.D.

Project: “Smartphone User Authentication using Swipe Gestures on a Keyboard”
REU Fellows: Alvin E. Kuruvilla (Hofstra University), Usman Sheikh (Stony Brook University)
Faculty Mentors: Associate Professor Kiran Balagani, Ph.D., Associate Professor Paolo Gasti,Ph.D., and Assistant Professor Anand Santhanakrishnan, Ph.D.

Project: “Privacy Preservation in Emotion Recognition Under Federated Learning Settings”
REU Fellow: Jason Nuñez (Amherst College)
Faculty Mentor: Assistant Professor Houwei Cao, Ph.D.

Project: “Machine-Translation from Monolingual Corpora using a BERT-based model”
REU Fellow: James Roy (University of Cambridge)
Faculty Mentors: Professor Ziqian (Cecilia) Dong, Ph.D., Professor Huanying (Helen) Gu, Ph.D., and Associate Professor N. Sertac Artan, Ph.D.

Project: “Feasibility and Quality of a MATLAB Implementation for an Intelligent Reflective Surface”
REU Fellow: Garrett Fairbanks (Indiana University)
Faculty Mentor: Assistant Professor Reza Amineh, Ph.D.

Project: “Fast and Secure Non-Intrusive MM-Wave Scanning”
REU Fellow: Kim Metoua (New York Institute of Technology)
Faculty Mentor: Assistant Professor Anand Santhanakrishnan, Ph.D.

Project: “Human Factors in Security: A Neuroimaging Cybersecurity Experiment”
REU Fellow: Emily Tanabe (Lewis and Clark College)
Faculty Mentor: Associate Professor N. Sertac Artan, Ph.D.

• Spread of misinformation on Twitter
• Toxicity detection in rich comments with emojis
• Modeling trust for reliable and maximum network flow
• Continuous authentication in mobile devices
• Malware detection in Android smartphones using deep learning
• mmWave radar for security applications
• Emotion recognition for subjects wearing masks
• Focus and retention in Virtual Reality (VR) and online learning

• Adelphi University
• Bucknell University
• California Institute of Technology
• City College of New York
• Florida State University
• Indiana University
• Meredith College
• New York Institute of Technology
• Rochester Institute of Technology
• Southern Connecticut State University
• University of Southern California
• Wesleyan University

Project: Adversarial Droid: A Deep Learning based Malware Detection Approach for Android System Against Adversarial Example Attacks
REU Fellow: Giuseppe Dambrosio (Adelphi University)
Faculty Mentor: Associate Professor Wenjia Li, Ph.D.

Project: Continuous Authentication in Mobile Devices
REU Fellow: Leila Sor (Bucknell University)
Volunteer: Alexis Wang (California Institute of Technology)
Faculty Mentor: Associate Professor Kiran Balagani, Ph.D.

Project: Platform for Comparative Study of Focus and Retention in Virtual Reality and Online Learning
REU Fellows: Michael Macesker (Southern Connecticut State), Rachel Morrow (Wesleyan University), Guang Too (New York Institute of Technology), and Luna Ferraro (New York Institute of Technology)
Faculty Mentors: Associate Professor N. Sertac Artan, Ph.D., Professor Ziqian (Cecilia Dong), Ph.D., and Professor Huanying Gu, Ph.D.

Project: Simulating Imaging Systems Based on FMCW mmWave Radar
REU Fellow: Oreva Omodior (Indiana University)
Faculty Mentor: Assistant Professor Reza Amineh, Ph.D.

Project: Speech Emotion Recognition (SER) with Different Masks
REU Fellow: Katherine Nayan (Rochester Institute of Technology)
Faculty Mentor: Assistant Professor Houwei Cao, Ph.D.

Project: Subtlety of Language in the Spread of Misinformation on Twitter
REU Fellow: Marcos Sivira (Florida State University)
Faculty Mentor: Assistant Professor Anand Santhanakrishnan, Ph.D.

Project: Toxic Comment Detection: Analyzing the Combination of Text and Emojis
REU Fellows: Michael Aquino (New York Institute of Technology), Yasiris Ortiz (City College of New York), Arif Rashid (New York Institute of Technology), and Anne Tumlin (University of Southern California)
Faculty Mentors: Associate Professor N. Sertac Artan, Ph.D., Associate Professor Ziqian (Cecilia Dong), Ph.D., and Professor Huanying Gu, Ph.D.

Project: Trust Model for Maximal Flow of Reliable Information in a Network
REU Fellow: Kelly Mae Allen (Meredith College)
Faculty Mentor: Assistant Professor Anand Santhanakrishnan, Ph.D.REU 2020

• Analysis of multimodal smartphone behavioral biometric data
• Eddy current Imaging
• Cognitive distraction to improve cybersickness in virtual reality environments
• Malware detection in Android smartphones
• Impact of net neutrality repeal in the presence of malicious users in HetNets
• Analysis of eye fixations during emotion recognition in faces
• Low-power data acquisition for wearable and implantable devices

• Duke University
• Johns Hopkins University
• Kean University
• New York City College of Technology
• New York Institute of Technology
• Oberlin College
• Rowan University
• Rutgers University
• The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Arts and Sciences
• Wesleyan University

1. Project:“Analysis of Multimodal Smartphone Behavioral Biometric Data”
   REU Fellows: Ariana J. LaCue (Kean University) and Matthew A. Lombardo (Johns Hopkins University)
   New York Tech Faculty Mentors: Associate Professor Paolo Gasti, Ph.D., and Associate Professor Kiran Balagani, Ph.D.
2. Project: “Eddy Current Imaging”
   REU Fellow: Anwar Hussein (Rowan University)
   New York Tech Faculty Mentor: Assistant Professor Reza Amineh, Ph.D.
3. Project: “Cognitive Distraction to Improve Cybersickness in Virtual Reality Environments”
   REU Fellows: Luisa Bryan (Wesleyan University), Celina Zhou (Duke University), and Evan Wang (Rutgers University)
   New York Tech Faculty Mentors: Associate Professor Ziqian (Cecilia) Dong, Ph.D., and Assistant Professor N. Sertac Artan, Ph.D.
4. Project: “Malware Detection in Android Smartphones”
   REU Fellow: Neha Bala (New York Institute of Technology)
   New York Tech Faculty Mentor: Assistant Professor Wenjia Li, Ph.D.
5. Project: “Impact of Net Neutrality Repeal in the Presence of Malicious Users in HetNets”
   REU Fellow: Alon S. Levin (The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Arts and Sciences)
   New York Tech Faculty Mentor: Assistant Professor Anand Santhanakrishnan, Ph.D.
6. Project: “Analysis of Eye Fixations During Emotion Recognition in Faces”
   REU Fellow: Forest P. Elliott (Oberlin College)
   New York Tech Faculty Mentor: Assistant Professor Houwei Cao, Ph.D.
7. Project: “Low-power Data Acquisition for Wearable and Implantable Devices”
   REU Fellow: Ralph Castro Ramirez (New York City College of Technology)
   New York Tech Faculty Mentor: Assistant Professor N. Sertac Artan, Ph.D.

• Adversarial text generation for Google Perspective’s toxic comment detection
• Minimizing cybersickness through increased-intensity habituation in a virtual reality environment
• Continuous biometric authentication in haptic cues
• Game-based authentication and its effectiveness on mimicry attacks
• Android malware detection framework
• Energy analysis of lightweight encryption algorithms on smartphone applications
• Modeling of the effect of net neutrality on the user-Internet service provider relationship

• Cooper Union
• Georgia State University
• Hobart and William Smith Colleges
• Jackson State University
• New York Institute of Technology
• The Pennsylvania State University
• Tuft University
• University of California, Berkeley
• University of Connecticut
• University of Dallas
• University of Michigan

1. Project: “Adversarial Text Generation for Google’s Perspective”
   REU Fellows: Stephan Brown (New York Tech), Edwin Jain (Tuft University), Jeffrey Chen (University of California Berkeley), Mohammad Baidas* (New York Tech), and Erin Neaton (University of Michigan)
   New York Tech Faculty Mentors: Assistant Professor N. Sertac Artan, Ph.D., Associate Professor Ziqian (Cecilia) Dong, Ph.D. and Associate Professor Huanying (Helen) Gu, Ph.D.
2. Project: “Minimizing Cybersickness through Increased-Intensity Habituation”
   REU Fellows: Erin Neaton (University of Michigan), Mohammad Baidas* (New York Tech), Jeffrey Chen (University of California, Berkeley), Edwin Jain (Tufts University), and Stephan Brown (New York Tech)
   New York Tech Faculty Mentors: Assistant Professor N. Sertac Artan, Ph.D., Associate Professor Ziqian (Cecilia) Dong, Ph.D., and Associate Professor Huanying (Helen) Gu, Ph.D.
3. Project: “Continuous Biometric Authentication in Haptic Cues”
   REU Fellows: Dennis Agnew Jr. (Jackson State University), Stephen Sam♦ (University of Connecticut), Angela Chan• (The Pennsylvania State University), and Brittney Hill (Georgia State University)
   New York Tech Faculty Mentors: Assistant Professor Paolo Gasti, Ph.D., and Associate Professor Kiran Balagani, Ph.D.
4. Project: “Game-Based Authentication: Mimicry Attack”
   REU Fellow: Camera Finn (Hobart and William Smith Colleges)
   New York Tech Faculty Mentor: Assistant Professor Jonathan Voris, Ph.D.
5. Project: “MalDetector: A Permission and Inter-Component Communication-Based Detection Approach”
   REU Fellows: Evelyn Bailey (University of Pennsylvania)
   New York Tech Faculty Mentor: Assistant Professor Wenjia Li, Ph.D.
6. Project: “Analyzing the Energy Cost of Cryptographic Ciphers on an Android Smartphone”
   REU Fellows: Michael Bolot (University of Dallas)
   New York Tech Faculty Mentor: Professor Tao Zhang, Ph.D. and Associate Professor Ziqian (Cecilia) Dong, Ph.D.
7. Project: “The Effect of Net Neutrality on User – ISP Relationship”
   REU Fellows: Guy Bar-Yossef (Cooper Union)
   New York Tech Faculty Mentor: Professor Anand Santhanakrishnan, Ph.D.

♦Funded by NSF REU supplement grant
* Undergraduate Research Assistant

For more information, please contact Dr. Ziqian (Cecilia) Dong at ziqian.dong@nyit.edu or 646.273.6129.

• Visible light communication and localization
• PIN inferences at ATMs by side channel attacks
• Authentication of vehicular drivers through posture
• Energy analysis of lightweight encryption algorithms on smartphone applications
• PrivateMD

1. Bryn Mawr College
2. Case Western Reserve University
3. Fordham University
4. Lewis & Clark College
5. New York University
6. New York Institute of Technology
7. Rochester Institute of Technology
8. Transylvania University
9. University at Buffalo
10. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

1. Project: “Indoor Localization through Visible Light Characterization using Front-facing Smartphone Camera”
   REU Fellows: Charles Carver (Fordham University), Adriana Rogers (Lewis & Clark College), Matthew Stafford (University at Buffalo), and Shela Wu (NYU)
   New York Tech Faculty Mentors: Assistant Professor N. Sertac Artan and Associate Professor Ziqian (Cecilia) Dong, Ph.D.
2. Project: “TETRIS: Smartphone-to-Smartphone Screen-Based Visible Light Communication”
   REU Fellows: Matthew Stafford (University at Buffalo), Adriana Rogers (Lewis & Clark College), Charles Carver (Fordham University), and Shela Wu (NYU)
   New York Tech Faculty Mentors: Assistant Professor N. Sertac Artan and Associate Professor Ziqian (Cecilia) Dong, Ph.D.
3. Project: “PIN Inference at ATMs by Side-Channel Attacks”
   REU Fellows: Tristan Gurtler♦ (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Charissa Miller♦ (Rochester Institute of Technology), Kendall Molas (New York Tech), and Lynn Wu (Bryn Mawr College)
   New York Tech Faculty Mentors: Assistant Professor Paolo Gasti, Ph.D., and Associate Professor Kiran Balagani, Ph.D.
4. Project: “Authorizing Drivers Based on Posture”
   REU Fellow: Chris Hadiono (Case Western Reserve University)
   New York Tech Faculty Mentor: Assistant Professor Jonathan Voris, Ph.D.
5. Project: “PrivateMD”
   REU Fellows: Daler Norkulov (New York Tech) and Randy St. Fleur (New York Tech)
   New York Tech Faculty Mentor: Associate Professor Huanying (Helen) Gu, Ph.D.
6. Project: “Energy Analysis of Lightweight Encryption Algorithms on Smartphone Application for Wireless Body Area Network Communication”
   REU Fellows: Kelsey Clater (Transylvania University) and Yuncong Ma∗ (New York Tech)
   New York Tech Faculty Mentor: Professor Tao Zhang, Ph.D.

♦Funded by NSF REU supplement grant
∗ Partially funded by New York Tech

• Continuous smartphone user authentication
• Indoor smartphone localization
• Smartphone malware detection
• Electromyogram as a new biometric modality
• Authentication of vehicular drivers
• Geolocation of computers through network measurement
• Behavior study of patients with Parkinson’s disease using smartphones

• Fordham University
• Hofstra University
• Macalester College
• New York Institute of Technology
• Stony Brook University
• University of California, Berkeley
• University of Georgia
• Vanderbilt University

1. Project: “Multi-floor Indoor Localization for Smartphones”
   REU Fellows: Tiffany Montoya (New York Tech) and Matthias Wilder (University of Georgia)
   New York Tech Faculty Mentors: Associate Professor Ziqian (Cecilia) Dong, Ph.D., and Associate Professor Tao Zhang, Ph.D.
2. Project: “Continuous User Authentication”
   REU Fellows: Colin Monteil-Anatra (Stony Brook University) and Tayeb Zaidi (Macalester College)
   New York Tech Faculty Mentors: Assistant Professors Paolo Gasti, Ph.D., and Kiran Balagani, Ph.D.
3. Project: “Authentication of Vehicular Drivers”
   REU Fellow: Angela Burton (Vanderbilt University)
   New York Tech Faculty Mentor: Assistant Professor Jonathan Voris, Ph.D.
4. Project: “Electromyogram (EMG) as a Biometric Modality”
   REU Fellows: Ernesto Jorge (New York Tech)
   New York Tech Faculty Mentor: Assistant Professor N. Sertac Artan, Ph.D.
5. Project: “Gait Study of Individuals with Parkinson’s Disease”
   REU Fellow: Maid Husic (New York Tech)
   New York Tech Faculty Mentor: Associate Professor Huanying (Helen) Gu, Ph.D.
6. Project: “Malicious Mobile Application (Malware) Detection in Smartphones”
   New York Tech REU Fellows: Kendra Campbell (Hofstra University) and Monica Kumaran (University of California, Berkeley)
   New York Tech Faculty Mentor: Assistant Professor Wenjia Li, Ph.D.
7. Project: “Geolocation of Network Computers”
   REU Fellow: Nadine Moukdad (Fordham University)
   New York Tech Faculty Mentor: Assistant Professor Anand Santhanakrishnan, Ph.D.

• Smartphone authentication, indoor localization using power consumption, and malware detection
• Secure protocols design for implantable devices
• Behavior study of patients with Parkinson’s disease using smartphones
• Human robot interaction using Baxter

• Center College
• Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art
• Cornell University
• Florida Atlantic University
• Gonzaga University
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• New York Institute of Technology
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• University of Rochester
• University of Texas at Austin
• University of West Florida

1.  “Smartphone Indoor Location through Power Consumption”
   REU Fellows: Rajan Khullar (New York Tech) and Akshay Navada (Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art)
   New York Tech Faculty Mentors: Assistant Professor Ziqian (Cecilia) Dong, Ph.D., and Associate Professor Tao Zhang, Ph.D.
2.  “User Authentication Using a Haptic Stylus”
   REU Fellows: Janina Grayson (New York Tech) and Adam Scrivener (University of Rochester)
   New York Tech Faculty Mentors: Assistant Professors Paolo Gasti, Ph.D., and Kiran Balagani, Ph.D.
3.  “Biometric User Authentication on Mobile Deices through Gameplay”
   REU Fellow: Kirsten Giesbrecht (Center College)
   New York Tech Faculty Mentor: Assistant Professor Jonathan Voris, Ph.D.
4.  “A Feasible IMD Communication Protocol: Security without Obscurity”
   REU Fellows: Jason Wang (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), Kevon Mohebzad (University of Texas at Austin) and Luke Johnson (Gonzaga University)
   New York Tech Faculty Mentor: Assistant Professor N. Sertac Artan, Ph.D.
5.  “Using Smartphones for Behavior Study of Individuals with Parkinson’s Disease”
   REU Fellow: Bruno Correa (University of West Florida) and Yang Peng (Cornell University)
   New York Tech Faculty Mentor: Associate Professor Huanying (Helen) Gu, Ph.D.
6.  “Malicious Mobile Application (Malware) Detection in Smartphones”
   REU Fellows: Nadeen Saleh (Florida Atlantic University)
   New York Tech Faculty Mentor: Assistant Professor Wenjia Li, Ph.D.
7. Project: “Modeling Safe Physical Human-Robot Interaction with Baxter”
   REU Fellow: Eghosa Eke (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
   New York Tech Faculty Mentor: Assistant Professor Chung Hyuk Park, Ph.D.

• Indoor Localization Using Wifi and Sensor Fusion—real-world applications from advertising to emergency to cybersecurity
• Continuous Authentication of Mobile Devices
• Robotic Telepresence for Fall Detection and Prevention
• Android Application for Medical Diagnosis
• Energy Consumption in Mobile Phones During Data Transmission and Encryption for WBAN

1. New York Institute of Technology
2. York University (City College)
3. Gordon College
4. Missou
5. University of Redlands
6. Lewis & Clark College, Mills College
7. University of Central Florida