GWUSEC Lab
We are the George Washington University/Usable Security and Privacy Lab (GWUSEC). The lab works on problems related to computer security and privacy, with a human centered approach. We are interested in learning why and how users interact, understand, and use/misuse security and privacy tools, and then we design and build better solutions. We are also interested in more general problems related to cybersecurity and privacy. If you want to find out more, please join one of our public activities.
People
Monica Kodwani
PhD Student
Neal Keating
PhD Student
Wellington Esposito Barbosa
PhD Student
Arwa Alshadi
PhD Student
Junho Eum
PhD Student
Rachel Gonzalez Rodriguez
MS Student
Cole Knie
MS Student
Elaine Ly
MS Student
Faris Jiwad
Undergraduate
Ilinca Hirtopanu
Undergraduate
Current and Former External Lab Collaborations
- Irwin Reyes
- Maximilian Golla (MPI-SP)
- Philipp Markert (RUB)
- Florian Farke (RUB)
- Peter Mayer (Uni. Southern Denmark)
- Dominik Wermke (University of Hannover)
- Mindy Tran (Paderborn)
- Harshinin Sriram (Paderborn)
- Masood Ali (UIC)
- Yasmin Acar (Paderborn)
Alumn/Past Members
- Don Kim (UG)
- Tim Forman (USNA/UG)
- James Levy (MS)
- Darika Shaibekova (UG/MS)
- Xiaoyuan (Owen) Wu (UG) (Now a PhD student at CMU)
- Hunter Dyer (Now at Sandia National Labs)
- Jinsuk Lee (MS)
- Kayla Berne (UG)
- Marlee Alvino (UG)
- David Balash (PhD) (Now an assistant professor at University of Richmond)
- Ruining Yang (MS) (Now a PhD student at SUNY Stony Brook)
- Miles Grant (UG)
- Eddie Cosak (UG)
- Daniel Fisher (UG)
- Victoria Hennemann (UG)
- Evan Fries (UG)
- Alvin Isaacs (UG)
- Leo Phan (UG)
- Viraj Prakash (UG)
- Tanim Khan
- Elena Korkes (UG/MS)
- Lucy Simko (PostDoc) (Now an assistant professor at Barnard College)
Join the lab!
So, you're interested in usability, computer security and privacy research, and you're interested in joining the lab? Great! We are always looking for new collaborators. What actions you should take depends on your background.
- Prospective PhD Students
We are always looking for new PhD students, and if you are applying to grad school and interested in usable security and privacy, please consider GW! Please email Profs. Adam Aviv and Yasemin Acar with any inquiries, but be mindful, we may not follow up with everyone. Obvious form emails sent en mass will not receive a response, so please be sure to write a personal email that notes some background about yourself and what kinds of projects you're interested in researching.
- GW Undergraduate/Masters Students
If you are a current GW student, either an undergraduate or masters students, the easiest way to get involved in the lab is to attend one of our public events. Participating in reading group or social events are the fastest way to learn what is happening in the lab, as well as earn an invite to the lab meeting.
You may also email Profs Adam Aviv if you are interested in research projects, but you will likely be directed to attend a public event. If you cannot attend a public event, we can arrange other times to meet.
Values Statement
At GWUSEC, we strive to conduct the highest quality academic research that is inclusive, diverse, and impactful. In those pursuits, we are guided by the following principles:
- creativity — we reward creativity in our research, and do not confine or belittle others’ ideas;
- integrity — we value honesty and accuracy in our communications and reports;
- ethics — we consider the ethics of our research methods and treat our subjects with respect, always striving to minimize risk and maximize benefits;
- scientific rigor — we seek academic and scientific rigor in our research efforts to explore subject matters in-depth;
- inclusion — we recognize that that many groups have historically been marginalized in our field, and we strive to find ways to collaborate and partner with individuals across all backgrounds, races, and genders and uplift researchers and professionals who have been unjustly marginalized;
- humility — we are willing to admit when we are wrong, take action to correct mistakes in ourselves, and treat mistakes as learning opportunities;
- compassion — we show compassion to each other by supporting lab members in cases when their physical or mental health, personal life or family situation warrants special consideration;
- justice — we believe in racial justice and oppose discrimination based on age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, (dis)ability, economic background and nationality, and condemn oppression in any form.
- impact — we are determined to conduct research that is impactful both within the scientific community and broadly for all humanity.