Kevin Joseph Leach

Sony Building, 4110 — Vanderbilt University

kevin.leach@vanderbilt.edu

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Human Subject Recruitment

Students in my lab are actively recruiting participants for human subject studies. Please consider participating if you are eligible! You can get paid to participate! More information here.

(studies are approved by our Institutional Review Board)

Prospective students and postdocs

I am actively recruiting motivated PhD students, postdoctoral fellows, and undergraduate researchers. If you are interested in working in the areas of cybersecurity, software engineering, or artificial intelligence, please send me an email with your CV. Please see this document for more information.

I am an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Vanderbilt University. Previously, I was a Senior Research Fellow in the Computer Science and Engineering Division at the University of Michigan—Ann Arbor, where I was engaged in a variety of research spanning security, software engineering, and artificial intelligence. Prior to UM, I was a Research Scientist in the Robust Low Power VLSI group at the University of Virginia. I received my PhD in Computer Engineering at the University of Virginia under the guidance of Wes Weimer. I work across a variety of disciplines, including systems security, software engineering and human studies, conversational artificial intelligence, and medical informatics.

I received my MS in Computer Science at George Mason University in 2013. My advisor was Angelos Stavrou. I received my BS with Distinction in Computer Engineering and Computer Science from the University of Virginia in 2011.

If you are a Computer Science student looking for advice on the job market, please see the CS Grad Job Guide to which I have contributed.

Spring 2023

I am teaching CS8395 - Topics in Computer Security for the Spring 2023 semester. The course website is available at kjl.name/cs8395. Thie is a research-focused graduate course that will acquaint you with computer security principles and research. It is also intended to serve as an introduction to research in computer science, especially for students interested in pursuing a PhD degree.

There are no prerequisites for this course. There is an expectation of regular readings. The homeworks will provide hands-on experience with security tools and techniques.

Fall 22: CS3276 - Compiler Construction— Course website — Student reviews.

Spring 22: CS8395 - Topics in Computer Security — Course website — Student reviews.

Previous Teaching at UM

Winter 2021: EECS 481 — Software Engineering.

Fall 2020: EECS 481 — Software Engineering and EECS 484 — Databases.

Summer 2020: EECS 485 — Web Systems.

Spring 2020: EECS 481 — Software Engineering.

Winter 2020: EECS 498 — Conversational AI.

Fall 2019: I helped teach EECS 498 — Conversational AI.

Winter 2019: EECS 370 — Computer Organization.

Winter 2018: EECS 483 — Compiler Construction.

Milestones at a Glance

  • January 2022 — I have accepted a tenure-track Assistant Professorship at Vanderbilt University.
  • September 2017 — I accepted a Senior Research Fellow position at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
  • December 2016 — I successfully defended my doctoral dissertation.
  • April 2016 — I received the Louis T. Rader Graduate Research Award.
  • May 2015 — I successfully defended my dissertation proposal.
  • August 2014 — I successfully passed my Qualifying Exam.
  • January 2014 — I received an $81k grant from MIT Lincoln Laboaratory to support my PhD research.
  • May 2013 — I received my MS in Computer Science from George Mason University