About Me
I am a PhD candidate in the EECS department at the University of California, Irvine, advised by Prof. Athina Markopoulou. I received my B.E. degree in Computer and Communications Engineering from American University of Beirut in 2020 and my M.Sc. degree in Electrical Engineering from University of California, Irvine in 2023.
My research focuses on developing innovative solutions at the intersection of privacy, security, and emerging technologies. I'm particularly passionate about empowering users with transparency and control over their data in IoT ecosystems and camera-enabled devices.
Expected Graduation: June 2026
Research Interests
Publications & Patents
Published Papers
BlindSpot: Enabling Bystander-Controlled Privacy Signaling for Camera Enabled Devices
Under Review
A system that enables bystanders to signal their privacy preferences to camera-enabled devices in their vicinity.
VBIT: Towards Enhancing Privacy Control Over IoT Devices
Under Review
An interactive system combining Mixed Reality and web applications to help users identify and manage data collection by IoT devices in shared spaces.
BystandARIA: Enabling AR Bystander Privacy using LEDs
ACM MobiHoc '25 - The Twenty-sixth International Symposium on Theory, Algorithmic Foundations, and Protocol Design for Mobile Networks and Mobile Computing, October 27–30, 2025, Houston, TX, USA
A novel approach to protect bystander privacy in augmented reality environments using LED-based signaling.
FingerprinTV: Fingerprinting Smart TV Apps
Proceedings of the Privacy Enhancing Technologies Symposium (PETS) 2022, Issue 3, July 2022, Sydney, Australia
A system for fingerprinting and identifying smart TV applications through network traffic analysis.
Patents
Decoding light-based messages to support device maintenance
U.S. Patent 11935299, March 19, 2024
A method for decoding messages transmitted through blinking LED light sources using real-time video processing.
Experience
Work Experience
Software Engineer PhD Intern
Cisco Systems, San Jose, CA | June 2023 – September 2023
Developed ML models for detecting access points in real-world deployments.
Software Engineer PhD Intern
Cisco Systems, San Jose, CA | June 2022 – September 2022
Continued work on light-based communication systems for device maintenance.
Software Engineer PhD Intern
Cisco Systems, San Jose, CA | June 2021 – September 2021
Developed system for decoding light-based messages, leading to U.S. Patent 11935299.
Software Engineer Intern
Cisco Systems, Beirut, Lebanon | July 2019 - September 2020
1. Built a 3D Wireless Analyzer using Three.js, GLSL shaders, and GPGPU to visualize RF heatmaps and network coverage in real-time, significantly enhancing observability tools.
2. Extended Ontop OBDA system to support multiple database types including Gremlin graph databases.
Teaching Experience
Teaching Assistant - Organization of Digital Computers Laboratory (EECS 112L)
Assisted students with digital logic design, computer organization concepts, and laboratory assignments.
Projects
BlindSpot: Bystander Privacy System
Under ReviewA system that allows bystanders to signal their privacy preferences to camera-enabled devices, enabling privacy-aware recording and data collection.
Technologies: Kotlin, Android Development, OpenGL, Python
Status:Under Review
LLM-Powered Network Privacy Auditor
Conceptual / Starting SoonA tool that translates raw network traffic logs into human-readable privacy reports using LLMs, backed by a knowledge base of tracking domains and protocols.
Technologies: Python, LlamaIndex, LangChain, LangGraph
BystandARIA: AR Bystander Privacy
PublishedA novel LED-based signaling system that enables bystander privacy protection in augmented reality environments. Accepted at ACM MobiHoc'25.
Technologies: Kotlin, Android Development, OpenGL, Computer Vision
Status: Published at ACM MobiHoc '25
VBIT: Visualizing and Blocking IoT Trackers
Under ReviewAn interactive Mixed Reality and web-based system that enables users to identify and manage data collection by IoT devices through network traffic analysis and visualization.
Technologies: Python (Flask), JavaScript/CSS, SQLite, Mixed Reality
Amazon Alexa Privacy Analysis
In ProgressAnalyzing the advertising ecosystem of Amazon Alexa devices to understand data collection practices and privacy implications.
Technologies: Python, Network Analysis
ML Model for Access Point Detection
CompletedTrained a machine learning model to detect Cisco Access Points in real-world environments using computer vision techniques.
Technologies: YOLO/CNNs, Python
Location: Cisco Internship (2023)
Decoding Light-Based Messages (Patented)
Completed - Patent GrantedDeveloped a system using real-time video to detect and decode messages transmitted by blinking LED light sources for device maintenance.
Technologies: OpenCV.js, JavaScript, Computer Vision
Location: Cisco Internship (2021, 2022)
Cisco Wireless 3D Analyzer
CompletedCreated 3D wireless heat-maps for network visualization using advanced graphics programming and GPU computation.
Technologies: JavaScript, Three.js, GLSL Shaders, GPGPU
Location: Cisco Internship (2020)
Virtual Knowledge Graph (VKG) to Database
CompletedExtended the open-source OBDA system Ontop to support multiple database types simultaneously, adding graph database (Gremlin) support.
Technologies: Java, Gremlin, SQL, SPARQL
Location: Cisco Internship (2019-2020)