Heather Zheng

Welcome! I am the Neubauer Professor of Computer Science at University of Chicago. I received my PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering from University of Maryland, College Park in 1999. I joined University of Chicago after spending 6 years in industry labs (Bell-Labs, NJ and Microsoft Research Asia), and 12 years at University of California at Santa Barbara. At UChicago, I co-direct the SAND Lab (Systems, Algorithms, Networking and Data) together with Prof. Ben Y. Zhao.

I was selected as one of the MIT Technology Review's TR 35 (2005) for my work on Cognitive Radios; my work was featured by MIT Technology Review as one of the 10 Emerging Technologies (2006). I am a fellow of the World Technology Network, and an IEEE Fellow (class'15). More details in my CV.

I am looking for talented and self-motivated graduate students on mobile computing and networking, and data-driven research. Prospective students should email me your resume with a subject line of "UChicago PhD Applicant." I am also looking for undergratudate students in these areas (email me your resume with a subject line of "UChicago UG Research.")

My Research
My research style is interdisciplinary, often combining strengths and novel concepts of systems and networking, economics, and data analytics. Recently, I am devoted to applying measurements and data analytics to discover and understand the fundamental structures underlying various social, mobile networks and medical systems, the processes and user behaviors that drive dynamics in these networks, as well as potential vulnerability to attacks and privacy leaks. I am also exploring the use of machine learning in the areas of mobile computing, networking and systems design.

Press/Media: A collection of recent news and media coverage of our SAND Lab's research is here.

Teaching
[Spring 2018]: CS34702 Mobile and IoT Systems -- This graduate-level special topic class will cover emerging topics on Mobile and IoT systems, including web, security, payment, wearables, health, sensing and networking. Students will read and present papers from recent top conferences, and do a team project.

[Winter 2018]: CS 23400-1 Mobile Computing: This quarter's focus areas include mobile/RF sensing, localization and imaging, energy efficiency, interactive video, security and privacy, urban computing.

Professional Activities

TPC co-Chair: MobiCom 2015,DySPAN 2011, SDR 2009
Recent TPCs: WWW'18, IMC'15-'17, MobiSys'17-18, NSDI'17, MobiCom'15-'17
Journals: Trans. on Networking (Assoc. Editor, 2013-2017), Trans. on Mobile Computing (Assoc. Editor, 2008-13), Trans. on Wireless Communication (Editor, 2008-09), Physical Communication (Editorial Board & Guest Editor)