Steven Y. Ko

2017 Early Career Academic Achievement Alumni Award

At the University of Buffalo (UB), Steven Y. Ko has focused much of his research on mobile devices, with a goal of making these devices, which have become so central to our lives, more transparent.

He has experimented with new permissions mechanisms for Android that are based around information flows rather than applications.  His flow analysis techniques also provide promise for better mobile malware detection systems for the platform. Ko’s RTDroid project is investigating the potential for adding real-time guarantees to Android.

In addition to his innovative research in distributed systems, networking, and operating systems, Ko is an excellent instructor. He has been recognized with UB’s Teaching Innovation Award, a campus level award for new methods and approaches to teaching, as well as the Early Career Teacher of the Year Award, given by UB’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences .  He’s currently Interim Co-Director of Undergraduate Studies for UB’s CSE Department.

Ko’s has been honored for his research excellence with a 2014 National Science Foundation Early CAREER Award, as well as UB’s Young Investigator Award. Earlier this year, Ko co-chaired the 15th International Conference on Mobile Systems, Applications and Services (MobiSys 2017), a top systems conference. Prior to joining UB in 2010, Ko spent a year as a postdoctoral researcher at Princeton University.