
Michael Paik
Department of Computer Science
New York University Abu Dhabi
Sama Tower 1309A
Abu Dhabi, UAE
Abu Dhabi, UAE
+971 2 628 5165


I am currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of Practice in Computer Science at New York University in Abu Dhabi, having completed my Ph.D. in Computer Science at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University in 2013.
My research interests lie in intelligent context- and cost-appropriate technologies for the developing world, focusing on poverty alleviation and the improvement of healthcare and education for the economically disadvantaged and disenfranchised, with further concentration on security issues.
My research interests lie in intelligent context- and cost-appropriate technologies for the developing world, focusing on poverty alleviation and the improvement of healthcare and education for the economically disadvantaged and disenfranchised, with further concentration on security issues.

2013.09.06 | Expanded Blacknoise Paper accepted to DEV 4. |
2013.08.27 | Arrived in Abu Dhabi to begin the Fall 2013 semester as Visiting Assistant Professor of Practice at NYU Abu Dhabi. |
2013.05.06 | Successfully defended my dissertation! |
2013.02.22 | Arrived in Abu Dhabi to help lead the NYU Abu Dhabi Hackathon for Social Good in the Arab World 2013. |
2012.12.07 | Bill Gates Tweets about our Biometric Attendance Terminal in India. |
2012.11.23 | Biometric Attendance Terminal built for OpASHA covered in The Guardian's Global Development Series. |
2012.09.09 | Arrived at NYU London for a research semester abroad with NYU's Global Research Initiative. |
2012.02.12 | Delivered a talk on the security of mobile money to an audience including governors of several Central Banks in Africa at the 2012 Center for Technology and Economic Development Annual Meeting. |
2012.02.03 | Awarded Provost's Global Research Initiatve Fellowship for a research semester abroad in London. |
2011.10.30 | Mentored team from NYU Abu Dhabi, serving Makindu Children's Program, takes Third Place at the NYUAD Hackathon. |
2011.10.28 | Arrived in Abu Dhabi to lead a team at the NYU Abu Dhabi Hackathon for Social Good in the Arab World. |
2011.07.04 | Arrived in Colombo, Sri Lanka to teach mobile technologies at MIT AITI 2011. |
2011.06.28 | Presented "Gotta Catch 'Em All! Innoculous: Enabling Epidemiology of Computer Viruses in the Developing World" at NSDR 2011! |
2011.04.22 | Paper "Gotta Catch 'Em All! Innoculous: Enabling Epidemiology of Computer Viruses in the Developing World" accepted to NSDR 2011! |
2011.03.08 | Presented "Epothecary" at the First Annual CTED Conference |
2010.12.16 | Presented two demos at ICTD 2010 |
2010.11.11 | Presented "Blacknoise" at M4D 2010 in Kampala, Uganda |
2010.09.03 | Paper "Blacknoise: Low-fi Lightweight Steganography in Service of Free Speech" accepted to M4D 2010! |
2010.07.05 | Beginning my summer internship at Telefónica Investigación y Desarrollos in Madrid |
2010.07.02 | Two extended abstracts for demos accepted to ICTD 2010! |
2010.06.15 | Presented "A Biometric Attendance Terminal and its Application to Health Programs in India" at NSDR '10! |
2010.05.06 | Paper "A Biometric Attendance Terminal and its Application to Health Programs in India" accepted to NSDR '10! |
2010.03.30 | Epothecary business plan wins honorable mention at the William James Foundation Business Plan Competition! |
2010.03.15 | In Bangalore for a second stint with TEM@MSRI |
2010.02.23 | Presented "Stragglers of the Herd Get Eaten: Security Concerns for GSM Mobile Banking Applications" at Hotmobile 2010! |
2010.02.19 | "Stragglers" covered in New Scientist online and print editions! |
2010.01.26 | Epothecary business plan accepted to the second round of the Global Social Venture Competition |
2010.01.23 | Epothecary business plan accepted to the second round of the William James Foundation Business Plan Competition! |
2009.12.20 | Paper "Stragglers of the Herd Get Eaten: Security Concerns for GSM Mobile Banking Applications" provisionally accepted to Hotmobile 2010! |
2009.12.18 | Selected as a delegate to the Google GRAD CS Forum |
2009.11.11 | Accepted as a finalist for the Microsoft Research Ph.D. Fellowship! |
2009.11.02 | Epothecary business plan accepted to the Quarterfinal round of the NYU Stern Berkley Center Social Venture Business Plan Competition! |
2009.10.19 | Signet accepted as a finalist for the NYU Poly Cyber Security Awareness Week Research Award |
2009.10.11 | Signet presented at NSDR 2009, colocated with SOSP 2009 |
2009.09.09 | Epothecary covered in Technology Review! |