Elijah Grubb

🔐 Cryptography & Systems Engineer

I’m a privacy- and performance-oriented software engineer with a strong foundation in applied cryptography, operating systems, and secure system design. I spent three years as a PhD researcher, exploring privacy-preserving computation, zero-knowledge proof systems, and consensus protocols, before transitioning full-time into engineering roles focused on cryptographic infrastructure.

At Unisys, I worked on OS-level TLS 1.3 implementation, internal certificate authority infrastructure, and CI/CD pipeline hardening. I'm fluent in Rust, C/C++, and Go, and passionate about building secure-by-design systems—especially in domains like encrypted search, vector databases, and secure ML pipelines.

I'm now focused on applying my cryptography and systems skills to problems in modern data infrastructure: secure query engines, privacy-preserving analytics, and next-gen databases for AI workloads.

💡 Always happy to connect with other engineers, researchers, or founders working at the intersection of privacy, performance, and systems innovation.


Technical Skills

Languages: Rust, C, C++, Go, SQL, Python, Bash

Systems: Linux internals, TLS, PKI, socket programming, concurrent programming, secure boot

Crypto/Privacy: TLS 1.3, certificate authorities, secure multiparty computation

Infra & Databases: SQLite, MongoDB, PostgreSQL, CI/CD, Docker, GitHub Actions

Research Areas: Encrypted search, zero-knowledge proofs, performance-tuned cryptographic primitives


Professional Experience

System Software Engineer

Unisys, Remote, Salt Lake City, UT
  • Engineered OS cryptographic libraries, enhancing TLS 1.3 performance.
  • Deployed 6 internal Certificate Authorities, integrating certificate handling.
  • Improved cryptographic code reliability in mission-critical systems.
  • Championed CI/CD modernization with SBOM integration and reproducible builds.
October 2021 - Present

Graduate Research Assistant

University of Maryland, College Park, MD
  • Developed new consensus protocol prototypes in Rust, tested under adversarial network conditions.
  • Conducted applied cryptography research at the Maryland Cybersecurity Center.
  • Contributed to academic publications and internal tooling for cryptographic experimentation.
May 2019 - May 2021

Graduate Research Intern

SRI International, Remote, Menlo Park, CA
  • Prototyped modular Rust-based integration layer for zero-knowledge proof libraries.
  • Improved extensibility of ZK systems through low-level refactoring and benchmarking
June 2020 - August 2020

Visiting PhD Student

IMDEA Software Institute, Madrid, Spain
  • Co-developed high-performance proof generation stack for privacy-preserving computation
  • Translated cryptographic protocols into performant specifications, achieving 4× prover speedup
September 2019 - December 2019

Undergraduate Research Assistant

University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
  • Brought Docker support to the Emulab network testbed system housed at the University of Utah as a member of the Flux Research Group. Publication at CSET @ USENIX Security Symposium 2018.
September 2017 - August 2018

Software Engineer Intern

Qualtrics, Provo, UT
  • Built a full stack application to store custom settings for active client projects. Designed backend and relational database architecture.
May 2017 - August 2017

Undergraduate Research Assistant

University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
  • Member of the Data Group collecting and analyzing large amounts of spatio-temporal data.
September 2016 - May 2017

Technology Summer Analyst

Goldman Sachs, Salt Lake City, UT
June 2016 - August 2016

Software Engineer Intern

Spillman Technologies, West Valley City, UT
March 2015 - May 2016

Education

University of Maryland, College Park, MD

Ph.D. Candidate in Computer Science

Focus: Applied Cryptography, Secure Distributed Systems, Zero-Knowledge Protocols.

Course Highlights: Computer and Network Security, Applied Crypto, Computer Networks, Secure Distributed Computation, Cryptography Research Seminar.

2018 - 2021,
(no degree)

University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT

B.Sc. in Computer Science

Course Highlights: Advanced Operating Systems, Database Systems, Software Verification, Distributed Systems, Number Theory, Data Mining.

2014 - 2018

Research & Projects

Project Name, Additional Project Info

Project Subheading

A short and pithy description of the project.

Link to Project
additional link info

blind-insight-rs, (Rust Prototype)

Project Subheading

A short and pithy description of the project.

zk-Rust, (SRI Research)

Modular ZK Proof Integration Layer

Built FFI-compatible toolkit for ZKP libraries into larger stacks.



Interests

Privacy-preserving databases,
Secure and encrypted search (PIR, FHE, ORAM),
Operating systems and database internals,
Applied cryptography in AI infra and data systems.


Teaching Experience

Cryptography, Teaching Assistant

72 Students, CMSC 456, University of Maryland
Spring 2021

Operating Systems, Teaching Assistant

76 Students, CMSC 412, University of Maryland
Fall 2020

Cryptography, Teaching Assistant

60 Students, CMSC 456, University of Maryland
Spring 2020

Cryptography, Teaching Assistant

85 Students, CMSC 456, University of Maryland
Spring 2019

Organization of Programming Languages, Teaching Assistant

500+ Students, CMSC 330, University of Maryland
Fall 2018

Database Systems, Teaching Assistant

134 Students, CS 5530, University of Utah
Spring 2017

Other Experience & Awards

Publications

Supporting Docker in Emulab-Based Network Testbeds.

D. Johnson, E. Grubb, E. Eide
In CSET '18 (Link).
External Reviewer
  • CCS 2021
  • EUROCRYPT 2021
Awards
  • PLDI 2018 Student Travel Grant
  • 6x Dean's List, University of Utah
  • Top 4 Finish, Internal Goldman Sachs Hackathon, Summer 2016
  • 3rd Place, University of Utah Hackathon co-hosted by U of U ACM, Fall 2015
  • Honors at Entrance Academic Scholarship, University of Utah, Fall 2014
  • AP Scholar with Distinction, The College Board, Summer 2014
  • Eagle Scout, Boy Scouts of America, Spring 2014

Personal

Outside of arguing with computers, I like to spend time visiting national parks. I love watching basketball and soccer, and playing pickleball and tennis. I enjoy reading sci-fi, fantasy, and biographies, as well as the latest cryptography research papers.

I'm easily nerd-sniped and have an unhealthy addiction to finding answers to unimportant questions.