Elijah Grubb

ElijahLGrubb@gmail.com · (801) 786-9886 · He/Him

I am a software engineer and cryptographic researcher currently building the cryptography library for the Unisys MCP operating system. In the past, I've worked on cryptographic theory and implementation at the Maryland Cybersecurity Center, SRI International, and the IMDEA Software Institute. I also have software engineering experience with Qualtrics and Goldman Sachs.

I program primarily in Rust, C, and NEWP/Algol and in the past I worked on large projects in Python, Java, JavaScript, and C++. I'm interested in best practices, engineering, and research involving systems, security, and cryptography.

Experience

System Software Engineer

Unisys, Remote, Salt Lake City, UT
  • Implement and maintain OS support for network security protocols, participating in code reviews as a part of the distributed Cryptography and Security teams.
  • Mentor junior engineers, using pair programming to collaborate and teach.
  • Set up 6 internal Certificate Authorities for integration testing.
  • Debug client errors and bugs, update documentation and unit test suite.
October 2021 - Present

Graduate Research Assistant

University of Maryland, College Park, MD
  • Prototyped new consensus protocols for experimentation under realistic network conditions with custom network testing framework in Rust.
  • Researched practical zero-knowledge proof system design with a focus on optimal prover efficiency as a part of the Maryland Cybersecurity Center.
May 2019 - May 2021

Graduate Research Intern

SRI International, Remote, Menlo Park, CA
  • Designed and built Rust tool for messaging between different zero-knowledge proof libraries for modular integration as a remote researcher.
June 2020 - August 2020

Visiting PhD Student

IMDEA Software Institute, Madrid, Spain
  • Implementation and research into 4x speed-up of zero-knowledge proof generation systems.
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. Student in Computer Science, no degree received

Course Highlights: Computer and Network Security, Applied Cryptography and Hostile Governments, Computer Networks, Secure Distributed Computation.

2018 - 2021

University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT

B.Sc. in Computer Science

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

2014 - 2018

Skills

Programming Languages & Tools
  • C
  • Algol
  • C++
  • SQL
  • Vim
Expertise & Interests
  • Applied Cryptography
  • Computer Security
  • Privacy
  • Authentication
  • Cryptographic Review
  • Cryptocurrencies
  • Zero-Knowledge Systems
  • Public Key Infrastructure
  • Automated Testing
  • Database Design
  • Code Review

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.

Recently I've gotten into video games as a way to spend time with friends and family in other time zones. I'm easily nerd-sniped and have an unhealthy addiction to finding answers to unimportant questions.