Report by India Education bureau, Pittsburgh: Carnegie Mellon University's David Brumley has been appointed the Gerard G. Elia Career Development professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE).

"This is a wonderful honor. I am very grateful to my students and colleagues for helping me push the boundaries to improve cyber security," said Brumley, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at CMU.

Brumley's research focuses on the techniques, principles and algorithms for finding flaws in software that hackers use to break into systems. "My goal is to make computer software and systems safe," Brumley said. "Attackers only need to find a single flaw to break into a system. Defenders have the much harder job of plugging all holes."

“David Brumley is widely regarded both on campus and in the wider community for his cutting-edge contributions to addressing the challenges associated with computer malware as well as his dedication to teaching.   His commitment to teaching and demonstrated leadership inspires our students to become world class problem solvers,’’ said Ed Schlesinger, the David Edward Schramm professor and head of the department of electrical and computer engineering.

Brumley, who also is working on techniques to fight against next-generation malware, is the faculty adviser for CMU's award-winning "Capture the Flag" team. Capture the Flag is a computer security game in which each participating team or individual competes to find a key source of information by solving challenging problems.

In addition to his ECE post, Brumley has appointments in the Computer Science Department and Carnegie Mellon CyLab. He is also the 2011 recipient of the prestigious Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) - the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on young scientists and engineers.

He received his undergraduate degree in mathematics in 1998 from the University of Northern Colorado, a master's degree in computer science in 2003 from Stanford University, and a Ph.D. degree in computer science from CMU in 2008.