Gengmo Qi
Phd Student in Computer Science, Cornell University
Bio
I’m currently a Computer Science PhD student at Cornell University. My research interests broadly include security and privacy, distributed systems, and cryptoeconomics.
Teaching
- Teaching Assistant:
- CS 5112: Algorithms and Data Structures (Graduate level. 19 Fall, 20 Fall)
- with Prof. Ramin Zabih
- CS 5433: Blockchains, Cryptocurrencies, and Smart Contracts (Graduate level. 20 Spring)
- with Prof. Ari Juels
- CS 5112: Algorithms and Data Structures (Graduate level. 19 Fall, 20 Fall)
Professional Experience
- August 2019 - Present:
- Teaching Assistant, Cornell University
- Member of IC3, The Initiative For CryptoCurrencies & Contracts
- August 2018 - August 2019:
- Researcher, ThunderCore
- Consensus algorithms research. Advised by Prof. Elaine Shi
- I co-authored Consensus Protocols 101, our attempt at an informal treatment of consensus protocols for developers, written in collaboration with Peter Lu. This document collates (back then) what we believed were the most important facts to understanding blockchain consensus in an accessible way.
- Want a formal and rigorous treatment of consensus algorithms? I highly recommend Foundations of Distributed Consensus and Blockchains by Prof. Elaine Shi.
- For those unfamiliar with the term consensus, think of it as the problem of getting a bunch of servers to agree on some messages. You may think “Well that doesn’t sound too difficult”. However, like many other deeply fascinating problems in Computer Science, consensus is one of those easy-to-explain-but-hard-to-solve type of problems and have bugged multiple generations of Computer Scientists.
- June 2017 - August 2017:
- Summer Analyst, Credit Suisse
- Structured Funds, Equity Derivatives
Talks and Presentations
- Zerocash: Decentralized anonymous payments from Bitcoin, November 2017
- Paper presentation as part of COMP6111C: Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Technologies, taught by Prof. Dimitris Papadopoulos
Miscellanea
What I do in my free time:
- Mid & long distance running. Personal best: Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon 2017 - 10K: 46’48”