Samir Poudel

Ph.D. Candidate in Computational Science

Middle Tennessee State University · Murfreesboro, TN

spoudel04@gmail.com +1-629-238-6838 github.com/theoriginalsam Google Scholar https://samirpoudel.com.np

Summary

I'm a Ph.D. candidate in Computational and Data Science at Middle Tennessee State University, with a background in Software Engineering.

My research builds privacy-preserving distributed AI systems that span federated learning, blockchain security, and robust machine learning.

Federated LearningBlockchain SecurityBig Data AnalyticsDeep LearningNLPComputer VisionCybersecurityPrivacy-Preserving ML

Education

Doctor of Philosophy, Computational and Data Science

Middle Tennessee State University — Murfreesboro, TN

Dissertation: Trustworthy Federated Learning with Backdoor Defense and Privacy Preservation

Advisor: Dr. [Advisor Name] · GPA: 4.0/4.0

Aug 2023 – Present

Bachelor of Science, Software Engineering

Pokhara University — Nepal

2014 – 2018

Experience

Graduate Research Assistant

Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) — Murfreesboro, TN

Aug 2023 – Present

Year 1: Built autonomous vehicle simulation (CARLA/DQN), CNN for Alzheimer's classification, fNIRS mental workload detection, crypto price prediction, MPI4Py preprocessing optimization, and ICU length-of-stay prediction
Year 2: Built VulnFusion and QuadraCode AI for smart contract vulnerability detection, multimodal cervical cancer detection, and stress analysis from chest-worn sensors
Year 3: Built RBBD federated learning backdoor defense, benchmarked big data frameworks, and studied blockchain in gaming ecosystems

Data Analyst

Urja Tech — Pokhara, Nepal

Feb 2018 – March 2022

Led data analysis projects that improved operational efficiency
Built SQL databases and Tableau dashboards that improved decision-making
Used statistical methods and predictive modeling for business forecasting

Selected Publications (17 total · 137 citations)

[1]

RBBD: A Representation-Based Framework for Edge-Case Backdoor Defense in Federated Learning. 2025 IEEE 7th International Conference on Trust, Privacy and Security in Intelligent Systems

[2]

A Blockchain and IoT-Enabled Framework for Ethical and Secure Coffee Supply Chains. Future Internet 17 (8), 3342 cit.

[3]

Privacy Meets Conservation: Federated Learning's Revolution in Deforestation Detection. 2025 IEEE World AI IoT Congress (AIIoT) · DOI1 cit.

[4]

A Big Data Optimization Comparison using Apache Spark and Apache Airflow. 2025 IEEE 15th Annual Computing and Communication Workshop (CCWC) · DOI

[5]

Chain Your Loot: Implementing Blockchain into Gaming Loot Box Markets. 2025 IEEE 15th Annual Computing and Communication Workshop (CCWC) · DOI2 cit.

[6]

Brain Tumor Segmentation and Classification Using ACGAN with U-Net and Independent CNN-Based Validation. 2024 IEEE Signal Processing in Medicine and Biology Symposium (SPMB)1 cit.

[7]

VulnFusion: Exploiting Multimodal Representations for Advanced Smart Contract Vulnerability Detection. 2024 6th International Conference on Blockchain Computing and Applications (BCCA) · DOI2 cit.

[8]

QuadraCode AI: Smart Contract Vulnerability Detection with Multimodal Representation. 2024 33rd International Conference on Computer Communications and Networks (ICCCN) · DOI8 cit.

[9]

Scalable Multimodal Machine Learning for Cervical Cancer Detection. 2024 IEEE World AI IoT Congress (AIIoT) · DOI2 cit.

[10]

Personalized Stress Detection from Chest-Worn Sensors by Leveraging Machine Learning. 2024 International Conference on Electrical, Computer and Energy Technologies (INTCEC) · DOI3 cit.

[11]

Credit Card Batch Processing in Banking System. International Conference on Advances in Computing Research · DOI4 cit.

[12]

Using the CARLA Simulator to Train a Deep Q Self-Driving Car. 2023 IEEE International Conference on Big Data (BigData) · DOI6 cit.

[13]

Mental Workload Classification from fNIRS Signals by Leveraging Machine Learning. 2023 IEEE Signal Processing in Medicine and Biology Symposium (SPMB) · DOI12 cit.

[14]

Improved Classification of Alzheimer's Disease with Convolutional Neural Networks. 2023 IEEE Signal Processing in Medicine and Biology Symposium (SPMB) · DOI9 cit.

[15]

Prediction of Length-of-Stay at ICU Using Machine Learning based on MIMIC-III Database. 2023 IEEE Conference on Artificial Intelligence (CAI) · DOI27 cit.

[16]

Cryptocurrency Price and Volatility Predictions with Machine Learning. Journal of Marketing Analytics · DOI22 cit.

[17]

Minimization of High Computational Cost in Data Preprocessing with MPI4Py. Machine Learning with Applications · DOI36 cit.

Skills

Languages:Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, C/C++, SQL, Solidity, HTML/CSS, LaTeX

Frameworks & Libraries:React, Next.js, Node.js, TensorFlow, PyTorch, PySpark, Apache Airflow, Hugging Face

Cloud & Tools:AWS (SageMaker, Lambda, S3), Google Cloud, Supabase, Alteryx, Power BI, MongoDB, Firebase, Git

Research Domains:Federated Learning, Blockchain Security, Computer Vision, NLP, Privacy-Preserving ML, Big Data, Cybersecurity

Last updated March 2026 · https://samirpoudel.com.np