ASIC Design Engineer, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory
“Long-term, I hope to teach or mentor students from underrepresented backgrounds in STEM and digital chip design.”
While still an undergraduate computer science major at St. Mary’s College, Shameer Rao benefitted from the assistance of David Hickman '07 of Resource Management Concepts, in Lexington Park, Maryland, by being able to earn the industry-standard CompTIA Security+ and CompTIA Linux+ certifications. Rao also took advantage of SMCM's partnership with the Defense Acquisition University (DAU), whose Mid-Atlantic Regional Headquarters is close to campus. Under the guidance of faculty mentor Simon Read, associate professor of computer science, Rao completed a number of DAU courses, including Cyber Training Range, Cyber Attack Kill Chain, Engineering Management and Cyber Table Top.
Rao translated these acquired skills to student competitions. Partnering with fellow computer science major Alex Stoyanov-Roberts '24, they placed first in the Velocity X: AI Hackathon hosted by the College of Southern Maryland and sponsored by the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division in March 2024.
Immediately after graduating in May 2024, Rao participated in in NASA’s L’SPACE mission concept academy program. He learned about mission concept development and systems engineering for hypothetical deep space mission. Following that, he landed an intensive research opportunity at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in cyber/computer forensics and counterterrorism. Of the experience, Rao says, “UMass Dartmouth gave me exposure to hardware security topics that helped clarify my research interests and ultimately led me toward pursuing a Ph.D. focused on embedded systems.”
An example of a secure embedded system is the security hardware inside current-day cars and trucks. These systems control access to critical vehicle functions like the ignition, braking, or steering through encrypted communications. If compromised, a hacker could potentially take control of a vehicle remotely. Rao’s research focuses on designing embedded systems that are resilient against such attacks, using techniques like lightweight encryption and tamper detection.
Rao currently works full-time at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, as an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit) design engineer. He collaborates with digital chip design and hardware security teams on tasks related to embedded systems and secure computing environments.
While working full-time at APL, Rao completed his master’s degree in secure embedded systems. The degree is through a partnership between Morgan State University and the Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering. “Along with being a National Science Foundation (NSF) CyberCorps Scholarship for Service (SFS) awardee, this has enabled me to get a world-class education with full funding from the DoD,” he says.
Rao aims to complete his Ph.D. by 2028 and work as an ASIC development lead engineer, supporting national security missions in defense, space and aerospace. “Long-term,” he says, “I also hope to teach or mentor students from underrepresented backgrounds in STEM and digital chip design.”