Cong Liu

Ph.D. Candidate
Department of Computer Science
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Sitterson Hall 147, UNC-CH,
Chapel Hill, NC, 27514
                         Office phone: (919) 962-1924



Research Interests


Multicore Real-Time Embedded Systems, Distributed Systems, Cyber-Physical Systems, Energy-Efficient Computing, Algorithm Analysis


Education


The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC

Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Computer Science, August 2008 to present
Dissertation: Efficient Design, Analysis, and Implementation of Complex Multicore Real-Time Embedded Systems Containing Dependencies
Advisor: Prof. James H. Anderson

Auburn University, Auburn, AL

M.S., Computer Science, December 2007
Thesis: Scalable Time-Energy Aware Resource Allocation Strategies for Large-Scale Distributed Systems
Advisor: Prof. Sanjeev Baskiyar

Wuhan University of Technology, WuHan, China

B.E. with honor, Computer Science and Technology, July 2005


Professional Highlights


Published more than 25 papers in journals, conferences and workshops (22 as first author), many of which appeared in top-tier academic venues, including RTSS, PACT, RTAS, HiPC, ECRTS, and JPDC.


Received the Best Student Paper Award in the 30th RTSS (the premium conference in real-time embedded systems), the Best Papers Award in the 17th RTCSA, and the UNC's Dissertation Fellowship.


Academia Research Experience


Research Assistant, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2008-2012

Research focuses on enabling complex multicore real-time embedded systems containing common types of dependencies to be efficiently build. Predictable multicore embedded system design, analysis, and implementation methods are proposed to avoid over-provisioning systems and to reduce the number of needed hardware components to the extent possible while providing timing correctness guarantees. The proposed solutions are theoretically tractable and practically efficient, as demonstrated by both analysis and extensive experimental results. Funded by NSF grants CNS 0834270, CNS 0834132, and CNS 1016954; ARO grant W911NF-09-1-0535; and AFRL grant FA8750-11-1-0033.

Research Assistant, Auburn University, 2005-2007

Research involved designing an efficient scalable system infrastructure and time-energy aware resource allocation strategies for large-scale distributed systems such as clusters and data grids. Several routing metrics and protocols were designed for wireless networks and wireless multimedia sensor networks.

Industrial Research Experience


Research Intern, IBM Research at Austin, Austin, TX, Summer 2011

Mentor: Dr. Jian Li
Research on energy-efficient computation and data mapping techniques for heterogeneous multicore CPU/GPU systems. The proposed techniques seek to reduce energy consumption by applying DVFS on both CPUs and GPUs while providing timing correctness guarantees. The proposed energy-efficient mapping techniques are implemented in a real CPU/GPU heterogeneous system. Experimental results with several popular data analytics workloads show that the proposed techniques are promising, often being able to reduce power and energy consumption by more than 20% without sacrificing timing correctness.

Research Intern, IBM T.J. Watson Research Center, Hawthorne, NY, Summer 2010

Mentor: Dr. Seetharami Seelam
Research on performance modeling and optimization of hybrid systems consisting of a mainframe system and a number of multicore-based subsystems. Investigated efficient strategies for offloading computations onto such subsystems and identified characteristics of workloads that are suitable for offloading purposes.

Teaching Experience


Sole Instructor, COMP 110: Introduction to Programming, UNC Chapel Hill, Summer 2012

co-Instructor, COMP 750: Analysis of Algorithms, UNC Chapel Hill, Fall 2009

Teaching Assistant, COMP 750: Analysis of Algorithms, UNC Chapel Hill, Fall 2009

co-Instructor, COMP 4300: Computer Architecture, Auburn University, Fall 2007

Teaching Assistant, COMP 4300: Computer Architecture, Auburn University, Fall 2006 to Spring 2008

Teaching Assistant, COMP 4300: Assembly Language Programming, Auburn University, Fall 2006 to Spring 2008

Teaching Assistant, COMP 4300: Embedded Systems, Auburn University, Fall 2006 to Spring 2008


Representative Publications


Public Speaking


Professional Activities


Reviwer (Journal), Journal of Parallel and Distributed Computing, Real-Time Systems Journal, IEEE Transactions on Computers, IEEE Transactions on Parallel and Distributed Systems, IEEE Transactions on Communications, Journal of Systems Architecture, Elsevier Future Generation Computer Systems


Reviwer (Conference), ACM/IEEE DAC'13, IEEE EMSOFT'12, IEEE RTCSA'12, IEEE ECRTS'12, IEEE RTAS'12, IEEE RTSS'11, IEEE RTCSA'11, IEEE ECRTS'11, IEEE RTAS'11, IEEE RTSS'10, IEEE RTAS'10, IEEE RTCSA'10, IEEE ECRTS'10, IEEE ICDCS'09, IEEE RTAS'10, IEEE RTSS'09, IEEE RTCSA'09, IEEE ECRTS'09


UNC computer science faculty teaching evaluation committee member, UNC Chapel Hill, Fall 2010


UNC Systems Tea ``CZar'', UNC Chapel Hill, Fall 2009


UNC Real-Time Lunch ``CZar'', UNC Chapel Hill, Fall 2010


UNC Real-Time Lunch ``CZar'', UNC Chapel Hill, Fall 2009