Uddhav P. Gautam

Ph.D. Candidate in Computer Engineering at Virginia Tech, advised by Haining Wang and Randy Marchany, after a decade building and leading production software.

I work on systems-and-security research across the stack — from the Linux kernel and embedded devices to the software supply chain and AI-assisted development. Principal Investigator, Meta Project Aria Gen 2 Research Partnership.

Advised by Haining Wang and Randy Marchany. Contact: upgautam@vt.edu.

Portrait of Uddhav P. Gautam

Education

Academic background

  • PhD in Computer Engineering

    2024-present

    Virginia Tech

    Advisors: Prof. Haining Wang, Randy Marchany

  • PhD in Computer Science (transferred to Virginia Tech)

    2018-2020

    University of Arkansas at Little Rock

  • M.S. Computer Science

    2015-2017

    University of Arkansas at Little Rock

  • BSc Computer Science

    2009-2013

    Tribhuvan University, Nepal

  • B.S. Mathematics

    2007-2010

    Trichandra Campus, Nepal

Awards

  • 1st place Complete Societal Award, UA Little Rock (2017)
  • 1st place Societal Impact Award, UA Little Rock (2017)
  • 2nd place Personal Achievement Award, UA Little Rock (2017)
  • 1st place Best Graduate Project Award, UA Little Rock (2016)
  • 2nd place TechLaunch Entrepreneurial Team Projects Competition Award, UA Little Rock (2015)
  • Top-5 final year project award from Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA), Tribhuvan University (2013)

Experience

Research and industry experience

  • Principal Investigator, Meta Project Aria Gen 2 Research Partnership

    2026-present

    Virginia Tech

    Lead the lab's Aria Gen 2 wearable-security research program and set its research directions. Serve as primary liaison with Meta Reality Labs Research. Collaborate on all Aria-based lab projects and publications.

  • Founder and Sole Developer

    2024-present

    RGR Innovate LLC

    3 free, ad-free apps on Google Play: Earthquakes by RGR, SmartConvert, and Passport & ID Photo Studio.

  • Graduate Research Assistant

    Sep 2023-present

    Virginia Tech

    Systems-and-security research: embedded and IoT security, Android internals, verification of AI-assisted development, eBPF and the Linux kernel, and Aria Gen 2 wearable security.

  • Android Technical Lead & Mobile Architect

    Jun 2021-May 2023

    Perficient

    • Architected infrastructure to migrate 30M+ TD Ameritrade users (Android, iOS, web) to Charles Schwab
    • Led an 8-engineer Android team on a regulated codebase; set engineering and documentation standards
    • Optimized a shared C++ core and a mobile performance pipeline, helping cut production crash rate 40%
    • Migrated builds to Kotlin DSL, added static analysis, and restructured CI/CD for multi-flavor releases

  • Senior Android Developer

    Mar 2020-Feb 2021

    Viper Design LLC

    • Built the IoT stack for Shark robot vacuums, from embedded firmware to cross-platform mobile apps
    • Re-architected the Android app around modular design and dependency injection to improve testability
    • Improved stability through performance tuning, code shrinking, crash analytics, and automated testing

  • U.S. Army

    Apr 2019-Apr 2023

    United States Army

    Served four years while developing leadership and operational discipline alongside graduate study and engineering work. Scored in the 96th percentile on the Armed Forces Classification Test.

  • Early Career

    2008-2015

    Worked 3 years as Android Developer and before that worked 4 years as System/Network Admin after completing various Microsoft and Ethical Hacking trainings.