Asst. Professor Jakob Eriksson

A few words about my background. I grew up in Sweden, got my Master's in CS at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. Wasted a few years on the dot-com boom and subsequent bust, and then joined the Ph.D. program at U.C. Riverside, from where I graduated in 2006.

After that, it was off to MIT for a two-year postdoc, and now I'm here at UIC, as an assistant professor. My wife works one flight of stairs below me.

If you like pretty, and sometimes shocking, pictures take a look at our travel pics from 5 months on the road, in some of the poorest countries in the world: Homeless and Unemployed

Research

My research interests lie primarily in networked computer systems, including wireless network performance, mobile sensing and network security. In the mobile systems area, some of my work includes vehicular WiFi connectivity, and mobile sensing for traffic monitoring and road condition assessment. Since moving to UIC, I am focusing on two different projects, and two very different types of networks.

The first project has to do with computer networks -- specifically security and reliability in networks that anybody can join. I call such a network a `xenonet', or a `network of strangers'. A popular example of such a network is the open WiFi access point. Xenonets are fraught with security problems. For example, what's to stop someone from using your access point to exchange copyrighted or to coordinate illegal activities? My work in this area aims not to shut strangers out, but to ensure the safety and integrity of the owner while still allowing strangers to use the network.

The second project has to do with public transit networks. Today, using public transit requires a high level of transit-riding expertise, and for all but he simplest routes, a significant amount of luck. Services such as Google Transit greatly improve the situation, but much remains to be done. The goal of TransitGenie is to provide real-time, personalized and context aware public transit navigation support, initially for the Chicago area. Think of it as a GPS navigator for public transit.

The Computer Science Department Wiki System

I am one of the instigators of the new departmental wiki system. If you are a CS faculty, staff or student and have any questions about the wiki, need help configuring your own web, need a TWiki plugin installed, or anything else wiki related, I would be happy to help. My NotesOnTWiki page will gradually fill up with little hints about how to use the wiki system.