About Me

Hello!

I’m Abhilash. I’m currently pursuing a Master of Science degree in Computer Science at Columbia University in the City of New York, where I am also employed part-time as a Graduate Research Assistant. As a research assistant at Columbia, I work with Professor Dr. Henning Schulzrinne on designing the next generation of secure digital ID solutions that can be deployed in parts of our society where there is minimal or no access to modern digital infrastructure.

I completed my undergraduate degree - Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science and Engineering at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham University, India. I passed out during 2020 with a cumulative GPA of 9.51 / 10, ranking seventh in my department of over 380 students. I was awarded “First Class with Distinction” by the Department of Computer Science at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham University for outstanding academic qualifications, research work, social contributions, leadership skills, and securing internships while pursuing an undergraduate degree at the University.

I’m a connoisseur of computer networks, network security, software-defined networking, network programmability, cloud computing, and software development. I developed an interest in these fields during my early years of UG. My passion for computer networks led me to receive the best research paper award for one of my papers on software-defined networking at an international conference. As a consulting engineer at Cisco, I specialize in securing large-scale enterprise-grade networks using advanced network security technologies that include intrusion prevention systems, firewalls, email and web security appliances, cloud-based DNS security solutions, endpoint security systems, network access control systems and policy administration servers. At Cisco, I additionally play the role of a lead developer in the Cisco Security Research and Innovation Framework established to perform research and build tools to enhance security and increase automation. In recognition of my distinguished contributions to Cisco, I’ve received over thirteen cash awards from senior engineers, architects and executive presidents of Cisco within my first year of employment after completing my undergraduate degree. My team and I have had a podium finish at the Cisco SecCon CTF (Capture the Flag) contest for two consecutive years (2020, 2021), and we were placed in the first position globally during the 2021 edition of the CTF.

Apart from my career in Computer Science, I produce music professionally. I’m an independent artist and have published original music on all music streaming platforms including Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music. I specialize in the production of alternative, rock, orchestral and acoustic music. Checkout some of my music by clicking on ‘The Other Side’ on the navigation bar of this page.