Bio

Brief Bio

Dr. Parakh is presently a Professor of Computer Science at Kennesaw State University (KSU). He joined KSU in Fall 2022 as the inaugural Director of the new Computer Science Ph.D. Program. Since then he has overseen setting up of policies and procedures for the CS PhD program including curriculum, funding, admissions, milestones, retention, appeals, disputes, etc. The program has grown tremendously in enrollment as well as quality and on target to reach 100 students within 4 years of its inception. Within the last 3 years at KSU, Dr. Parakh has secured over $1.1 million in federal funding and received KSU's Outstanding Research and Creativity award in 2024.

Before joining Kennesaw State in 2022, he was the Mutual of Omaha Distinguished Chair of Information Science and Technology and Associate Professor of Cybersecurity at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO). He also served as the Director of the Nebraska University Center for Cybersecurity (NebraskaCYBER) - the Nebraska University wide center for cybersecurity research, education, and outreach. At UNO, he was the undergraduate cybersecurity program chair from 2014-2022 and led the NSA's Center of Academic Excellence (CAE) in Cyber Operations (CAE CO) and Cyber Defense (CAE CD) designations. He also helped start the MS in cybersecurity program in 2012, and the cybersecurity graduate certificate at UNO. Dr. Parakh served as co-PI for the NSF Scholarship for Service program (SfS program) since 2012 until he left UNO and was the recipient of the 2017 UNO Alumni Outstanding Teaching Award.

Dr. Parakh's current research interests include quantum information science, AI/ML augmented systems for quantum education, quantum networking, and post-quantum/quantum-resistant cryptography. Specifically, he has worked on problems in quantum key distribution, topological optimizations for quantum networking, distributed systems security, internet voting, low-energy cryptosystems, sensor network security, and social networks modeling. He was the Director of the Quantum Information Science and Communications laboratory at UNO. He has been a PI/Co-PI on NSF, NSA, NASA, Dept. of State, and the Nebraska University foundation grants totaling over $4.5 million and a researcher on another $1.7 million worth of grants. He has started several international collaborative initiatives and was inducted as a faculty member in the International Studies program at UNO. Dr. Parakh is an active participant in the NSA's CAE community and has acted as mentor and reviewer for universities aspiring to become CAE CD and CO designated.

Dr. Parakh comes from Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India. He received his Bachelor's in Technology in Electronics and Communications Engineering from NIT (formerly REC) Jalandhar, India, his MS in Electrical Engineering from Louisiana State University and his PhD in Computer Science from Oklahoma State University.