C
Dual-Model RAG for Grounded Student Support
The Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges — 42nd Annual CCSC Eastern Conference (CCSC Eastern 2026), Bowie State University, Bowie, MD, October 9-10, 2026.
2026
Si Chen
Professor of Computer Science
West Chester University of Pennsylvania
Carnegie R2 · Doctoral Universities – High Research Activity
25 University Ave. | Room 131 | West Chester, PA 19383
Tel: 610-436-6998 | Fax: 610-436-3530
Founder of Chen AI Solutions LLC
As a Professor in the Computer Science department at West Chester University of Pennsylvania, my current research interests focus primarily on integrating artificial intelligence (AI) with educational technologies to enhance personalized learning experiences and optimize instructional methodologies. My recent work on RAG-based LLM alignment for classroom use received the Best Paper Award at IEEE TALE 2025. Additionally, I am actively exploring novel approaches that combine voice transmission technologies with advanced AI models to improve speech-based human-computer interactions and communication systems.
Previously, my research has extensively covered innovative solutions in mobile sensing and smartphone-enabled crowdsourcing technologies, aiming at building cost-effective and scalable information infrastructures. My scholarly contributions have appeared in highly-regarded journals and conferences such as ACM SenSys, IEEE ICDCS, IEEE MASS, IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing (TMC), and IEEE IoT Journal. Notably, my paper on human voice detection technologies was awarded the Best Student Paper Award at the IEEE ICDCS conference.
I am an IEEE Senior Member and an active member of ACM.
Research featured in
Recent News
- 2026Awarded a PASSHE FPDC Grant ($9,372) for AI-powered analysis of programming submission trajectories
- 2026Served as Security Contest Chair at PACISE'26, running the CTF on the self-built BadgerCTF platform
- 2025Promoted to Full Professor of Computer Science
- 2025Best Paper Award at IEEE TALE 2025 (Macao, China) for RAG-based LLM alignment in the classroom
- 2025Google Scholar citations passed 1,000
- 2025Invited talk on AI-assisted learning at the SAPA-GP 2025 Annual Conference
Systems & Projects
Production systems I designed, built, and operate — serving real students and courses. More on GitHub.
Self-built CTF and security-lab platform powering hands-on labs in CSC 471/472, adopted by other faculty, and running the PACISE'25/'26 security contests. BadgerCTF+ adds in-browser x86 and ARM (AARCH32) compile/debug over SSH into per-student Docker sandboxes.
Competitive-programming judge built and operated for the department — has hosted 10 WCPC programming competitions since 2022, alongside a self-managed PrairieLearn deployment for course assessments.
LLM-based adaptive tutoring platform (supported by a WCU Provost Research Grant), used for AI-assisted tutoring and grading in courses such as CSC 241 Data Structures.
Kara is a privacy-first AI tutor for learning from books — no account, no tracking; LearningRev is its companion knowledge-wiki platform.
Segmented asynchronous lecture platform built during COVID to keep courses running remotely, hosted on Google Cloud.
Turns individual museum visits into personalized digital wikis, so curious learners can keep building on what they saw.
Systems & Hardware Engineering
- •Corundum NIC port — working Corundum mqnic port for the Alibaba AS02MC04 FPGA card (Xilinx XCKU3P), verified 2×10G SFP28 port-to-port, with a live GTY DRP transceiver tuning tool
- •Microsoft Catapult FPGA experiments — bring-up of the MSA-2020 (Intel Stratix 10 1SG280): DDR4 EMIF, PCIe DMA, 100G transceivers, and a Corundum mqnic NIC
- •WolfCode — AI-native programming-education IDE built as a fork of Zed (Rust), with a Cloudflare-Container Python sandbox backend
- •term-hub — one web page to see and control every terminal you own: tmux-aware, multi-client, cross-host
- •Smart Garden — real-time IoT monitoring with SensorPush sensors, camera streaming, and AI-powered bird detection
Selected Publications (35 papers, 1045 citations, h-index 11, i10-index 11)
C
Aligning LLMs for the Classroom with Knowledge-Based Retrieval: A Comparative RAG Study
The 2025 IEEE International Conference on Teaching, Assessment, and Learning for Engineering (TALE), Macao, China, December 4-7, 2025.
2025
6
C
The Future of Teaching: AI-Assisted Learning Platform
Proceedings of the 40th Annual Pennsylvania Association of Computer and Information Science Educators (PACISE '25), West Chester, PA, April 4-5, 2025.
2025
B
Network Security Empowered by Artificial Intelligence (Chapter: Securing Augmented Reality Applications)
Book Chapter, Network Security Empowered by Artificial Intelligence, Springer.
2024
1
C
Improving Students' Programming Skills by Implementing a University-Wide Programming Contest
38th Annual Conference of The Pennsylvania Association of Computer and Information Science Educators, East Stroudsburg, PA, 2023.
2023
J
User-Level Parallel File System: Case Studies and Performance
Concurrency and Computation: Practice and Experience, 2023.
2023
3
C
Extended Berkeley Packet Filter (eBPF): The New Swiss Knife for Cybersecurity Education
37th Annual Conference of The Pennsylvania Association of Computer and Information Science Educators, Clarion University (Virtual), 2022.
2022
J
A Privacy-Preserving Medical Data Sharing Scheme Based on Blockchain
IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics, 2022.
2022
102
J
ARSpy: Breaking Location-Based Multi-player Augmented Reality Application for User Location Tracking
IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing (TMC), 2022.
2022
72
C
ADA: An Application-Conscious Data Acquirer for Visual Molecular Dynamics
The 50th International Conference on Parallel Processing (ICPP-2021), Chicago, IL, 2021.
2021
1
J
TTSVD: An Efficient Sparse Decision Making Model with Two-way Trust Recommendation in the AI Enabled IoT Systems
IEEE Internet of Things Journal (IoT), 2021.
2021
53
C
BORA: A Bag Optimizer for Robotic Analysis
SC20: The International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage, and Analysis (SC'20), Atlanta, GA, November 9, 2020.
2020
8
P
Containerizing CS Learning Environments
Preprint, 2020.
2020
C
SHC: A Method for Stackable Parallel File Systems in Userspace
21st IEEE International Conference on High Performance Computing and Communications (HPCC/SmartCity/DSS 2019), Zhangjiajie, China, August 10, 2019.
2019
1
C
Computing Infrastructures to Support Cybersecurity Education
The 34th Annual Spring Conference of the Pennsylvania Computer and Information Science Educators (PACISE'19), Millersville, PA, April 12, 2019.
2019
1
C
SRVoice: A Robust Sparse Representation-based Liveness Detection System
IEEE 24th International Conference on Parallel and Distributed Systems (IEEE ICPADS 2018), Singapore, December 11, 2018.
2018
13
C
Defending Against Voice Spoofing: A Robust Software-based Liveness Detection System
The 15th International Conference on Mobile Ad-hoc and Sensor Systems (IEEE MASS 2018), Chengdu, China, October 9-12, 2018.
2018
43
C
DuoFS: A Hybrid Storage System Balancing Energy-Efficiency, Reliability, and Performance
26th Euromicro International Conference on Parallel, Distributed and Network-based Processing (PDP 2018), Cambridge, UK, March 21-23, 2018.
Paper
Acceptance ratio = 29.3%.
2018
9
J
PriWhisper+: An Enhanced Acoustic Short-Range Communication System for Smartphones
IEEE Internet of Things Journal (IoT), 2018.
2018
18
C
You Can Hear But You Cannot Steal: Defending Against Voice Impersonation Attacks on Smartphones
The 37th IEEE International Conference on Distributed Computing Systems (ICDCS'17), Atlanta, GA, June 5-8, 2017.
2017
184
B
Encyclopedia of Wireless Networks (Section: Security, Privacy, and Trust)
Book Chapter, Encyclopedia of Wireless Networks, Springer.
2017
2
C
Quality of Experience Augment Reality System (Q-CARS): Poster Abstract
The 2nd ACM/IEEE International Conference on Internet-of-Things Design and Implementation (IoTDI 17), Pittsburgh, PA, 2017.
2017
1
J
Securing Acoustics-Based Short-Range Communication Systems: An Overview
Journal of Communications and Information Network, 2016.
2016
3
C
Rise of the Indoor Crowd: Reconstruction of Building Interior View via Mobile Crowdsourcing
The 13th ACM Conference on Embedded Networked Sensor Systems (SenSys'15), Seoul, South Korea, November 1-4, 2015.
2015
76
C
CrowdMap: Accurate Reconstruction of Indoor Floor Plan from Crowdsourced Sensor-Rich Videos
The 35th IEEE International Conference on Distributed Computing Systems (ICDCS'15), Columbus, Ohio, June 29 - July 2, 2015, pp. 1-10.
2015
122
C
All Your Location Are Belong to Us: Breaking Mobile Social Networks for Automated User Location Tracking
The 15th ACM International Symposium on Mobile Ad Hoc Networking and Computing (MobiHoc'14), Philadelphia, PA, August 11-14, 2014, pp. 43-52.
2014
191
J
PriWhisper: Enabling Keyless Secure Acoustic Communication for Smartphones
IEEE Internet of Things Journal (IoT), 2014.
2014
102
C
Enabling Private and Non-intrusive Smartphone Calls with LipTalk
IEEE Conference on Computer Communications Workshops (INFOCOM WKSHPS), Toronto, Canada, 2014.
2014
1
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The Power of Indoor Crowd: Indoor 3D Maps from the Crowd
IEEE Conference on Computer Communications Workshops (INFOCOM WKSHPS), Toronto, Canada, 2014.
2014
6
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AcousAuth: An Acoustic-based Mobile Application for User Authentication
IEEE Conference on Computer Communications Workshops (INFOCOM WKSHPS), Toronto, Canada, 2014.
2014
5
C
Network Simulation for Advanced HF Communications Engineering
The 12th International Conference on Ionospheric Radio Systems and Techniques (IRST'12), York, UK, May 15-17, 2012, pp. 45.
2012
9
C
Classification Model of Seed Cotton Grade Based on Least Square Support Vector Machine Regression Method
The 6th IEEE International Conference on Information and Automation for Sustainability (ICIAfS'12), Beijing, China, 2012, pp. 198--202.
2012
9
C
Movement and Deformation of Virtual Object Based on Argument Passing Method
The IEEE International Conference on Virtual Environments, Human-Computer Interfaces and Measurement Systems (VECIMS'12), Tianjin, China, 2012, pp. 103-106.
2012
1
C
Simulation and Models on Control of Pests with Ozone in Greenhouses Plant
The IASTED International Conference on Modeling, Simulation, and Identification (MSI'11), Pittsburgh, PA, November 7-9, 2011.
2011
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Research on the k-Coverage Local Wireless Network and Its Communication Coordination Mechanism Design
The 5th International Conference on Computer and Computing Technologies in Agriculture (CCTA '11), Beijing, China, October 29-31, 2011.
2011
2
Media Appearances
- In December 2023, I was interviewed by KYW Newsradio to discuss cybersecurity awareness and recent data breach incidents, highlighting the importance of robust security measures in today's digital landscape.
Invited Talks
- In 2025, I delivered an invited talk titled "How I Use AI to Assist Learning: From Knowledge Acquisition to Knowledge Reinforcement" at the SAPA-GP 2025 Annual Conference (AI and Data Science Track) (Conference Brochure, p.19)
- In May 2021, Dr. Liu Cui and I delivered an invited talk titled "ARSpy: Breaking Location-based, Multi-player Augmented Reality Application for User Location Tracking" based on my ARSpy paper, at the Centers of Academic Excellence (CAE) Forum [Link].
Honors and Awards
PASSHE Faculty Professional Development Council (FPDC) Grant for "Reconstructing Student Thought Processes Through AI-Powered Analysis of Programming Submission Trajectories" ($9,372) — 2026
Best Paper Award — IEEE TALE, 2025
WCU Research Alternate Workload Assignment (AWA) Award for "Developing a High-Fidelity, Zero-Distortion Voice" — 2025
WCU Student Engagement Award ($5,999, PI) — 2023
Best Paper Award — PACISE, 2022
IEEE Senior Member — 2020
Best Paper Award — PACISE, 2019
Google Cloud Research Grant — 2019
WCU Outstanding Faculty Recipients — 2016-2017, 2017-2018
Best Student Paper Award — IEEE ICDCS, 2017
WCU Research in Mathematics and the Sciences (RIMS) Award — 2016-2017
Microsoft Research Azure Research Grant — 2016-2017
Student Travel Grant Awards — IEEE ICDCS, 2015
National University Student Innovation Program Award — 2009-2010
Services
Professional Service
- •Guest Editor for Special Issue "Emerging Sensor Technologies for Enhancing IoT Security and Privacy", MDPI Sensors, 2025
- •Guest Editor for Collection on Discover Networks, Springer Nature, 2025
- •Advisory Board Member for the Cybersecurity program, Community College of Philadelphia, 2023–present
- •Research Fellow at INTI International University, Malaysia, 2023–2025
- •Security Contest Chair for PACISE'26 (April 10, 2026) — The 41st annual Spring Conference hosted by Shippensburg University; 7 teams competed across 10 Web / Crypto / Binary Exploitation challenges [contest]
- •Security Contest Chair for PACISE'25 (April 4-5, 2025) — The 40th annual Spring Conference hosted by WCU CS Department, with the theme "Cybersecurity in Education" [contest]
- •Session Chair at IEEE MILCOM: "Large Language Models" (Track 5.10) at MILCOM 2025; "Wireless Network Security" and "Signal Intelligence" at MILCOM 2023, 2024; earlier sessions at MILCOM 2016–2018 ("IoT Device Security", "Wireless Network Security", "Network Security Technology") and SEKE 2018, 2019 ("Data Intensive Service-based Application")
- •Technical Program Committee (TPC) for IEEE MILCOM (2016–2027), IEEE TALE (2025–2026), IEEE ICCCN 2023
- •Program Committee for CIS 2021, FCS 2020, AFEC 2020, MobiQuitous 2019, IEEE CPSCom 2019, ACM/IEEE IoTDI 2019
- •IEEE Admission and Advancement (A&A) Committee, Panelist reviewing IEEE Senior Membership applications worldwide, 2020–present
- •IEEE Senior Member, 2020–present
- •Regular Reviewer for IEEE TMC, TDSC, TPDS, TSC, IoT Journal, Network Magazine; INFOCOM, ACM CCS, ICDCS, MobiCom, MobiHoc, AsiaCCS, ESORICS; Computer Networks, MDPI Sensors, Electronic Research Archive, Journal on Information Security, SCIENCE CHINA Information Sciences
University Service
- •Co-Director, National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education (CAE-CD) program designated by the NSA, 2021–present — led redesignation compliance, the transition to competency-based education, and the concurrent B.S. + Computer Security Certificate pathway
- •Assistant Chair, Department of Computer Science, 2023–2025
- •WCU Research & Creative Activity Advisory Board (RCAAB), 2023–present
- •WCU Committee for Advising Excellence, 2020–present
- •CSM Faculty Proposal Review Committee, 2022–2024
- •Navigate Faculty Trainer Council, 2023–present
- •Department Evaluation Committee: Member 2021–2022, Chair 2023
- •Industrial Advisory Council (IAC), Department of Computer Science, 2021–2024
- •Graduate Coordinator for Computer Science, 2020–2023
- •Computer System Coordinator/System Administrator for Computer Science, 2019–2025
- •Host of 10 WCPC programming competitions since 2022 on the self-built WCPC Online Judge; director of the department's PEPI-funded peer tutoring program for introductory courses
- •Co-Advisor for WCU Cybersecurity Club, 2020–2025 [link] — key organizer of the HackWCU hackathon (200+ participants)
- •Advisor for WCU Computer Science Club, 2017–2021
- •Co-Advisor for Bin Lu Women in Computer Science Club, 2017–2021
- •Coach for ICPC ACM Programming Competition, 2016, 2017
Teaching
Academic Year 2025-2026: I am on sabbatical leave.
Previous Courses
Software Security (CSC 472)
Fall 2024Fall 2023Fall 2022Fall 2021Fall 2020Fall 2019Fall 2018Fall 2017
Modern Malware Analysis (CSC 471)
Spring 2025Spring 2024Spring 2023Spring 2022Spring 2021Spring 2020Spring 2019Spring 2018
iOS App Development (CSC 477/496)
Fall 2023
Graduate Advanced Seminar (CSC 600)
Spring 2025
Graduate APTs · ransomware · reverse engineering · memory forensics
Graduate ROP · heap/stack exploitation · kernel security · IDA/Ghidra
Student Mentoring
- •Graduate research mentee: Priyanka Logasubramanian — voice conversion models for the project "Developing a High-Fidelity, Zero-Distortion Voice"
- •M.S. thesis committee: Matt Boraske, "The Efficacy of Fine-tuning Large Language Models for Interpersonal Conflict Resolution", defended April 2024
- •M.S. thesis committee: Akash Kumar, "Playing Pong Using Q-Learning", defended December 2021