Hi, I’m Madhu. I completed my PhD at Carnegie Mellon University this year and am currently exploring ways to contribute to Web3. My final thesis project led me to work on blockchain scaling and I have been very excited about this space since then. During my doctoral research, I proposed PayPlace, a Layer-2 protocol for economically scaling marketplace-style cryptocurrency (micro)payment transactions between consumers and merchants. I subsequently used this protocol to design Datanet, a practical and easily-deployable system for crypto-based authentication and payments in last-mile networks, facilitating seamless internet connectivity without locking users into long-term contracts. As part of my doctoral study on mechanisms for incentive-compatible user-driven resource allocation in wireless networks, I’ve also worked on pricing optimizations for cellular dataplans and auction-based resource allocation methods for 5G. I was co-advised by Prof. Patrick Tague and Prof. Carlee Joe-Wong and defended my thesis on December 2020. My thesis committee was composed of Prof. Patrick Tague, Prof. Carlee Joe-Wong, Prof. Aron Laszka and Dr. Anand Raman.

Prior to starting my PhD in 2016, I was a software engineer at AWS and before that, at Barclays Investment Bank. I did my undergrad in ECE at Rutgers Univeristy (summa cum laude), class of 2013.