About Me
Hello, I am Zhi Lu (路直). I am a Research Fellow in the School of Computing at the National University of Singapore, working with Prof. Jiaheng Zhang.
My research focuses on cryptography, privacy computing, and trustworthy AI. In particular, I study zero-knowledge proofs, secure aggregation, anonymous credentials, distributed key generation, and anonymous accountability. I am interested in building security mechanisms that make privacy practical, verification efficient, and accountability compatible with anonymity.
If you would like to reach me for research collaboration or academic discussion, please email zhilu@nus.edu.sg or luzhi@ieee.org.
Academic Advisors
- Ph.D. Advisor: Prof. Songfeng Lu, Huazhong University of Science and Technology.
- M.S. Advisor: Prof. Jianxin Zhu, Huazhong University of Science and Technology.
- B.S. Advisor: Prof. Xin Yao, Southern University of Science and Technology.
News
- [2026] Program Committee member for USENIX Security 2027.
- [2026] A3DKG was accepted to NDSS 2027.
- [2026] Joined the School of Computing at the National University of Singapore as a Research Fellow.
- [2025] Selected for the CAST Young Talent Support Program, Ph.D. Student Special Program.
Publications
Published and accepted papers. My name is shown in bold; * denotes equal contribution.
- A3DKG: Anonymous and Accountable Asynchronous Distributed Key Generation
- Asynchronous Random Committee Election for Preprocessing in Asynchronous Distributed Key Generation
- LZKSA: Lattice-Based Special Zero-Knowledge Proofs for Secure Aggregation's Input Verification
- WhiteCloak: How to Hold Anonymous Malicious Clients Accountable in Secure Aggregation?
- Split Aggregation: Lightweight Privacy-Preserving Federated Learning Resistant to Byzantine Attacks
- FLSeg: Enhancing Privacy and Robustness in Federated Learning under Heterogeneous Data via Model Segmentation
- Anonymous Identity Authentication Integrating Zero Trust and Zero-Knowledge Proofs
- HINT: Hidden-Intent Voting without Revoting under Coercion
- Robust and Verifiable Privacy Federated Learning
- Lightweight Byzantine-Robust and Privacy-Preserving Federated Learning
- α-SAV: Generalized Weighted Input Verification for Secure Aggregation in Federated Learning
- RIDE: Robust and Decentralized Federated Learning with Input Validation
- Adaptive Differential Privacy via Gradient Components in Medical Federated Learning
- Split Learning Optimized For The Medical Field: Reducing Communication Overhead
- Bio-OFL: Biomedical Privacy and Auditable One-shot Federated Learning
- VSDA: Privacy-Preserving Verifiable Secure Distributed Aggregation for Multi-Center Clinical and Genomic Data
- FLAT: An Efficient Federated Learning Scheme with Adaptive Topology and Secure Aggregation
- Practical and Robust Privacy-Preserving K-means Clustering Protocols with GPU Acceleration
- Delete but Not Gone: Reactivation of Neural Network Watermarks
- WINK: A Semi-honest Secure Multi-party Computation Framework with Efficient Comparison Protocol
- Watermarking for Model Ownership Verification: Invisible at Deployment, Activated by Updates
- FAIR-MPC: Secure and Auditable SMPC for Anonymous Financial Collaboration
- FedDiT: Federated Learning by Distillation Token Enhanced Vision Transformer
- VeriChroma: Ownership Verification for Federated Models via RGB Filters
- A PUF Based Audio Fingerprint Based for Device Authentication and Tamper Location
- Application Research of Vertical Federated Learning Technology in Banking Risk Control Model Strategy
- A Survey on Asynchronous Distributed Key Generation Technology
- Secure and Privacy-preserving Data-sharing Framework based on Blockchain Technology for Al-Najaf/Iraq Oil Refinery
Papers Under Review
Manuscripts currently under review.
- ProofOut: Did Your Data Really Stay Out of LLM Training?
- DECOY: Decoy Reuse for Private Vector Search
- SzFL: Secure Zero-Knowledge Verification for Federated Learning
- AVSA: Accountable and Verifiable Secure Aggregation
- Signature-free Lattice-Based Asynchronous Distributed Key Generation without PKI Setup
- PQADKG: Post-Quantum Asynchronous Distributed Key Generation
- Asynchronous Distributed Key Generation with Flexible Threshold and Batched Key Derivation
- Real-World Anchored Watermarking with Lattice-Based Aggregation in Federated Learning
- Coherent Semantic Watermarking: Model-Auditable Geometric Ownership Verification for Multimodal Large Language Models
- A Novel Privacy-Preserving Support Vector Machine Inference Method without a Trusted Third Party
- A Blockchain-Based Scalable Verification and Distributed Storage Architecture for Dynamic Data Sharing in Industrial Systems
- Communication-Efficient Adaptive Federated Learning with Maximum Stability
- PoRn: A Secure, Resilient, and Energy-Efficient Blockchain Consensus for Large-Scale Distributed and Industrial IoT Systems
- QSVSimplePir: Verifying the Query Structure of Medical Private Information Retrieval
- Privacy-Preserving Medical Insurance Claim Verification Scheme
- Privacy-Preserving Federated Learning in the Gradient Lock
Patents
Patent records related to industrial control security, cryptographic infrastructure, information extraction, aggregation verification, and biomedical privacy.
- A domestic-cryptography-based industrial-control data security protection system and methodApplicants: Shenzhen Research Institute of Huazhong University of Science and Technology; Huazhong University of Science and Technology.
- A data adapter and data adaptation methodApplicants: Huazhong University of Science and Technology; South-Central Minzu University.
- A stream encryption machine for numerical control systems and working methodApplicants: Shenzhen Research Institute of Huazhong University of Science and Technology; Huazhong University of Science and Technology.
- Cryptographic infrastructure and control method for numerical control systems based on domestic cryptographic algorithmsApplicant: Huazhong University of Science and Technology.
- Information extraction method, system, server, and storage mediumApplicant: Southern University of Science and Technology.
- Access-control-agent-based access control system for numerical control systems and working processApplicants: Shenzhen Research Institute of Huazhong University of Science and Technology; Huazhong University of Science and Technology.
- A lightweight encryption method for industrial-control network transmissionApplicants: Shenzhen Research Institute of Huazhong University of Science and Technology; Huazhong University of Science and Technology.
- Identity adapter and identity authentication system for numerical control equipment based on identity adaptersApplicants: Shenzhen Research Institute of Huazhong University of Science and Technology; Huazhong University of Science and Technology.
- Aggregation verification method, apparatus, device, and storage medium for distributed dataApplicant: Wuhan Ding'an Huasheng Technology Co., Ltd.
- Intelligent recognition method, apparatus, device, and medium for electrical drawingsApplicants: Huazhong University of Science and Technology; Wuhan Ding'an Huasheng Technology Co., Ltd.
- Privacy-auditable one-shot federated learning method and apparatus for biomedical dataApplicant: Wuhan Ding'an Huasheng Technology Co., Ltd.
Standards
National and industry standards in digital twins, smart factories, numerical control systems, and trusted protection.
- Information technology—Digital twin—Part 1: General requirementsIssuing bodies: State Administration for Market Regulation; Standardization Administration of China.
- Interconnection interface specification of numerical control machine tools in smart factoryIssuing bodies: State Administration for Market Regulation; Standardization Administration of China.
- Trusted protection of machine-tool numerical control systems, Part 1: Testing requirementsIssuing bodies: State Administration for Market Regulation; Standardization Administration of China.
- Trusted protection of machine-tool numerical control systems, Part 2: Testing requirementsIssuing bodies: State Administration for Market Regulation; Standardization Administration of China.
- Trusted protection of machine-tool numerical control systems, Part 3: Testing requirementsIssuing bodies: State Administration for Market Regulation; Standardization Administration of China.
- Security and trusted architecture specification for open numerical control systemsZhongguancun Trusted Computing Industry Alliance group standard.
- General security and trusted technical requirements for numerical-control-equipment interconnection and interoperabilityZhongguancun Trusted Computing Industry Alliance group standard.
- Security and trusted testing and verification specification for open numerical control systemsZhongguancun Trusted Computing Industry Alliance group standard.
Hosted Projects
Research and innovation projects connecting security research with applied systems.
- Industrial-control protocol simulator with Qi-AnxinA Phase I project organized by the Cyberspace Administration of China and the Cybersecurity Association of China, developed in collaboration with Qi-Anxin for industrial-control protocol simulation.
- GPS positioning topic issued by DiDiGuided student work on a DiDi-issued GPS positioning topic, extending security and data analysis experience to real-world location-related scenarios.
- Fuzzy vector matching with HuaweiA Phase III project developed with Huawei, focusing on fuzzy vector matching and privacy-aware data matching technologies.
- AI-assisted automated data classification and grading issued by TopsecGuided student work on a Topsec-issued topic for automated data classification and grading with artificial intelligence.
- Young Talent Support Program, Ph.D. Student Special ProgramA Ph.D. student support project under the China Association for Science and Technology and the China Computer Federation, with approximately 3,000 selected participants nationwide in the first phase.
- Graduate innovation research projectUniversity-level graduate innovation funding supporting research in security, privacy, and trustworthy systems.
Education & Appointment
Education, advisors, research focus, and current academic appointment.
- Research Fellow, National University of SingaporeSchool of Computing. Joined Prof. Jiaheng Zhang's group to work on security, privacy, and trustworthy data systems.
- Ph.D., Huazhong University of Science and TechnologyCyberspace Security. Industrial Internet Security Laboratory and Hubei Key Laboratory of Cyberspace Security for Civil-Military Integration. Research on privacy computing, zero-knowledge proofs, anonymous credentials, and secure aggregation.
- M.S., Huazhong University of Science and TechnologyCyberspace Security. Research on industrial Internet security, including NC-Link, industrial control protocols, and security mechanisms for numerical control systems.
- B.S., Southern University of Science and TechnologyComputer Science and Technology. Undergraduate research focused on natural language processing technologies.
Academic Services
Journal reviewing, conference reviewing, and program committee service.
- Program Committee
- Reviewer
Honors and Awards
Selected honors are highlighted first.
- CAST Young Talent Support Program, Ph.D. Student Special ProgramAwarded by the China Association for Science and Technology and the China Computer Federation.
- Outstanding Student Certificate, Cybersecurity School Student Innovation Funding ProgramAwarded by the Cyberspace Administration-led program and the China Cybersecurity Association.
- National Scholarship for Doctoral StudentsHuazhong University of Science and Technology.
- National Scholarship for Doctoral StudentsHuazhong University of Science and Technology.
- Outstanding GraduateHuazhong University of Science and Technology.
- First-Class Doctoral Academic ScholarshipHuazhong University of Science and Technology.
- Science and Technology Innovation ScholarshipHuazhong University of Science and Technology.
- Merit Student HonorHuazhong University of Science and Technology.
- Second-Class Doctoral Academic ScholarshipHuazhong University of Science and Technology.
- Science and Technology Innovation ScholarshipHuazhong University of Science and Technology.
- Merit Student HonorHuazhong University of Science and Technology.
- First-Class Doctoral Academic ScholarshipHuazhong University of Science and Technology.
- First-Class Doctoral Academic ScholarshipHuazhong University of Science and Technology.
- Second-Class Master's Academic ScholarshipHuazhong University of Science and Technology.
- First-Class Master's Academic ScholarshipHuazhong University of Science and Technology.
- Outstanding Graduate, School of Computer ScienceSouthern University of Science and Technology.
- Outstanding Graduate, Zhiren CollegeSouthern University of Science and Technology.
- Meritorious Winner, Mathematical Contest in ModelingOrganized by COMAP.
- Undergraduate academic scholarshipsSouthern University of Science and Technology.