Research Interests

• The security, privacy, and societal impact of biomedical technologies
• Security and privacy issues of neural engineering systems
• Quantifying the amount of private information that can be extracted using an individual’s electrophysiological signals

Education

• PhD in Electrical Engineering, University of Washington
• MS in Electrical Engineering, University of Washington

Biography

Tamara Bonaci is an assistant teaching professor in the Khoury College of Computer Sciences at Northeastern University’s Seattle campus. She received her PhD from the University of Washington in 2015, where she specialized in the security and privacy of emerging biomedical technologies. Since earning her doctorate, she has been a part of a pre-public local Seattle startup that focuses on biometric methods.

Bonaci teaches security and privacy courses at Northeastern University’s Seattle campus and The University of Washington. She feels very strongly about diversity in engineering and hopes to lead and retain more women in the STEM field. In her free time, Tamara enjoys going to playgrounds and running.

About me:

What are the specifics of your educational background?

I received my MS and PhD degrees from the University of Washington, specializing in security and privacy. I was fortunate to work on several fun projects, from the security of wireless sensor networks to the security and privacy of robotic systems and brain-computer interfaces.

What is your research focus?

My research focuses on the security and privacy of emerging and forthcoming biomedical technologies. When I was just starting my PhD, I was planning to do communications-related research, but once I discovered security and privacy, I knew I found the area for me.

What courses do you teach?

• CS 5002: Discrete and Data Structures
• CS 5004: Object-Oriented Design
• CS 6410: Compilers
• CY 5010: Foundations of Information Assurance
• CY 5770: Software Vulnerabilities and Security