Alumnus Matthew Stamm Named to Popular Science’s Brilliant 10 of 2021 List

Alumnus Matthew Stamm (Ph.D. 2012) has been selected from among hundreds of successful early-career scientists and engineers as one of Popular Science’s “Brilliant 10 of 2021.” This annual award recognizes the most innovative researchers who are discovering new approaches to a variety of cross-disciplinary challenges, including climate change, clean water, surgical pathology and adaptive technology. Dr. Stamm’s research, entitled “Dusting for Fingerprints to Find Deepfakes,” addresses the increasing problem of alterations to digital objects through AI.

Dr. Stamm received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He earned his Ph.D. in 2012 after being advised by Distinguished University Professor K. J. Ray Liu, to whom he has said “I want to thank you so much for the mentoring and guidance you have given me. The training you gave me in graduate school and the example you have set as a researcher have profoundly shaped my career. Thank you so much for helping put my career on the path for this to be possible.”

Dr. Stamm is an Associate Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Drexel University College of Engineering, which he joined in 2013. He leads the Multimedia and Information Security Lab (MISL) and conducts research on signal processing, machine learning and information security. The group specializes in a rising branch of information security called information forensics. This area focuses on techniques to detect multimedia forgeries such as falsified images and videos, ie. “deepfakes”, as well as anti-forensic countermeasures that can prevent forgeries from being disguised. Other research interests include signal processing, machine learning, adversarial dynamics, and image and video processing. His research is funded by multiple government entities, including the National Science Foundation, DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), ARO (Army Research Office), and DFBA (Defense Forensics and Biometrics Agency).

While at UMD, Stamm received a number of honors, including the 2012 Clark School Dean’s Doctoral Research Award, the Ann G. Wylie Dissertation Fellowship, and a Distinguished Teaching Assistant Award. Prior to beginning graduate studies at UMD, he worked as an engineer at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. In addition, he has received the 2016 NSF CAREER Award, and a 2017 Drexel University College of Engineering Outstanding Early-Career Research Achievement Award.

Published September 29, 2021