Daniel Votipka Receives John Karat Award

Daniel Votipka, a fourth-year doctoral student, recently received the 2020 John Karat Usable Privacy and Security Student  Research Award, in acknowledgment of his excellence in research, mentorship and community service.  

The award has been instituted by the Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security (SOUPS) in honor of John Karat, an internationally recognized researcher in the field of human-computer interaction, for his contributions to the usable privacy and security community and his dedication to mentoring students.

Votipka’s research focuses on computer security, with an emphasis on the human factors affecting security professionals. He is interested in understanding the processes and mental models of professionals to best leverage human intelligence against challenging computer security problems.  

As the award criteria states, the selection for the award is based on research in usable privacy and security, efforts to mentor others, and community service for usable privacy and security. 

“I'm thrilled that Dan was recognized with this prestigious award, which is so well deserved,” said Votipka’s adviser, Associate Professor Michelle Mazurek. “Dan has conducted really top-notch research and has contributed so much to the SOUPS community, and it's wonderful to see this recognized.”

The award was announced at the 2020 Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security (SOUPS), which was  conducted online due to COVID-19 pandemic.