Cynthia Kuo

Associate Professor of the Practice, Information Networking Institute

Bio

Cynthia Kuo is an Associate Professor of the Practice at Carnegie Mellon University. At CMU's Information Networking Institute, she bridges the gap between academia and industry through real-world practicum projects and a forthcoming program for technical entrepreneurs. Prior to her faculty role, Cynthia developed innovative products and services in startups. She scouted and funded healthtech startups at Infineon's innovation center.

She founded Vibrado Technologies, a venture-backed startup that created the first truly smart apparel. She led user experience at Red Giant, a financial services company that pioneered giving consumers real-time control over their payment cards. Cynthia also designed the first version of Google Safe Browsing, the first major phishing warning in a browser. Today, Safe Browsing protects over five billion devices each day as an integral part of Chrome, Safari, and Firefox. Cynthia earned her Ph.D. in Engineering & Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon and B.S. in Symbolic Systems from Stanford.  

Education

Ph.D. Engineering & Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University, 2008
M.S. Engineering & Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University, 2006
B.S. Symbolic Systems, Stanford University, 2000

Research

Areas of Interest: sensors, usable security, product design, entrepreneurship, health tech