Research Interests

My research focuses on developing edge AI and advanced optimization techniques for efficient, reliable, and adaptive intelligent systems.  I am particularly interested in cyber-physical systems, decentralized IoT, and software-defined networks, and in applying these technologies to challenging real-world environments such as smart agriculture, digital health, and smart infrastructure.

Student Recruiting

I am recruiting 1–2 fully funded Ph.D. students to join the Intelligent Cyber-Physical Systems (iCPS) Lab at Kennesaw State University starting in Spring 2027.  To apply, please send CV, Transcripts, a brief statement of research interests, publications, or project portfolio to xtao@kennesaw.edu by June 30th, 2026. 

News

01/15/26: Our paper "iCrop+: On-Device AI for Crop Disease Detection with Adaptive Offloading over LoRa" has been accepted for publication in ACM Transactions on Cyber-Physical Systems. 

01/15/26: Our paper "AgriSmart: An IoT-enabled framework for agricultural resource optimization Reference" is published in the Elsevier Journal of Computer Communications (COMCOM). 

01/12/26: Md. Fazle Rabbi Rahat has joined the lab as a Master's student. Welcome, Fazle! 

01/12/26: Sumit Howlader Dipro has joined the lab as a Ph.D. student. Welcome, Sumit!

10/18/25: TPC member of WWW 2025. 

08/04/25: Started a new role as faculty in Information Technology at KSU!

04/10/25: Received the Outstanding Graduate Student Award from the Pigman College of Engineering at UKY!

03/25/25: Glad to receive the Outstanding Graduate Student Award and Best Student Paper Award from CS Department at UKY.

03/21/25: Our demo “iCrop+: An Edge-boosted Crop Disease Detection System via TinyML and LoRa Communication” receive the Best Demo Runner Up Paper Award at PerCom 2025!

02/12/25: Excited to receive the NSF student travel grant to attend the IEEE PerCom Conference in Washington DC!

01/27/25: Our work “iCrop+: An Edge-boosted Crop Disease Detection System via TinyML and LoRa Communication” has been accept in the IEEE PerCom demo track 2025!

12/17/24: Glad for the NSF CPS Rising Star Recognization!

12/12/24:Excited to be selected to attend the NeTS Early Career Workshop 2025 at the NSF Headquarters!