About Me

I am currently a Founding Engineer at Aptos Labs, working on Layer 1 Blockchain technology. Before this, I was a Research Scientist working at Novi (Meta) on the Diem blockchain (Libra). I was also co-founder of the Teechain Network, a secure high-performance off-chain payment network for blockchains.

I completed my PhD at Imperial College London in the Large-scale Data and Systems (LSDS) group and the Centre for Cryptocurrency Research and Engineering (IC3RE). Under Prof. Peter Pietzuch my PhD focused on improving the security and privacy of large-scale distributed systems using trusted hardware. Most recently, I have focused on improving the security, privacy and performance of blockchains and cryptocurrencies at Aptos Labs.

Feel free to contact me at moc.liamg@dnildivadhsoj if you would like to chat, or if you would like an up-to-date copy of my CV.

“No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light.” Luke 11:33 NIV

Professional Experience

  • Aptos Labs: Founding Engineer, 2022 to Present

    - Founding Engineer on the Aptos blockchain: a low latency, high throughput, decentralized layer 1.
    - Worked as a tech-lead and engineering manager across several domains, including blockchain core, node infrastructure, and cryptography.
    - Designed, implemented, and optimized several core components of the blockchain, including state synchronization, mempool, and networking.

  • Meta: Research Scientist, 2020 to 2022

    - Research Scientist on Diem: a blockchain-based payment system for everyone.
    - Worked on to several core components of Diem, including validator key management, the trusted computing base (TCB), and state synchronization.

  • Google: PhD Research Intern, 3 months (2017)

    - Worked as a PhD Research Intern on the Google Cloud Security team.
    - Designed and implemented several security components of Google Asylo: an open-source framework for confidential computing.

  • Cornell University: IC3 Visiting Scholar, 3 months (2016)

    - Conducted research on scaling Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain Technology with Emin Gun Sirer and Ittay Eyal.
    - Authored a Workshop paper and prototype implementation of Teechan: Bitcoin payment channels using trusted execution environments.

  • Google: Software Engineer Intern, 3 months (2015)

    - Worked as a Software Engineer Intern on the Android Google Search App team.
    - Designed and built a lightweight version of the Android Google Search app that could be used in low-spec & limited connectivity devices.

  • Google: Software Engineer Intern, 6 months (2014)

    - Worked as a Software Engineer Intern on the Publisher Controls team of Google AdSense.
    - Designed, built and publicly released a language filter in the AdSense Ad Review Center.

  • IBM: Extreme Blue Technical Intern, 3 months (2013)

    - Worked as a Technical Intern for the UK IBM Extreme Blue Voice Bank project.
    - Won the 2013 Extreme Blue European Expo (a competition where 22 teams across Europe present their technical work).

  • Azzurri Innovations: Software Verification Engineer, 2 months (2012)

    - Worked as a Software Verification Engineer on a Contact Centre Management Product (CCMP).
    - Verified the correct functionality, operation and documentation of the CCMP before release.

Miscellaneous:


  • Committee Member: SOSP'19 Artifact Evaluation (2019)

    - Member of the Artifact Evaluation Committee for SOSP'19. See here

  • Graduate Teaching Assistant: Haskell Programming (2017 & 2018)

    - Worked as a graduate teaching assistant for 120.1 Programming I at Imperial College London.

  • Graduate Teaching Assistant: Java Programming and Object-Oriented Design (2016)

    - Worked as a graduate teaching assistant for 120.2 Programming II at Imperial College London.

  • Storybook Author: Lenny the Lonely Snail (2009)

    - Authored, animated and published an online interactive children's storybook with voice over narrative to aid children learning to read.

Research & Publications

Selected Papers and Publications:


  • SCONE: Secure Linux Containers with Intel SGX (2016)
    S. Arnautov, B. Trach, F. Gregor, T. Knauth, A. Martin, C. Priebe, J. Lind, D. Muthukumaran, D. O'Keeffe, M. Stillwell, D. Goltzsche, D. Eyers, R. Kapitza, P. Pietzuch, C. Fetzer

    - 12th USENIX Symposium on Operating Systems Design and Implementation (OSDI’16)
    - Check it out here

  • Betting on the Bitcoin Blockchain (Meng Thesis) (2015)
    J. Lind, W. Knottenbelt

    - Awarded the Best Final Year Project Prize and the 2015 Distinguished Project Award
    - Awarded 2nd Place at the 2015 Entrepreneur First Bitcoin Prize Fund Competition

Patents:


Research Projects:


Presentations and Invited Talks:


Interviews, Media & Articles

Interviews, Articles and Blogposts:


Media Coverage:


Teechain: Secure Blockchain Payments using Trusted Hardware: Imperial College London (2017)

TEEChan Bitcoin Payment Channels using Secure Hardware: Cornell University Initiative for Cryptocurrencies and Contracts (2016)

A Trustless Bitcoin Betting Exchange: Imperial College Center for Cryptocurrency Research and Engineering (2015)

IBM VoiceBank: IBM Emerging Technology (2013)

  • ITV.com: ITV news report on the IBM VoiceBank; winner of the 2013 IBM Extreme Blue Expo.
  • ComputerWeekly.com: News article and interview about the IBM VoiceBank.
  • IBM.com: Emerging Technology news article about the IBM Voice Bank.