Education

• Ph.D. in Electrical & Computer Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, MA, USA. May 2008.
  Dissertation: Frequency Domain Finite Field Arithmetic for Elliptic Curve Cryptography
  Advisor: Berk Sunar
  
• M.Sc. in Electrical & Computer Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, MA, USA. May 2003.
  Thesis: Efficient Algorithms for Finite Fields, with Applications in Elliptic Curve Cryptography
  Advisor: Berk Sunar
  
• B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering, Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkiye. June 2001.
  
  

Research Interests

• IC Trust
• Applied Cryptography and Information Security
• Elliptic Curve Cryptography
• Computer and Network Security
• Finite Field and Computer Arithmetic
• Information and Coding Theory
• Data Compression

Teaching

• EE/CS-578: Introduction to Cryptography and Data Security
  

Research & Experience

• Cryptography & Information Security Laboratory at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, MA, USA
  Research Assistant, January 2002 – May 2008
  
  
  • Involved in a collaborative project with IBM T.J. Watson Research Center on fingerprinting digital integrated circuits.
  • Invented a new multiplication algorithm, named "DFT Modular Multiplication", which performs efficient finite field multiplication in the frequency domain for a class of finite fields relevant to elliptic curve cryptography. The algorithm performs better than other efficient methods such as the Karatsuba algorithm in constrained environments where multiplication is expensive compared to simple operations such as addition and bitwise rotation.
  • Invented a new finite field representation, named "Optimal Tower Fields (OTF)", which facilitates extremely fast inversion in optimal extension fields (OEFs). The OTF inversion algorithm makes a finite field inversion, the slowest of finite field arithmetic operations, run as fast as a single multiplication operation, which alone may speed up an elliptic curve cryptosystem by a factor of at least 2 to 3.
• Intel Corporation, Hudson, MA, USA
  Research and Development Intern, Summer & Fall 2007
  
  Developed efficient algorithms for lossless data compression and decompression. Implemented the developed algorithms in C/C++ to model their cycle accurate performance. This work resulted in 7 patent documents pending for submission to the US Patent and Trademark Office.
  
  
• IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, Hawthorne, NY, USA
  Research Intern, Summer 2006
  
  Built and synthesized several integrated circuits with and without Trojans embedded, and obtained fingerprints from their power profiles. Developed statistical methods for detecting Trojan circuitry analyzing such fingerprints.
  
  
• Computer Security Group (COSY), Ruhr-University, Bochum, Germany
  Visiting Researcher, Summer 2005
  
  Collaborated in optimization of the DFT modular multiplication algorithm for hardware to be used in an elliptic curve cryptographic processor. This work resulted in the realization of the first ever frequency domain finite field multiplier for elliptic curve cryptography and the first ever elliptic curve cryptographic processor operating fully in the frequency domain.
  
  
• Escrypt Embedded Security GmbH, Bochum, Germany
  Research and Development Intern, Summer 2005
  
  Involved in the development of an elliptic curve cryptographic library in C for NIST-recommended elliptic curves over prime fields.
  
  
• Computer Security Group (COSY) at Ruhr-University, Bochum, Germany
  Visiting Researcher, September 2003
  
  Conducted research on efficient implementation of hyperelliptic curve cryptography using Optimal Tower Fields, which resulted in the known fastest implementation of hyperelliptic curve cryptography on the ARM processor for a 160-bit group order.
  
  
• Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Electrical & Computer Engineering Department, MA, USA
  Teaching Assistant, August-December 2001
  
  Maintained office hours, mentored laboratory sessions, and graded homeworks and laboratory reports for the sophomore level undergraduate course titled "Microelectronic Circuits I" and the junior level undergraduate course titled "Advanced Logic Design".
  
  

Publications

• Selcuk Baktir. Frequency Domain Finite Field Arithmetic for Elliptic Curve Cryptography. Ph.D. Dissertation, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA, USA, April 2008. (BibTeX)
• Selcuk Baktir, Berk Sunar. Optimal Extension Field Inversion in the Frequency Domain. To appear in the Proceedings of the 2nd International Workshop on the Arithmetic of Finite Fields (WAIFI 2008), Springer Lecture Notes in Computer Science.
• Dakshi Agrawal, Selcuk Baktir, Deniz Karakoyunlu, Pankaj Rohatgi, Berk Sunar. Trojan Detection Using IC Fingerprinting. Proceedings of the 2007 IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy (S&P'07). (BibTeX)
• Selcuk Baktir, Sandeep Kumar, Christof Paar, Berk Sunar. A State-of-the-art Elliptic Curve Cryptographic Processor Operating in the Frequency Domain, Mobile Networks and Applications (MONET) Journal, Special Issue on Next Generation Hardware Architectures for Secure Mobile Computing, vol 12, no 4, pp 259-270, September 2007, Springer. (BibTeX)
• Dakshi Agrawal, Selcuk Baktir, Deniz Karakoyunlu, Pankaj Rohatgi, Berk Sunar. Trojan Detection Using IC Fingerprinting. IBM Research Report, RC24110, 2006. (BibTeX)
• Selcuk Baktir and Berk Sunar. Finite Field Polynomial Multiplication in the Frequency Domain with Application to Elliptic Curve Cryptography. 21st International Symposium on Computer and Information Sciences (ISCIS 2006) , Lecture Notes in Computer Science, volume 4263, Springer, Heidelberg, pages 991-1001, October, 2006. (BibTeX)
• Selcuk Baktir and Berk Sunar. Achieving Efficient Polynomial Multiplication in Fermat Fields Using the Fast Fourier Transform. Proceedings of the 44th ACM Southeast Conference (ACMSE 2006) , ACM Press, pages 549-554, March, 2006. (BibTeX)
• Selcuk Baktir, Jan Pelzl, Thomas Wollinger, Berk Sunar, and Christof Paar. Optimal Tower Fields for Hyperelliptic Curve Cryptosystems. IEEE Proceedings of the 38th Asilomar Conference on Signals, Systems and Computers, 7-10 November 2004, Pacific Grove, California. (Finalist for the Best Student Paper Contest) (BibTeX)
• Selcuk Baktir and Berk Sunar. Optimal Tower Fields. IEEE Transactions on Computers, volume 53, number 10, pages 1231-1243, October, 2004. (BibTeX)
• Selcuk Baktir. Efficient Algorithms for Finite Fields, with Applications in Elliptic Curve Cryptography. Master's Thesis, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA, USA, April 2003. (BibTeX)

Preprints

• Selcuk Baktir and Berk Sunar. Frequency Domain Finite Field Arithmetic for Elliptic Curve Cryptography, under review.

Invited Talks

• Frequency Domain Arithmetic for Cryptography. Computer Engineering Department, Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey, June 28, 2006.
• Frequency Domain Arithmetic for Cryptography. Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Sabanci University, Istanbul, Turkey, June 27, 2006.
• Finite Field Polynomial Multiplication in the Frequency Domain with Application to Elliptic Curve Cryptography. COSEC Oberseminar, Computer Security Department, Bonn-Aachen International Center for Information Technology (B-it), Bonn, Germany, July 13, 2005.
• Finite Field Polynomial Multiplication in the Frequency Domain with Application to Elliptic Curve Cryptography. HGI Cryptography and Information Security Seminar, Ruhr University, Bochum, Germany, June 20, 2005.
• Achieving Efficient Polynomial Multiplication in Finite Fields Using the Fast Fourier Transform. Computer Engineering Department, Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey, January 24, 2005.
• Achieving Efficient Polynomial Multiplication in Finite Fields Using the Fast Fourier Transform. College of Engineering Seminar, Koc University, Istanbul, Turkey, January 13, 2005.
• Optimal Tower Fields for Efficient Finite Field Arithmetic. Computer Engineering Department, Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey, June 22, 2004.
• Optimal Tower Fields for Efficient Finite Field Arithmetic. Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Sabanci University, Istanbul, Turkey, June 9, 2004.
• Optimal Tower Fields for Elliptic Curve Cryptography. HGI Cryptography and Information Security Seminar, Ruhr University, Bochum, Germany, September 18, 2003.

Personal

Last Updated: May 11, 2008