Education

Northeastern University

  • Ph.D. candidate Boston, MA
  • Computer Engineering Apr 2026 (tentative)

Syracuse University

  • M.Sci Syracuse, NY
  • Electrical Engineering Dec 2021

University of Electronic Science and Technology of China

  • B.Sci Sichuan, China
  • Electronic Engineering June 2018

Research Interest

I am broadly interested in the intersection between artificial intelligence and wireless communication. My PhD research spans:

  • AI Security: adversarial robustness, out-of-distribution detection, on-device model protection
  • Efficient AI in Distributed Systems: split computing, semantic communication
  • AI-Driven Wireless: spectrum sensing, RF fingerprinting, integrated sensing and communication

Skills

Domain Expertise: tatistical Learning, Deep Learning, Wireless Communication, Digital Signal Processing, Convex Optimization, Information Theory

Coding: Python, C/C++, Matlab, CUDA

Language: Chinese (Mandarin, Cantonese), English (TOEFL 108/120), Japanese (JLPT N1)

Publications

Conference (*) indicates equal contribution

  • Milin Zhang, Michael De Lucia, Jonathan Ashdown, Nathaniel D. Bastian, Ananthram Swami, and Francesco Restuccia, “NI-Diff: Zero-Day and Adversarial Network Intrusion Detection with Diffusion Models.” in Proc. of IEEE Military Communications Conference (MILCOM), 2025
  • Milin Zhang, Mohammad Abdi, Shahriar Rifat, and Francesco Restuccia, “Resilience of Entropy Model in Distributed Neural Networks.” in Proc. of the 18th European Conference on Computer Vision (ECCV), 2024.
  • Daniel Uvaydov*, Milin Zhang*, Clifton Paul Robinson, Salvatore D’Oro, Tommaso Melodia and Francesco Restuccia, “Stitching the Spectrum: Semantic Spectrum Segmentation with Wideband Signal Stitching.” in Proc. of IEEE Conference on Computer Communications (INFOCOM), 2024.
  • Milin Zhang, Michael De Lucia, Ananthram Swami, Jonathan Ashdown, Kurt Turck and Francesco Restuccia, “HyperAdv: Dynamic Defense Against Adversarial Radio Frequency Machine Learning Systems.” in Proc. of IEEE Military Communications Conference (MILCOM), 2024
  • Khandaker Foysal Haque, Milin Zhang, Francesco Restuccia, “SiMWiSense: Simultaneous Multi-Subject Activity Classification Through Wi-Fi Signals.” in Proc. of the IEEE 24th International Symposium on World of Wireless, Mobile and Multimedia Networks (WoWMoM), 2023.
  • Thomas Gourousis, Ziyue Zhang, Mengting Yan, Milin Zhang, Ankit Mittal, Aatmesh Shrivastava, Francesco Restuccia, Yunsi Fei, and Marvin Onabajo, “Identification of Stealthy Hardware Trojans through On-Chip Temperature Sensing and an Autoencoder-Based Machine Learning Algorithm.” in Proc. of the IEEE 66th International Midwest Symposium on Circuits and Systems (MWSCAS), 2023.

Journal

  • Milin Zhang, Mohammad Abdi, Jonathan Ashdown, and Francesco Restuccia, “Adversarial Attacks to Latent Representations of Distributed Neural Networks in Split Computing.” Computer Networks (2025).
  • Milin Zhang*, Mohammad Abdi*, Venkat R. Dasari and Francesco Restuccia, “Semantic Edge Computing and Semantic Communications in 6G Networks: A Unifying Survey and Research Challenges.” Computer Networks (2025).
  • Khandaker Foysal Haque, Milin Zhang, Francesca Meneghello, and Francesco Restuccia, “BeamSense: Rethinking Wireless Sensing with MU-MIMO Wi-Fi Beamforming Feedback.” Computer Networks (2025).
  • Junyi Yang, Thomas Gourousis, Mengting Yan, Ruyi Ding, Ankit Mittal, Milin Zhang, Francesco Restuccia, Aatmesh Shrivastava, Yunsi Fei, and Marvin Onabajo, “A Low-Power Differential Temperature Sensor with Chopped Cascode Transistors and Switched-Capacitor Integration.” Electronics (2025).
  • Ankit Mittal, Milin Zhang, Thomas Gourousis, Ziyue Zhang, Yunsi Fei, Marvin Onabajo, Francesco Restuccia, and Aatmesh Shrivastava, “Sub-6 GHz Energy Detection-based Fast On-Chip Analog Spectrum Sensing with Learning-driven Signal Classification.” IEEE Internet of Things Journal (2024).

Preprint

  • Ildi Alla, Milin Zhang, Jonathan Ashdown, Valeria Loscri and Francesco Restuccia. “Finding a Needle in a (Spectrum) Haystack: Passwordless Wireless Authentication Through Multi-Band Multi-Device Radio Fingerprinting.” mentis.info (2025).
  • Sayyed Sazzad, Shahriar Rifat, Milin Zhang, Ananthram Swami, Michael De Lucia, Nathaniel D. Bastian, and Francesco Restuccia, “Out-of-Distribution Detection in Computer Vision: A Comprehensive Survey and Research Challenges.” mentis.info (2025).
  • Sayyed Sazzad, Milin Zhang*, Shahriar Rifat, Ananthram Swami, Michael De Lucia, and Francesco Restuccia, “Resilience and Security of Deep Neural Networks Against Intentional and Unintentional Perturbations: Survey and Research Challenges.” arXiv preprint arXiv:2408.00193 (2024).

Patent

  • Daniel Uvaydov, Milin Zhang, Salvatore D’Oro, Tommaso Melodia, Francesco Restuccia, and Clifton Paul Robinson, “Methods for Real-Time Wideband RF Waveform and Emission Classification.” U.S. Patent Application 18/620,310, filed October 3, 2024.
  • Francesco Restuccia, Khandaker Foysal Haque, and Milin Zhang, “Simultaneous Multi-Subject Activity Classification Through Wi-Fi Signals.” U.S. Patent Application 18/489,570, filed June 6, 2024.
  • Francesco Restuccia, Khandaker Foysal Haque, and Milin Zhang, “Method and Apparatus for Wi-Fi Sensing Through MU-MIMO Beamforming Feedback Learning.” WO 2024/049970, filed August 31, 2023.

Service

Journal Reviewer

  • IEEE: J-STSP, TCOM, TCCN, TWC, TMC
  • Elsevier: COMNET

Conference Reviewer

  • Wireless: ICC, GLOBECOM, SECON, WoWMoM, MILCOM
  • AI: ICCV, AAAI