Lili Su
Assistant Professor,
Electrical & Computer Engineering
Contact
- l.su@northeastern.edu
- 409 DA
360 Huntington Ave
Boston, MA 02115
Research Focus
Distributed machine learning, security and fault-tolerance, neural computation, bio-inspired distributed algorithms, blockchains, autonomous cars, algorithm design
Education
- PhD, Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2017
- MS, Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2014
Honors & Awards
- NSF CAREER Award, 2023
- Best Student Paper Award Finalist, DISC 2016
- Best Student Paper Award, SSS 2015
- Rising Stars EECS 2018
Research Overview
Distributed machine learning, security and fault-tolerance, neural computation, bio-inspired distributed algorithms, blockchains, autonomous cars, algorithm design
Selected Research Projects
- Strengthening the Theoretical Foundations of Federated Learning: Utilizing Underlying Data Statistics in Mitigating Heterogeneity and Client Faults
- – Principle Investigator, National Science Foundation
- Distributed Machine Learning Security
- – Principle Investigator, Center for Science of Information, National Science Foundation
Research Centers and Institutes
Department Research Areas
Selected Publications
- L. Su, N.H. Vaidya, Non-Bayesian Learning in the Presence of Byzantine Adversaries, Distributed Computing, Springer, 32(4), 2019, 277-289
- L. Su, P. Yang, On Learning Over-parameterized Neural Networks: A Functional Approximation Perspective, Neural Information Processing Systems (NIPS), 2019, 2641-2650
- L. Su, J. Xu, Securing Distributed Gradient Descent in High Dimensional Statistical Learning, ACM on Measurement and Analysis of Computing Systems, 3(1), 2019, 12
- L. Su, C.-J. Chang, N. Lynch, Spike-Based Winner-Take-All Computation: Fundamental Limits and Order-Optimal Circuits, Neural Computation, The MIT Press, 31(12), 2019, 2523-2561
- Y. Chen, L. Su, J. Xu, Distributed Statistical Machine Learning in Adversarial Settings: Byzantine Gradient Descent,
ACM on Measurement and Analysis of Computing Systems, 1(2), 2017, 44
Sep 10, 2026
Su and Fu Receive Best Paper Award at ECCV DriveX Workshop
ECE Assistant Professor Lili Su and Professor Raymond Fu, alongside their research group, received the DriveX@ECCV 2026 Best Paper Award at the DriveX Workshop during the European Conference on Computer Vision (ECCV) 2026 in Malmö for their paper titled “Post-Training in End-to-End Autonomous Driving: Taxonomy, Methods, and Challenges.”
Aug 06, 2026
Understanding What Causes Autonomous AI Systems to Misbehave
ECE Assistant Professor Lili Su explains that recent incidents of autonomous AI systems acting out of bounds stem from training gaps and human configuration errors rather than malicious intent.
Jan 09, 2024
Su Receives NSF CAREER Award To Strengthen Federated Learning
ECE Assistant Professor Lili Su was awarded a $611,000 NSF CAREER award for “Strengthening the Theoretical Foundations of Federated Learning: Utilizing Underlying Data Statistics in Mitigating Heterogeneity and Client Faults.”
Sep 02, 2020
New Faculty Spotlight: Lili Su
Lili Su joins the Electrical and Computer Engineering department in August 2020 as an Assistant Professor.