Akos Ledeczi

Professor of Computer Science

Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Akos Ledeczi

My research focuses on wireless sensor networks, cyber-physical systems, the Internet of Things, and computer science education. I have led the development of innovative software tools and educational platforms designed to make computing and engineering more accessible to learners with diverse backgrounds. My work spans fundamental research, real-world systems, and education, with an emphasis on translating new technologies into practical tools and broadening participation in computing.

I lead the development of the NetsBlox ecosystem, an open-source programming environment that extends block-based programming beyond the boundaries of a single computer. Building on the accessibility of Snap!, NetsBlox introduces distributed computing, networking, web services, and the Internet of Things in a way that is approachable for young learners. The ecosystem supports collaborative projects in which programs communicate over networks and interact with real-world data and devices, enabling students to explore concepts ranging from computer science and cybersecurity to robotics and physical computing. NetsBlox is used both as a research platform for developing new approaches to computing education and as a practical tool for bringing advanced computing concepts into classrooms.

My current research in intelligent acoustic sensing builds on his long history of developing wireless sensor network (WSN)-based acoustic localization systems. My work explores how low-power, distributed sensors, embedded machine learning, and adaptive algorithms can extract actionable information from complex acoustic environments. The A3EM project extends these ideas to wildlife research and conservation through animal-borne, resource-constrained sensors that analyze and adapt to acoustic events in real time, enabling long-term monitoring of animals and their environments. CivicAlert applies related technologies to community safety, using networks of inexpensive, privacy-preserving acoustic sensors, on-device AI, and multi-sensor localization to detect and locate illegal gunfire while placing control of the sensing infrastructure and resulting information in the hands of local communities. Together, these efforts continue a research trajectory spanning decades—from early WSN-based acoustic source localization to adaptive, intelligent sensing systems operating in challenging real-world environments.

I have developed a number of online courses that make programming accessible to a broad, global audience. I co-created Vanderbilt’s Introduction to Programming with MATLAB on Coursera, a beginner-level course designed for learners with little or no prior programming experience. Rather than simply teaching MATLAB as a software tool, the course uses MATLAB to introduce fundamental concepts in computer science and programming, emphasizing problem solving through a carefully designed sequence of lectures and programming assignments. Since its launch, the course has enrolled more than 525,000 learners and maintains a 4.8/5 rating from over 18,000 reviews, making it one of Vanderbilt’s most widely accessed educational offerings. It now serves as the foundation of the four-course MATLAB Programming for Engineers and Scientists Specialization, which progresses from introductory programming to AI-assisted programming with ChatGPT, advanced MATLAB and object-oriented programming, and data and image analysis, visualization, and machine learning. (Coursera) Together, these courses reflect my broader interest in developing scalable and engaging approaches to computing education that reach learners far beyond the traditional university classroom.

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Education

Ph.D.,
Vanderbilt University

Diploma,
Technical University of Budapest

Projects