Photo of Quang Dao

Quang Dao

PhD Student, Computer Science
Carnegie Mellon University

qvd@andrew.cmu.edu

About

I am a fifth-year PhD student at CMU, advised by Aayush Jain and Riad Wahby. Before that, I got my MA in Math at the University of Michigan, where I worked with Paul Grubbs.

Research Interests: My research focuses on two complementary directions in succinct zero-knowledge proofs (SNARKs): efficient post-quantum constructions and their formal verification. For formal verification, I build modular, machine-checked foundations for cryptographic protocols in Lean (ArkLib, VCVio, PolyFun). For post-quantum SNARKs, I design lattice-based polynomial commitment schemes and proof systems, from foundational security arguments through efficient implementations. My earlier work explored other post-quantum primitives from code-based assumptions.

Projects:

  • Akita — a high-performance lattice-based polynomial commitment scheme for post-quantum SNARKs, with an implementation integrated into Jolt.
  • ArkLib — a Lean library for formally verified SNARKs; I founded and co-lead the project.
  • Jolt — a state-of-the-art zero-knowledge virtual machine based on structured lookup arguments; I am a main contributor.
  • PolyFun — a Lean library for polynomial functors and generic interaction frameworks; I founded and co-lead the project.
  • VCVio — a Lean library for machine-checked cryptographic proofs; I am a co-lead developer.

My research is generously supported by the Quad Fellowship, the CyLab Presidential Fellowship, and funding from the Ethereum Foundation.

Preprints

(* = first author(s).)

Publications

(* = first author(s).)

Talks

  • Akita: A High-Performance Lattice-Based Polynomial Commitment Scheme
    a16z Crypto Research Seminar (Aug 2026), Seoul National University (Jun 2026)
  • Evolving the Foundations of ArkLib
    ZKProof 8, Rome (May 2026)
  • ArkLib: Compositional Verification of SNARKs
    Real World Crypto (Mar 2026), Verified zk(E)VM Seminar (Jan 2026), King's College London (Oct 2025), University of Cambridge (Oct 2025), Ethereum's PQ Interop (Oct 2025), CMU PLunch (Sep 2025), University of Luxembourg Crypto Seminar (Jul 2025), CRYPTO Day, Telecom Paris (Jun 2025), EPFL Crypto Seminar (Jun 2025), CMU Formal Cookies (Oct 2024)
  • Lossy Cryptography from Code-Based Assumptions
    MIT CIS Seminar (Nov 2024), BUSec Seminar (Nov 2024), NYU Crypto Reading Group (Nov 2024), CMU CyLab Crypto Seminar (Sep 2024), UCLA Crypto Reading Group (Apr 2024), UToronto Theory Seminar (Mar 2024)
  • Non-Interactive Zero-Knowledge from LPN and MQ
    CMU CyLab Crypto Seminar (Sep 2024)
  • Advanced Security for SNARKs: A Survey
    a16z Crypto Research Seminar (Jun 2024)
  • Multi-party Homomorphic Secret Sharing and Sublinear MPC from Sparse LPN
    JP Morgan AlgoCRYPT Seminar (Dec 2023), CMU Crypto Seminar (Nov 2023), NTT Research Seminar (Oct 2023), CyLab Partners Conference (Oct 2023), Vietnam Mathematical Congress (Aug 2023)
  • Weak Fiat-Shamir Attacks on Modern Proof Systems
    Real World Crypto (Mar 2024), CMU CyLab Security Seminar (Nov 2023), Cornell Security Seminar (Sep 2023), NYU Crypto Reading Group (Sep 2023), Workshop on Attacks in Cryptography (Aug 2023), IEEE S&P (May 2023)
  • Spartan and Bulletproofs are simulation-extractable (for free!)
    Stanford Crypto Reading Group (May 2023), Telecom Paris Seminar (May 2023), Lattices Meet Hashes Workshop, EPFL (May 2023), CMU Crypto Seminar (Apr 2023)

Service

  • Program Committee: ASIACRYPT 2026
  • External Reviewer: CRYPTO (2026); EUROCRYPT, IEEE S&P, CRYPTO, RANDOM, TCC (2025); STOC, EUROCRYPT, TCC (2024); ASIACRYPT, TCC, FOCS (2023); CRYPTO, EUROCRYPT (2022)
  • Co-Organizer: CMU Crypto Seminar (2022-2025)

Mentorship

  • Chung Nguyen, Post-baccalaureate, 2025 – Spring 2026
  • James Waters, Undergraduate, Fall 2025 – Summer 2026
  • Liam Schilling, Undergraduate, Spring & Fall 2025
  • Ian Martin, Undergraduate, Summer 2025
  • Jack Zhu, Undergraduate, Spring 2025
  • Christian Ang, Undergraduate, Spring 2025

Miscellaneous