ACM CCS 2024 Reflection
This is a personal note for the ACM CCS 2024 I made after the event. CCS 2024 was held in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. It was my second time attending CCS, but this time I had the privilege of presenting my work.
Pre-Conference Trip
The gifts from Zhejiang university students
Before heading to CCS, some phd students from Zhejiang university reached out to me to hang out together when they stop over in Seoul. I appreciated their offer and we had a short 5-hour trip in Seoul, visiting Gyoungbokgung Palace and Namsan tower. They even gave me gifts from their town ❤️. I’m so glad to make new friends from China and hope to see them again in the future.
The Conference
Salt Lake City beer was so good
The town was clean beautiful. The conference held a small tour event at a nearby museum. The scenery at the museum was so peaceful. The conference venue, while a bit small, also felt cozy, warm and welcoming.
The Presentation
The presentation session
I presented my work, PeTAL, at the conference. I realized that the slides I prepared was fairly simple and easy to understand for broad audience, which many people appreciated. Perhaps this was because my first presentation was at Black Hat, and under my advisor’s guidance, I had learned to make slides as clear and easy as possible.
After the presentation, I received several questions and had good discussions about kernel security research.
It was also a pleasure meeting other phd students and professors on system security research. Connecting with people from around the world who share the same goals gave a strong sense of belonging to this community, across national and institutional boundaries.
Academy vs. Industry
Before attending CCS, I was firmly set on pursuing industry roles after my phd. However, this experience in CCS made me reconsider my decision. I felt a sense of belonging at the conferece, as if this is where I need to be. Leaving academia might make it harder to remain connected to this community. Right now, I feel that one or two more years as a phd or postdoc might be too short to fully immerse myself in academia. I’m still uncertain about what I’ll do after getting the degree, but CCS 2024 has definitely pulled me toward academia.