2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

WIP: Privacy-Aware Biometric Interface for Blockchain Micro-Credentialing in Engineering Education

Presented at Electrical and Computer Engineering Division (ECE) Technical Session 19

This work-in-progress paper advances a blockchain-based micro-credentialing system for
engineering education through the implementation of a privacy-aware proctoring and credential issuance pipeline. The system integrates a web-based coding assessment platform with webcam and screen recording, encrypted cloud storage, manual administrator review, and blockchain-based credential issuance.
Building on prior conceptual work, the implemented architecture leverages AWS Cognito for authentication, serverless backend services for controlled data handling, and BCdiploma for issuing verifiable blockchain credentials. Proctoring data is captured during remote assessments and stored securely for time-limited, role-restricted administrative review. This human-in-the-loop approach prioritizes academic integrity while minimizing automated biometric decision-making and unnecessary exposure of sensitive data.
Ongoing and future work explores additional privacy-preserving enhancements—including face blurring, zero-knowledge liveness verification, and biometric hashing—to further mitigate deepfake and replay attacks without persistent biometric storage.
Building on these technical foundations, this collaborative effort between Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Engineering Education departments demonstrates how the platform can support scalable, course-level deployments. Planned evaluations will focus on usability, instructional efficiency, and equitable access, with detailed metrics to be reported as future work.

Authors

Yahia Tawfik Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University [biography]

Yahia Tawfik is a Ph.D. student in the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, where he received his B.S. in Computer Engineering. He is exploring research in blockchain micro-credentialing, decentralized identifiers, and AI for security applications. His work on this paper reflects early-stage contributions to privacy-preserving assessment and competency-based credentialing infrastructure for engineering education.
Prof. Christiana Chamon Garcia Ph.D. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University [biography]

Christiana Chamon Garcia received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA, in 2017 and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA, in 2020 and 2022, respectively. She is currently an Assistant Professor for the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA, where she directs the Stochastic Noise and Cyber Innovation Lab (SNACIL). In 2016 she was a Hardware Design Intern and in 2017 a Product Management Intern with Hewlett Packard Enterprise. In 2022, she was an Applications Engineer at Vidatronic Inc, and from 2022 to 2024, she was an Instructional Assistant Professor for the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA. Her research interests include stochastic processes, physical unclonable functions, decentralized networks, cyber-physical systems, security in artificial intelligence, engineering education, human-computer interaction, accessibility in engineering and kinesiology, and exercise science. Dr. Garcia is a 2024 CCI Faculty Fellow, 2023 Future Faculty Diversity Program (FFDP) Fellow, 2023 WISCPROF: Future Faculty in Engineering Workshop Fellow, 2020-2021 Ebensberger Fellow, and a member of ACM, IEEE, and Eta Kappa Nu (HKN).
Leyla Nazhandali Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Dr. Vinod K. Lohani Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University [biography]

Dr. Vinod K. Lohani is a Professor of Engineering Education and also serves as the Director of education and global initiatives at an interdisciplinary research institute called the Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science (ICTAS) at Virginia
Dr. Dayoung Kim Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University [biography]

Dr. Dayoung Kim is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Engineering Education (College of Engineering) at Virginia Tech and a Director of the LABoratory for Innovative and REsponsible ENgineering workforce (LAB-IREEN). She also serves as an Executive Committee Member and Affiliate Faculty of the Center for Future Work Places and Practices (CFWPP). Her Engineering Practice research examines the practice of engineers across a range of employment settings, including business organizations – from startups to large, established firms – and government agencies. Building on insights from this work, her Engineering Workforce Development research focuses on developing the future engineering workforce capable of contributing innovatively and responsibly within their own contexts. Across her research, teaching, and service, she aims to bridge academia, industry, and government by translating insights from engineering practice into scalable systems for education, workforce development, and science and technology policy. She received her Ph.D. in Engineering Education from Purdue University and her B.S. and M.S. in Chemical Engineering from Yonsei University and Purdue University, respectively. She was the 2022 Christine Mirzayan Science & Technology Policy Graduate Fellow at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM).

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