Xiao Qin, Ph.D. 
Professor and Director of Graduate Programs
CSSE Graduate Program Chatbots: Claude Gemini
Virtual Office (MWF 1:30-2:30 PM CDT): Join Zoom Call
One-on-One Meetings by Appointment: Book a Meeting
Shelby Center, Suite 3101E, Auburn University, AL 36849-5347
Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering
Samuel Ginn College of Engineering
Office: 334-844-6327 | xqin@auburn.edu
ยป Curriculum Vitae | How to pronounce Xiao Qin
Latest News
Our paper, led by Longwei Wang, shows that building rotation- and scale-equivariant layers into neural networks improves adversarial robustness without adversarial training. It appears in the Proceedings of NeurIPS 2025.
Dr. Qin (PI) and Dr. Cheryl Seals (co-PI) received an NSF HBCU-UP award to build data science training pathways that prepare Talladega College students for success in STEM.
In summer 2026, Peixiong He successfully defended a dissertation on energy-aware SQL database systems. Dr. He is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Tuskegee University, AL.
Our new paper, led by Hui Sun, presents HAKV, a hotness-aware zone management approach that keeps hot key-value pairs in persistent memory to reduce write amplification of LSM-tree-based key-value stores.
In summer 2022, Longwei Wang successfully defended a dissertation on the robustness of deep neural networks. Dr. Wang is an Assistant Professor at the University of South Dakota, SD.
Auburn University is ranked 46th among public universities and 100th nationally in the 2027 U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings, up from 49th and 102nd last year.
Featured Project
AI Bridge
The AI Bridge: From AI Literacy to AI Fluency for All Auburn Students
The AI Bridge is a pathway from AI literacy to proficiency and fluency for all Auburn students. Start with COMP 1100 Power of AI (new in Spring 2027; no math or code required), cross the three-course Bridge, and continue to the Certificate in AI Engineering or the MS in AI Engineering. Supported by the Center for Inclusive Computing at Northeastern University.
Current Projects
AI4Trees
AI4Trees: Building an AI-Enabled Forestry Workforce Pipeline
We prepare AI-literate middle and high school students to apply AI and environmental data to forestry and natural resource challenges through AI-enabled forestry learning modules, teacher and Extension educator training, and 4-H programs, summer camps, and design challenges. Supported by USDA NIFA (2027 - 2031).
Pathways
Building STEM Pathways Powered by Data Science Skills Training
In partnership with Talladega College, we are developing six modular data science training units for undergraduate STEM courses, together with faculty workshops and cross-institutional mentoring that prepare students for graduate STEM programs at Auburn University. Supported by NSF HBCU-UP (2026 - 2029).
Bidding
Data Mining for Enhanced Real-Time Bidding in Online Display Advertising
Partnering with Wright Media, an Alabama digital marketing company, we build a data mining infrastructure and develop algorithms that raise click-through rates and reduce cost per click in digital advertising campaigns, while training software and data engineers at Wright Media. Supported by ADECA (2025 - 2026).
RISE
RISE-STEM: Promoting Readiness of Interdisciplinary Scholars for Excellence in the STEM Workforce
Led by Tuskegee University with a consortium of six institutions in Alabama and Michigan, RISE-STEM provides scholarships to low-income, academically talented STEM students, combined with mentoring, research experiences, graduate school preparation, and hands-on experience with digital twins. Supported by NSF (2024 - 2029).
A Brief Biography
Explore the Data Mining for Real-Time Bidding projectXiao Qin is a Professor and the Director of Graduate Programs in the Department of
Computer Science and Software Engineering at Auburn University. He received the B.S. and M.S. degrees in Computer
Science from Huazhong University of Science and Technology,
China, in 1996 and 1999, respectively. He received the Ph.D.
in Computer Science from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in
2004. Prior joining Auburn in 2007, he was an assistant professor at New Mexico Tech.
He won an NSF CAREER award in 2009, the Senior Faculty Research Award from the
Auburn Alumni Engineering Council in 2019, the SEC Academic Leadership Development Program fellowship in 2025, and the Gerald and Emily
Leischuck Endowed Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching from
Auburn University in 2025. His research has been supported by
the U.S. National Science Foundation (15 awards across 12 distinct projects, including an NSF CAREER Award),
the U.S. Department of Agriculture, NASA, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),
the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA), and Wright Media LLC.