Awards&bio

Awards, Media and Recognition


Patents filed

  • Provisional Patent Application based on technology: Data driven, machine learning augmented dynamic path optimization, 2021
  • Provisional Patent Application based on technology: Reinforcement Learning for Quantum Network Control, 2021

Bio

Dr. Kiran is an AI, Networking, and Distributed Intelligence Scientist. Computer Networking and AI Scientist. She leads Quantum Communications and Networking research at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), where she explores how AI, machine learning, and decentralized intelligence can transform complex networks and accelerate scientific discovery. As an entrepreneur, she is exploring how collaborative AI agents and energy-efficient, localized intelligence can enable a new generation of resilient and autonomous infrastructure.

Before joining ORNL in 2023, Kiran worked at the Energy Sciences Network (ESnet) at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, developing AI-driven approaches for wide area networks. She also contributed to the development of FLAME, an open-source agent-based modeling platform used worldwide in complexity research. Kiran holds a Ph.D. and an M.Sc. (Eng.) in Computer Science from the University of Sheffield, UK, awarded in 2011 and 2008, respectively. Her honors include the British Council’s Global Science Impact recognition for UK alumni in 2024, the Royal Society’s Scientist in Westminster program in 2015, the U.S. Department of Energy Early Career Award in 2017, and the ACM N2Women Rising Stars in Networking Award in 2021. She is an ACM member and a Senior Member of IEEE.

Through her research and entrepreneurial pursuits, Kiran aims to bridge fundamental advances in AI and distributed computing with practical solutions to some of the world’s most challenging scientific and infrastructure problems.