Cole Plepel
linkedin.com/in/cole-plepel | 0009-0006-4914-4939 | Download CV
Education 🔗
Harvey Mudd College,
May 2027
Bachelor's of Science in Mathematics and Computer Science | GPA: 4.0
Select Courses:
Lattice-Based Cryptography,
Number Theory,
Quantum Information Theory,
Combinatorial Optimization,
Algorithms,
Algebraic Geometry,
Advanced Linear Algebra,
Data Structures & Program Development,
Computability & Logic,
Operations Research,
Differential Equations,
Discrete Mathematics,
Real Analysis,
Multivariable Calculus,
Engineering Systems
Southwest Center for Arithmetic Geometry,
November 2025
Preliminary Arizona Winter School
Course:
Analysis and Implementation of Algorithms in Number Theory
Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
June 2023
Select Courses:
Abstract Algebra,
Microcontroller Applications,
Computational Science,
Electricity & Magnetism,
Modern Physics
Skills 🔗
Post-Quantum Cryptography (Lattice-Based)
Number Theoretic Algorithms
Zero-Knowledge Protocols
Complexity Theory
Cryptographic Principles
Key Agreement Protocols
Cryptographic Vulnerability Exploitation
Quantum Information Theory
Quantum Position Verification
Python
C
C++
C#
Java
JavaScript
HTML/CSS
Git
Object-Oriented Programming
Functional Programming
Networking Concepts
Microcontroller Programming
Data Structures & Algorithms
Arduino
Node.js
Numerical Algorithms
Randomized Algorithms
Statistics & Probability
Machine Learning Theory
Scientific Computing
Numpy
PyTorch
Pandas
AMPL
Discrete Optimization
Abstract Algebra
Advanced Linear Algebra
Number Theory
Differential Equations
Operations Research
Discrete Geometry
Numerical Linear Algebra
Multivariable Calculus
Discrete Mathematics
Probability & Statistics
Real Analysis
SageMath
Technical Communication
Adaptability
Self-Motivation
Collaboration
Analytical Problem Solving
Experience 🔗
Quantum Cryptography Theorist: Quantum Position Verification
June 2025 – Present
Harvey Mudd College Department of Physics
Claremont, CA
- Evaluating the security, robustness, and practical feasibility of quantum position verification protocols.
- Identifying methods to address implementation challenges for quantum position verification in free space.
- Designing the first large-scale free-space quantum position verification demonstration with a team of physicists.
Researcher: Discrete Geometry
May 2025 – August 2025
Harvey Mudd College Department of Mathematics
Claremont, CA
- Identified the unitary symmetries of combinatorial and geometric objects associated with graphs and their correspondence with graph automorphisms.
- Described fixed regions of these polytopes under symmetric group actions in terms of graph contractions.
- Formulated and proved novel theorems using techniques from representation theory and abstract algebra, combinatorics, linear algebra, number theory, and discrete geometry.
- Implemented algorithms to enumerate and describe families of polytopes and their properties with SageMath.
Tito Augusto Cuchilla, Joseph Hound, , Andrés R. Vindas-Meléndez, and Louis Ye, Unitary Actions and Equivariant Volumes of Symmetric Edge Polytopes, 2025, arxiv:2507.18846. (Under review.)
Researcher: Numerical Linear Algebra
June 2024 – August 2025
Harvey Mudd College Department of Mathematics
Claremont, CA
- Developed novel randomized numerical algorithms for tensor decomposition and linear least squares systems.
- Identified key qualities of approximate least squares solvers affecting convergence characteristics of randomized tensor decomposition algorithms.
- Implemented, tested, and optimized novel and existing numerical algorithms in Numpy and PyTorch.
- Communicated findings to specialized and general audiences, including three poster sessions.
Teaching Assistant: Computer Science
August 2024 – December 2024
Harvey Mudd College Department of Computer Science
Claremont, CA
- Tutored a class section of 70 students in introductory computer science for 2-2.5 hours weekly with three other tutors, covering topics including recursion, Boolean logic and circuits, assembly, and Python.
- Graded 213 students' weekly assignments in computer science with a team of 45 student graders.
Teaching Assistant: Physics
January 2024 – May 2024
Harvey Mudd College Department of Physics
Claremont, CA
- Graded 198 students' weekly assignments in Newtonian physics with a team of 18 student graders.
Researcher: Statistical Linear Modeling
October 2021 – June 2023
Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Aurora, IL
- Proposed and implemented a research project to develop and refine estimators with constant-time single-observation updates for row-wise weighted total least squares linear regression, improving upon prior methods.
- Drafted a manuscript communicating the findings in collaboration with an international researcher.
Projects & Co-curricular Activities 🔗
Cryptopals Challenges
June 2025 – Present
Implementing and Exploiting Cryptographic Software
- Implemented hash functions, RNGs, Diffie-Hellman, RSA, and encryption and authentication protocols in C.
- Exploited padding oracles, timing leaks, ciphertext modification, weak RNGs, length extension, and more.
- Attacking number theoretic cryptosystems via malicious parameters and man-in-the-middle attacks.
- Completed 32 of 66 challenges as of August 2025; currently implementing a bignum library for further challenges.
Puzzle Designer,
January 2025 – Present
MuddEscapes: Harvey Mudd Escape Room Club
- Designing, playtesting, and building physical and digital puzzles for an original escape room each semester.
- Developing, debugging, and maintaining remote control, communication, and monitoring software.
- Implementing distributed functionality across several networked microcontrollers.
Zero-Knowledge Matchmaking Protocol:
June 2023 – Present
Privacy-Preserving Mutual Match Identification
- Designing and verifying a post-quantum protocol for parties to identify mutual matches without revealing half-matches to the other party, nor any match information to third parties, while allowing forward deniability for unreciprocated half-matches.
- Constructed a quantum-secure oblivious matrix-vector multiplication protocol from existing primitives.
- Evaluated classical and post-quantum primitives for vector oblivious linear evaluation (VOLE), oblivious transfer (OT), and non-interactive key exchange (NIKE).
- Researched private set intersection (PSI), zero-knowledge proofs (ZKP), and multiparty computation (MPC) protocols in existing literature.
STAR-Vote for Arduino:
December 2020
Secure, Transparent, Auditable, Reliable Voting on a microprocessor
- Developed STAR-Vote ballot encoding software for privacy-preserving, verifiable voting on Arduino microcontrollers.
- Optimized cryptographic and number theoretic algorithms for a memory-constrained microcontroller platform.
- Implemented efficient big-integer algorithms including modular exponentiation by squaring with Montgomery multiplication from scratch in C.
Programming Head,
May 2021 – June 2023
FRC Robotics: IMSA Titans #2022
- Led a team of 4-8 students from 10th-12th grade developing all aspects of the robotics technology stack.
- Adapted to rapidly evolving challenges and requirements in fast-paced competition environments.
- Developed software for efficient autonomous localization, aiming, and motion generation.
- Created and delivered a curriculum of twelve 1-2 hour modules on topics ranging from best practices to advanced algorithms.
Honors & Awards 🔗
Courtney S. Coleman Prize September 2025 for outstanding performance in mathematics
Second Place October 2023 SIG Brainteaser Battle at Harvey Mudd College
National Merit Scholar April 2023 National Merit Scholarship Corporation
Gold Award: Mathematics Paper April 2022 Illinois Junior Academy of Sciences State Science Fair