Alan Kaplan joined the Department of Computer Science as a teaching faculty in September 2014. His career spans academic research to industrial R&D to technology startup/entrepreneurship and he has over twenty years experience leading research and product development involving mobile software.
Prior to joining Princeton, Dr. Kaplan was the Chief Technology Officer for Drakontas, a software company that develops a mobile command, control and collaboration platform, called DragonForce, for law enforcement, public safety and first responder agencies.
Dr. Kaplan was formerly Department Head of Middleware and Software Technologies at the Panasonic Princeton Research Laboratory. Prior to Panasonic, he held faculty positions in computer science departments at Clemson University and Flinders University of South Australia. Dr. Kaplan holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a B.S. in Computer Science from Duke University.
Dr. Kaplan is an active volunteer in the IEEE. He serves on the Steering Committee for the IEEE Consumer Communications and Network Conference (IEEE CCNC). Starting in 2020, he represents the IEEE Standards Association Board on both the IEEE Conferences Committee and the IEEE Humanitarian Activities Committee.
Alan Kaplan is passionate about recovery and rebuilding efforts in Puerto Rico. During the summers of 2018 and 2019, he led teams of four Princeton undergraduates teaching a version of COS 126 at the University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez and volunteering at rebuilding/recovery sites throughout the island. (Princeton Computer Science News and Princeton Alumni Weekly)