Hands-on research opens doors for software engineering grad
- Ken Keuffel
- Student success
- Contributors: James Greco, Photos
5 – minute read
During high school at Paxon School for Advanced Studies in Jacksonville, Kevin Kostage developed a fascination with computers and a budding interest in forensics, sparked by a course he took shortly before graduating. When he started exploring college options, he saw Florida Gulf Coast University as a place where he could pursue both of those interests — and even continue his passion for gymnastics through a student club.
FGCU was “the perfect fit for me,” said Kostage, who graduated this spring with a software engineering degree and a minor in forensic studies. He was named the Student of the Year among software engineering majors.
Kostage honed his skills in artificial intelligence and cybersecurity through hands-on research and impactful projects. He took part in the prestigious Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) summer program at the University of Missouri, where he plans to pursue a Ph.D. in computer science.
He also served as a senior project intern for Homeland Security Investigations’ Southwest Florida Intercept Task Force. In 2023, Kostage joined a team of FGCU software engineering students that developed Net Spider, an innovative web-scraping tool used in cybercrime investigations to combat human trafficking. The app has already contributed to criminal investigations and arrests and the rescue of trafficking victims.
Kostage mentored the team in 2024-25, when it earned the Silver Community Award and the Best Community-Based Research Award at Eagle X, FGCU’s annual showcase of outstanding achievements in research, community engagement, internships and leadership.
Building on undergrad research
At the University of Missouri, Kostage received a highly competitive offer that includes full tuition support and a top-tier research assistantship stipend. As a graduate student, he aims to build on the prolific and innovative research he conducted at FGCU. In total, he co-authored five academic papers accepted for publication and is currently continuing work on two additional papers he began as an undergraduate.
Chengyi Qu, assistant professor in FGCU’s Department of Computing & Software Engineering since 2023, served as Kostage’s undergraduate research advisor. He said that Kostage’s research “holds significant impact” because “it directly tackles several of the most pressing challenges in modern cybersecurity and distributed AI, particularly within resource-constrained environments.”
Qu also called Kostage’s track record of academic papers “truly remarkable for an undergraduate.”
“Kevin’s sustained engagement began almost as soon as he joined my research lab, EagleCyberNest, as well as the challenging experience in the 2024 REU program,” Qu said. “By focusing on manageable subproblems, he was able to iterate rapidly through experiments and draft manuscripts, building momentum year after year.”
Explaining complex concepts simply
Kostage is passionate about his research and has developed a talent for explaining complex concepts in a way that’s accessible to a general audience. This was evident in the descriptions of some of his research.
His first paper proposed that AI models on drones could become smarter and more accurate if trained on a balanced dataset — what Kostage described as “an even mix of different types of data, like normal activity and suspicious activity.”
“The problem is that it is difficult to get that kind of balance without throwing out valuable data,” he said. “Think of it like trying to balance a scale that has a lot of squares on one side and only a few circles on the other. You’re told you can’t remove anything, and the only way to get more pieces is to wait for random deliveries of either squares or circles. You never know what you’ll get.”
The solution proposed in the paper was not to wait for more data, but to make the missing pieces using an AI technique called a generative adversarial network (GAN) — which Kostage likened to “generating more circles to even things out.”
In his second research paper, Kostage expanded on this idea by applying the GAN approach to network intrusion detection systems, which monitor internet traffic for signs of cyberattacks. His goal was to make these systems “more adaptable and better prepared for real-world threats.”
Connecting to the Nest
Kostage plans to maintain close ties with FGCU. Qu will continue serving as his co-advisor remotely, and Kostage will remain affiliated with the EagleCyberNest lab, likely continuing collaborations with both undergraduate and graduate students.
“Having Dr. Qu as my co-advisor is a strategic way of building a stronger bond between both FGCU and the University of Missouri while providing more resources to me to achieve a high level of production with my research,” Kostage said. “I feel very optimistic about my future.”
