Meet Sandboxer Keyun Ruan. Based in Shanghai and Sydney and being a true multi-talent, Keyun is a pioneering researcher on Cloud Forensics, while earning a diploma in arts and being the convening China-ambassador for One Young World. Find Keyun on Twitter and Facebook.

1. Tell us the story of your latest project / occupation.

I am working on a start-up consulting company on Cloud Forensics, building a virtual collaboration network of experts to provide consulting services to governments and businesses on forensic investigations in cloud environments.
At the same time I am editing my first book on Cybercrime and Cloud Forensics: Applications for Investigation Processes to be published by IGI Global in the copyright year of 2012. It is going to be one of the first publications worldwide on some of the pioneering forensic techniques and studies in cloud environments.

2. What are you doing and how did you get there?

I am Keyun Ruan, 2nd year PhD Candidate at the Centre for Cybercrime Investigation at the University College Dublin. My research area is the relatively green yet rapidly emerging field called Cloud Forensics. I was among the first ones to identify the area and one of the pioneering researchers in this area worldwide. I did my joint BA from Fudan University and University College Dublin in Software Engineering in Shanghai, and then I went to Dublin to start my PhD.
I am also a diploma student in Art and Design at National College of Art and Design in Ireland. I am fond of all forms of contemporary arts. My parents are both in art and I have a strong interest in art since I was very little.
I am the One Young World convening ambassador of China since I attended the inaugural One Young World summit in London in Feb 2010.

3. Tell us about the biggest successes and failures in your life. What worked, what didn’t, and what did you learn?

Biggest success – probably the decision to leave hometown and to be adventurous and independent. That’s a hard decision for a spoiled only-child. I enjoy being able to design my life in a unique way. It is risky, dangerous, but dreamful, especially in China where people still tend to embrace the single-value mainstreams.
Biggest failure – I experienced terrible insomnia before and during the national college entrance exam in China, which affected my score in the end. I was too much a perfectionist with a very smooth and satisfactory life and that nearly killed me. Today this might seem as a minor incident, but it indeed was the single event that changed me the most in my life.

4. What do you want to achieve in a) the next week, b) the next year, c) the next 10 years?

a) next week – celebrate the Chinese New Year of Rabbit in New York and then head for Harvard Asia Conference in Harvard
b) next year – finish my PhD probably, publish my first book, improve my cooking skills, sell some paintings, and find out where my next stop is
c) next 10 years – It’s hard to plan the next 10 years. I prefer to focus on the present and I love unexpected surprises. However, I still have some rough ideas about the future. For now I still think I would like to stay a researcher, but will continue to live a multi-disciplinary life and I am interested in art, business, writing, etc. Probably I will still remain a traveler.

5. What was your most inspring moment during the last two weeks?

I was in Paris at a 2011 winter collection menswear fashion show – that’s something very new to me.
I am attending the 7th IFIP 11.9 International Conference on Digital Forensics in Orlando – first time in central Florida, with nice weather, and learning a lot from colleagues in the digital forensic field.

6. How could other Sandboxers and the outside world support you and why would that be exciting for them.

One of the things I enjoy the most is to be enriched by people who live interesting life, like almost all the Sandboxers do. So let’s make friends, plan some trips, share experiences, and exchange ideas and philosophies.
Otherwise at the moment I am interested in start-ups, research projects related to cybercrime, cyber justice, cloud computing, cyber walfare, cyber society, as well as art and design projects, or innovative and unique initiatives that you might feel I could be excited for!

Ruan’s favourite:
-music: cello is my favorite instrument
-book: Milan Kundera, Noam Chomsky, Voltaire
-movie: Wong Kar-wai, Leslie Cheung, Hayao Miyazaki, Farewell My Concubine
-place on earth: Stockholm, Rome, Paris, California, Boston, New York and of course Shanghai
-travel destination during last year: Shanghai, Cologne, Barcelona, Brussels, Geneva, Paris, San Francisco, New York, Silicon Valley, Venice, Leksand, Malta, London, Edinburgh, Rome
-food: seafood, Cantonese, Japanese, steamed
-drink: I drink a lot of water every day and I am a big tea lover; soya milk; wine
-quote:
Become a genius then go mad; become immortal and then die.

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler. Einstein

Life is a shipwreck but we must not stop singing in the lifeboats. Voltaire

Among our guests we were lucky to have Zurich based Sandboxer Dominik Grolimund. Dominik just received the 2009 Swiss ICT Award for his company Wuala, a technology firm with a revolutionary approach for secure online storage. Dominik discussed cyber-security with future Sandboxer Jade Nester, who is an international telecommunications expert in the Office of Communication and Information Policy at the US Department of State. Sandboxer Nils Remmel, who is visiting Washington for several weeks to conduct PhD research at the IMF, had an engaging conversation with law student Mike Raykher about the recent financial collapse.

It was also a great pleasure to welcome four new members to the Washington DC Sandbox scene, including Eric Kuhn (a rising journalist, commentator, and Audience Interaction Producer at CNN), Nick O’Neill (Founder of Socialtimes.com and well known social media expert), Alexander Zachary Girod (Founder Legal River), and Arthur Sabintsev (PhD student studying theoretical nuclear physics while writing popular Firefox extensions on the side).

Future Sandboxer Don Ball (Founder of Global Catalyst Group—an organization with similar values and goals as Sandbox) shared his vision for empowering Gen Y leaders with a voice in tackling some of the major challenges facing our generation. We were also excited to have future Sandboxer Robbie Gross (media coordinator for Newt Gingrich), talented photojournalist Mark Abramson, technology enthusiast George Ivanov, and up and coming Georgetown entrepreneur Crystal Ding. Future members Denis Baranov and Anton Zolotov shared their experience working on a new start up they hope will revolutionize online event publishing.

As all Sandbox dinners, Friday’s gathering generated fresh ideas, contacts, and future collaborations. With the continued expansion of the DC Sandbox community, we hope to create even further inter-city collaboration between our US Sandbox hubs in New York City, San Francisco, and other growing Sandbox hubs around the world.

Paul Gleger is Head of US Business Marketing and is the Washington DC Sandbox Ambassador. He has been part of the energetic Sandbox team for over two months and loves telling others about Sandbox’s mission to connect the most inspiring young leaders and innovators from around the world.