Riley’s research focused on creating more efficient methods and tools for simulation of both wired and wireless computer networks. He also worked in Internet measurement methods, Internet routing protocols, and development of numerical methods for monitoring and adapting finite queue sizes in packet-based networks. Riley also worked on the application of large-scale simulation methods towards the simulation-based design and analysis of multi-core systems and on-chip networks. He graduated 12 Ph.D. students and published over 120 refereed journal and conference papers.
Always highly involved in the larger Georgia Tech community, Riley served as the chair of the Georgia Tech Executive Board, in the Academic Senate, and on the Institute Undergraduate Curriculum Committee for six years, with two of those years spent as its chair. He also led a campus wide international plan task force in 2011.