Tink (https://github.com/google/tink https://github.com/google/tink) and Age (https://github.com/FiloSottile/age https://github.com/FiloSottile/age) are the obv

Tink (https://github.com/google/tink https://github.com/google/tink) and Age (https://github.com/FiloSottile/age https://github.com/FiloSottile/age) are the obvious examples, although I think to some extent even things like the Signal Protocol apply. I'd call them both examples of applied cryptography research. I think these projects compare very, very closely to applied ML research: They come out of industry research labs, are worked on by respected experts, usually involving some academics, ultimately you end up with an artifact beyond just a paper that is useful for something and improves upon the status quo. I'm admittedly not a total expert, so I don't know how far down to the level of crypto "primitives" this kind of work goes, but I believe there is some effort to pick primitives that are difficult to "mess up" (think "bad primes") and I know tink actively prevents you from making bad choices in the cases where you are forced to make a choice. Even more broadly, just consider any tptacek (who I should clarify is *not a researcher, lest he correct me) post on pgp/gpg email, or people like Matt Green (http://mattsmith.de/pdfs/DevelopersAreNotTheEnemy.pdf http://mattsmith.de/pdfs/DevelopersAreNotTheEnemy.pdf). Edit: Some poking around also brought up this person: https://yaseminacar.de/ https://yaseminacar.de/, who has some interesting papers on similar subjects.