Research

My interests are in the areas of security, reliability and applications of emerging wireless technologies. More specifically, I am interested in solving research problems in the following areas:

• Cyber security, risk mitigation, vulnerability analysis, intrusion detection and prevention
• Emerging wireless technologies
• Mobile computing
• Applications of near field communications (NFC), radio frequency identification (RFID) systems, smartphones, sensor networks and body area networks.
• Applications of emerging wireless technologies in healthcare

I have completed a number of industry-driven research and development projects on protocol vulnerabilities, security best practices, design of intrusion detection and prevention systems, and applications of RFID systems and NFC-enabled smartphones. Most of my projects have been funded by NSERC, Industry Canada and the NRC.

I have collaborated/ am collaborating with a number of industries, local IT companies, and research organizations. They include Industry Canada, Boeing, Solution Inc., Timeless Medical Systems, Norex.ca, eOLIO, ExactDeposit, FANfit, HealthQR Inc., Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Citrus Mobile Solutions, Home Safe Living, Progeny Software and ViTRAK Systems. I am also the co-founder of a startup company, Wi4Tech Inc., that was born out of our lab, MYTech Lab ("EMerging WIreless Technologies Lab) in the Faculty of Computer Science.

Research Grants

• NSERC Operating Grant, $28,000 per year (currently held)
• NSERC Collaborative Research Grant, (co-investigator) approx.. $150,000 per year (2013-2016) (jointly held with other faculty members– Boeing project)
• MITACS Accelerate: $30,000 (Industry Collaborator: ExactDeposit) (2014)
• NSERC Engage Grant: $24,900 (Industry Collaborator: Citrus Mobile Solutions) (May-October 2014)
• NSERC Engage Grant: $24,600 (Industry Collaborator: Norex) (Jan – Jun 2014)
• NSERC Engage Grant: $24,750 (Industry Collaborator: eOLIO) (July – Dec 2014)
• NSERC Engage Grant : $22,950 (Industry Collaborator: Home Safe Living Inc.) (October 2012-March 2013)
• NSERC Engage Grant: $24,950 (Industry Collaborator: Progeny Software) (2012)
• NSERC Engage Grant: $24,500 (Industry Collaborator: SheepdogInc.ca) (2011-2012)
• MITACS Cluster Grant – mainly for student research assistantships, $75,000 (2012).
• Industry Canada Project on Wireless Security, $25,000 per year (2003-2011).
• Canadian Institute for Telecommunications Research, $50,000 per year, 2000-2003
• Canada Foundation for Innovation (jointly held), $220,000, 1999-2002
• Canarie grant (jointly held), $330,000, 2002-2004.

Industry Research Collaborations

• Co-founded, along with students, Wi4Tech Inc., a startup company with an innovative product for smartphone applications with near field communications– 2013.
• Member, Board of Advisors,EyeRead (a subsidiary of Norex.ca), 2014-current.
• Technical Advisor, ExactDeposit Inc., 2014-current.
• Collaboration with Norex.ca, Halifax, 2013 – current
• Collaboration with ExactDeposit, Halifax, 2014
• Collaboration with HealthQR Inc., Halifax, 2014
• Collaboration with eOLIO Inc., Halifax, 2013.
• Collaboration with HomeSafeLiving Inc., Halifax 2012 – 13.
• Collaboration with Progeny Software through NSERC Engage – 2012.
• Collaboration with ViTRAK Systems, PEI, through NSERC Engage- 2012.
• Collaboration with SheepdogInc.ca through NSERC Engage – 2011.
• Industry Canada, Wireless Security Project – 2003 to 2011.
• Collaboration with DSM Telecom, Halifax, Solution Inc., Halifax and Sheepdog Inc., Halifax, through NRC-IRAP – 2009 to 2010.
• Collaboration with Timeless Medical, Charlottetown, PEI, through the MITACS internship programme – 2009 to 2010.
• Resource Management in High Speed Networks, Canadian Institute for Telecommunications Research (CITR) (2000 – 2003): Collaboration among five universities (Dalhousie, UBC, Waterloo, Alberta and Toronto) and five telecommunication companies (Aliant, Bell Canada, Bell Mobility, General Datacom. and Nortel Networks)
• Development of Reconfigurable Networks (1994-1998): Instituto per Ricerche in Fisica Cosmica E Tecnologie Relative, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (IFCTR-CNR), Milan, Italy
• Design of Routing and Switching Algorithms (1995-2000): Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India.