Keynote Speakers

Prof. Kaushik Roy

North Carolina A&T State University, USA

Title : Interpretable Machine Learning and Deep Neural Network for Classifying Ransomware Families

Ransomware has emerged as one of the biggest global disruptions in recent days. The alarming increasing rate of ransomware attacks and new ransomware variants intrigues the researchers to constantly examine the distinguishing traits of ransomware and refine their detection strategies. Among the broad range of behavioral characteristics, Application Programming Interface (API) calls and network behaviors have been widely utilized as differentiating factors for ransomware detection, or classification. In this research work, we utilize these features to classify ransomware families. First, a WebCrawler is developed to automate collecting 2 types of binaries belonging to 11 different ransomware families. By extracting the API call frequencies and capturing the malicious network activities, we construct our dataset through a feature engineering process. From this dataset, the most important features are then selected by utilizing a Wrapper-type feature selection technique for six Machine Learning classifiers, namely, Logistic Regression, Stochastic Gradient Descent, K-Nearest Neighbor, Naïve Bayes, Random Forest, and Support Vector Machine. We also apply those six subsets of features for a Deep Neural Network, namely, Multi-Layer Perceptron. Then, the performances of all classifiers were compared to select the best model. The results reveal that both Logistic Regression and Multi-Layer Perceptron can efficiently classify ransomware into their corresponding families securing 98.31% and 98.59% accuracy respectively. Finally, instead of relying on the ‘Black box’ characteristic of the Machine Learning model and Deep Neural Network, we present the interpretability of our best-performing models using SHAP values to ascertain the transparency and trustworthiness of the model’s prediction.

Dr. Kaushik Roy is a Professor and Interim Chair in the Department of Computer Science at North Carolina A&T State University (NCAT). Dr. Roy has been the PI/Co-PI on $22.5 M in research grants funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), Department of Defense (DoD), National Security Agency (NSA), Department of Energy (DoE), and CISCO Systems. His current research is heavily focused on cybersecurity, cyber identity, biometrics, machine learning (deep learning), data science, and big data analytics. He has over 140 publications including 35 journal articles. Dr. Roy is a director of the Center for Cyber Defense (CCD). The CCD is designated by the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security as a National Center for Academic Excellence in both Cyber Defense Education and Cyber Defense Research. Dr. Roy also directs the Cyber Defense and AI lab.

Prof Joarder Kamruzzaman

Federation University, Australia

Title : Machine Learning in Cyber-security applications

Machine learning, including deep learning, has been successfully applied in many recent cutting-edge applications, including automation, robotics, natural language processing, computer vision, malware detection, network intrusion detection, etc. This talk will give an overview of how machine learning plays a vital role in building robust and secured systems, particularly in malware detection and intrusion prevention. It will also discuss how adversarial learning and fuzzy oversampling can help to build robust detection models.

Kamruzzaman is a Professor of Information Technology and Director of the Centre for Smart Analytics at Federation University Australia. Previously, he served Monash University Australia (2004-13) as an Associate Professor and Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology as a full professor (1999-2003). He is the founding leader of the sensor networks research group at Monash University in 2007 which now continues at Federation University. During 2008-2013, he served as the Director of the Centre for Multimedia Computing, Communications and Artificial Intelligence Research hosted by the Faculty of IT at Monash University.

Prof. Mukti M. Rana

Delaware State University, USA

Title : Recent Advances in Transition Metal Dichalcogenides (TMDCs)

     

Dr. Mukti Rana is a Professor of Engineering and Director and Principal Investigator at the Optical Science Center for Applied Research (OSCAR) at Delaware State University (DSU). Dr. Rana received his B.Sc. in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the Khulna University of Engineering and Technology, Bangladesh (1992-1997), and his M.S. (2000-2002) and Ph.D. (2003-2007) from The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) in Electrical Engineering. He also worked as graduate teaching assistant, graduate research assistant and post-doctoral research associate (2007-2008) in the Department of Electrical Engineering during his tenure at UTA. In fall 2008, Dr. Rana joined as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at The University of South Alabama, Mobile. In 2010, he joined in the Department of Physics and Engineering and OSCAR of DSU. Dr. Rana’s research projects are supported by the Department of Defense (US Army, Navy and Air Force), National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Institute of Health (NIH) and. Dr. Rana served the principal investigator of Optics for Space Technology and Applied Research Center funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Optical Science Center for Applied Research (OSCAR) funded by NSF. Both of these grants were funded for 5 Million US dollars for 5 years. Dr. Rana has secured more than 13 Million US Dollars in research funding during his tenure at DSU. Currently there are five graduate, three undergraduate, and three high school students work at Dr. Rana’s research laboratory -Laboratory for Optical Sensing and Energy Conversion. His current research interest includes - thin film’s properties for microsensors’ applications, uncooled infrared detectors and microelectro-mechanical (MEMS) devices. Dr. Rana has published more than thirty-four refereed journal articles and conference proceedings, one book, one book chapter and holds three patents. Dr. Rana is a member of the IEEE, SPIE and the founding student advisor of IEEE student branch at DSU. Between Fall ‘15- Fall ‘20, Dr. Rana demonstrated outstanding leadership to advise and mentor 124 middle school, 56 high school, 200+ undergraduate and 33 graduate students, 21 middle and high school science teachers, 7 junior faculty members and 3 post-doctoral research associates. Dr. Rana is the recipient of “Faculty Mentor of The Year Award, NASA, 2019” for his contribution towards advising and mentoring of students. He is also the recipient of excellence in mentoring award in 2021, excellence in research award in 2016, vice president’s award for excellence in research in 2015 and excellence in outreach award 2015 for the college of mathematics, natural sciences and technology of DSU.

Dr. Jahangir Hossain

University of Technology Sydney, Australia

Title : Resilience and Reliable Power Supply for Remote Communities using Microgrids

During the next decade, microgrids will emerge as a major enabler of the smart grid for the integration of small and medium-sized DER units into the electricity grid. Microgrids offer a promising cost effective solution to the integration of renewable energy with reduced losses, lower transmission and distribution costs, higher energy efficiency, and a number of environmental and economic benefits. Microgrids are currently controlled independently, according to local requirements and aims, often based on local control strategies and without coordination with other microgrids. However, it is anticipated that future sub-transmission and distribution systems will be composed of several interconnected microgrids and form a complex electric network. Interconnecting together multiple microgrids can lead to undesirable dynamic behaviors, which have not been adequately examined so far. The coexistence of multiple energy resources with differing dynamic properties has raised concerns over the stability, control, and efficiency of microgrids.

 

In this presentation microgrid components, virtual power plant, distributed generation, stability issues and robust distributed control of microgrids will be presented. The best design practice, operational and control challenges will be highlighted. Finally, a robust distributed control scheme to achieve the desired power regulation by coordinating distributed generation units with energy storage system) of each microgrid, will be presented.

Dr. Jahangir Hossain received B.Sc. and M.Sc. Eng. degrees from Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology (RUET), Bangladesh, in 2001 and 2005, respectively, and a Ph.D. degree from the University of New South Wales, Australia, all in electrical and electronic engineering.  He is currently working as an Associate Professor at the School of Electrical and Data Engineering, University of Technology Sydney. Before joining there, he served as an associate professor in Macquarie University for 3.5 years, senior lecture and a lecturer in the Griffith School of Engineering, Griffith University for five years and as a research fellow in the School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, University of Queensland, Australia. Previously, he worked as a lecturer and assistant professor at Rajshahi University of Engineering & Technology, Bangladesh for six years. He has published more than 300 articles in international refereed journals and conferences which attracted more than 5950 citations (GoogleScholar) with Hindex 41. He is a senior member of IEEE, editor of two IEEE journal and secured more than 5M research grant.  His research interests are power systems, wind generator integration and stabilization, voltage stability, micro grids, robust control, electrical machine, FACTS devices, and energy storage systems.

Dr. Ahmed Y. Saber

ETAP R&D, USA

Title : Volt-VAR Optimization and Control: Energy Efficiency and Demand Respond Services for Bangladesh

Volt-VAR Optimization and Control (VVOC) finds and sets the optimum setting of voltage and VAR control devices (LTCs, voltage regulators, switch capacitors, inverters) in distribution system considering objectives and constraints. It is a centralized Volt-VAR optimization and control for Advanced Distribution Management System (ADMS). Main objective of VVOC is to make distribution grid (1) more efficient (because of less power loss) and (2) to reduce peak demand or conservation of volt reduction (CVR) for running utilities with less cost. It is essential for all utilities including Bangladesh. Bangladesh can run a pilot project to show its effectiveness considering current highly expensive fuel situation.

Ahmed Y Saber received the Ph.D. degree from University of the Ryukyus, Japan, in 2007. He is currently VP of Optimization and AI at ETAP, USA. He develops power systems simulation tools in ETAP using both deterministic and intelligent methods. His timely researches have been funded nationally and internationally including DOE. He won the IEEE Outstanding Engineer Award in Southern California, USA among more than 12,000 engineers for his contributions on smart-grid in 2012. He has published over 75 technical papers and holds 2 patents on power system optimization. His research interests include smart-grid, vehicle-to-grid, renewables, micro-grid, power system optimization, cyber-physical systems, intelligent systems and operations research.

Prof. Dr. Muhammad H. Rashid

Florida Polytechnic University

Title : METHODOLOGIES AND PREPAREDNESS FOR HIGH QUALITY RESEARCH

A research paper is a common form of academic writing. Research is to search or investigate exhaustively that requires studious inquiry or examination and investigation or experimentation. This is process that includes publication research, interviews, surveys and other research techniques, and could include both present and historical information. It includes various activities such as methodology, mind, mapping, identifying a topic (s) to be investigated, types of research, access the existing knowledge, applications of the knowledge in practical use, develop abilities, identifying new knowledge and ideas leading to new innovation, educational preparedness and background, ability how to research paper, doing a literature survey, and publishing the research paper.

This presentation identifies and discusses the different the process and elements in conducting, writing and publishing a quality research papers. The presenter shares his experience as an educator, author textbooks and research papers, and reviewers of papers and grant proposals.

Muhammad H. Rashid is employed by the Florida Polytechnic University as a Professor and Chair of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Previously he was employed by the University of West Florida, Pensacola, Florida as a professor of electrical and computer engineering. He was also employed by the University of Florida as Professor and Director of UF/UWF Joint Program. Rashid received B.Sc. degree in Electrical Engineering from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, and M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Birmingham in UK. Previously, he worked as Professor of Electrical Engineering and the Chair of the Engineering Department at Indiana University- Purdue University at Fort Wayne. Also, he worked as Visiting Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Connecticut, Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering at Concordia University (Montreal, Canada), Professor of Electrical Engineering at Purdue University Calumet, and Visiting Professor of Electrical Engineering at King Fahd university of Petroleum and Minerals (Saudi Arabia), as a design and development engineer with Brush Electrical Machines Ltd. (England, UK), a Research Engineer with Lucas Group Research Centre (England, UK), a Lecturer and Head of Control Engineering Department at the Higher Institute of Electronics (in Libya & Malta).

Hasan Ali

University of Memphis, USA

Title : Cyber Secure 5G-Enabled Charging Station and Dynamic Wireless Charging for Electric Vehicles.

Recently research on electric vehicle (EV) charging is getting increasing popularity because of cleaner, climate friendly and reduced operational costs. EVs significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and society’s reliance on fossil fuels. However, the lack of charging infrastructure and prolonged charging time can lead to driving range anxiety. One of the preferred options is to improve the charging infrastructure and reduce charging time. Furthermore, the automation of electric vehicle charging station (EVCS) operation and management requires remote centralized control like supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) that can communicate with numerous field devices with the least possible delay. Recently 5G technology has emerged as the paradigm shift for cellular communication due to its ultra-low latency and a very high speed. By providing real-time control and extremely fast communication, 5G can be an appropriate solution to successfully enable communication between the SCADA and various intelligent controllers and smart components of EVCS. Moreover, dynamic wireless charging (DWC) of EVs is becoming a preferred method since it enables power exchange between the vehicle and the power source/grid while the vehicle is moving. The advantage of DWC is that the vehicles require less volume of expensive battery storage and the range of transportation is increased. Although researchers listed and characterized exploitable backdoors of the charging infrastructure and DWC of EVs, they lack the impact analysis of cyber-attacks and detection and mitigation strategies. This talk will discuss about the design and development of a cyber secure 5G-enabled EVCS and DWC system for EVs.

Dr. Mohd Hasan Ali received his Ph.D. degree in electrical and electronic engineering from Kitami Institute of Technology, Kitami, Japan, in 2004. He is currently an Associate Professor with the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of Memphis, USA, where he leads the Electric Power and Energy Systems (EPES) Laboratory. His research interests include smart-grid and microgrid systems, cybersecurity issues and solutions to modern power grids, electric vehicle charging system and station, renewable energy systems, energy storage systems, and load forecasting in smart buildings. Dr. Ali has more than 210 publications including 4 books, 6 book chapters, 3 patents, 70 top ranked journal papers, 99 peer-reviewed international conference papers and 20 national conference papers. According to Google Scholar, as of October 2022, the total citations number of his published research is 5,054 with an h-index of 36 and i10-index 98. His research has been funded by various sponsors such as the National Security Agency (NSA), Department of Energy (DOE), National Science Foundation (NSF), the American Public Power Association (APPA), the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), to name a few. He received the University of Memphis Alumni Association Distinguished Teaching Award in 2020 and the Outstanding Faculty Teaching Award from the Herff College of Engineering in 2019. He serves as the Editors of the IEEE Transactions on Sustainable Energy, IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion, IEEE Power Engineering Letters, IET-Generation, Transmission and Distribution (GTD) journal, MDPI Electronics Journal, and Frontiers in Energy Research. Dr. Ali is a Senior Member of the IEEE Power and Energy Society (PES). Also, he is the Chair of the PES of the IEEE Memphis Section.

Invited Speakers

Muhammad Munir Chowdhury

Director General, National Museum of Science and Technology (NMST)

Title : Challenges of Environment Pollution in Bangladesh.

Update coming soon.

Update coming soon.