Research Assistant, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar (March 2016 – December 2017)

NPRP Project Title: Intrusion Detection System (IDS) for Industrial Control Systems

The project was funded under the Qatar National Priorities Research Program (NPRP) from the Qatar Foundation.

Work Objectives:

• Design a novel framework for cyber-attack modeling and analysis for Cyber-Physical Hybrid Systems.
• Design a virtual Hardware-In-The-Loop (HIL) SCADA control system testbed using Siemens Industrial Automation hardware and software for a Cyber-Physical Reverse Osmosis (RO) plant simulator.
• Propose and implement online (PLC-based) and offline, central, and distributed attack detection, diagnosis, and mitigation techniques for a virtual HIL Reverse Osmosis (RO) plant simulator.

Technical Skills:

Programming languages: Python, Matlab, Simulink, and IEC 61131-3 languages, including LAD, FBD, and SCL.

• Implemented prediction-correction filters for nonlinear systems, namely Extended Kalman Filter and Unscented Kalman Filter, using SCL for Siemens PLCs.
• Designed and implemented central SCADA Server-based attack detection techniques for ICS of Cyber-Physical Hybrid systems in Python.
• Worked with Siemens S7-1200 and S7-1500 PLCs, ET 200SP Distributed I/Os (including Analog and Digital input and output modules); gained experience with the TIA Portal.
• Acquired knowledge of industrial communication standards, namely Profinet and Profibus.

Research Assistant, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar (March 2016 – December 2017)

NPRP Project Title: Towards Safe Indoor Air Quality in View of the On-Going Massive Development in the State of Qatar

Technical Skills:

Electronics (Sensors, Sensor Calibration, and Analog Instrumentation) and Embedded Hardware Design:

• Worked with three-electrode and four-electrode electrochemical and NDIR gas sensors for CO, CO₂, NO, NO₂, and O₃ sensing and designed analog front-end circuitry for these sensors.
• Designed an automated calibration rig with features like feedback temperature control, controlled dispensation of gas mixtures, and Zigbee (IEEE 802.15.4) communication, for wirelessly calibrating sensor nodes against sensitivity drift, temperature, and cross-sensitivity.
• Implemented STAR and Mesh Zigbee-based wireless sensor networks (WSN) for indoor air quality sensing using gas sensor nodes, routers, and a gateway node.

Embedded and PC-Based Software Design (Languages Used: C++, Labview):

• Created bare-metal firmware for wireless sensor nodes equipped with ATMEL microcontrollers in ATMEL STUDIO using C++.
• Designed Labview software for automatic lab-based wireless calibration of sensor nodes against temperature, humidity, sensitivity drift, and cross-sensitivity; key components of the software included a wireless communication stack, CSV file handler, and optimal data fitting algorithm using the least squared error (LSE) algorithm.

Graduate Development Engineer, EDWARDS, England, UK (August 2014 – August 2015)

Electronics (Sensors, Instrumentation, and Data Acquisition):

• Gained experience working with half and full bridge strain sensors, thermocouples, IR sensors, tachometers, hall sensors, accelerometers from Piezoelectric, and proximity sensors from Bently Nevada.
• Worked with National Instruments’ family of signal conditioning modules for strain, pressure, vibration, and temperature sensor monitoring, and embedded Windows 7 cDAQ controllers with Quad-core Atom processors from National Instruments for data acquisition.

Software Design:

• Gained experience with the Agile software development life cycle (SDLC).
• Familiarity with VISA, DAQmx, and the Sound and Vibration library; implemented the MODBUS serial communication protocol handler.
• Experience programming National Instruments’ Windows HMIs.
• Designed multitier software applications using design patterns including Master-Slave, Producer-Consumer, Event-Based, and State Machines.

Junior Hardware Developer, EDWARDS, England, UK (September 2012 – October 2013)

Electronics (Low Voltage Embedded System Design):

• Low voltage mixed signal SCADA RTU hardware design in Cadence Orcad and ISIS Proteus.
• Embedded circuit design using microcontrollers from ARM, Microchip, Freescale, and Analog Devices.
• Worked with industrially used ICDs: PicKit3, Keil ULINK2, and UMultilink.
• Familiarity with Bluetooth network stack; hardware design experience with Microchip’s Bluetooth RS232 and RS485 transceivers.

Embedded Firmware and PC-Based Software Development:

Embedded Programming in C/C++:

• Baremetal firmware design in MPLAB, Atmel Studio, Keil uVision, and Codewarrior IDEs; familiarity with microcontroller peripherals such as timers, WDTs, interrupts, FLASH, EEPROM, SRAM, ADC, DAC, comparators, PWM module, UART, USART, SPI, and I2C; and implementation of industrial protocol handlers for MODBUS serial communication.
• Implementation of scheduling algorithms: First Come First Serve, Fixed Priority Preemptive Scheduling, Shortest Job First, Rate Monotonic, Round Robin, and Earliest Deadline First. Familiarity with CppUnit and Unit++ C++ based unit testing frameworks.
• Microsoft Visual C#.NET: WinForm and WPF-based GUI design; familiarity with Microsoft’s concurrent programming technologies and Nunit testing framework (unit testing patterns including AAA, State-based pattern, Interaction-based pattern, Exception-testing pattern, and Mock Objects pattern). Implemented industrial protocol handlers for EtherCAT and MODBUS.
• Java: Software design experience in Eclipse IDE; familiar with concurrent programming technologies; and Android application design experience using Android SDK.