Profiles

Charalambos (Harrys) Konstantinou is currently an Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and an Affiliate Professor of Computer Science (CS) with the Computer, Electrical and Mathematical Science and Engineering Division (CEMSE), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia. He is the Principal Investigator (PI) of the Secure Next Generation Resilient Systems Laboratory (SENTRY), a co-PI of the Advanced Grid Laboratory for Cyber-Physical Energy System Applications (ANGLE) Group at KAUST, and also affiliated to the Center for Renewable Energy & Storage Technologies (CREST), KAUST. He received the M.Eng. degree in ECE from the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), Greece, and the Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from New York University (NYU), NY, USA. Before joining KAUST, he was an Assistant Professor with the Center for Advanced Power Systems (CAPS), Florida State University (FSU). His research interests include critical infrastructures security and resilience with special focus on smart grid technologies, renewable energy integration, and real-time simulation. He is a Senior Member of IEEE, and currently serving as Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid (TSG) and IEEE Transactions on Power Systems (TPWRS).

Professor Konstantinou's research focuses on critical infrastructure security and resilience, with a specialization in smart grid technologies, renewable energy integration and real-time simulations. His SENTRY Lab investigates the cybersecurity and resilience of industrial control systems, critical power grid infrastructure and embedded systems.

The lab employs a "red team/blue team" approach, where researchers act as attackers ("red team") to test the defenses developed and deployed by the "blue team," who respond to the simulated intrusions.

Using this concept, SENTRY researchers design adaptive modeling methods, monitoring schemes and control algorithms to detect, prevent and mitigate the risk of cyberattacks, especially in critical grid infrastructures.

The group's research aims to create secure and resilient computing systems by employing computer security fundamentals and cyber-physical engineering applications.

Aoun’s research focuses on improving how power systems operate and plan under high shares of variable renewables. At KAUST he is developing advanced unit commitment methods that explicitly consider renewable uncertainty and system stability while searching for algorithmic speed-ups and new formulations using quantum computation. Earlier work includes stochastic AC optimal power flow solved with machine learning surrogates, and course projects on grid-following and grid-forming inverter modeling for wind farms plus HVDC design for bulk power transfer.

During his master’s degree (fully funded) at Skoltech, Moscow (2022-2024), Aoun worked on a modified frequency control strategy for solar PV inverters using a virtual synchronous generator approach. His bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering (COMSATS University Islamabad, 2017-2021) included an ERASMUS+ semester at Sehir University Istanbul, in 2019. For his final-year project he developed an AI-based automatic meter reading framework that used deep neural networks for digit detection and recognition. He graduated as the silver medalist of his class.

Aoun has industrial experience from internships with LESCO in Pakistan and Shakarganj Mills Limited, and he worked as a Management Trainee Engineer at Shakarganj Mills Limited from 2021 to 2022. He programs primarily in MATLAB and Python and is actively developing skills in quantum software stacks such as PennyLane and Qiskit to apply quantum techniques to optimization problems in power systems.

• Unit commitment and scheduling for systems with high renewable penetration
• Quantum and hybrid quantum-classical algorithms for power-system optimization
• Stochastic AC optimal power flow and machine-learning-based surrogates
• Grid-forming and grid-following inverter modeling and control for wind farms
• HVDC system design and power transfer studies

Gokul is an electrical engineering student who is currently doing research in core areas like power electronics, power systems and control systems. His research mainly focuses on grid design, modeling, control and development of modular power converters which helps in creating new solutions for sustainable energy generation, transmission, distribution and consumption.

He is experienced in Hardware-In-the-Loop (HIL) and Rapid Control Prototyping (RCP) systems like RTDS, Opal-RT, Speedgoat, Typhoon and dSPACE. He has great experience in MATLAB Simulink, NI Multisim, OrCAD Pspice and other ECAD tools which include Altium, Eagle and KiCAD.

The project he was involved in with KAUST as a visiting student was the development of a bi-directional multi-node Smart DC Grid for Autonomous Power Interchange Systems (APIS) which includes Energy Storage Systems (ESS). The system is designed in MATLAB Simulink and tested in real-time machines like Speedgoat and Opal-RT which links the software framework called Hyphae by Sony CSL, LF Energy. 

He was involved in other research projects like control design of the 6-ph PMSM motor, Level - 3 Autonomous Vehicle, High Voltage Low Power Converter,  Robust Steering Controller Design, Modelling of the University's Distribution Network etc...

Gokul's research focuses on power electronics, power systems, and control systems, with an emphasis on grid architecture, advanced modeling, control strategies and the development of modular power converters to optimize sustainable energy generation, transmission, distribution, and consumption. He has substantial expertise in Hardware-In-the-Loop (HIL) and Rapid Control Prototyping (RCP) platforms such as RTDS, Opal-RT, Speedgoat, Typhoon, and dSPACE. Skilled in MATLAB Simulink, NI Multisim, OrCAD Pspice, and ECAD tools including Altium, Eagle, and KiCAD.

Michał Forystek received his B.Sc. degree in Information and Communication Technology from AGH University of Science and Technology in Kraków, Poland, in 2023.

He has a 2 years of experience as a Java Developer working for IG Group in Kraków.

Currently he is a Computer Science Master's student at the Secure Next Generation Resilient Systems Lab (SENTRY) under the supervision of Professor Charalambos Konstantinou.

Michał's research involves using Load Altering Attacks to exploit the Load Frequency Control in Power Systems and developing the appropriate countermeasures.

NABIL MOHAMMED (Senior Member, IEEE) received the B.Eng. degree (Hons.) in electrical power engineering from Tishreen University, Latakia, Syria, in 2013, the M.Eng. degree (Hons.) in electrical engineering from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru, Malaysia, in 2017, and the Ph.D. degree in power electronics from Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia, in 2022. 

During Summer 2019, he was a Visiting Researcher with the Department of Energy Technology, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark. From 2021 to 2024, he was a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow with Monash University, Clayton, Australia. He is currently a Research Scientist with the Computer, Electrical, and Mathematical Sciences and Engineering Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia.

NABIL MOHAMMED research interests include power electronics, grid integration of renewable energy resources, microgrids, energy storage and management systems, and modeling, control, and stability of power electronic-based power systems.