Profiles

Charalambos Konstantinou is an Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and Affiliate Professor of Computer Science at KAUST. He is also the principal investigator of the Secure Next Generation Resilient Systems (SENTRY) Lab.

Professor Konstantinou received a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from New York University (NYU), U.S., and a Dipl. Ing. M.Eng. Degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), Greece. Before joining KAUST, he was an Assistant Professor with the Center for Advanced Power Systems (CAPS) at Florida State University, U.S.

His research interests include critical infrastructure security and resilience, with a special focus on smart grid technologies, renewable energy integration and real-time simulation.

He co-chairs the IEEE Task Force on Cyber-Physical Interdependence for Power System Operation and Control and previously chaired the IEEE Task Force on Resilient and Secure Large-Scale Energy Internet Systems. He is also an associate editor of the IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics.

Konstantinou is a senior member of the IEEE, a member of the ACM and an ACM Distinguished Speaker (2021-2024).

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.

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.

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.

Luis Vazquez obtained a Bachelor Degree on Robotics and Telecommunication from Universidad de las Americas Puebla, his final thesis work was a review on autonomous control and Natural Language Processing for the Robotics human-machine collaboration and interconnection between digital and physical components.

My research is focused on the effects of physical attacks to a robot sensor in the digital processing of the autonomous process more focused on Autonomous control algorithms for 2D vehicles and drones.

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.