Jan Kalbantner
Jan Kalbantner holds a BSc in Applied Computer Science (Cooperative State University BW, Germany) and an MSc in Information Security (Royal Holloway, University of London). Before joining the ISG, he worked for several years as a developer and consultant. His research interests include smart grids, IoT, network security and security architectures. Jan is conducting his PhD research in complex systems under the supervision of Professor Konstantinos Markantonakis with guidance from Darren Hurley-Smith.
E-mail: jan.kalbantner.2018@live.rhul.ac.uk
Benjamin Semal
Benjamin received his MEng in Microelectronics and Automation from Polytech Montpellier in 2016. As part of a double-degree, he also completed his MSc in Autonomous Vehicle Dynamics and Control from Cranfield University in 2016. Benjamin worked as a hardware security analyst at UL Transaction Security before joining the Smart Card Centre in 2018, to start his PhD under the supervision of Professor Konstantinos Markantonakis. His research interests include microarchitectural attacks and countermeasures on multiple-tenancy platforms, and autonomous vehicle security.
E-mail: benjamin.semal.2018@live.rhul.ac.uk
Nicola Bates
I joined the CDT in 2019 having completed the Information Security MSc at Royal Holloway in 2018. Prior to this I spent 11 years working within the Transaction Services team at PwC London in financial due diligence, gaining an ACA accounting qualification. I was part of the inaugural intake of the Teach First programme, teaching physics within a London secondary school, obtaining qualified teacher status. I also have a degree in Natural Sciences (Physics) from Cambridge University.
My research is focussed on cyber deterrence strategy and is co-supervised by the Information Security Group and the Department of Politics and International Relations.
E-mail: Nicola.Bates.2018@live.rhul.ac.uk
Dr. Robert Lee (Past)
Robert Lee received his MEng in Computer Systems and Software Engineering from the University of York in July 2013. In September 2013 he joined the first cohort of the ISG’s Centre for Doctoral Training in Cyber Security. After completing the taught component of the CDT program he joined the Smart Card Centre under the supervision of Professor Konstantinos Markantonakis. He is interested in secure application execution, embedded systems, physically unclonable functions and cycling very long distances.
Robert graduated with an PhD in Information Security in 2019.
E-mail: Robert.Lee.2013@live.rhul.ac.uk
Rashedul Hassan (Past)
Rashedul Hassan has completed his undergraduate from the University of Hull in Computer Science with Games development, where he received a first class honours. His PhD is supervised by Professor Konstantinos Markantonakis here at the Royal Holloway University of London. Rashedul is extremely enthusiastic about technology and loves innovation. Over his undergraduate studies, he was a Microsoft student partner, and he loves to develop apps and games for Windows phones. His research interests lie in Electronic Voting and security in gaming. Whilst Rashedul is not studying he enjoys music and FIFA.
Rashedul graduated with an MPhil in Information Security in 2019.
E-mail: MdRashedul.Hassan.2014@live.rhul.ac.uk
Dr. Iakovos Gurulian (Past)
Iakovos Gurulian received his BSc in Computer Science from the University of Surrey in 2011 and his MSc in Information Security from UCL in 2012. He then worked for two years in Greece as an Information Security and SAP ABAP Consultant. He is currently working on his PhD under the supervision of Professor Konstantinos Markantonakis. His research interests include smartphone security, operating systems security, network security and wireless technologies security. In his free time he enjoys listening to or playing music and watching movies.
Iakovos graduated with an PhD in Information Security in 2019.
E-mail: Iakovos.Gurulian.2014@live.rhul.ac.uk
Dr. Sean Kelly (Past)
Mr Sean Kelly holds a BSc in Computer Science (QMC, London 1986) and an MPhil in Computer Speech Processing (Cambridge, 1987). His research interests include fault detection and fault tolerance in software. He was responsible for the software in the world’s first electronic passport (Malaysia, 1998) and the associated GMPC I.D. card, (Malaysia, 2001). He was member of the team at NatWest Bank that defined and developed the first implementation of Multos (1998). Sean was a member of ITSO’s technical and security committees for over 10 years and maintains an ongoing interest in standards, being an active participant of ISO/IEC SC17-WG8 UK Panel – Contactless cards. He continues to be involved with commercial implementations of EMV and JavaCard operating systems while working part time on his research with supervisor Prof. Keith Mayes.
E-mail: Martin.Kelly.2014@live.rhul.ac.uk
Dr. Carlton Shepherd (Past)
Carlton completed his undergraduate degree in Computer Science from Newcastle University, graduating with first-class honours in 2013. During and shortly after this time, he was involved in assisting with research at Newcastle prior to joining the ISG’s Centre for Doctoral Training in Cyber Security in 2014. He is in his second year of the CDT (first year of research) and currently supervised by Professor Konstantinos Markantonakis. His primary research interests centre around continuous authentication systems, ambient sensing and trusted computing, particularly the secure execution and storage of biometric and related authentication data. He is also interested in embedded and operating system security more generally, and their application to pervasive computing and the Internet of Things.
Carlton graduated with an PhD in Information Security in 2019.
E-mail: Carlton.Shepherd.2014@live.rhul.ac.uk
Dr. Danushka Jayasinghe (Past)
Danushka Jayasinghe’s first degree was in Computer Networking from the University of Greenwich and he also holds a BTEC HND in Network Engineering and Telecommunication Systems. He completed his MSc in Information Security (with Distinction) at the ISG, Royal Holloway, University of London in 2013. He joined the Smart Card Centre to follow a PhD under the supervision of Dr Konstantinos Markantonakis. His research interests are on modern electronic payment systems with the consideration of security, privacy and efficiency of the underlying payment protocols and platforms. He is also interested in alternative payment schemes other than conventional card-based payment methods including digital cash and anonymous & fair-exchange payment protocols.
E-mail: danushka.jayasinghe.2012@live.rhul.ac.uk
Dr. Assad Umar (Past)
Mr Assad A Umar received his BSc in Business Information Technology from Coventry University UK, in 2010 and his MSc in Information Security from Royal Holloway in 2012 with a distinction. Prior to joining the ISG as an MSc student, he worked for a year in the Information Security department of the Nigerian Communications Commission NCC. His research interests include: smart cards, Near Field Communication, smartphones security, transport ticketing, network security & security architectures. He has recently started a PhD conducting research in transport ticketing systems under the supervision of Professor Keith Mayes on a project funded by Transport for London.
E-mail: Assad.Umar.2011@live.rhul.ac.uk
Dr. Benoit Ducray (Past)
Benoit Ducray did his Masters in Computer Science in France, Paris at ESIEA (Ecole Superieure d’Informatique, Electronique, Automatique). In 2010, he spent three months working in the R&D department of Ricoh in Paris, and in 2011 he worked at Slidepath (Leica Microsystems) in Dublin. In 2012, at the end of his Masters, he spent 6 months at Royal Holloway in the Smart Card Centre as a visiting researcher working on the recognition of movement and its potential application in secure identification. He has now begun a PhD in the Smart Card Centre, on biometric technologies supervised by Professor Keith Mayes.
Benoit graduated with an PhD in Information Security in 2018.
E-mail: Benoit.Ducray.2013@live.rhul.ac.uk
Dr. Hafizah Mansor (Past)
Hafizah Mansor received her Bachelor of Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Malaysia. She then worked at Malaysia Microelectronic Solutions, an IC design company that design smart card chips. Later she furthered he studies and received her MSc. Computer Science (Real Time Software Engineering) from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. She is now a PhD student in the Smart Card Centre under the supervision of Professor Konstantinos Markantonakis. Her research interests include smart card security and cryptography.
E-mail: Hafizah.Mansor.2011@live.rhul.ac.uk
Dr. Sarah Abu Ghazalah (Past)
Sarah Abu Ghazalah received her BSc in Information System from King Khaled University, Saudi Arabia in 2008 and her MSc in Computing Science from University of Glasgow in 2011. After receiving her bachelor degree she worked as Teacher Assistance at King Khaled University. Currently, she is working on a PhD in the Smart Card Centre, under the supervision of Professor Konstantinos Markantonakis.
E-mail: Sarah.AbuGhazalah.2012@live.rhul.ac.uk
Dr. Sheila Cobourne (Past)
Sheila Cobourne (M.A.(Oxon), M.B.A., M.Sc.) read Physics at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, and went on to work as a systems analyst developing financial systems for various multi-national organisations. She studied the MSc in Information Security at RHUL and passed (with distinction) in 2010. Her PhD research is concerned with the use of NFC phones and smart cards in challenging environments, with the aim of finding a practical security architecture which could be used in humanitarian operations. She is supervised by Professor Keith Mayes.
E-mail: sheila.cobourne.2008@live.rhul.ac.uk
Dr. Lazaros Kyrillidis (Past)
Mr Lazaros Kyrillidis received his BSc in Computer Science from the Technological Educational Institute (T.E.I.) of Thessaloniki, Greece in 2005 and his MSc in Information Security from Royal Holloway in 2008. Before joining the ISG as an MSc student, he was a PHP developer and database administrator, while after graduating he has worked as an IT auditor and more recently as an Information Security consultant. His research interests include smart cards, mobile phones / smartphones security and network security & security architectures. He is conducting PhD research in smartphones security under the supervision of Professor Keith Mayes. He is partly funded by Orange Labs UK. When not studying, he is a football, motorbikes and music addict.
E-mail: Lazaros.Kyrillidis.2011@live.rhul.ac.uk
Dr. Lishoy Francis (Past)
Lishoy Francis (B.E<India>, M.Sc<London>, CISSP<Associate>) received his Bachelor of Engineering degree in Computer Science & Engineering with a Distinction from Viveswaraiah Technological University, Belgaum, India, in 2002. After graduating, he worked as a Software Engineer developing intranet and quality systems for Wpro Fluid Power Ltd., Bangalore, India, until early 2003. In 2004, he completed his Masters in Information Security at Royal Holloway, University of London. He is currently studying for a PhD degree supervised by Professor Keith Mayes, and guided by Professor Konstantinos Markantonakis. His research interests include: Smart Card/Tokens Security, Extensibility, Attacks & Countermeasures, Interoperability in Open Devices; and Content Protection and Management in Mobile & Pay TV systems. He is passionately enthusiastic about Information Security.
E-mail: l.francis@rhul.ac.uk
