Work by Trine students, professor published

DETROIT — A professor in Trine University’s College of Graduate and Professional Studies is collaborating with students on an upcoming conference presentation and a chapter in a textbook.

Gaganpreet Hundal, Ph.D., assistant professor in Trine’s Doctor of Information Technology (DIT) program, and Trine student Rashmi Khondker will present on “IoT Design for Secure and Interoperable Cyber-Physical Systems” at the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE) conference, which will be held May 16-19 in Arlington, Texas.

Dr. Hundal and Trine student Amrita Bhattacharjee authored the sixth chapter of the textbook, “AI in Cybersecurity Higher Education: Innovation, Ethics, and Practice,” published by World Scientific Publishing Company. The chapter is titled “Using AI for Cyber Incident Response and Pen Testing Labs.”

IISE

The IISE presentation will be based on a paper co-authored by Dr. Hundal and Khondker.

In the session, they will discuss the most common cyberthreats or attacks posed by the integration of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies within cyber-physical systems (CPS). Examples include self-navigating manufacturing robots, large-scale environmental sensing networks and smart grid applications.

According to the paper, recent studies report that IoT-based CPS cyberattacks have grown by more than 300% since 2020, with over 1.5 billion attempted breaches recorded in 2024. The researchers lay out a framework that allows engineers to better detect threats resulting from system design tradeoffs.

Dr. Hundal said about 30% of papers submitted to the conference are accepted.

Khondker said she felt a strong sense of accomplishment after having her first co-authored conference research paper accepted for publication.

“My academic background and applied research project in the DIT program focus on digital supply chains and cybersecurity, making the recognition especially meaningful,” she said. “The collaboration with Dr. Hundal provided a valuable opportunity to contribute to and present research at the internationally recognized Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE) conference.”

Both Dr. Hundal and Khondker emphasized that the insights, discussions and feedback received from the conference will help advance their ongoing research on cybersecurity in IoT-enabled digital supply chains and logistics systems.

AI in cybersecurity research education

The book chapter focuses on the use of artificial intelligence in a framework for cybersecurity research education. In addition to her Trine education, Bhattacharjee brought more than 10 years of industry experience to the project.

The pair was invited to contribute the chapter by Aparajita Jaiswal, Ph.D., of Purdue University, and Yansi Keim, Ph.D., of the University of Albany, both colleagues of Dr. Hundal.

“Participating in this research effort provided a meaningful opportunity to translate classroom knowledge and applied research experience into scholarly work that contributes to an emerging area of technology,” Bhattacharjee said. “The collaboration allowed me to explore the intersection of artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and industrial IoT systems, which are increasingly critical for securing modern predictive maintenance and smart infrastructure environments.”

Dr. Hundal emphasized the value opportunities such as the IISE conference and the textbook chapter offer to Trine students.

“Contributing to scholarly publications strengthens students’ research skills and prepares them for future academic and professional opportunities in the rapidly evolving fields of AI-driven cybersecurity and cyber-physical systems,” he said.