What is your major and expected year of graduation?

I am an electrical engineering major expected to graduate in 2024. I am pursuing a concentration in computer engineering. 

What inspired you to pursue your project? 

This past summer, I worked as a research assistant in the Computer FUSION Lab at Temple University. The research involved the development of a cybersecurity and encryption testbed for secure group communication. Working on this project spurred my interest in cybersecurity, and I wanted to continue to develop my knowledge in this area.  

My technical communication class gave me the opportunity to do so. I was delighted to learn that our main project would be on a topic of our choosing. The research process began right then and there as potential topics raced through my mind. I wanted to learn about something interesting to me and relevant to my field. Additionally, I sought something important, an issue or problem that directly impacts people’s lives. I browsed scientific websites and blogs, media outlets, and academic sources to gain some inspiration. As I continued researching, I found an article about a cyberattack in Ukraine that resulted in mass blackouts across the country. After some more reading, I determined that a significant portion of current research is focusing on applications of machine learning (an increasingly important topic in the world of electrical and computer engineering) to secure the “smart” grid and thus prevent such attacks. I decided that this topic would best allow me to improve my knowledge in two crucial engineering areas (i.e., machine learning and power distribution), and give me the opportunity to contribute toward resolving a serious global issue (i.e., cybersecurity of the power grid). 

What does winning this award mean to you?  

It is a great honor to be selected to receive the Livingstone Award and have my project spotlighted next to so many other tremendous works. The proposal that I have produced is the culmination of about seven months of work. I am glad that my efforts have resulted in something deemed useful and informative to the scientific and research communities. However, the paper itself is not the only outcome of the research process. I will value and utilize the skills and knowledge I have gained through my research for the rest of my academic and professional careers. 

How did the Libraries support your research?

My research would not have been possible without Temple Libraries. I probably spent more time browsing databases such as IEEE Xplore, Knovel, and Science Direct than writing the paper itself. Temple Libraries provided an exhaustive collection of reliable sources on just about any topic that I was interested in writing about, and these sources are presented in an organized and easy-to-access fashion. Temple librarians also assisted me in learning how to navigate these databases (e.g., using keyword searches properly), in addition to managing my citations using Mendeley.