2023 Winner: AI/ML Advancement
Winner: Hadis Karimipour, Associate Professor, Dept. of Electrical and Software Engineering, University of Calgary
Presenter: Rollie Dykstra, Executive Vice President, Impact – Alberta Innovates
Initiative: Secure and Resilient Cyber-Physical Systems
A Canada Research Chair (Tire II) in Secure and Resilient Cyber-physical System and an Associate Professor in the Electrical and Software Engineering Department at the Schulich School of Engineering, Dr. Hadis Karimipour is Canada’s foremost researcher in cyber-security of Critical Infrastructure. Critical Infrastructure (CI) includes power plants, utilities, communications networks, hospitals, and transportation systems—every large system on which Canadians depend for their well-being and prosperity.
Dr. Karimipour has taken the novel approach of using artificial intelligence to look at cyber threats to the operational technology in CI—the tech that gathers and transmits data about the physical world. She was among the first researchers in the world to use physical characteristics (voltage, frequency) rather than elements of information technology (IP address, network protocols) to identify cyberattacks. This departure from conventional approaches has changed the global landscape of cybersecurity research, garnering Dr. Karimipour worldwide recognition, including the first and only Canada Research Chair in Secure and Resilient Cyber-Physical Systems in Canada.
