Dr. Kewei Sha

Institution: University of Houston – Clear Lake

Department: Computer Science

Proposed research ideas: 

With the widespread availability of connected smart devices, Internet of Things (IoT) is becoming the world’s largest computing platform. These large-scale, heterogeneous and resource-constrained devices bring many significant new challenges to the design of efficient and reliable IoT systems. Security is one of the most crucial ones that need to be effectively addressed for the wide adoption of IoT systems. We did an in-depth analysis of security challenges in IoT and we have proposed EdgeSec, the design of a novel security service, which is deployed at the Edge layer to enhance the security of IoT systems. EdgeSec consists of seven major components that work together to systematically handle specific security challenges in IoT systems. We would like to further develop a prototype of the EdgeSec prototype and perform evaluation about the proposed solution. EdgeSec will be organized into a peer-to-peer network (P2P) and Software Defined Networks (SND) is the technology to implement such a P2P network infrastructure. Virtualization techniques will be examined for provisioning edge nodes. Security issues in connecting and managing edge nodes will also be explored.

Motivation:

This workshop provides a great opportunity for faculties from a variety of institutions to build connections and establish collaborative projects. This is a great support to universities like University of Houston – Clear Lake (UHCL) which is a Minority Serving Institute and has very limited resources to facilitate faculty research. Collaborating with researchers from Berkeley Lab and Sustainable Horizons Institute can greatly support my current research, increase the possibility of applying for more external research funding, and make the research project more sustainable. Comments and in-depth discussion with colleagues that have similar research interests can also help me to refine my research design. In addition, summer camp can also significantly encourage both participated students and faculties to boost their research. Therefore, I would like to take this great opportunity to attend the workshop, to meet colleagues, and to establish future collaboration for sustainable research projects.