Ph.D. of Computer Science: Software Engineering

This course covers advanced research topics in computer vision assuming basic knowledge of computer vision. The course will prepare graduate students in both the theoretical foundations of computer vision as well as the practical approaches to building real computer vision systems. Topics covered include multi-view geometry, motion analysis and activity recognition, unsupervised representation learning, image style transfer, deep learning for 3D classification and segmentation, image-to-image translational networks.

The course covers how to produce and implement standards to improve the development life cycle and ensure that Quality Assurance processes are followed, and how these processes fit into the overall software development process, how to deliver high quality products in terms of predictability and reliability on time and within budget. It also covers the implementation of organizational quality policy and building an effective SQA organization in a global environment.

Network‬ security ‬is ‬one‬ of ‬the‬ ever-evolving‬ domains ‬of‬ research.‬ The‬ course‬ has ‬to ‬go ‬deeply‬ into ‬large ‬scale‬ network‬ attacks ‬and‬ its‬ direct‬ and ‬indirect‬ impacts.‬ Students‬ have‬ to‬ examine ‬in‬ full‬ details‬ the ‬DoS,‬ DDoS, ‬Malware-based ‬attacks,‬ penetration ‬testing‬ methodologies,‬ network‬ monitoring,‬ and‬ botnet‬ detection. ‬The‬ course‬ also ‬targets ‬designing‬ secure‬ network‬ protocols‬ and‬ studying ‬vulnerabilities ‬in ‬the ‬whole ‬TCP/IP ‬protocol‬ stack. ‬Students‬ must ‬examine‬ the ‬different‬ web‬ security ‬attacks, ‬and ‬the ‬associated‬ defense ‬models.

In ‬this ‬course, ‬students ‬go ‬deeply ‬into ‬the ‬different ‬digital ‬cyber crime ‬scenes ‬and ‬scenarios; ‬from‬ the‬ criminal‬ and‬ the‬ victim(s)‬ perspectives.‬ The‬ course‬ analyses‬ the‬ vulnerability‬ foundation,‬ traditional‬ causes,‬ system‬ strengths‬ and‬ weaknesses,‬ counter measures,‬ and‬ prevention‬ and‬ protection ‬techniques. ‬Human ‬vulnerabilities, ‬insider ‬threats‬ and‬ attacks, ‬organizational ‬policies‬ and‬ regulations‬ must‬ be‬ thoroughly‬ examined.‬ Students‬ through this‬ course‬ should‬ deal‬ with‬ cyber crime ‬identification, ‬cyber crime ‬investigation, ‬prevention ‬and ‬mitigating ‬against.

The‬ course‬ discusses ‬the ‬enormous‬ potential ‬application‬ for ‬Bitcoin-like‬ technologies ‬in ‬different‬ domains. ‬It ‬covers ‬the ‬technical ‬aspects ‬of ‬engineering ‬secure ‬software, ‬system ‬interactions ‬with‬ crypto-currencies,‬ and‬ distributed‬ consensus‬ for‬ reliability.‬ The‬ course‬ enables‬ students‬ to‬ thoroughly‬ understand‬ the‬ know-how‬ of‬ the‬ newly‬ introduced‬ blockchain‬ technology‬ and‬ its‬ applications.‬ ‬ The‬ course‬ covers‬ peer-to-peer‬ networking,‬ blockchain‬ foundational‬ concept,‬ architecture,‬ technologies,‬ applications,‬ distributed‬ digital‬ ledger,‬ cryptocurrencies,‬ bitcoin,‬ ethereum,‬hyper ledgers ‬and‬ similar. ‬The ‬course ‬covers the ‬current ‬and ‬proposed‬ implementations‬ and‬ applications‬ in‬ various‬ domains.‬ The‬ course‬ also‬ covers‬ different‬ challenges‬ facing‬ the‬ blockchain ‬technologies including‬ attack ‬scenarios ‬and ‬proposed ‬mitigation ‬techniques.‬

This‬ course‬ is‬ tailored‬ to‬ introduce‬ students‬ to‬ the‬ latest‬ advances‬ in‬ the‬ various‬ fields‬ in‬ Information‬ Security,‬ and/or ‬to‬ focus‬ on‬ a‬ specific‬ area‬ of‬ particular ‬interest‬ to‬ the‬ discipline.‬ There‬ areas‬ may‬ contain‬ concentration‬ of‬ recent‬ advances‬ in‬ some‬ of‬ the‬ following‬ topics:‬ Authentication‬ and‬ access ‬control‬- Anonymity‬ and‬ privacy‬- Cryptographic‬ protection‬- Digital‬ forensics‬ - Human‬ factors‬ in‬ security‬ - Multimedia‬ security‬ - Network‬ and‬ mobile‬ security‬ - Security‬ management‬ and‬ policies‬- Hardware‬ and ‬physical‬ security