Past Event! Note: this event has already taken place.
Secure Control Design for Automotive Systems
March 13, 2026 at 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM
| Location: | 2022 Canal Building |
| Cost: | Free |
The workshop begins by discussing how modern vehicles are increasingly viewed as computers on wheels, highly connected to their surrounding environment. It then explores various types of cyberattacks that can affect vehicle control systems and active safety features. The severity and stealthiness of these threats are analyzed in detail. As a special case, zero-dynamics attacks in vehicle systems are examined, attacks that can destabilize a vehicle under certain conditions while remaining stealthy and undetectable by onboard sensors. Finally, attack detection and mitigation strategies are discussed, along with methods for incorporating security considerations directly into the vehicle control design process.
Dr. Mohammad Pirani is an Assistant Professor with the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Ottawa, cross-appointed with the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and a Senior Member of IEEE. He was a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering at the University of Waterloo (2022–2023), where he currently also holds an Adjunct Professor position. He held postdoctoral positions at the University of Toronto (2019–2021) and KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden (2018–2019). He received his MASc degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering and his Ph.D. degree in Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, both from the University of Waterloo, in 2014 and 2017, respectively. Dr. Pirani’s research focuses on resilient control and decision-making in intelligent transportation systems, with an emphasis on ensuring safety, reliability, and security under uncertainty. By modeling these systems as networked control systems, where sensing, communication, and actuation are interconnected, he investigates how interdependencies between components can be leveraged to withstand unexpected events such as faults, delays, communication disturbances, and adversarial attacks. His goal is to develop control and decision-making strategies that not only maintain stability and performance during disruptions but also adapt dynamically to evolving conditions, ultimately enabling robust, fault-tolerant, and secure operation of future transportation infrastructures.