ABDALLAH FARRAJ CONTACT INFORMATION ECE Department, University of Toronto Office Phone: (+1) 416-978-6498 10 King s College Road, Room SFB540 abdallah(dot)farraj(at)fulbrightmail(dot)org Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G4, Canada www.comm.utoronto.ca/~abdallah RESEARCH INTERESTS Cyber-Physical Systems, Smart Grid Modeling and Analysis, Cyber Security of Smart Grids EDUCATION Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical Engineering [12/2012] Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA Dissertation: Acoustical Communications for Wireless Downhole Telemetry Systems Advisor: Dr. Scott L. Miller Master of Science in Electrical Engineering [02/2005] University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan Thesis: Multiuser Detection for CDMA Systems Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering [02/2000] University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan Senior Project: Software Package for Communications Labs WORK EXPERIENCE Course Instructor University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada Instruct courses in computer science and supervise the work of teaching assistants Postdoctoral Fellow University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada Conduct research in cyber security and resilience of smart grids [01/ 2015 Present] [03/2013 Present] Smart Technology Team Leader [09/2013 12/2013] s2e Technologies Inc., London, ON, Canada Led and coordinated the work of the Smart Technology Team Conducted smart grid feasibility studies for a proposed smart community project in London, ON Graduate Assistant [01/2006 12/2012] Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA Designed and built an academically-unique testbed to study downhole communication systems Investigated the impact of cemented production pipes on the propagation of acoustic waves Trained a cross-disciplinary team on the testbed and supervised the research of five undergraduate students Documented research activities and results and met regularly with project sponsors to present progress Quality Assurance Manager [05/2005 08/2005] Blue Energy for Advanced Technologies (BEAT), Amman, Jordan Defined the company s internal processes, hierarchy, job definitions, and technical processes Established and led the software quality assurance group, and conducted testing activities on the software projects Instructor [02/2005 06/2005]
University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan Instructed five Electrical Engineering labs for industrial, mechanical, and chemical engineering students Technical Trainer and Consultant [02/2005 05/2005] Cellular Integrated Services (CISCOM), Amman, Jordan Conducted training in wireless communication systems Designed and updated the material for the company s training courses and seminars Quality Assurance and Technical Writing Manager [08/2002 01/2005] Systems and Electronic Development FZCO (SEDCO), Amman, Jordan Established and led the software quality assurance and technical writing groups Proposed, applied, and maintained the first CMM2 process in the company Planned the quality assurance group activities, set the quality assurance procedures, monitored the quality of the software products, monitored compliance to CMM2 processes, and participated in testing activities Planned the technical writing group activities, set the technical writing procedures, and assessed the quality of the documentation and user guides Quality Assurance Engineer [04/2000 07/2002] Systems and Electronic Development FZCO (SEDCO), Amman, Jordan Developed Arabization software tool Developed, applied, and maintained quality standards for company products Analyzed customer requirements, developed test plans, and created test environments Executed test cases, analyzed test results, reported findings, and recommended corrective actions Documented the activities and results of testing process TEACHING EXPERIENCE Course Teaching University of Toronto Instructor: Mathematical Expression and Reasoning for Computer Science (160 students) [Fall 2015] Instructor: Mathematical Expression and Reasoning for Computer Science (99 students) [Summer 2015] Instructor: Principles of Computer Networks (132 students) [Winter 2015] Substitute Lecturer: Communication Systems (95 students) [Winter 2014] Substitute Lecturer: Communication Systems (76 students) [Winter 2013] Texas A&M University Substitute Lecturer and Lab Coordinator: Electrical Circuits (48 students) [Fall 2012] Lab Coordinator and Instructor: Electrical Circuits (48 students) [Spring 2012] Lab Coordinator and Instructor: Electrical Circuits (48 students) [Fall 2011] Substitute Lecturer and Lab Instructor: Introduction to Telecommunications (15 students) [Summer 2011] Lab Coordinator and Instructor: Electrical Circuits (57 students) [Spring 2011] Lab Instructor: Electrical Circuits (28 students) [Fall 2009] Lab Instructor: Digital Communications (25 students) [Spring 2007] Lab Assistant: Principles of Electrical Engineering (80+ students) [Fall 2006] Grader: Principles of Electrical Engineering (80+ students) [Spring 2006] University of Jordan Instructor: Electrical Engineering Lab (80 students) [Spring 2005] Course Development and Enhancement Texas A&M University Course Update: Electrical Circuits Lab [Fall 2011] Course Redesign: Digital Electronics Lab [Summer 2011] Course Update: Electrical Circuits Lab [Fall 2009] Course Development: Digital Communications Lab [Spring 2007] University of Jordan Course Update: Electrical Engineering Lab [Spring 2005] 2
Graduate Teaching Academy [09/2005 04/2006] Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA Participated in an extensive lecture series, multiple class observation sessions, and portfolio workshops Enrolled in a mentor program with a distinguished faculty member RESEARCH PROJECTS Resilience of Smart Grid Systems [03/2013 Present] Investigated the performance of low-complexity distributed control schemes in stabilizing power systems during transients, and studied the effect of cyber constraints on the performance of the control schemes Investigated using a game-theoretic control scheme to mitigate cyber switching attacks Investigated cyber-physical real-time co-simulation schemes Investigated the applications of cooperative game-theoretic techniques in building a cooperative microgrid network for remote and rural areas that have limited connectivity to the main grid Microgrid for Smart Community [09/2013 12/2013] Identified key components of the community microgrid and investigated control platform Cognitive Communication Systems [01/2011 02/2013] Investigated a spectrum-sharing cognitive environment under the primary user s outage probability constraint Investigated the performance of different scheduling algorithms in a cognitive environment Investigated the queue performance measures of the cognitive users Investigated the impact of cognitive communication on the performance of the primary users Redundant Metering for Smart Grids [01/2011 05/2011] Investigated the cyber security of the redundant metering systems in smart grids Proposed a rate-distortion scheme for data integrity verification and confidentiality Downhole Telemetry Systems [08/2006 12/2010] Investigated the use of acoustic waves to conduct wireless communications inside the oil and gas wells Designed a testbed of cemented oil production pipes and developed the receiver s circuit and software Designed and conducted propagation experiments and analyzed the results Developed signal processing algorithms to enhance the quality of the measurements Developed noise cancelation algorithms to reduce the operational noise inside the oil and gas wells Studied the propagation aspects and found the large-scale statistics of the acoustic waves in pipe strings Class Projects Investigated the false data injection attacks against state estimation in smart power grids Investigated the performance of OFDM systems in quasi-static channels with transmit and/or receive diversity Studied the performance of (concatenated) Reed-Solomon and Convolutional codes in AWGN and BSC channels Implemented a Viterbi algorithm to decode GMSK and CPM signals Investigated the CDMA spreading codes with minimum auto/cross correlation properties Investigated timing recovery using MUSIC algorithm for a CDMA system Investigated the applications of wavelet transform in image compression Investigated the use of anisotropic diffusion filters for image enhancement PUBLICATIONS Submitted Work 1. Abdallah Farraj, Eman Hammad, and Deepa Kundur, Reshaping the Transient Dynamics of Power Systems Using Distributed Energy Resources, IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid 2. Eman Hammad, Jinjing Zhao, Abdallah Farraj, and Deepa Kundur, Mitigating Link Insecurities in Smart Grids via QoS Multi-Constraint Routing, IEEE International Conference on Computer Communications (INFOCOM) Accepted Work 3
1. Abdallah Farraj, Eman Hammad, Ashraf Al Daoud, and Deepa Kundur, A Game-Theoretic Analysis of Cyber Switching Attacks and Mitigation in Smart Grid Systems, IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid 2. Abdallah Farraj, Eman Hammad, and Deepa Kundur, A Cyber-Enabled Stabilizing Control Scheme for Resilient Smart Grid Systems, IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid 3. Jinjing Zhao, Eman Hammad, Abdallah Farraj, and Deepa Kundur, Network-Aware QoS Routing for Smart Grids Using Software Defined Networks, International Conference on Smart Grids for Smart Cities (SGSC), pp. 1 11, Toronto, ON, Canada, 13 14 October 2015 [The Top Paper of the Conference in Terms of Reviewer Score] 4. Eman Hammad, Ahmed Khalil, Abdallah Farraj, Deepa Kundur, and Reza Iravani Tuning Out of Phase: Resonance Attacks, IEEE International Conference on Smart Grid Communications (SmartGridComm), pp. 1 6, Miami, FL, USA, 2 5 November 2015 5. Abdallah Farraj, Eman Hammad, and Deepa Kundur, On Using Distributed Energy Resources to Reshape the Dynamics of Power Systems During Transients, IEEE International Conference on Smart Grid Communications (SmartGridComm), pp. 1 6, Miami, FL, USA, 2 5 November 2015 6. Abdallah Farraj, Eman Hammad, and Deepa Kundur, A Systematic Approach to Delay-Adaptive Control Design for Smart Grids, IEEE International Conference on Smart Grid Communications (SmartGridComm), pp. 1 6, Miami, FL, USA, 2 5 November 2015 Journal Papers & Book Chapters 1. Abdallah Farraj, Eman Hammad, and Scott Miller, Performance Studies for Spectrum-Sharing Cognitive Radios under Outage Probability Constraint, Chapter 13 in Handbook of Research on Software-Defined and Cognitive Radio Technologies for Dynamic Spectrum Management, Naima Kaabouch and Wen-Chen Hu (Eds.), Hershey, PA: IGI Global, October 2014 2. Abdallah Farraj, Analysis of Primary Users Queueing Behavior in a Spectrum-Sharing Cognitive Environment, Wireless Personal Communications, vol. 75, no. 2, pp. 1283 1293, March 2014 3. Abdallah Farraj, Switched-Diversity Approach for Cognitive Scheduling, Wireless Personal Communications, vol. 74, no. 2, pp. 933 952, January 2014 4. Abdallah Farraj, Queue Model Analysis for Spectrum-Sharing Cognitive Systems under Outage Probability Constraint, Wireless Personal Communications, vol. 73, no. 3, pp. 1021 1035, December 2013 5. Abdallah Farraj and Sabit Ekin, Performance of Cognitive Radios in Dynamic Fading Channels under Primary Outage Constraint, Wireless Personal Communications, vol. 73, no. 3, pp. 637 649, December 2013 6. Abdallah Farraj, Impact of Cognitive Communications on the Performance of the Primary Users, Wireless Personal Communications, vol. 71, no. 2, pp. 975 985, July 2013 7. Abdallah Farraj and Scott Miller, Scheduling in a Spectrum-Sharing Cognitive Environment under Outage Probability Constraint, Wireless Personal Communications, vol. 70, no. 2, pp. 785 805, May 2013 8. Abdallah Farraj and Eman Hammad, Impact of Quality of Service Constraints on the Performance of Spectrum Sharing Cognitive Users, Wireless Personal Communications, vol. 69, no. 2, pp. 673 688, March 2013 9. Zafar Taha and Abdallah Farraj, Efficient Decoding for Generalized Quasi-Orthogonal Space-Time Block Codes, Wireless Personal Communications, vol. 68, no. 4, pp. 1731 1743, February 2013 10. Abdallah Farraj and Eman Hammad, Performance of Primary Users in Spectrum Sharing Cognitive Radio Environment, Wireless Personal Communications, vol. 68, no. 3, pp. 575 585, February 2013 11. Abdallah Farraj, Minimum Correlation Spreading Codes Design, Wireless Personal Communications, vol. 55, no. 3, pp. 395 405, November 2010 12. Abdallah Farraj and Ahmad Amayreh, Minimum Cross Correlation Spreading Codes, Wireless Personal Communications, vol. 48, no. 3, pp. 385 394, February 2009 13. Ahmad Amayreh and Abdallah Farraj, Minimum Autocorrelation Spreading Codes, Wireless Personal Communications, vol. 40, no. 1, pp. 107 115, January 2007 Conference Papers 1. Eman Hammad, Abdallah Farraj, and Deepa Kundur, Paradigms and Performance of Distributed Cyber-Enabled Control Schemes for the Smart Grid, IEEE Power and Energy Society General Meeting (PESGM), pp. 1 5, Denver, CO, USA, 26 30 July 2015 2. Abdallah Farraj, Eman Hammad, and Deepa Kundur, Robustness Analysis of Feedback Linearization Distributed Control Schemes in Smart Grid Systems, IEEE Power and Energy Society General Meeting (PESGM), pp. 1 5, Denver, CO, USA, 26 30 July 2015 4
3. Fahimeh Kazempour, Eman Hammad, Abdallah Farraj, and Deepa Kundur, Frequency-Stabilizing Control Scheme for Islanded Microgrids, IEEE Power and Energy Society General Meeting (PESGM), pp. 1 5, Denver, CO, USA, 26 30 July 2015 4. Eman Hammad, Abdallah Farraj, and Deepa Kundur, Cooperative Microgrid Networks for Remote and Rural Areas, IEEE Canadian Conference on Electrical and Computer Engineering (CCECE), pp. 1 6, Halifax, NS, Canada, 3 6 May 2015 5. Abdallah Farraj, Eman Hammad, and Deepa Kundur, On Using Distributed Control Schemes to Mitigate Switching Attacks in Smart Grids, IEEE Canadian Conference on Electrical and Computer Engineering (CCECE), pp. 1 5, Halifax, NS, Canada, 3 6 May 2015 6. Eman Hammad, Abdallah Farraj, and Deepa Kundur, On the Effects of Distributed Control Area Design for the Stabilization of Cyber-Enabled Smart Grids, IEEE Workshop on Modeling and Simulation of Cyber-Physical Energy Systems (MSCPES), pp. 1 6, Seattle, WA, USA, 13 17 April 2015 7. Abdallah Farraj, Eman Hammad, and Deepa Kundur, A Cyber-Enabled Stabilizing Controller for Resilient Smart Grid Systems, IEEE Conference on Innovative Smart Grid Technologies (ISGT), pp. 1 5, Washington, DC, USA, 17 20 February 2015 8. Eman Hammad, Abdallah Farraj, and Deepa Kundur, Grid-Independent Cooperative Microgrid Networks with High Renewable Penetration, IEEE Conference on Innovative Smart Grid Technologies (ISGT), pp. 1 5, Washington, DC, USA, 17 20 February 2015 9. Eman Hammad, Abdallah Farraj, and Deepa Kundur, A Resilient Feedback Linearization Control Scheme for Smart Grids under Cyber-Physical Disturbances, IEEE Conference on Innovative Smart Grid Technologies (ISGT), pp. 1 5, Washington, DC, USA, 17 20 February 2015 10. Abdallah Farraj and Deepa Kundur, On Using Energy Storage Systems in Switching Attacks That Destabilize Smart Grid Systems, IEEE Conference on Innovative Smart Grid Technologies (ISGT), pp. 1 5, Washington, DC, USA, 17 20 February 2015 11. Abdallah Farraj, Eman Hammad, Jin Wei, Deepa Kundur, and Karen Butler-Purry, Performance of Flocking- Based Control Schemes in Smart Grid Applications, IEEE Global Conference on Signal and Information Processing (GlobalSIP), pp. 1 5, Atlanta, GA, USA, 3 5 December 2014 12. Abdallah Farraj, Eman Hammad, Ashraf Al Daoud, and Deepa Kundur, A Game-Theoretic Control Approach to Mitigate Cyber Switching Attacks in Smart Grid Systems, IEEE International Conference on Smart Grid Communications (SmartGridComm), pp. 964 969, Venice, Italy, 3 6 November 2014 13. Abdallah Farraj, Eman M. Hammad, Jin Wei, Deepa Kundur, and Karen Butler-Purry, Performance Evaluation of Flocking-Based Distributed Cyber-Physical Control for Smart Grid, IEEE International Conference on Smart Grid Communications (SmartGridComm), pp. 970 975, Venice, Italy, 3 6 November 2014 14. Abdallah Farraj, Eman Hammad, Deepa Kundur, and Karen Butler-Purry, Practical Limitations of Sliding-Mode Switching Attacks on Smart Grid Systems, IEEE Power and Energy Society General Meeting (PESGM), pp. 1 5, National Harbor, MD, USA, 27 31 July 2014 15. Abdallah Farraj, Scott Miller, and Khalid Qaraqe, A Study of Acoustic Wave Propagation inside Cemented Production Tubings, SPE International Petroleum Technology Conference (IPTC), pp. 1 9, Doha, Qatar, 19-22 January 2014 16. Abdallah Farraj, Scott Miller, and Khalid Qaraqe, Propagation Measurements for Acoustic Downhole Telemetry Systems, SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition (ATCE), pp. 1 24, New Orleans, LA, USA, 30 September 2 October 2013 17. Abdallah Farraj, Eman Hammad, Scott Miller, and Khalid Qaraqe, Surface Noise Cancellation for Acoustic Downhole Communication Systems, IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing (ICASSP), pp. 4718 4722, Vancouver, BC, Canada, 26 31 May 2013 18. Abdallah Farraj, Scott Miller, and Khalid Qaraqe, Channel Characterization for Acoustic Downhole Communication Systems, SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition (ATCE), pp. 1 12, San Antonio, TX, USA, 8 10 October 2012 19. Mustafa El-Halabi, Abdallah Farraj, Hung Ly, and Deepa Kundur, A Distortion-Theoretic Perspective for Redundant Metering Security in a Smart Grid, IEEE Canadian Conference on Electrical and Computer Engineering (CCECE), pp. 1 5, Montreal, QC, Canada, 29 April 2 May 2012 20. Abdallah Farraj, Scott Miller, and Khalid Qaraqe, Queue Performance Measures for Cognitive Radios in Spectrum Sharing Systems, IEEE International Workshop on Recent Advances in Cognitive Communications and Networking (RACCN) Global Telecommunications Conference (GLOBECOM) Workshop, pp. 997 1001, Houston, 5
TX, USA, 5 9 December 2011 Posters 1. A. Farraj, E. Hammad, and D. Kundur, Mitigating Switching Attacks in Smart Grids Using Distributed Control Schemes, Information Security in a Connected World Workshop at the University of Toronto, May 2015 2. E. Hammad, A. Farraj, and D. Kundur, Off-Grid Cooperative Microgrid Networks with High Renewable Penetration, Institute for Sustainable Energy Research Symposium, November 2014 [Best Poster Award] 3. E. Hammad, A. Farraj, and D. Kundur, Grid Independent Cooperative Microgrid Networks, IEEE North American School of Information Theory, June 2014 4. A. Farraj, E. Hammad, and D. Kundur, A Study of the Limitations of the Sliding-Mode Switching Attacks on Smart Grid Systems, University of Toronto Energy Fair, March 2014 5. E. Hammad, A. Farraj, B. Sanchez, J. Wei, and D. Kundur, On the Use of Flocking-Based Controls to Stabilize Smart Grids, Institute for Sustainable Energy Research Symposium, October 2013 Technical Reports 1. S. Miller, A. Farraj, N. Rahimian, K. Qaraqe, M.-S. Alouini, and H. Celebi, Downhole Wireless Communication: Phase 2 Final Report, February 2010 2. A. Farraj and S. Miller, Study of Acoustic Signal Propagation Inside Production Tubings, January 2010 3. A. Farraj, S. Miller, K. Qaraqe, and M.-S. Alouini, Downhole Wireless Communication, June 2009 4. A. Farraj, S. Miller, K. Qaraqe, and M.-S. Alouini, Downhole Wireless Communication, April 2009 5. A. Farraj, S. Miller, K. Qaraqe, and M.-S. Alouini, Downhole Wireless Communication, February 2009 6. A. Farraj, S. Miller, K. Qaraqe, and M.-S. Alouini, Downhole Wireless Communication, January 2009 7. A. Farraj, S. Miller, K. Qaraqe, and M.-S. Alouini, Downhole Wireless Communication, October 2008 8. A. Farraj, S. Miller, K. Qaraqe, and M.-S. Alouini, Downhole Wireless Communication, October 2008 RESEARCH PROPOSALS SUPPORT AND WRITING CFI Innovation Fund: Smart Distribution Power System based on Quantum Communication Technology (PI: Hoi-Kwong Lo. Amount: ~$2,000,000) [2015] NSERC Engage Grant: A Co-Simulator Platform for Cyber Security Analysis of Microgrid Systems (PI: Deepa Kundur. Amount: $23,000) [03/2015 09/2015] MITACS Accelerate Grant: Feasibility Study of a Community Microgrid: Key Components, Control and Communications (PI: Deepa Kundur. Amount: $15,000) [09/2013 02/2014] PROFESSIONAL SERVICE Technical Program Co-Chair Symposium on Signal and Information Processing for Optimizing Future Energy Systems (GlobalSIP 15) Technical Program Committee IEEE International Workshop on Communications Quality and Reliability (CQR 15) IEEE Global Conference on Signal and Information Processing (GlobalSIP 14) International Workshop on Mathematical Modelling and Scientific Computing (MMSC 14) Session Chair Symposium on Cyber Security and Privacy (SmartGridComm 14) Reviewer IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid IET Communications IEEE Transactions on Computers IEEE Access IEEE Transactions on Communications IEEE Communications Letters IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement 6
Wireless Networks Wireless Personal Communications PESGM 15, ICCSPA 15, SmartGridComm 14, IECON 14, QBSC 14, VTC 14, ICET 13, VTC 13, CCECE 12, VTC 12, VTC 11, WiMob 10, GLOBECOM 09, WCNC 07, and ICC 07 Technical Judge Undergraduate Summer Research Grant Program Texas A&M University [08/2010] Undergraduate Summer Research Grant Program Texas A&M University [08/2009] Student Research Week Texas A&M University [03/2009] Student Research Week Texas A&M University [03/2008] University Outreach Faculty Panelist at PRogram Engagement at University of Toronto (PRE U of T) [09/2015] (CO-)SUPERVISION OF UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH STUDENTS Name(s) Topic Supervision Dates University of Toronto Kunal Choudhary Simulation of Power Systems [05/2015 08/2015] Badrul Arafin Chowdhury Software-Defined Networks for Smart Grids [05/2015 08/2015] Yuanyuan (Kate) Shi A Cyber-Physical Smart Grid Co-Simulator Tool [05/2014 08/2014] Sung Yong (David) Baik Routing Framework for Smart Grid Communications [05/2013 08/2013] Blas Lucci Sanchez Data Corruption in Flocking-Based Smart Grid Control [05/2013 08/2013] Fabio Barbosa Lagares Delay Analysis in Flocking-Based Smart Grid Control [05/2013 08/2013] Arthur Lyra Araujo Data Visualization for Smart Grids [05/2013 08/2013] Yufei (Victor) Wang Delay Analysis for Coordinated Switching Attacks [05/2013 08/2013] Zaneta Lye Delay Analysis for Coordinated Switching Attacks [05/2013 08/2013] McMaster University Alexander Lebel, Bill Lee Andrew Dias, Paul Aoanan Survey of Smart Grid Applications [08/2013 12/2013] Blair Egan, Scott Banks PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Licensed Professional Engineer (P.Eng.) in Ontario (PEO License # 100201972) Member of the Jordanian Engineers Association Member of the International Association of Engineers (IAENG) AWARDS, HONORS, AND FUNDING Fulbright Scholarship [08/2005] Mitacs Accelerate Research Internship Award [09/2013] Mitacs Travel Subsidy Award [09/2013] Who s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges [01/2009] International Education Fee Scholarship [08/2008] Pinnacle National Honor Society [03/2008] National Scholars Honor Society [01/2008] Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Scholarship [08/2006] Graduate Teaching Academy Fellowship [04/2006] Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Scholarship [08/2005] SKILLS 7
Software Proficient in MATLAB Familiar with L A TEX, LabVIEW, and PSpice Familiar with C, C++, and Java Languages Native Arabic Fluent English 8