About Me
Prof. Dr. Ziaur Rahman is an academic, researcher, and software development professional with over 12 years of experience in higher education, research, and industry-oriented technology development. He currently serves as a Full Professor at the Department of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University (MBSTU), Bangladesh. In addition to his academic responsibilities, he serves as the Director of the Cyber Security Center, the Secretary and Primary Research Contact of the Quality Review and Ranking Committee (QRRC), and the Student Advisor of the Department of ICT at MBSTU.
Research Interest
Blockchain Technology, Cybersecurity, Post-quantum Cryptography, Software Engineering, IoT Security & Privacy, Edge Machine Learning, Federated Learning, Industry 4.0 / CPS
Professional & Other Experiences
Queensland University of Technology (QUT) APR 2023 – OCT 2024
Research Fellow in Cybersecurity — Full-time, Level B
Brisbane, QLD, Australia
• Project: SOCRATES — Software Security with a Focus on Critical Technologies (Work Package 1 & 6)
• Collaborators: CyberCRC, Dept. of Home Affairs, Federal Police, NSW & WA Govt., ACSC, CSIRO & CISCO
• WP6 Research Area: Post-quantum software security, Lattice-based signature, NIST & ETSI PQ Standards
• WP1 Research Area: Identifying open-source software risk propagation using graph theory (PyPI, etc.)
• Tools & Platform: Python 3.7, NetworkX, Gephi, Linux Ubuntu (HPC at QUT)
• Manager: Prof. Raja Jurdak, Director of the Trusted Networks (TruNets) Lab, QUT
Charles Sturt University (CSU) AUG 2022 – MAR 2023
Research Assistant — Casual (1 FTE), Level A, Faculty of BJBS
Bathurst, NSW, Australia
• Project: HEALTHDM — System Refinement and Early Adoption
• Designed, developed and deployed a machine learning-based medical web application
• Collaboration between CSU and Murrumbidgee Local Health District, NSW
• Presented deliverables in meetings; liaised with academic and industry team members
• Tools & Platform: Python 3.7, Java, MySQL, JavaScript, Django, AWS EC2 Ubuntu
• Project Manager: Prof. Mark Morrison, Associate Dean Research, Charles Sturt University
RMIT University MAR 2022 – AUG 2022
Project Research — Contract, Level B, School of Property, Construction & Management
Melbourne, Australia
• Project: Blockchain-based sustainable development for the Solar Decathlon China (SDC)
• Designed and developed a Blockchain-based application for BIPV Inc.
• Deployed the project on Amazon EC2 server as part of DevOps
• Mentored research students; presented deliverables; liaised with team members
• Tools & Platform: Hyperledger Fabric, Java, Go, NodeJS, Python, AWS EC2 Ubuntu
• Project Manager: Prof. Rebecca Yang, DSC, RMIT University
Education
RMIT University (City Campus) SEP 2018 – MAR 2023
PhD in Cybersecurity — Full Scholarship
Melbourne, Australia
• Thesis: Blockchain-based AI-enabled Data Protection for the Internet of Things
• Date of Degree Conferral: March 31, 2023
• Key contributions: (i) Blockchain-based certificate-less authentication and identity management; (ii) Transparent data exchange and monitoring using consortium; (iii) AI-enabled advanced persistent threat detection
• Received Higher Degree by Research Award for academic and research excellence
• Secured Runner-up position in the RMIT Three Minute Thesis Competition
• Thesis selected as Outstanding — Top 5% by the Reviewing Panel
Islamic University of Technology (IUT) JAN 2013 – OCT 2015
Masters in Computer Science & Engineering — Teaching Assistantship
Gazipur, Bangladesh
• Thesis: Enhancing Software Development Process using Data Mining Integrated Environment
• Date of Degree Conferral: 23 October 2015
• Key contributions: (i) Efficient development environment with improved source-code abstraction; (ii) XML-based recommendation from mined repository on the client side; (iii) Most relevant code skeletons using graph-based technique
Shenyang University of Chemical Technology SEP 2008 – JUL 2012
Bachelor in Software Engineering — University Scholarship
Shenyang, China
• Bachelor Thesis: Cyber Police: An Idea
• Date of Degree Conferral: 1 July 2012
Publications
2. Impacts of blockchain in software-defined Internet of Things ecosystem with Network Function Virtualization for smart applications Rahman A., Islam J., Kundu D., Karim R., Rahman Z., Band S.S., Sookhak M., Tiwari P., Kumar N. International Journal of Communication Systems, 38(1), Art. e5429
3. A Framework for Migrating to Post-Quantum Cryptography: Security Dependency Analysis and Case Studies Hasan K.F., Simpson L., Baee M.A.R., Islam C., Rahman Z., Armstrong W., Gauravaram P., McKague M. IEEE Access, 12, pp. 23427–23450IEEE
4. Privacy-Preserving Federated Learning-Based Intrusion Detection Technique for Cyber-Physical Systems Mahmud S.A., Islam N., Islam Z., Rahman Z., Mehedi S.T. Mathematics, 12(20), Art. 3194
5. An Explainable AI-Based Modified YOLOv8 Model for Efficient Fire Detection Hasan M.W., Shanto S., Nayeema J., Rahman R., Helaly T., Rahman Z., Mehedi S.T. Mathematics, 12(19), Art. 3042
6. Enhancing Autism Spectrum Disorder Classification with Lightweight Quantized CNNs and Federated Learning on ABIDE-1 Dataset Gupta S., Bhuiyan M.R.I., Chowa S.S., Montaha S., Rahman R., Mehedi S.T., Rahman Z. Mathematics, 12(18), Art. 2886
7. Conventional/Phase Shift Dual Drive Mach-Zehnder Modulation Measured Type Based Radio over Fiber Systems Amiri I.S., Rashed A.N.Z., Rahman Z., Paul B.K., Ahmed K. Journal of Optical Communications, 45(s1), s123–s131
2. A Modified Feature Selection Algorithm for Intrusion Detection System Based on Student Psychology-Based Optimization with Explainable AI Evan M.R.I., Rahman M.M., Mehedi S.T., Nazib A., Islam R., Rahman Z. 2023 IEEE Asia-Pacific Conference on Computer Science and Data Engineering (CSDE)IEEE
3. Blockchain for IoT: A Critical Analysis Concerning Performance and Scalability Rahman Z., Yi X., Khalil I., Kelarev A. QShine 2021 – 17th EAI International Conference. Springer, Cham, pp. 57–74
4. Chaos and Logistic Map Based Key Generation Technique for AES-Driven IoT Security Rahman Z., Yi X., Khalil I., Sumi M. QShine 2021 – 17th EAI International Conference. Springer, Cham, pp. 177–193
5. Software process improvement based on defect prevention using capability and testing model integration in extreme programming Rahman M.H., Rahman Z., Al-Mustanjid M. et al. ICONCS 2020 – 2nd EAI International Conference on Cyber Security and Computer Science. Springer, Cham, pp. 270–279