Prashant Pillai (computer scientist)

Prashant Pillai MBE (born July 1979) is an Indian-born British computer scientist. He is Associate Dean for Research and Knowledge Exchange and Professor of Cyber Security at the University of Wolverhampton.[1][2] He is also the Director of Cyber Quarter - Midlands Centre for Cyber Security.[2][3] He specialises in security and privacy for communication networks. Pillai has led several national/international research projects in the areas of networking protocols and cyber security.[4][5] He has been invited for talks at various international conferences and has published over 100 papers within peer-reviewed journals and conferences.[2]

This article is about the computer scientist. For Indian producer and composer, see Prashant Pillai.

Prashant Pillai

FBCS, FHEA, MIET, SMIEEE
A photograph for Professor Prashant Pillai
BornJuly 1979 (age 44)
New Delhi, India
NationalityBritish
Alma materUniversity of Delhi, University of Bradford
OccupationComputer scientist

He is a Fellow of British Computer Society (FBCS), Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (SMIEEE) and Member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (MIET).[2]

Early life and education

Pillai was born in New Delhi, India and attended St. Columba's School in Delhi.[2] He earned a BSc (Hons) in Electronics from the University of Delhi and an MSc in Informatics also from the University of Delhi.[2] He received his Ph.D. from University of Bradford, UK for his thesis titled Authentication, Authorization and Accounting framework for multicast communication in highly mobile wireless networks.[2]

Career

Pillai started his academic career at University of Bradford, UK where he moved from Lecturer to Senior Lecturer and held administrative positions like Director of Postgraduate Research and Deputy Head of Electrical Engineering. He led the two-year project named SITARA: Smart Grid to harness Satellite based Virtual Power Plants for energy sustainability[6], which was funded by the British Council under the Global Innovation Initiative scheme.

He then moved to Oxford Brookes University in 2017, as a Reader in Cyber Security and Head of the Cyber Security Research Group at the Faculty of Technology, Design and Environment.[2]

Pillai joined the University of Wolverhampton, UK as Professor of Cyber Security and Director of the Wolverhampton Cyber Research Institute[7] in 2018. He was interim Head of School for the School of Mathematics and Computer Science before taking on his current role as Associate Dean of Research and Knowledge Exchange at the same University.[2] He is also the Centre Director for £9m Cyber Quarter - the Midlands Centre for Cyber Security.[8] It is a joint venture[9] between the University of Wolverhampton and Herefordshire Council and part-funded by the Government’s Local Growth Fund, via the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).[2] The Cyber Quarter was opened in December 2021.[10]

He has been a Co-founder and Director of several start-ups like Cydon, OnlynShield and CyberMind.[11][12][13]

He has published over 100 papers in leading international journals and conferences and has a granted US patent around Distributed Ledger Technology.[14][15]

Honours, recognition and awards

Pillai is the current Chair of the Cybersecurity Working Group of the Innovation Alliance for the West Midlands.[16]

He was also appointed as the Group Chair of the IEEE UK and Ireland Blockchain group in 2022.[17][8]

He was Co-chair of the Satellite Working Group of the IEEE International Network Generations Roadmap (INGR) from 2018-2021.[2] and is an Advisory Board Member of the West Midlands Cyber Resilience Centre.[18]

Pillai was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2023 New Year Honours for services to cyber security and education.[19]

References
  1. "Faculty Executive - University of Wolverhampton". www.wlv.ac.uk. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  2. "University staff page". researchers.wlv.ac.uk. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  3. "Cyber Quarter". Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  4. Corser, John (23 June 2020). "University secures funding to address stress in cyber security". www.expressandstar.com. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  5. "October 2020 - University secures additional funding to address cyber stress - University of Wolverhampton". www.wlv.ac.uk. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  6. "University of Bradford awarded Global Innovation Initiative grant". University of Bradford. 3 July 2015. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  7. "WCRI - Wolverhampton Cyber Research Institute - University of Wolverhampton". www.wlv.ac.uk. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  8. "Professor Prashant Pillai Appointed Group Chair of the IEEE UK and Ireland Blockchain Group – Cyber Quarter". 30 March 2022. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  9. "July 2019 - Ambitious vision of cyber innovation, research & development unveiled at 3CDSE - University of Wolverhampton". www.wlv.ac.uk. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  10. "Multimillion-pound cyber security centre launches | TheBusinessDesk.com". West Midlands. 7 December 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  11. "Cydon – Share Data Confidently". Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  12. "Onlyn Shield – Be Safe Online". Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  13. "CyberMind – Think Cyber, Think Stress Free". Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  14. "Prashant Pillai". scholar.google.co.uk. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  15. US20200042497A1, PILLAI, Prashant; EPIPHANIOU, Gregory & Aggoun, Amar, "Distributed ledger system", issued 2020-02-06
  16. "Cyber Community – Innovation Alliance for the West Midlands". Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  17. webmaster, Ieee. "Blockchain Group". IEEE - UK and Ireland Section. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  18. sianmason0 (29 September 2020). "WMCRC Advisory Group continues to grow". WMCRC. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  19. "No. 63918". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2022. p. N23.
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