I am an Assistant Professor of Computer Science in the School of Computing at Southern Illinois University Carbondale (started in Fall 2025). I obtained my Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Florida International University, where my dissertation explores AI-driven defenses for cyber-physical and security of off-chain scalability solutions of blockchain.
At SIUC, I lead the Transformative Innovation for Trustworthy AI and Network Security (TITANS) Lab. My research interests span cybersecurity, machine learning, and distributed ledgers, with an emphasis on protecting autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles, smart grids, and off-chain Layer-2 blockchain protocols. I develop systematic defenses, intrusion-detection pipelines, formal verification workflows, and cryptographic protocol enhancements by combining data-driven modeling, program analysis, and zero-knowledge techniques. Looking ahead, my goal is to build resilient, self-healing security frameworks for next-generation autonomous systems and decentralized finance, ensuring that AI-enabled cyber-physical platforms remain trustworthy, adaptable, and secure by design.
Contact Information
Email: a [dot] khalil [at] siu [dot] edu
Office: EGRA 409F, 1230 Lincoln Dr, Carbondale, IL
Research Areas
My primary research agenda centers on safeguarding next-generation autonomous and distributed systems: spanning cyber-physical platforms, edge IoT networks, and Layer-2 blockchains. Specifically, I focus on:
- AI-driven intrusion detection for UAVs and other safety-critical CPSs
- Security analysis and hardening of blockchain protocols
- Trust, safety, and policy enforcement for reinforcement-learning-based autonomy
- Privacy-preserving cryptographic protocols (e.g., zero-knowledge proofs) for cyber hardening
- Resilient and secure resource orchestration across heterogeneous IoT infrastructures
I primarily apply data-centric machine learning, formal verification, zero-knowledge cryptography, and game-theoretic modeling in my research.
Awards and Honors
- Awarded the Upsilon Pi Epsilon (UPE) Honor Society Scholarship 2024 with the IEEE Computing Sciences and the IEEE Computer Society (the largest association of computer professionals), for academic achievement and extracurricular activities related to the discipline of computing.
- Awarded the Prestigious Dissertation Fellowship from FIU University Graduate School (UGS) for Spring and Summer 2025 semesters.
- Awarded the Graduate Scholar of the Year 2024 by the Outstanding Student Life Awards organized by the Division of Academic & Student Affairs at FIU, for research contributions made in the academic year 2023–24.
- Honored with the 2023 ECE Ph.D. Publication Incentive Awards by the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at FIU, for the research regarding UAV-assisted Energy Harvesting of IoT devices, which resulted in one conference and one journal paper.
- Awarded NSF Student Travel Grant for the 2023 IEEE Conference on Communications and Network Security (CNS). This award recognizes students who have strong academic background and research potentials in the field of Secured Communications and Networking, as demonstrated by their coursework and/or research experience.
- Awarded Second Place (among 81 posters) in the Engineering category for the poster titled “Data driven ANFIS-based IDS for UAV” at the FIU GSAW Scholarly Forum 2023.
- Invited and inducted by the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi by election of the chapter at FIU for outstanding academic achievements in the academic year 2020–2021. (Certificate)