Jean Oudot began a thesis dedicated to the optimal security architecture for intelligent transportation systems in October 2017. He revisits his PhD which he completed with IRT SystemX in Singapore, in collaboration with Nanyang Technological University and Télécom ParisTech.
Why did you choose to do your thesis in Singapore? And why at IRT SystemX?
Singapore offers a very dynamic and innovative research ecosystem, by bringing together world-renowned partners. The City State is very advanced in the digital domain, particularly with its “Smart Nation” initiative with the aim of being at the forefront of digital innovation. Among the initiatives carried out, IRT SystemX participates in the Applied Research Project CETRAN (Centre of Excellence for Testing & Research of AVs – NTU) carried out by NTU’s ERI@N transversal institute (Energy Research Institute @ NTU) in order to determine the conditions for the operational and safe deployment of autonomous vehicles in Singapore. I am delighted to work daily in this extremely innovative environment, which has been very beneficial for my research. In addition, SystemX offers me the opportunity to carry out a very applied and concrete research, led by industrial players in collaboration with academic partners.
What has your attachment at the NTU brought you?
The university provides me a wide range of resources, including documentaries. I have access to many fundamental books in my field, which can be very difficult to find in libraries in France.
The working conditions are also very advantageous for a PhD student: everything is available on campus and university and laboratories are open 24 hours a day, which is very practical when working on experiments or on an article. The working atmosphere that prevails in my Singapore laboratory is also very intellectually stimulating. We are gathered with other doctoral students (a little over thirty in my laboratory) working on very similar issues. So there is a lot of exchange of ideas on each other’s work.
Can you tell us more about your thesis topic?
I work on the development of an optimal security architecture for intelligent transportation systems. As vehicles become increasingly connected, they also become more prone to cyberattacks. In this context, the objective of my thesis is to propose secure and reliable autonomous vehicle architectures, exploiting multi-objective optimization techniques and decision-making methodologies.
During the first year of my thesis, I came up with the state of the art of my domain in order to best define my objectives. I am currently working on the study of the different approaches for assessing the impact of a cyberattack on the safety of a vehicle so as to design optimal security architectures. I will endeavour to develop a framework for exploring the space for designing the autonomous vehicle, so as to identify all exploitable architectures and to offer manufacturers the possibility of selecting the most reliable ones. I will also be interested in integrating other security metrics.
“Jean is the first doctoral student from SystemX to complete his thesis in Singapore as part of our partnership with Nanyang Technological University (NTU). For SystemX, which opened an office in Singapore at the end of 2017, this is a perfect example of the collaboration we want to establish with Singapore’s world-class partners. This type of project allows us to progress from an academic point of view, to give the doctoral student an international experience, and to consider future bridges between NTU and SystemX, in research, training, and with industry. We wish Jean to flourish in Singapore, and to make interesting progress in his research subject.”, François-Xavier Lannuzel, Chief Representative, Singapore
“SystemX conducts applied research in cyber-physical systems and closely collaborates with both academia and key industries in France. Since my core research area is cyber-physical systems, specifically developing theoretical foundations for safety-critical applications, I find the collaboration with SystemX to be extremely beneficial. It gives me the opportunity to further develop my research through close collaborations with French academia, and at the same time provides a readymade platform for applying the results of my research to industrial use-cases. Besides, it also gives me the opportunity to interact with some of the key stakeholders in relevant French industries and to understand their system requirements. So far this collaboration has been intellectually rewarding, and I am eagerly looking forward to continue and expand this activity.”, Arvind Easwaran, Associate Professor, Nanyang Technological University (NTU)
Find out more about Jean
Title of thesis: Optimal security architecture for intelligent transportation systems
R&D project: Cybersecurity of Intelligent Transport (CTI)
Educational qualification prior to the PhD: Master’s Degree in Engineering from INP Grenoble
