Ilies arrived at KAUST in mid-July, initially as a visiting student at the RC3 center. He started his Ph.D. two months later in September under the supervision of Professor Marc Dacier. His research focuses on network security-related topics such as invisible semi-active components in end-to-end communications.

Power grids have become far more complex in recent decades due to energy demands, environmental regulations and small-scale renewable energy systems that turn businesses and individuals into combined consumer-producers. One way to ensure that power supplies remain resilient is to create small groups of sources and loads called microgrids.

KAUST Professor of Computer Science Elmootazbellah Elnozahy has been elected to the rank of National Academy of Inventors (NAI) Fellow. NAI fellows are selected based on the number and significance of patents they are co-inventors; the patents must also have stemmed from a university-based research program.