May 2023 SCS Awards

M.A.P Chamikara has contributed to several cutting-edge research projects that have gained top-tier recognition. As the technical lead for the Cyber Security CRC project “AD:EPT – Australia’s Data Emerging Privacy Preserving Techniques”, Chamikara has played a pivotal role in the development of the “OptimShare” platform, which is a utility-focused privacy preserving data sharing platform designed and optimised for real-world applications. The success of OptimShare is underscored by the application of a patent for its underlying technology. Furthermore, OptimShare has undergone rigorous testing by prominent organisations and government departments, demonstrating the significant impact on real-world challenges. Chamikara’s impactful contributions can also be observed through his recent publications in top-tier venues, including one as primary author.

Ming Ding’s research focusses on data privacy, information technology, and private machine learning. With an outstanding publication record of more than 200 quality journal/conference publications, Ming has garnered significant recognition in his field. His Google Citation count stands at an impressive 9893, with an H-Index of 48 [accessed on 26/05/2023]. His collaborative work with Nanjing University of Science and Technology and Princeton University resulted in the award-winning paper “Federated learning with differential privacy: Algorithms and performance analysis”, which won the 2022 IEEE Signal Processing Society Best Paper Award. Ming’s active collaboration with institutions have also yielded remarkable outcomes, including two successful Data61 PhD scholarships, a work package proposal for an AI4M project on antimicrobial resistance, and two ongoing Cooperative Research Centres Project (CRC-P) proposals on smart recycling technologies and cybersecurity training, respectively.

Mohan has made key contributions to multiple strategic research areas within his group, showcasing his expertise and commitment. Over the past six months, his work, including a first-author publication, has been published in reputable journals such as IEEE Transactions on Services Computing, ACM Computing Surveys, and Future Generation Computer Systems, and well as AsiaCCS 2023, which is a target conference for the CQS group. Mohan’s contributions span diverse fields, including autonomic and self-adaptive systems, cyber-safe connected vehicles, usable privacy, and adversarial machine learning. Through his publications, Mohan is contributing to raising the quality of his team’s publication outputs, while also showcasing the tangible impact of his extensive national collaborations.

Qin Wang has demonstrated research excellence in the areas of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), decentralized finance (DeFi), Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs), Web3, and algorithmic stable-coin. His groundbreaking work includes the development of an innovative referable NFT scheme, which has been incorporated into the Ethereum Improvement Standards (ERC-5521). With influential publications in WWW, CSUR, ICBC, FC and DLT, Qin’s research has had a significant impact. Qin also mentors postdocs and PhD students, leading to collaborative publications.

Ruoxi is the first author of two papers accepted at top-tier conferences. His first paper, published at WWW 2023, identified several critical issues and inconsistencies in app store policies of Google Play Store, leading to updates in the Family category requirement and Families policy of the Play Store. His second paper at ESEC/FSE 2023 introduces a new framework to uncover limitations in current malware detectors, and enhance the robustness of malware detection. Additionally, Ruoxi has also co-authored four papers published at top security conferences, including IEEE S&P 2023 and NDSS 2023.

The DoITrust project team has made significant scientific and technological contributions to the field of cybersecurity by addressing the limitations of traditional website block/allow lists through an innovative approach of proactive expansion graph, which generates organic internet domain allow-lists based on trust transitivity through hyperlink crawling. Their research has been published in the prestigious NDSS 2023 conference and led to the filing of an international patent for the invention. To advance further research activities in this field, the team plans to release a large-scale dataset generated from the web, which contains information from 2 million websites and 17 million connections, focusing on identifying compromised websites within connected graphs.

Since joining Data61 in 2022, Jieshan has emerged as a rising star in the field of software engineering and human computer interaction. Within her team, she has been leading the research on dark pattern detection and data visualisation. Jieshan’s science expertise is evident through her publications in many top-tier venues, with one of her papers being awarded the prestigious SIGSOFT Distinguished Paper Award. Her impactful work has also been showcased to various important stakeholders in both government and industry. In addition to her own research projects, Jieshan has been supervising students at all levels and serves as PC committee in different prestigious venues such as CHI and ASE.

Despite joining Data61 just a year ago, Hannah has made significant contributions to her team. She has developed a highly efficient runtime analysis method that is twice as fast as the industry-leading approach previously developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab. Her work has directly contributed to two new patent applications and positioned the team as the leading provider of runtime compliance technologies.

In the past six months, Raymond made significant contributions in the field of cryptographic engineering, particularly in the implementations of quantum-safe cryptographic applications. He developed novel implementation techniques for a new quantum-safe digital signature scheme called eMLE-Sig 2.0, enhancing both the speed and practical security of the scheme. Additionally, he also overcame the obstacles in implementing Falcon digital signatures on GPU platforms by creating efficient iterative versions of Falcon’s core algorithms. Raymond’s expertise and innovation in quantum-safe cryptography are evident in these noteworthy contributions.

Peter and Suzanne made substantial contributions to enhancing the understanding of salinity issues in the agricultural regions of Western Australia. They produced a comprehensive technical report that provides an in-depth analysis of the current extent of dryland salinity for the ~23 million ha south-west broadacre cropping region of Western Australia. This report received commendation from the WA Agriculture and Food Minister, who called it a “valuable resource” on a “significant issue”. As a result, the WA government is actively collaborating with CSIRO to develop next-generation methods aimed at improving mapping accuracy, which will enable ongoing assessments to capture previously under-reported salinity.

Harsha’s collaboration efforts span across multiple domains. Within CSIRO Missions, Harsha has demonstrated leadership and commitment to promoting responsible AI. Harsha has also played a key role in establishing collaboration between CSIRO and Alphinity, a prominent investment management company in Australia and globally. Harsha’s collaboration with universities such as Monash University has yielded significant results, including joint publications. Additionally, his dedication to mentoring and guiding students has contributed to their growth and success, resulting in notable publications.

Mark is a highly regarded blockchain expert in Australia. As the CTO of Digital Finance CRC, he has demonstrated exceptional leadership and expertise in managing multiple research projects and collaborations, with influential collaborators such as CBA, ANZ bank, RBA, various universities, and industry partners. Moreover, he has led the development of a Central Bank Digital Currency to be considered by RBA, contributed to blockchain and distributed ledger standards, and facilitated ongoing collaborations between DF CRC and Data61 technology teams, including Macrokey, Trustworthy Reporting, RAI, CSIRO missions and FSP. These collaborations motivate ongoing blockchain research and generate significant external revenue for Data61.

Mohan demonstrated great leadership by rescuing a new cross-BU project following the departure of its project lead and some members. Despite joining the project at a later stage, he demonstrated exceptional dedication and delivered outcomes that surpassed expectations. He established strong relationships with the existing BUs and proactively advocated for the project, paving the way for further opportunities. His contributions to the project have been recognised and acknowledged by the replacement project lead, RI FSP Director, CQS Group Leader and Data61 Science Director.

The team has demonstrated a strong commitment to collaboration with their active engagement with internal and external stakeholders, including industry and government. Notably, their strong involvement in initiatives such as the Trusted Agrifood Export Mission, iReckon and Realta showcases their dedication to fostering strategic partnerships. Their collaboration efforts extend to academia as well, as evidenced by their work with the University of Lund (AI and law), and their hosting of the bi-annual Capstone projects at Data61 in collaboration with the Queensland University of Technology. These initiatives highlight the team’s dedication to STEM and their commitment to providing training opportunities for potential PhD students.

The team has established successful partnerships with renowned institutions both nationally and internationally, including UNSW and IIT in India. Their collaborative efforts on PublicCheck, a method for publicly verifying computer-based vision models, exemplifies the exchange of knowledge across multiple entities. This collaboration’s achievements have garnered recognition at the IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy, a top security venue. Furthermore, the team’s commitment to nurturing young talent is evident in their mentorship of an early-career researcher, resulting in the development of a top-tier scientific paper.

Despite challenges caused by the departure of the project leader (on the client side), the team successfully delivered a project for the Integrated Systems Company (ISC). The team prioritised the customer’s interests, adapted to the changes, and developed a new working model to ensure that the project objectives were met. The project was divided into two parts. The first part involved assessing the potential privacy and confidentiality risks associated with the type of data held by ISC, which is crucial to their operations and frequently requested by their clients. The second part focused on enhancing ISC’s capability to assess and manage privacy and confidentiality risks in their data. Throughout the project, the team demonstrated a good understanding of the customer’s needs and maintained positive relationships with the client. Their efforts and dedication were acknowledged by the customer, who expressed satisfaction and sent a commendation email recognising their achievements.

The team demonstrated exceptional leadership in effectively managing a major HSE incident at the Clayton site. Their dedication and contributions successfully facilitated the staff member’s transition back-to-work. They formed a small team to handle the situation and maintained open communication with leadership and local HSE throughout the process. Collaborating closely with the HSE case officer, they provided support and care to the staff member while respecting their privacy. The team’s professionalism and experience in managing the incident positions them as a valuable resource for the organisation.