Information Security, Privacy and Digital Forensics

Sankita Patel received her Ph.D. from the Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology (SVNIT), Surat in 2015. Since 2009, she has been associated with the Department of Computer Engineering at SVNIT, Surat as an Assistant Professor. Her research interests focus on Applied Research in Information Security and Privacy in various domains like the Internet of Things, Cyber-Physical Systems, Online Social Networks, Data Analytics, Cloud Computing, Big Data, etc. She has worked as a joint investigator in research projects funded by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), the Government of India, and the Gujarat Council of Science and Technology, Government of Gujarat. She has co-authored many papers in refereed journals and conference proceedings.

Dr. Naveen Kumar Chaudhary has been Professor of Cyber Security and Dean, at National Forensic Sciences University, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India since 2019. He is also a courtesy research Professor at Knight Foundation School of Computing and Information Science, Florida International University, Miami, USA. He holds Bachelor of Technology degree in Information Technology & Telecommunication Engineering and Master of Engineering degree in Digital Communication. He earned his Ph.D. in Engineering and advanced certifications in Cyber and Network security. He has an extensive experience of more than 25 years in engineering education, research, and Government. He has authored and co-authored many papers in refereed journals and conference proceedings. He is an editor-in-chief of NFSU Journal of Cyber Security and Digital Forensics and his research focus is in the domain of Cybersecurity, Digital Forensics, Drone-Forensics, Cyber-Physical Systems and Cyber-Forensic Investigations.

Bhavesh Gohil received his Ph.D. from the Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology (SVNIT), Surat in 2019. Since 2009, he has been associated with the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at SVNIT, Surat as an Assistant Professor. His research interests include performance and security issues in Distributed Computing like Cloud/Edge/Fog Computing, IoTs, etc. Prior to SVNIT, he worked with Amdocs as a Subject Matter Expert. He has been working as a joint investigator in a research project funded by the Gujarat Council of Science and Technology, Government of Gujarat. He has co-authored many research papers in refereed journals and conference proceedings.

Dr. S.S. Iyengar is currently the Distinguished University Professor, Founding Director of the Discovery Lab and Director of the US Army funded Center of Excellence in Digital Forensics at Florida International University, Miami. He is also the Distinguished Chaired Professor (Hon.) at National Forensics Sciences University, Gandhinagar, India. He has been involved with research and education in high-performance intelligent systems, Data Science and Machine Learning Algorithms, Sensor Fusion, Data Mining, and Intelligent Systems. Since receiving his Ph.D. degree in 1974 from MSU, USA, he has directed over 65 Ph.D. students, 100 Master's students, and many undergraduate students who are now faculty at Major Universities worldwide or Scientists or Engineers at National Labs/Industries around the world. He has published more than 900 research papers, has authored/co-authored and edited 32 books. His books are published by MIT Press, John Wiley and Sons, CRC Press, Prentice Hall, Springer Verlag, IEEE Computer Society Press, etc. During the last thirty years More recently in Spring 2021, Dr. Iyengar was awarded a $2.25 M funding for setting up a Digital Forensics Center of Excellence over a period of 5 years (2021-2026).

His path breaking discovery known as Brooks-Iyengar algorithm discovered in 1996 is a milestone in his career. This discovery has led to breakthrough in use of sensors in various applications across the globe. By adopting this algorithm, it was possible to use network of sensors which would give out precise outputs, though few of the sensors receive wrong inputs or faulty sensors. This algorithm is relevant even today and has received prestigious "Test of Time" award for its contribution over the decade by IEEE Congress in the year 2019.

Dr. Iyengar has received IEEE Fellow award, ACM Fellow, AAAS Fellow, Fellow of Artificial Intelligence AAIA, Fellow, National Academy of Inventors (NAI), Fellow of Institution of Engineers (India) among many awards he has received in his career. He has also received IEEE Technical Achievement Award in 1998. Dr. Iyengar is awarded the Lifetime achievement award at by International Society of Agile Manufacturing at IIT (BHU) in 2012. He has received Lifetime Achievement award from IEEE High Performance Computing in 2019. Dr Iyengar was also a Fulbright Distinguished Scholar and has received several honorary PhDs from around the world.

He has been awarded the LifetimeAchievement Award for his contribution to the field of Digital Forensics on November 8, 2022, during the 7th INTERPOL DIGITAL FORENSICS EXPERT GROUP (DFEG) MEETING at National Forensics Sciences University, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India.