Awards highlight Windsor as leader in automotive cybersecurity

University of Windsor researchers have captured three of 10 national cybersecurity awards announced Thursday by the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association (APMA).

The organization’s Institute for Automotive Cybersecurity recognized individuals and companies for their achievements in the field, including UWindsor professors Mitra Mirhassani (MA 2003, PhD 2007) and Ikjot Saini (PhD 2020), and recent grad Noah Campbell (BSc 2020).

Dr. Mirhassani, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, received the Outstanding Individual Cyber Achievement Award for her research and teaching in autonomous vehicles, hardware, and cybersecurity. This award recognizes an individual working in Canada with outstanding achievements in education, technology, governance, and assessments.

Dr. Saini, assistant professor of computer science, received the Cyber Women of the Year award for her work in autonomous vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication and founding the first Canadian student chapter of Women in Cybersecurity. This award recognizes a woman working in Canada with outstanding achievements in cybersecurity, specific to the automotive sector.

Campbell is tech community program manager for the WEtech Alliance and the WindsorEssex Economic Development Corporation. He received the Young Cyber Achievement award for his work as a student ambassador, founder of the Google Developers Club, and community engagement. This award recognizes an individual under 30 years old working in Canada with achievements in automotive cybersecurity in a private, public, or academic capacity.

Heather Pratt, UWindsor executive director for research and innovation, noted the three honourees have all demonstrated achievements in cybersecurity.

“They are all stellar mentors to a wide variety of students and outstanding leaders in the field of cybersecurity research and we are very proud,” she said. “Winning these awards highlights that Windsor-Essex is a leader in the automobility and cybersecurity sector.”

—Tina Suntres