Our Team

Sherif Abdelwahed, PhD

Dr. Sherif Abdelwahed is a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University where he teaches and conducts research in computer engineering, with specific interests in autonomic computing, cyber-physical systems, formal verification, and cyber-security. Before joining VCU in August 2017, he served as the associate director of the Distributed Analytics and Security Institute at Mississippi State University.

Before joining Mississippi State University, Dr. Abdelwahed was a research assistant professor at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and senior research scientist at the Institute for Software Integrated Systems, Vanderbilt University, from 2001-2007. Dr. Abdelwahed attracted research funding from industry and government agencies throughout his academic tenure, including NSF, NASA, Boeing, ONR, PNNL, ERDC DARPA, Microsoft, and Qatar Foundation, with more than 12 million dollars awarded covering 20 significant projects. He also established the first NSF I/UCRC center at Mississippi State University, the Center for Autonomic Computing.

PhD Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Toronto

Lauren Linkous

Lauren Linkous has extensive experience with programming, data processing, and 3D modeling and printing. She began working with Cyber Physical Systems in undergrad with small, ambulatory robots and 3D printed prosthetics. Her graduate studies incorporate using the Internet of Things, machine learning, and processing sensor data in both the Medical Device Security and OpenCyberCity testbeds. Lauren builds her own data collection/monitoring systems from open-source hardware and custom software. Her current work involves digital simulation of physical environments for validating closed loop control systems.

BS Electrical Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University

BS Physics, Virginia Commonwealth University

Mostafa Zaman

Mostafa Zaman's graduate work has focused mainly on incorporating a machine learning method to deal with uncertainty in various areas of a smart city. He has also aided in teaching undergraduate and graduate students in his graduate studies, such as digital logic design, industrial automation, C and C++ programming, digital systems, introduction to the cyber-physical system, etc. His principal research focuses on building an uncertainty-aware decision support system in different aspects of smart cities and analyzing analytical data applications using python. He also focused on constructing Smart Building and Smart Water distribution systems on the OpenCyberCity testbed and performing data analytics.

PhD Student, Electrical & Computer Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University
BS Electrical & Electronic Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology

Nathan Puryear

Nathan Puryear is a PhD student in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at VCU, and his research focuses on cyber physical system modeling and control. He received his BS in Computer Engineering from VCU in 2019, and has worked as a research assistant at the Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing (CCAM) in addition to VCU.

Nathan is responsible for the development and implementation of the data collection and processing pipeline for the OpenCyberCity project, including the deployment of physical nodes and sensors, as well as on-premise and cloud services. For the OpenCyberCity VirtualLab project, Nathan is responsible for the metamodel development and orchestration implementation, including integration with the existing OpenCyberCity architecture.

BS Computer Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University

Salma Ghafouri-Varzaneh

Salma Ghafouri-Varzaneh is a PhD student in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University and a researcher at the OpenCyberCity Lab, supervised by Dr. Sherif Abdelwahed.

She earned her BSc in Electrical Engineering from Islamic Azad University, ranking among the top students. She also completed one year of graduate coursework in Mechatronics at the University of Tehran, gaining foundational experience in robotics and system integration.

Her research focuses on non-destructive testing, biomedical sensors, and smart cities. She has co-authored several papers presented at the British Institute of Non-Destructive Testing (BINDT). She holds a patent for a reactive glucose monitoring device for diabetic patients.

Salma has a strong background in electronics, content creation, and public science education. Her technical interests include smart cities, cyber-physical systems, and intelligent robotic control.

Rabia Ipek Yasar

Rabia Ipek Yasar holds a B.Sc. in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Duzce University, Turkiye. During her studies, she worked with a private company on a smart pillbox project, focusing on software and enclosure design. For her senior project, she collaborated with the same company to develop a sensor-based patient monitoring kit. She has experience in electronic maintenance, PCB design, and UAV projects. Her interests include embedded systems, circuit design, and hardware development. She joined the ECE master's Program and the OCC Testbed team in Spring 2025.

Sena Elgormus

Sena Elgormus is a Computer Engineering graduate from Istanbul Atlas University with a strong interest in algorithmic thinking and smart technologies. During her undergraduate studies, she actively contributed to the Smart Campus project, which focused on energy optimization and environmental sustainability. She gained valuable experience in analytical thinking and digital transformation through a data analysis internship at BizMed, located in Yildiz Technical University Technopark in Istanbul. As a co-founder of Highborn Software and Game Development Company, she developed leadership and creative problem-solving skills. She also completed an internship at JEOIT and METU's Electrical-Electronics Communication Network Group, where she deepened her technical knowledge of communication systems. She is currently pursuing her master's degree at Virginia Commonwealth University and joined the OCC Testbend Team in the Spring of 2025.

VIP Undergraduate Students

The Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) Program here at VCU grants undergraduate students the opportunity to participate in research projects under faculty and graduate students in order to gain more experience while earning technical or free elective credits.

Aiden DeWitt

BS Computer Engineering, Senior, Virginia Commonwealth University

Aiden DeWitt is a senior Computer Engineering student at Virginia Commonwealth University, with a particular interest in signal processing, audio and video analysis, machine learning, and automation. He joined the team in Fall 2024, working primarily on the development and implementation of the traffic signals and traffic management system on the OpenCyberCity testbed. He is responsible for the physical design of the signals and software implementation of dynamic traffic controls, as well as the integration of sensors with the traffic control system.

Brian Holland

Brian Holland is a 3rd year undergraduate at the Electrical and Computer Engineering department of VCU with a Computer Science Minor. He primarily uses his knowledge of embedded system design, data collection, and network communication in his projects. Brian’s work currently lies in designing the electrical system foundation and reprogramming sensors and component modules into an intuitive interface for each of the smart buildings of the OpenCyberCity testbed.

BS Computer Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University

Parker Gonzaga

Parker Gonzaga
B.S. Computer Science, Virginia Commonwealth University

Parker is a 4th year undergraduate student studying Computer Science with a minor in Mathematics and Physics at Virginia Commonwealth University. At OpenCyberCity, his work is focused on data analysis, visualization, and predictive analysis using recurrent neural networks. He has experience programming in Java, Python, and C which are applied in the maintenance and expansion of the lab's existing system architecture.

Ahmed Malik

Ahmed Malik is a 2nd year Computer Engineering student at Virginia Commonwealth University. Ahmed is a hardworking and dedicated individual who is always striving for excellence in his academic pursuits. He is known for his strong analytical and problem-solving skills, which have helped him excel in his coursework and projects. He joined the team right when it started, and has been a valuable member since.

BS Computer Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University

Former Students

Maher Al Islam

Maher Al Islam completed his undergraduate studies in Electrical and Electronics Engineering. His prime research interests lie in cyber security, machine learning and control systems. Currently, he is working on a smart water distribution system. He has previously worked with Dr. Carol Fung in game theory implementation for DDoS mitigation. He has good hands-on experience with Matlab, Python and Wireshark.

PhD Student Electrical & Computer Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University
BS Electrical & Electronic Engineering, University of Dhaka

Daniel Gubay

Daniel Gubay, BS Computer Science, Research Assistant.

I am a fourth-year senior studying computer science. I joined the lab in fall 2023. I love solving problems, especially hands-on projects, making the OCC lab a perfect fit due to the freedom we have in approaching our work. I've been interested in cars since childhood, so when we decided to expand the testbed to include autonomous vehicles, I jumped at the opportunity.

Amer Pehlic

Amer Pehlic is an Undergraduate Research Assistant at Virginia Commonwealth University. His primary interests are embedded systems, digital system design, computer architecture, intelligent autonomous systems, and robotics. He used to work in the HIVE lab under Dr. Martin, but now works in the Open Cyber City Lab under Dr. Abdelwahed. He has professional and academic experience in languages and technologies like C, C++, Python, MATLAB, VHDL, Verilog, SystemVerilog, and Vivado.

David Wells

David Wells is a 4th year Computer Engineering Student at Virginia Commonwealth University. Joining the team in the Fall of 2022, he has previous experience with various different programming languages, web-based design, as well as hardware design.

BS Computer Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University

William Simms

William Simms is a 4th year Computer Engineering Senior at Virginia Commonwealth University. Joining the team in Fall of 2022, he has had previous experience with application development as an intern at Automatic Data Processing (ADP).

BS Computer Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University

Max Hofmeyer

Max Hofmeyer is a 2nd year Computer Engineering student at Virginia Commonwealth University. Joining the team in Fall of 2022, he came in with a background in cloud architecture and web development.

BS Computer Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University

Akshita Ramesh

Akshita Ramesh is a 1st year Computer Engineering Student at Virginia Commonwealth University. Joining the team in Fall of 2022, she comes in with a background in robotics as well as previous experience with various programming languages, computer networking, and web development.

BS Computer Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University

Jacob Alachnowicz

Jacob Alachnowicz is a 1st year Electrical Engineering student at Virginia Commonwealth University. He joined the team in the Spring of 2023, and has experience with Computer-Aided Design and multiple programming languages.

BS Electrical Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University

Zaid Ahmad

Zaid Ahmed is a 1st year Computer Engineering student at Virginia Commonwealth University. Joining the team in Spring 2023, he brings an eager to learn attitude to the team.

BS Computer Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University