I build agentic AI for autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles in the ASQI Lab at Middle Tennessee State University. Drones that plan, adapt, and navigate on their own rather than following a fixed script.
Before the Ph.D. I spent three years in security operations and threat intelligence. Both halves ask the same question: how much can you let a system decide for itself?
An autonomous agent reads untrusted input from the world and then acts on it, which is also a fair description of an attack surface. My research is about making agents capable enough to be useful and verifiable enough to deploy.
| 🎓 Role | Ph.D. Student, Computational & Data Science · Graduate Research Assistant |
| 🧪 Lab | ASQI Lab, Middle Tennessee State University |
| 🧭 Focus | Agentic AI · Autonomous UAVs · Security of agentic systems · Knowledge graphs for CTI |
| 📍 Based | Nashville, Tennessee, USA |
Four questions I'm working on. Autonomous flight on one side, security on the other.
| # | Thread | The question | Keywords |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Agentic AI for Autonomous UAVs PRIMARY FOCUS |
Can a drone plan its own mission, revise the plan when the world disagrees, and still stay within safe bounds? | Self-evolving agents · Autonomous navigation · ROS · Sensor fusion |
| 02 | Security of Agentic Systems ACTIVE |
An agent that reads the world and acts on it is also an attack surface. What breaks it? | Prompt injection · Tool misuse · Adversarial robustness · Threat modeling |
| 03 | Knowledge Graphs for Threat Intelligence ONGOING |
Can synthetic intelligence be realistic enough to train on and traceable enough to trust? | STIX 2.1 · Link prediction · Graph neural networks · Synthetic data |
| 04 | Evaluation & Assurance ONGOING |
How do we make claims about autonomous systems that hold up to scrutiny? | Benchmarks · Reproducibility · Simulation · Red teaming |
Areas of interest: Agentic AI · Autonomous Systems & UAVs · Knowledge Graphs · Cyber Threat Intelligence · Machine Learning Security · Computer Vision & Perception
Read the full research agenda →
| Year | Project | What it is | Stack |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Agentic AI for Autonomous UAV Navigation | Current ASQI Lab project. A self-evolving agent that plans a UAV mission, calls perception and control tools, and revises its route when conditions change, with guardrails on self-directed behaviour. | ROS · Sensor fusion · LLM agents |
| 2024 | Synthetica / SAKURA | Synthetic cyber threat intelligence platform built at LAS / NSA. Led a team of 5; generated STIX 2.1 knowledge graphs with 100K+ nodes so analysts can train and test tooling without touching production intel. | Python · Django · Angular · LangChain · PyTorch · GPT-4o |
| 2026 | SOC Simulator ⭐ | A private SOC-like simulation environment for practising alert triage and response workflows. | TypeScript |
| 2026 | PhishNet | Phishing detection that models structural and behavioural patterns in web and URL data, delivered as a browser extension. | ML · TypeScript |
| 2026 | PhishER Simulator · Umbrella Simulator | Training simulators modelled on the email-security and DNS-security tooling used in a campus SOC. | JavaScript · TypeScript |
| 2026 | Coordinated disclosure: Joomla Core (CVE-2026-21631) | Reported a stored XSS vector in the com_associations comparison view; fixed in core through the vendor's coordinated disclosure process. |
Web app security · XSS |
| 2023 | Link Prediction in Knowledge Graphs | Comparative evaluation of link prediction models on the SAKURA dataset, measuring accuracy and computational efficiency. | Graph ML |
| Project | One-liner | Links |
|---|---|---|
| SkeleVision HackUNCP 2026 |
Turn your body into a live, interactive anatomy classroom. Real-time skeleton overlay with webcam + pose detection and contextual explanations. | Repo · Devpost |
| betterATS | AI-native applicant tracking that ranks candidates by true fit and potential, not keywords. | Devpost |
| Synthetica! | Synthetic STIX 2.1 cyber knowledge graph generator for CTI analysts. | Devpost |
| Golapi-Care | ML approach to identify Mild Cognitive Impairment in the elderly from everyday wearable data. | Devpost |
| Heal Care | AI healthcare companion for OTC medication guidance, built on Django and GPT-4. | Devpost |
Research & ML
Robotics & Autonomy
Security & Threat Intel
Engineering
| Years | Degree | Institution |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 - present | Ph.D., Computational & Data Science | Middle Tennessee State University · ASQI Lab, Dept. of Engineering Technology |
| 2025 | B.S., Cybersecurity · Cum Laude | University of North Carolina at Pembroke · Honors Scholar Fellowship · Chancellor's Honor List · Pembroke Scholar (2023, 2024, 2025) |
Research & work (newest first, click to expand)
| When | Role | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 2026 - present | Graduate Research Assistant, ASQI Lab · agentic AI for autonomous UAVs | MTSU Mechatronics Engineering & Engineering Technology |
| May - Jul 2026 | Cyber Security Instructor · bootcamp modules on vulnerability management, threat intelligence, risk assessment | Data Group USA |
| Mar 2024 - Aug 2025 | SOC Analyst · Splunk, Defender, Cisco AMP/Umbrella, PhishER; Python + ML anomaly detection cut incident response time by 30% | UNCP Division of IT |
| Aug 2024 - May 2025 | Teaching Assistant · Applied Cryptography & application security | UNCP Mathematics & Computer Science |
| May 2024 - May 2025 | Data Science Research Assistant · Python pipelines over 100K+ PFAS well-water records; 60% less manual cleaning | UNCP Geology |
| Jan 2024 - May 2025 | Research Assistant · Mobile Driver's License (mDL) architecture, secure identity & privacy | UNCP Cyber Defense Education Center |
| Dec 2023 - Aug 2024 | Research & ML Intern · led a team of 5 building synthetic CTI (SAKURA); GANs in PyTorch, LangChain + GPT-4 generating STIX 2.1 at 90% validity | Laboratory for Analytic Sciences & NSA |
| Feb 2021 - Jul 2022 | Research Intern · Team Lead of Operations, BRACU Dichari; Mechanical Team, BRACU Mongol Tori 6.0 | Laboratory for Space Systems Engineering & Technology, Dhaka |
Leadership
- Vice President, Artificial Intelligence @ UNCP Club (2023 - 2025)
- Organizer, HackUNCP Hackathon (2024 - 2025)
- Committee Chairman, Cyber Defense Club, UNCP (2024 - 2025)
- Global Affairs Deputy Head, English Olympiad Global
- National Event Coordinator, Coding Olympiad Global, Bangladesh (2021)
- Convenor & Country Ambassador (Bangladesh), Worldwide Organization for Charity (2021 - 2023)
- 🚁 European Robotics League 2022, Finalist & Perseverance Award · Led operations for BRACU Dichari, the first Asian team to reach the final round (Top 5), Aero Klub Poznań, Poland
- 🛡️ CVE-2026-21631 · Joomla Core stored XSS, reported and credited through coordinated disclosure
- 📝 Technical Review Committee, 2026 IEEE 18th International Conference on Computational Intelligence and Communication Networks (CICN)
- 🚀 University Rover Challenge 2021 · 3rd place, and finalist in URC 2022 with BRACU Mongol Tori
- 🌾 Guinness World Record · Youth & Voluntary Sub-Committee for the world's largest crop field mosaic art (119,430 m²)
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- Aug 2026 · Started the Ph.D. in Computational & Data Science at MTSU as a Graduate Research Assistant in the ASQI Lab
- Jul 2026 · Wrapped up a contract teaching cybersecurity bootcamp modules at Data Group USA
- Mar 2026 · Joomla Core security issue disclosed and fixed as CVE-2026-21631
- Mar 2026 · Joined the Technical Review Committee for IEEE CICN 2026
I like talking with people working on agentic AI, robotics, autonomous systems, or threat intelligence. Research collaborations, paper discussions, review invitations, red-teaming engagements for agentic systems, and internships are all welcome. I usually reply within a day or two.
