PhD Oral Exam - Ahmadreza Abazari, Information Systems Engineering

When studying for a doctoral degree (PhD), candidates submit a thesis that provides a critical review of the current state of knowledge of the thesis subject as well as the student’s own contributions to the subject. The distinguishing criterion of doctoral graduate research is a significant and original contribution to knowledge.

Once accepted, the candidate presents the thesis orally. This oral exam is open to the public.

Abstract

The extensive use of electric vehicles (EVs) provides energy-critical infrastructures with some advantages and drawbacks at the same time. The large-scale deployment of EVs can improve the reliability and efficiency of the power grid through, for instance, bidirectional energy transfers between grids and EVs, reduction in electricity bills, and ancillary services. The majority of these advantages are enabled by the use of communication and information technologies (ICTs) in the EV infrastructures and their associated smart power grids. Moreover, EV supplies equipment (EVSE) network, e.g., charging stations, including a variety of Internet of Things (IoT) devices and smartphone applications that facilitate the charging process for users. However, such a broad deployment of cyber devices and information technologies makes the EV ecosystem prone to cyber-attacks in the form of data manipulation, malware, and intrusions. The attacks against public and private EV charging stations, which are often designed without security concerns in mind, are threats against owners and can lead to complicated security issues for smart grids. Additionally, compromising the security of these large-scale EV infrastructures can propagate into the wide-area transmission power grid, cause resonance events, and result in instability and even blackouts. Studying potentially vulnerable points in the EV ecosystems that adversaries can exploit to impact the stability of power grids, and suggesting proper detection and mitigation strategies is of paramount importance. Finally, designing security metrics for distribution and transmission systems can assist power grid utilities in informing about the power grid security status in the presence of attacks originating from EV ecosystems.