Projects

Research, Innovation & Knowledge Exchange

Externally funded work connecting cybersecurity, trustworthy AI, responsible AI, privacy, quantum resilience, skills and industry collaboration.

Principal Investigator, Innovate UK / DSIT Cyber Local

CyberPathway: Empowering Diversity in Cybersecurity

CyberPathway was designed to make practical cybersecurity education accessible to career changers, underrepresented groups and SME staff. It combined in-person delivery with an AI-enhanced e-learning platform, practical labs, mentoring support and Cyber Essentials aligned learning.

£143kproject value used in my portfolio

30participants trained

3in-person cohorts

PIprogramme and delivery leadership

What I led

My role covered programme design, delivery leadership, partner and stakeholder coordination, trainer sourcing, quality assurance, risk management and development of the digital learning model. The project also introduced AI-supported learner help with cost, usage and quality controls.

What was delivered

The programme covered foundations of cybersecurity, access control, computer networks, web security, security governance, business continuity, secure system design, malware protection, incident response, risk management, ethical hacking, penetration testing and Cyber Essentials preparation. Reusable resources and the online platform were retained as a continuing CPD offer.

Delivery collaboration

CyberPathway required coordination with external trainers and regional stakeholders, including CyberNorth. When a subcontractor withdrew, trainer support was re-sourced and delivery was replanned. Skillset Ltd formed part of the replacement delivery collaboration in the project history.

Project Lead / PI, Innovate UK TechLocal, £299,666

CyberSafeAI North East

North East Responsible AI Workforce Accelerator: Safety, Security and Governance Professional Practice, Level 7, with Placements.

I led development of a new 60-credit Level 7 professional-practice PGCert focused on AI safety, AI security, AI governance and responsible deployment. The educational model combines academic learning with employer-defined AI challenges, assessed professional projects, work-integrated learning and placements, aligned with the AI Skills for Business Competency Framework.

My role covers academic and curriculum direction, partner and employer coordination, course development, alignment of learning outcomes with professional needs and delivery planning.

Cybersecurity & trustworthy AI

Research projects

PI, Innovate UK, £31k

SafeSCMS

Transforming Supply Chain Security for SMEs with Trustworthy AI and intelligent decision making in real time.

SafeSCMS investigated how trustworthy AI can strengthen cybersecurity in supply chain management systems used by SMEs. The work focused on AI-supported monitoring, detection and response, while also addressing transparency, fairness and trust in AI-driven operational decisions.

Key project directions included real-time anomaly detection, bias correction and human-in-the-loop decision support. The industrial collaboration involved Digital Readiness & Intelligence Ltd and an SME-facing application context.

Project record →

Co-Investigator, Innovate UK

CyberThemis

AI assistants for EU AI Act compliance.

CyberThemis developed a compliance-focused approach for organisations building LLM applications. The system uses a multi-agent architecture to monitor LLM outputs, identify potential compliance violations and support continuous documentation and reporting.

The project also explored confidential-computing approaches for protecting data during processing. The CyberASAP programme profile identifies my role as Co-Investigator and CTO within the project team.

CyberThemis website Research portal

Co-Investigator, Innovate UK

OPERA

Operationalising Privacy for Enhanced Robustness in Applications.

OPERA was an Innovate UK funded CyberASAP project focused on privacy and application robustness. My role was Co-Investigator, working within a team spanning privacy, cybersecurity and trustworthy system design.

The project progressed within the CyberASAP programme alongside other UK university cyber-security commercialisation projects.

Research portal CyberASAP programme

Co-Investigator, Innovate UK, about £31k

Qnergy-Sec

Quantum-Resilient Security and Authentication Layer for Critical Energy Infrastructure.

Qnergy-Sec addresses the transition toward quantum-resilient security for critical energy infrastructure, where authentication and long-lived cryptographic protection are particularly important.

The project sits within my broader interest in secure critical systems and emerging cyber risk, extending security thinking beyond today's cryptographic assumptions.

PI, Innovate UK, 2021

iShield

AI-enabled mobile protection for healthcare IoT.

iShield explored an AI-enabled mobile application intended to detect, predict, alert and protect against cyber attacks affecting healthcare IoT environments.

The project connects my earlier IoT research with cybersecurity and high-stakes healthcare applications, themes that continue into my current trustworthy AI research.

Academic Support, ongoing

Vianet Knowledge Transfer Partnership

Industry-facing knowledge exchange with Vianet. I include the KTP as part of the wider collaboration portfolio, rather than as a headline research project.