Contact Dr Huw Whitworth
Areas of expertise
- Autonomous Systems
- Communications Systems
Background
Huw completed his degree in Electronic and Communications Engineering at the University of Kent, graduating in the summer of 2019 with a focus on Embedded Systems Engineering and Antenna Design. He began his Master鈥檚 degree in Applied Artificial Intelligence in September 2019, where he wrote his Master鈥檚 thesis on synthetic data generation for augmenting datasets.
As of 2024, he completed his PhD under Professor Saba Al-Rubaye, researching future communication methods and security. His research was funded by the Department for Transport and the Home Office as part of the Future Aviation Security Solutions programme, supported by Thales UK.
He is currently a Research Fellow working on securing non-terrestrial network (NTN) vertical integration and multi-functional network services. This involves investigating how to securely integrate current and emerging multi-functional network services, such as Integrated Sensing and Communications (ISAC) or Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT).
The team aims to build AI-augmented architectures and interfaces on current NTN RAN Intelligent Controllers (RIC) to ensure that NTN data and Open RAN (O-RAN) interfaces can securely incorporate multi-functional service extensions. The work also involves evaluating potential mitigation techniques to enhance cyber resilience.
Research opportunities
Huw鈥檚 research interests lie at the intersection of AI-driven cyber security, critical infrastructure protection, and intelligent systems engineering. His work focuses on developing autonomous red teaming frameworks and simulation environments that model complex hybrid systems such as Air Traffic Management (ATM) and Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN), employing techniques such as curiosity-driven reinforcement learning, partially observable Markov decision processes (POMDPs), and generative adversarial AI.
He is particularly interested in the integration of behavioural modelling to assess human operator vulnerabilities within cyber-physical ecosystems. His research spans secure architecture design for 6G Open RAN and NTN systems, intelligent network optimisation, and the secure deployment of multi-functional network services, including Integrated Sensing and Communications (ISAC) and Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT).
Huw is also interested in applied research in sustainable digital infrastructure. He has contributed to projects that combine environmental modelling, artificial intelligence, and user-centric design to support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).
Current activities
Huw is currently based at DARTeC, where his research focuses on Future Communications Networks. This includes work on the secure vertical integration of Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) and the development of AI-augmented architectures for multi-functional network services such as Integrated Sensing and Communications (ISAC) and Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT). He is actively reviewing data exchanges between network actors, analysing vulnerabilities within hybrid and distributed infrastructures, and designing countermeasures and security methodologies to enhance cyber resilience. His work also contributes to the development of autonomous red teaming frameworks and simulation environments for complex systems such as Air Traffic Management (ATM), incorporating techniques like curiosity-driven reinforcement learning, graph neural networks, and POMDPs. His methodological approach combines deep learning, statistical modelling, and behavioural analysis to identify and mitigate risks in cyber-physical ecosystems.
Clients
- Thales SA
- Department for Transport