Department of Computer Science and Information Technology Leadership

Associate Professor Prakash Veeraraghavan

Associate Professor Prakash Veeraraghavan is Head, and Learning and Teaching Coordinator in the Department of Computer Science and Information Technology, with over 25 years’ teaching and research experience. Prior to joining La Trobe in 2003, he was a Senior Lecturer at the Universiti Putra Malaysia. Associate Professor Veeraraghavan has been instrumental in designing the Department’s industry-focused curriculum and has supervised PhD, Masters and Honours students. His research interests include developing robust intrusion detection schemes, security in vehicular network, biometric authentication, trojans, malwares, code-exploits and cyberintelligence analysis. He has developed a new dynamic authentication process called IPAS to replace static passwords and biometric based authentication system. He holds a patent on database and software engineering.

Professor Phoebe Chen

Professor Phoebe Chen is Acting Research Coordinator in the Department of Computer Science and Information Technology. She obtained her PhD in Computer Science (Bioinformatics) from the University of Queensland and joined La Trobe in 2010. Professor Chen is Chief Investigator of the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence in Bioinformatics and a member of their College of Experts. She has been awarded 30 research grants totalling $8M, including 13 prestigious Australian Research Council grants. Professor Chen has over 20 years’ experience in data intelligence and in emerging areas including artificial intelligence, bioinformatics, multimedia and deep learning. She has published over 250 papers.

Professor Naveen Chilamkurti

Professor Naveen Chilamkurti is Head of the Cybersecurity Discipline in the Department of Computer Science and Information Technology, and Director of the La Trobe Cybersecurity Research Hub. Professor Chilamkurti specialises in cybersecurity, Internet of Things, blockchain, authentication, fog computing and secure communications. He is a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Systems. He is also the Inaugural Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Wireless Networks and Broadband Technologies, and Associate Editor of the International Journal of Communication Systems, Simulation of Computer Networks, Journal of Emerging Technologies in Web Intelligence and International Journal of Internet Protocol Technology. He has published over 320 papers and nine books. Professor Chilamkurti has been awarded 20 research grants and has worked with Cooperative Research Centres and research centres to secure 24 competitive grants, including the SmartSAT Cooperative Research Centre, Data61/CSIRO, Oceania Cybersecurity Center, Defence Science Institute and the Australian Academy of Science.

Associate Professor Simon Egerton

Associate Professor Simon Egerton is Deputy Head of the Department of Computer Science and Information Technology and Director of the Technology Innovation Lab at La Trobe’s Bendigo campus. He has a background in real-time embedded systems and artificial intelligence and has applied these interests to intelligent autonomous robots, human robot interaction and the Internet of Things. Associate Professor Egerton has a passion for disruptive technology and the application of open-source technologies, including open-source embedded systems, software and manufacturing platforms, to help drive social entrepreneurship and address real world problems. He is Co-Founder and Director of the Creative Science Foundation, a non-profit foundation dedicated to exploring the use of science fiction to motivate and direct interdisciplinary research into new technologies. The Foundation’s Creative Robotix STEM platform is being adopted by schools in Victoria.

Dr Fei Liu

Dr Fei Liu is Learning Experience Coordinator in the Department of Computer Science and Information Technology. Dr Liu obtained her PhD from La Trobe University in 1998. Prior to joining the Department as an academic in 2002, Dr Liu was a Lecturer at the University of South Australia and RMIT. She also worked as a software engineer at Ericsson Australia. Her research interests include sentiment analysis, text summerisation and semantic web. Dr Liu supervises PhD, Masters and Honours students.

Associate Professor Abdun Mahmood

Associate Professor Abdun Mahmood is Graduate Researcher Coordinator in the Department of Computer Science and Information Technology. Associate Professor Mahmood received his PhD from the University of Melbourne in 2008. Prior to joining La Trobe, he was a faculty member at the University of New South Wales, RMIT, the University of Melbourne and the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Associate Professor Mahmood leads a group of researchers who are experts in machine learning and cybersecurity including anomaly detection in smart grid, supervisory control and data acquisition security, memory forensics and false data injection. He has been awarded over $1M in grant funding as a Chief Investigator, including two Australian Research Council Linkage Projects.

Dr Scott Mann

Dr Scott Mann is Industry Engagement and Outreach Coordinator in the Department of Computer Science and Information Technology. He specialises in mobile and web development, and technology in higher education. Dr Mann coordinates the Department’s placement and outreach programs. His contribution sees students working on real world solutions for industry, which often translates into employment upon graduation.

Find out more about the School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, and read our Statement of Strategic Intent.