People

Professor Gareth Howells

Professor
School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering (CSEE)
Professor Gareth Howells
  • Email

  • Location

    1NW.5.14, Colchester Campus

  • Academic support hours

    Wednesday 14:00-15:00, Thursday 15:00-16:00

Profile

Biography

Gareth Howells is Professor of Cyber Security and Founder, Director and Chief Technology Officer of cyber security technology company, Metrarc Ltd, a University spin-out company. He has been involved in research relating to cybersecurity and secure communications for over 35 years and has published over 240 papers in the technical literature, co-editing two books and contributing to several other edited publications. His core research interests are device authentication, biometrics, secure communications and identity management. His principal contribution to cybersecurity is the development of ICMetric techniques for the derivation of digital signatures and encryption keys directly from properties of physical circuits. The technology significantly alleviates the need to store a copy of an encryption key and the work has given rise to several significant worldwide patents. It is currently being commercially exploited via Metrarc Ltd. with the application domain for such technology being large, allowing for secure communication to and from pervasive hardware devices such as mobile telephones. He also has interests in AI, Pattern Recognition and Robotic systems having worked extensively in the development of assistive healthcare technologies and automated guidance systems for powered wheelchairs, pioneering work in the detection of negative spatial obstacles such as potholes, kerbs and stairwells.

Qualifications

  • PhD Computer Science University of Kent, (1991)

Research and professional activities

Research interests

Cyber Security

Key words: Cyber security

Publications

Journal articles (17)

Gillham, M., Pepper, M., Kelly, S. and Howells, G., Feature determination from powered wheelchair user joystick input characteristics for adapting driving assistance. Wellcome Open Research. 2, 93-93

Slucock, T., Howells, W., Hoque, S. and Sirlantzis, K., Development of a Microcontroller-Based Recurrent Neural Network Predictive System for Lower Limb Exoskeletons. Journal of Intelligent and Robotic Systems: Theory and Applications

Gu, X., Howells, W. and Yuan, H., A Semi-Supervised Soft Prototype-based Autonomous Fuzzy Ensemble System for Network Intrusion Detection. Applied Soft Computing

Howells, W., Gu, X. and Yuan, H., (2024). A Soft Prototype-based Autonomous Fuzzy Inference System for Network Intrusion Detection. Information Sciences. 677, 120964-120964

Dib, J., Sirlantzis, K. and Howells, G., (2023). An annotated water-filled, and dry potholes dataset for deep learning applications. Data in Brief. 48, 109206-109206

Mohamed, E., Sirlantzis, K., Howells, G. and Hoque, S., (2022). Optimisation of Deep Learning Small-Object Detectors with Novel Explainable Verification. Sensors. 22 (15), 5596-5596

Mohamed, E., Sirlantzis, K., Howells, G. and Dib, J., (2022). Investigation of Vibration and User Comfort for Powered Wheelchairs. IEEE Sensors Letters. 6 (2), 1-4

Mohamed, E., Sirlantzis, K. and Howells, G., (2022). A pixel-wise annotated dataset of small overlooked indoor objects for semantic segmentation applications.. Data in Brief. 40, 107791-107791

Mohamed, E., Sirlantzis, K. and Howells, G., (2022). A review of visualisation-as-explanation techniques for convolutional neural networks and their evaluation. Displays. 73, 102239-102239

Tahir, R., Tahir, S., Tahir, H., McDonald-Maier, K., Howells, G. and Sajjad, A., (2021). A novel ICMetric public key framework for secure communication. Journal of Network and Computer Applications. 195, 103235-103235

Mohamed, E., Sirlantzis, K. and Howells, G., (2021). Indoor/Outdoor Semantic Segmentation Using Deep Learning for Visually Impaired Wheelchair Users. IEEE Access. 9, 147914-147932

Yang, Y., Yan, X., Sirlantzis, K. and Howells, G., (2021). Regular form-based sliding mode control design on a two-wheeled inverted pendulum. International Journal of Modelling, Identification and Control. 37 (3/4), 312-320

Khanna, PR., Howells, G. and Lazaridis, PI., (2021). Design and Implementation of Low-Cost Real-Time Energy Logger for Industrial and Home Applications. Wireless Personal Communications. 119 (3), 2657-2674

Dib, J., Sirlantzis, K. and Howells, G., (2020). A Review on Negative Road Anomaly Detection Methods. IEEE Access. 8, 57298-57316

Gillham, M., Pepper, M., Kelly, S. and Howells, G., (2019). Stakeholder views addressing the development and uptake of powered wheelchair assistive technology. Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology. 14 (2), 146-160

Gillham, M., Pepper, M., Kelly, S. and Howells, G., (2018). Feature determination from powered wheelchair user joystick input characteristics for adapting driving assistance. Wellcome Open Research. 2, 93-93

Hu, Y., Sirlantzis, K. and Howells, G., (2017). Optimal Generation of Iris Codes for Iris Recognition. IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security. 12 (1), 157-171

Conferences (12)

Yadav, S., Khanna, PR. and Howells, G., Robust Device Authentication Using Non-Standard Classification Features

Dib, J., Sirlantzis, K. and Howells, G., (2022). Application of Deep Learning Techniques in Negative Road Anomalies Detection

Mohamed, E., Sirlantzis, K. and Howells, G., (2022). Analysing the Impact of Vibrations on Smart Wheelchair Systems and Users

Mohamed, E., Sirlantzis, K. and Howells, G., (2022). Real-time Powered Wheelchair Assistive Navigation System Based on Intelligent Semantic Segmentation for Visually Impaired Users

Yadav, S., Khanna, PR. and Howells, G., (2022). Device Identification Using Discrete Wavelet Transform

Dib, J., Sirlantzis, K. and Howells, G., (2022). Application of Deep Learning Techniques in Negative Road Anomalies Detection

Khanna, PR. and Howells, G., (2021). Using Dynamic Operational features to Identify Embedded Devices

Mohamed, E., Sirlantzis, K. and Howells, G., (2021). Incorporation Of Rejection Criterion - A Novel Technique For Evaluating Semantic Segmentation Systems

Yanushkevich, S., Stoica, A., Shmerko, P., Howells, W., Crockett, K. and Guest, R., (2020). Cognitive Identity Management: Synthetic Data, Risk and Trust

Khanna, PR. and Howells, G., (2020). A novel cost-effective Pressure Sensor based Smart Car park system

Yanushkevich, SN., Howells, WG., Crockett, KA., O'Shea, J., Oliveira, HCR., Guest, RM. and Shmerko, VP., (2019). Cognitive Identity Management: Risks, Trust and Decisions using Heterogeneous Sources

Aroua, S., Murphy, J., Rabah, M., Rouis, K., Sidere, N., Tamani, N., Champagnat, R., Coustaty, M., Falquet, G., Ghadfi, S., Ghamri-Doudane, Y., Gomez-Kramer, P., Howells, G. and McDonald-Maier, KD., (2019). Security and Privacy for the Internet of Things: an overview of the project

Grants and funding

2023

Chameleon: Dynamic Device-Unique Confidentiality and Fingerprinting

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

Contact

gareth.howells@essex.ac.uk

Location:

1NW.5.14, Colchester Campus

Academic support hours:

Wednesday 14:00-15:00, Thursday 15:00-16:00

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