FICS is led by Dr. M. Ilhan Akbas, associate professor in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department, co-director of WIDE Lab, a leadership member of the Center for Aerospace Resilient Systems (CARS) and a member of the Advanced Air Mobility Research and Innovation Lab (AAMRIL) at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU). Dr. Akbas has over 20 years of experience in the complex systems, machine learning, modeling and simulation and cybersecurity, including eight years of defense industry and enterprise level software development experience. Dr. Akbas received his Ph.D. in Computer Engineering at the University of Central Florida (UCF), where he was a member of AI Things Lab. His BS and MS degrees are from the Dep. of Electrical and Electronics Eng, METU. He is a Senior Member of IEEE, and a member of ACM, AIAA, SAE, IEEE Communications Society, IoT and Cloud Computing Communities, International Alliance for Mobility Testing and Standardization (IAMTS), Complex Systems Society and Cyber Safety Commercial Aviation Team (CSCAT).
FICS is always looking for motivated graduate and undergraduate students in Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering or Data Science to work together on problems related to our research interests such as autonomous systems, machine learning (AI/ML), wireless networks, complex systems, cybersecurity, modeling and simulation. If you have any questions, please and contact us at "akbasm @ erau . edu" .
FICS operates at MP224 in the MicaPlex building and at FICS Lab S105 at S-Building of ERAU Daytona Beach campus.
Quentin Goss, PhD Candidate in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Topic: Scenario Generation for the Validation of Autonomous Cyber-Physical Systems
Rajagopal Sugumar, PhD Student in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Topic: Urban Air Mobility Modeling & Simulation
John M. Thompson, PhD Student in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Topic: Boundary Exploration and Adherence to Find Performance Modes of Complex Systems
Jose Alejandro Gonzalez, PhD Student in Electrical and Computer Engineering
Topic: Edge Computing and Machine Learning for Space Applications
Sakurako Kuba, PhD Student in Electrical and Computer Engineering
Topic: Modeling & Simulation for Advanced Air Mobility Analysis
Liz Bosch, M.S. in Systems Engineering
Topic: Integrating AI in Human Spaceflight: A Systems Safety Engineering Approach
Jesse Slager, M.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Topic: Neuroevolution of Graph-Embedded Neural Networks for Network Intrusion Detection
James Isaac Kay, M.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Topic: Leveraging Mobile Computer Vision and Machine Learning for License Plate Recognition in Amber and Silver Alert Scenarios
Spoorti Nanjamma, M.S. in Systems Engineering
Topic: An Exploration of Embedding Biologically Inspired Design into the Systems Engineering Lifecycle Stages for Student Satellite Projects
Aaron Smith, Computer Science
Charles Walker, Computer Science
Ryle Traub, Computer Engineering
Carmen Dimario, Computer Engineering
Jonathan Ortiz Gomez, Computer Science
Caleb Ramos, Computer Science
Anuranan Bharadwaj, Aerospace Engineering
Annamaria Summer, MS in Software Engineering, Spring 2025
Project: CARLOS: A Low-Fidelity Open-Source Driving Simulator for Algorithm Testing
Michael Allen, MS in Sytems Engineering, Spring 2025
Topic: A Novel Graph-Theoretic Approach to Modeling Polygonal Molecular Structures for Machine Learning Applications in Material Science
Maja Issler, MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Spring 2024
Project: Quantification Method to Evaluate the Complexity of Driving Scenarios Based on Information Entropy
Jose Alejandro Gonzalez, MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Fall 2023
Project: Crowdsensing-Based Multi-Agent Data Collection and Aerial-Terrestrial Hybrid Route Determination for Three Dimensional Urban Environments
John Thompson, M.S. in Software Engineering, Summer 2023
Thesis: Search Space Exploration of Multidimensional Boundaries through Adherence Strategies (SEMBAS) for the Verification of Black Box Systems
Ilke Kutlu, MS in Electrical Engineering at Istanbul Technical University (co-advised), Summer 2023
Thesis: Accident Data Analysis for Formal Scenario Generation and Traffic Simulation
Neeraj Naik, M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Spring 2023
Project: Utilization of Monte Carlo Tree Search for Validation
Elijah Keck, M.S. in Software Engineering, Spring 2023
Project: Finding Critical Areas of Concern for sUAS Collision Avoidance
Nathan Rose, M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Spring 2022
Project: Topic: Publish-Subscribe Communication in a Low Resource Environment
Dhruvil Bhupatbhai, M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Spring 2022
Topic: Tightly Couple Dipole Array Design Optimization By Using Machine Learning Approach
Luis Oseguada, MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Fall 2021
Project: Using Agent-Based Simulation to Evaluate Collision Avoidance in UAS Swarms
John Borum, MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Fall 2021
Project: A Review of Acoustic Energy Harvesting Techniques and Applications
Alex Bassett, MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Spring 2021
Thesis: A Comprehensive Mapping and Real-World Evaluation of Multi-Object Tracking on Automated Vehicles
Andrew Ferree, MS in Mechanical Engineering, Spring 2021
Thesis: Automated Scenario Generation Using Halton Sequences for the Verification of Autonomous Vehicle Behavior in Simulation
Mohammed Eleffendi, MS in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Spring 2021
Project: Using Reinforcement Learning to Generate Scenarios for Autonomous Vehicle Testing
Christopher Medrano-Berumen, MS in Computer Science, Spring 2020
Thesis: Methodology for Autonomous Vehicle Validation & Verification through Simulation
Quentin Goss, MS in Computer Science, Spring 2020
Thesis: Evaluation of Street Network Optimization Techniques for Intelligent Transportation Systems Using Simulation
Mert Aydin, MS in Innovation & Technology in Big Data Analytics, Spring 2018
Thesis: Identification of Autonomous Vehicle Test Scenarios Using Fatal Traffic Accident Data
Faezeh Haghighat Mesbahi, MS in Engineering, Spring 2018
Thesis: Quality of Service Protocol for Traffic Management in Vehicular Ad-Hoc Networks
August 2025; John, Quentin and Ryle at NSF IRES program.
May 2024; Serena, Hannah and Quentin at NASA JPL.
May 2023, John and Quentin, at the IEEE MOST Conference.
Caleb Ramos, Computer Science, 2025; Jim Pamplona, Computer Science, 2025; Simon Cole, Computer Science, 2025; Serena Conticello, Computer Science, 2025; Maison D..Evans-Lichtigfeld, Computer Science, 2025; Hannah Ramsden, Computer Science, 2025; William Clay Pate, Computer Science, 2024 ; Walter Hernandez, Computer Science, 2024; AnnaMaria Summer, Computer Science, 2023; Jakob Haehra, Computer Science, 2023; Kai.Sniadach, Computer Science, 2022; John Thompson, Software Engineering, 2022; Luke Crump, Computer Science, 2022; Teja Tiriveedhi, Software Engineering, 2022; Jaclyn Welch, Computer Science, 2022; Dillon Mead, Computer Science, 2022; Jacob Preseau, Software Engineering, 2021; Yara Alrashidi, Software Engineering, 2021; Abigail Butka, Computer Engineering, 2021; William Edwards, Software Engineering, 2021; Ricardo Pena, Unmanned Aircraft Systems, 2021; Emily Nunez, Software Engineering, 2020; Kenzie Milhous, Computer Engineering, 2020; Kelmary Gonzalez, Computer Science, 2020; Luis Espiritusanto, Computer Engineering, 2020; Vivian Dang, Software Engineering, 2020; Gabrielle Stoney, Software Engineering, 2020; Cameron Stark, Software Engineering, 2019-2020; Srushti Patel, Computer Science, 2018-2020; Caleb Long , Computer Science, 2018-2019; Saivamsi Hanimanthu, Computer Science, 2018-2019; Easton Anderson, Computer Science, 2018-2019; Quentin Goss, Computer Science, 2018; Christopher Medrano-Berumen, Computer Science, 2018; Aleck Johnson, Computer Science, 2018; Joshua Rentrope, Computer Science, 2017; Michael Midence, Electrical Engineering, 2017; Dominic Lentini, Computer Engineering, 2017; Alexander Hughes, Computer Engineering, 2017; Elijah Campbell, Computer Science, 2017.
Aneesha Guna, Edgewood High School, 2024; Nikhil Iyer, Edgewood High School, 2022