Dr Zoya Pourmirza BSc, MSc, PhD

• PhD in Computer Science – Digital Smart Grid, University of Manchester, 2015
• MSc in Computer Networks, University of Derby, 2010
• BSc in Information Technology Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, 2008

Dr Pourmirza is Academic Director of Smart systems and Senior Research Fellow at the School of Computer Science. She is a highly experienced and independent researchers in energy system digitalisation. She has developed interdisciplinary research by bringing together two strategic area of digital technologies and energy systems, and advanced the knowledge within ICT, cyber security, Digital Twin, efficient data communication, and innovative business model for energy systems.

Zoya is leading a team of researchers including Research Fellows, Research Associates, Research Software Engineers, and PhD students, working on a number of research project, investigating cyber-physical energy systems, cyber security threats and mitigations in hydrogen integrated systems, digital twin technologies, privacy enhancing technologies, smart homes, and the impact of dis/misinformation on the UK decarbonisation energy policy.

From 2016 to 2023 she worked as Research and Senior Research Associates at the Newcastle University, where she contributed to a vast number of research projects as Principal Investigator (PI), Co-Investigator (Co-I), and researcher.  Zoya was also involved in teaching and supervision, and project management.

She has contributed to the national policy through her secondment working as government’s senior policy advisors on EV charging-station cyber security and contributed to standard development for cyber security requirement for Smart Energy Appliances (BSI PAS 1878 and 1879).

Previously Zoya established a working relation with the Energy Systems Catapult through her successful EPSRC-IAA grant, to investigate digital capability in energy sector and its cyber security challenges to inform business, academia and government.

Zoya is supervising PhD students and master students on topics such as:

• Digital Twin for cyber secure energy management for smart buildings (PhD project)
• Autonomous Multi-Agent Systems for constrained devices in building automation domain (PhD project with Siemens)
• Cyber Physical Energy systems
• Penetration Testing and Security Management for Data Transmission and Storage in Digital Twin
• Enhanced Intrusion Detection System for Vehicular Networks

Please get in touch if you are interested in pursuing a PhD under her supervision.