Interview with Sujash Naskar, PhD‑student STC
Meet Sujash Naskar, new PhD-student from India. He started his PhD-position at STC Research Center in September and will work on security within Industrial IoT.
Can you tell a little about your background?
I’m from Kolkata of India and I did my Bachelor and Master degree from the University of Calcutta. My Bachelor degree was in Computer Science and in my Masters, I had worked with security for IoT - Internet of Things devices. In my Master Thesis I tried to detect ‘botnet’, which is like a type of zombie computer virus that attacks computers and smaller IoT-devices. I tried to develop an algorithm on Machine Learning and AI to detect whether a machine has been attacked by a botnet or not. I made the algorithm together with two other classmates and the results were quite satisfactory. Though we didn’t have enough resources to train our algorithm because it required a lot of memory, still it showed 75 % success.
Why did you choose Mid Sweden University after your Master degree?
I wanted to continue my higher studies in the field of "Security for IoT Devices" which is a very interesting topic for me and personally I like cryptography a lot. I saw Prof. Mikael Gidlund's advertisement on LinkedIn. Prof. Gidlund is a very well known personality of this field. The subject was also a perfect match for me so I had applied for this position.
I have also chosen Sweden because of the feat it has achieved in the field of Modern Science & Technology and the level of innovation the scientist community of this country have done in last few decades. Mid Sweden University provides very advanced infrastructure for Research and experiment purpose. All these reasons have attracted me to pursue my higher studies in this beautiful Scandinavian country.
I had got this position in the month of January and was supposed to come to Sweden in March, but due to the sudden outbreak of COVID-19, my country blocked all the international borders and that’s why I couldn’t come until now in September. I started a little bit of the work from my home in India and took some courses and did some assignments.
What is it that you are going to investigate as a PhD-student?
Right now, I’m in the phase of selecting a specific topic. There are many different fields within IoT Security to choose from. IoT devices are becoming very important part of our everyday life, and though they get smaller resources but they still need the same strong security like a computer.
I’m looking forward into the field of privacy, how to keep our own private data safer and my work will be focusing on Industrial Internet of Things – IIoT, an important research field.
I am very much excited to be a part of Prof. Gidlund’s team and work under supervision of him and other respected Professors.
What do you think about Sundsvall and Sweden?
This is actually my first-time visit outside India and there is a quite cultural difference. I was used to with a lot of people as India is the second most populous country. In Sundsvall people are very kind & helpful. When oneday I was in grocery shop, I asked a man for help to find milk and he really took his time and not only just helped me to find “mjölk”, but he also showed me that one which had best price.
I am very much indebted to all the Professors and senior colleagues of my Department. Because of their unconditional support from the very first day, I have never felt alone here leaving my family in another continent.
When I had arrived in Sundsvall airport in the night and couldn't find any cab, my senior colleague Teklay helped me a lot. He has booked a cab for me and even he has brought some necessary items for me on that night. Just after arriving in a new country this incident has touched my heart.
I would like to make many Swedish friends and get to know more about your Swedish culture, tourist places, about your cuisine and activities. I have noticed that in the Human Development Index, Sweden and Norway are always in the top. It proves the quality of standard of life of this country. As I am from a sub-tropical warm country, I am very much eagerly waiting for the forthcoming winter season to see the snow laden landscape.
Right now my brother is visiting here. He is a Scientist in Germany and we haven’t met each other for more than last 1.5 years so it is very fun to see him again and visit this beautiful town together for some days.
PhD-student Sujash Naskar
Research group: Communication Systems and Network
Research project: NIIT
Supervisor: Prof. Mikael Gidlund