Ertem Esiner

Dr. Ertem Esiner is a Senior Research Scientist and Coordinator at the Illinois Advanced Research Center at Singapore (Illinois ARCS), affiliated with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering from Nanyang Technological University (2017), an M.Sc. in Computer Science and Engineering from Koç University (2013), and a B.Sc. in Computer Engineering from Koç University (2011). His academic career includes teaching assistantships at both NTU and KU.

• Cryptography
• Security
• Privacy
• Cyberphysical Systems

His research focuses on security solutions for cyberphysical systems, including the development of a security engine for enforcing automated policies and provenance verification in industrial control systems. Current projects include the Plug & Play Security Engine (Principal Investigator, 2023-2026) and automated security policy generation tools for IIoT environments. His work spans applications in smart grids, building energy management, and communication-based train control systems.

Recent publications demonstrate a trend toward real-time security enforcement and provenance tracking in time-critical systems, including patented solutions for message authentication. He has secured multiple research grants totaling 5+ years of funding and leads teams of 4-7 members across collaborative projects with NTU, RESYNC Technologies, and Singapore-ETH Centre.

• Notable researcher from CREATE (2019)
• SINGA PhD scholarship recipient
• WOWZAPP 2012 hackathon winner
• UPE/ACM Scholarship awardee
• Vehbi Koç Scholarship recipient

He has contributed to ACM and IEEE journals, developed a Building Energy Management System (BEMS) testbed, and published foundational work on secure data storage, query integrity, and decentralized access control mechanisms. His teaching experience includes courses on cryptography, operating systems, and algorithm design.