Maire O'Neill

Maire O'Neill is a Professor at the School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Queen's University Belfast, affiliated with the Secure Digital Systems (SDS) group and the Institute of Electronics, Communications & Information Technology (ECIT). Her research focuses on hardware security, cryptography, and secure embedded systems. She has held significant leadership roles and pioneered work in FPGA security, approximate computing, and post-quantum cryptography.

Dr. O'Neill's academic journey includes over 20 years of contributions to secure digital systems, with a particular emphasis on cryptographic hardware, side-channel analysis, and IoT security. She has led major research projects such as the EU-funded 'TruDetect' initiative for hardware Trojan detection and the 'Secure IoT Processor Platform' project. Her work bridges theoretical research with practical applications, emphasizing real-world security challenges in electronics and computing.

• Education: Background in electrical engineering and computer science (details not explicitly stated in the text)

Research Interests: Her work spans hardware security primitives, FPGA-based cryptographic solutions, and energy-efficient computing. She explores vulnerabilities like Rowhammer attacks and side-channel leaks while developing defenses through approximate computing and machine learning techniques. Her research addresses emerging threats in IoT, 5G networks, and post-quantum cryptography.

Publications Trends: Recent work emphasizes machine learning applications in security (e.g., ML-KEM accelerator designs), hardware Trojan detection, and energy-efficient approximate computing. She frequently publishes in top-tier venues like IEEE Transactions and ACM conferences, with a focus on practical implementations and FPGA demonstrators.

Awards:

• 2007: BFIIN ITEC Platinum Award, British Female Inventor of the Year, European Union Women Innovators
• 2015: Fellow of the Irish Academy of Engineering
• 2015: INVENT Award for collaborative innovation

Advising & Grants: Supervised 8 PhD students (explicitly stated). Active in securing research grants (18 projects listed), including EU and industry collaborations. Engages in academic service roles like IEEE Distinguished Lecturer and international conference organization.

Labs/Teams: Leads the Secure Digital Systems (SDS) group, collaborating with global partners on hardware security and IoT initiatives. Maintains strong ties with industry through projects like NIO New Deal Cyber Bid and TruDetect.