Research Personnel
Lab Director
Dr. Irfan Khan
Dr. Irfan Khan is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Marine Engineering Technology with a joint appointment with the Electrical and Computer Engineering at Texas A&M College Station. He is the director of the Clean And Resilient Energy Systems (CARES) Lab, which focuses on the cyber security, reliability, and sustainability of cyber-physical systems, including electric energy systems, drones, marine vessels, and biomedical systems. In addition, Dr. Khan is an affiliate faculty member with the TAMU Energy Institute and the TEES Smart Grid Center. Before joining TAMU in 2018, he received a Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University USA. Recently, he has been presented with several prestigious awards and honors, such as the 2021 Jim Leonard Outstanding Member Award from IEEE Region 5, the Gulf Research Program's Early-Career Research Fellowship: Offshore Energy Safety (Track 3) from the National Academies, and the 2021 IEEE Region 5 Director’s Award Technical Conference Co-Chair.
Google Scholars Profile: https://scholar.google.co.in/citations?user=6UAl1OYAAAAJ&hl=en
Current Post Docs
Motahare Mounesan
Motahare Mounesan is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Texas A&M University at Galveston in the CARES Lab, conducting research on multimodal AI systems, Edge Intelligence, and Generative AI. She earned her Ph.D. in Computer Science from the City University of New York (CUNY) in 2025, where her dissertation focused on developing reinforcement learning–based strategies to optimize performance, efficiency, and reliability of distributed Edge-AI systems. She received her B.S. degree in Computer Science from the University of Tehran.
Google Scholars Profile: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=c5teoEQAAAAJ&hl=en
Current Graduate Students
Muhammad Ashar Ayaz
Muhammad Ashar Ayaz is a first-year Ph.D. student at Texas A&M University. His academic journey includes an M.Tech from SBA School of Science and Engineering, Lahore University of Management Sciences (Dean Honor Award in 2021), and a Bachelor's degree (Gold Medal) from COMSATS University, Pakistan in 2018. During his tenure at SolDrive (September 2018 to June 2020), he worked and contributed to sustainable energy research in Pakistan. He has worked as a Research Assistant at Hagler Bailey (Jan 2022 - Aug 2023). He has also contributed to research as a Lab Engineer at Mitsubishi Power Electronics Research Lab and a Research Assistant at Water Informatic Technology LUMS. His areas of research include Power Systems, Model Predictive Control, Power Electronics, and Transient Stability Analysis.
LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/muhammad-ashar-ayaz-9783a6208/
Aiman Siddiqui
Aiman Siddiqui is a first-year Ph.D. student in Computer Engineering at ECEN, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX. Ms. Siddiqui has a Bachelor of Science (BSc) and Master of Science (MSc) in Electrical Engineering degrees (Computer major) from the University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan. Her research interests include, but are not limited to; computer vision, biomedical image analysis, behavioral analysis, machine learning, and deep networks.
Google Scholars Profile: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=FNYoQowAAAAJ&hl=en%20
Shaykh Siddique
Shaykh Siddique is a PhD student in the Department of Computer Science at Texas A&M University, where he is co-advised by Dr. Nitesh Saxena. His research focuses on developing privacy engineering tools using machine learning and artificial intelligence. He earned his MS in Computer Science from Prairie View A&M University, Texas, where his master’s thesis involved applying machine learning to sports analytics. In this work, he developed predictive models for player performance and game outcomes, utilizing statistical and computational techniques to enhance team strategy in sports management.
Website: https://shaykhsiddique.github.io/
Ahmed Kouzou
Ahmed Kouzou is a Ph.D. student in Electrical Engineering at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECEN), Texas A&M University, College Station, TX. He holds a bachelor's degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering and a Master's degree in Power Engineering from the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Boumerdes, Algeria. His research interests include, but are not limited to, microgrids, weak grids, and renewable energy source (RES) integration.
Adel Heidari-Akhijahani
Adel Heidari-Akhijahani received his B.Sc. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran, in 2017, and his M.Sc. degree in Electrical Engineering from the Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, in 2020. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Texas A&M University, College Station, TX. His research interests include optimal operation and resiliency of distribution systems, real-time analysis of distribution networks, integration of electric vehicles into power systems, and mathematical optimization techniques for power system applications.
Komal Ilyas
Komal Ilyas is a first-year doctoral student in computer science and engineering at Texas A&M University and an NSF CSGrad4Us fellow. She holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, and a master's in computer science from Texas A&M. Her research focuses on adversarial machine learning, cybersecurity, and biomedical signal processing. She works in the SPIES lab under Dr. Nitesh Saxena and Dr. Irfan Khan, currently exploring vulnerabilities in AI systems and sensor signal processing.
Current Undergraduate Students
Nico Elizondo
Nico Elizondo is a senior at Electrical and Computer Engineering at Texas A&M College Station.
Daniel Doung
Daniel Doung is a senior at Marine Engineering Technology at Texas A&M Galveston. He worked on a DOE-funded project, “Marine Energy Collegiate Competition.”
Alexander Charles Smith
Alexander Charles Smith is a senior at Marine Engineering Technology at Texas A&M Galveston. He worked on a DOE-funded project, “Marine Energy Collegiate Competition.”
Joe McComb
Joe McComb is a senior at Marine Engineering Technology at Texas A&M Galveston. He worked on a DOE-funded project, “Marine Energy Collegiate Competition.”
Charles Doubrava
Charles Doubrava is a senior at Marine Engineering Technology at Texas A&M Galveston. He worked on a DOE-funded project, “Marine Energy Collegiate Competition.”
Past Visiting Scholars
Dr. Faisal Nadeem Khan
Dr. Faisal Nadeem Khan is an Associate Professor at the Electrical Engineering Department at the University of Engineering and Technology, Taxila, Pakistan. He was a visiting scholar at CARES Lab in 2021.
Mr. Rajvikram Madurai Elavarasan
Mr. Rajvikram Madurai Elavarasan is an Adjunct Faculty at the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering at the Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai, India. He was a Visiting scholar at CARES Lab in 2021.
Google Scholars Profile: https://scholar.google.co.in/citations?user=3HhYUOMAAAAJ&hl=en
Past Graduate Students
Yasir Ali Farrukh
Currently working at Microsoft as Applied Scientist
Graduated in May 2026
Google Scholars Profile: https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&authuser=1&user=1tZKpa4AAAAJ
Alonzo A. Álvarez Meola
Currently working at Chevron as Geothermal Asset Lead
Graduated in May 2026
LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alonzoalvarez/
Syed Wali
Currently working at Eaton as Lead Engineer.
Graduated in Aug 2025
Google Scholars Profile: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=PSoShDoAAAAJ&hl=en
Syed Rahman
Currently working at EEPLUS, INC as Senior Engineer
Graduated in May 2024
Google Scholars Profile: https://scholar.google.co.in/citations?user=8skpPnYAAAAJ&hl=en
Ravindranath KV
Currently working at Tredence Inc, as Associate Data Science Manager
Graduated in May 2024
Google Scholars Profile: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=k-1HRaAAAAAJ&hl=en
Zahid Hussain
Pursuing his PhD at Texas A&M University
Graduated in May 2025
Google Scholars Profile: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=pqlIET4AAAAJ&hl=en
Irfan Ullah
Sathyashree Vijaya Pandian
Past Post Docs
Jueming Hu
Assistant Professor
School of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering of the University of Oklahoma
Past Undergraduate Students
Jonathan Ghering
Jonathan Ghering was a senior at Electrical and Computer Engineering at Texas A&M College Station. He worked on a TCRF funded project as Undergraduate Research Assistant at CARES Lab.
LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-t-ghering/
Robert Esai Cervantes
Robert Esai Cervantes was a senior at Marine Engineering Technology at Texas A&M Galveston. He worked on distributed filtering for marine shipboard power systems.