Tamer Nadeem, Ph.D.

Professor VCU College of Engineering

  • Richmond VA

Wireless networks, edge/cloud systems, generative AI, cybersecurity, trustworthy AI, AI-enabled health, cyber-physical systems, and cobots.

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Biography

Dr. Tamer Nadeem is an accomplished Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Virginia Commonwealth University, the Associate Director of the VCU Cybersecurity Center, and leader of the Mobile Systems and Intelligent Communication (MuSIC) Lab. Dr. Nadeem's research spans domains such as network security, robust & secure medical IoT, mobile & edge computing, and next-generation wireless systems. Most recently, he has become interested in developing dynamic and distributed AI frameworks with applications in smart healthcare, smart cities, and human-centered computing. His research is supported by agencies including the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Institute of Health (NIH), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), US Department of Transportation (USDOT), Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI), Siemens Corporate Research, AT&T Labs, Microsoft, Nokia-Bell Labs, and Google.

Dr. Nadeem holds 6 US patents and has authored over 100 publications in peer-reviewed scholarly journals, book chapters, and conference proceedings. He serves on the technical and organizing committees of various ACM and IEEE conferences and is currently on the editorial boards of the IET Communications journal and MDPI Sensors. His leadership and contributions to the field have earned him recognition as the 2024-25 Provost's Office Faculty Fellow, where he will contribute to strategic academic initiatives at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Dr. Nadeem received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Maryland, College Park, in 2006.

Industry Expertise

Research
Wireless
Computer Networking

Areas of Expertise

Cybersecurity and Privacy
Wireless Networks
Edge/Cloud Computing
Generative AI
Trustworthy AI
AI-Enabled Health
Cyber Physical Systems
Collaborative Robotics

Education

University of Maryland, College Park

Ph.D.

Computer Science

2006

Research Focus

Generative AI for Robust Communication and Efficient Networking

Generative AI is revolutionizing communication by enabling intelligent, automated content creation across text and multimedia, improving efficiency, accuracy, and personalization. It supports diverse applications, from customer service to real-time translation, while advancing technologies like transformers and reinforcement learning to enhance global knowledge sharing. We introduce LoRaFlow, a generative modeling approach using diffusion transformers and rectified flow to reconstruct LoRa signals from noisy inputs, improving demodulation. Integrated with existing LoRa infrastructure, LoRaFlow enhances signal recovery under low SNR conditions with minimal hardware changes, extending the range and reliability of IoT communications.

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AI-Based Tactics for Advanced Network Deception

Modern computer networks, characterized by their high connectivity and heterogeneity, integrate a wide range of devices and protocols such as IoT, sensors, and robotic systems. While this complexity enables advanced services and adaptability, it also introduces significant security vulnerabilities, particularly in critical environments like the Internet of Battlefield Things (IoBT). To address these challenges, this project explores advanced cyber deception techniques aimed at mitigating reconnaissance-stage cyber threats. Two key contributions include MirageNet, a GAN-based framework for generating synthetic network traffic to enhance security and privacy, and MiragePkt, which synthetically generates network packets by learning from raw data. Additionally, a novel Graph Neural Network (GNN)-based approach for optimizing honeypot placement demonstrates superior performance over traditional methods, achieving 92.34% accuracy and a 139x speedup in inference. Together, these innovations highlight the potential of AI-driven solutions in fortifying modern network defenses.

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HomePal: Developing a Smart Speaker-Based System for In-Home Loneliness Assessment for Older Adults

Experiences of loneliness are prevalent among older adults. Loneliness is a painful and pernicious state occurring when there is a perceived discrepancy between one’s optimal levels of social interactions and actual social relationships. Lonely older adults are more likely to experience functional decline, including activities of daily living, mobility, and stair climbing. Loneliness has been associated with negative health outcomes, such as increased morbidity and mortality, dementia risk, and cognitive impairment. With longer life expectancy rates, the number of older adults at risk for loneliness will increase substantially, presenting challenges to the healthcare system. However, studies reported that loneliness is a reversible condition, which could be achieved through appropriate interventions, such as improving physical health and social relationships. Detection measures are imperative to identify both lonely and at-risk individuals early enough to intervene before adverse health outcomes occur. The assessment of loneliness is challenging due to the social stigma of being labeled as lonely, resulting in underestimation. Although multidimensional scales exist that do not explicitly use the word “lonely,” healthcare providers do not routinely assess loneliness using validated instruments, making it challenging to be aware of the extent of loneliness among their older adult patients.

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Patents

Video Streaming at Mobile Edge

US11128682B2

2021-09-21

Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, a method comprising sending context information from a mobile wireless device through a control channel to a network server; receiving a policy at the mobile wireless device from the network server, wherein the policy assigns a video streaming bit rate to the mobile wireless device based on the context information; and implementing the policy to control a video streaming session between the mobile wireless device and a media server over a data channel. The context information may include information about the mobile wireless device and/or a user of the mobile wireless device. The policy may be different for each mobile wireless device. Other embodiments are disclosed.

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Mobile Sensing for Road Safety, Traffic Management, and Road Maintenance

US8576069B2

2013-11-05

Mobile monitoring systems and methods are disclosed. In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the system includes a plurality of vehicles and a base communication station that are in communication with each other. Each of the vehicles includes a camera that generates image data, a location device that generates geographic coordinates of the vehicle, a computing device that receives the image data from the camera and the geographic coordinates of the vehicle and forms a processed image signal that includes the image data, the geographic coordinates and a time stamp, and a communication device that receives the processed image signal from the computing device and wireless transmits the processed image signal to the base communication station. The base communication station receives the processed image signal. The base communication station can include an image processor to further process the processed image signal from each of the plurality of vehicles to form an output signal and a transmitter that transmits the output signal. The output signal can be used to control traffic control devices, vehicles and to provide other useful information.

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Data Collection and Traffic Control using Multiple Wireless Receivers

US8566011B2

2013-10-22

Methods, systems, and devices for monitoring roadway traffic. A method includes transmitting wireless signals from a plurality of roadside equipment (RSE) devices, including from a first RSE device and from a second RSE device that are located at separated positions of an intersection. The method includes receiving responses by the first RSE device and second RSE device from a wireless device. The responses include a unique identifier corresponding to the wireless device. The method includes determining a signal strength of each of the responses by the first RSE and the second RSE and transmitting data from the first RSE device and the second RSE device to a control system. The data includes the unique identifier, the signal strength of each of the responses, and times that the responses were received. The method includes determining traffic information associated with the wireless device based on the received data.

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Research Grants

Tracking and Diverting All-You-Can-Eat Cafeteria Food Waste and Loss from an Urban Public University in Central Virginia

Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE)

2024-12-01

This innovative project will leverage cutting-edge technologies and interdisciplinary collaboration to overhaul VCU’s food system. At the heart of the effort is the implementation of a state-of-the-art food waste tracking system within the university’s central dining hall. By combining advanced technologies such as RFID-tagged plates, machine learning, and high-precision measurement tools, the system will provide actionable insights into food preparation and consumption habits, allowing for smarter decision-making and significant reductions in waste.

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HomePal: Developing a Smart Speaker-Based System for In-Home Loneliness Assessment for Older Adults

National Institue of Health/National Institute of Aging

2023-09-01

Project Abstract Experiences of loneliness are prevalent among older adults. Loneliness is a painful and pernicious state occurring when there is a perceived discrepancy between one’s optimal levels of social interactions and actual social relationships. Given that loneliness has been associated with negative health outcomes, detection measures are imperative to identify both lonely and at-risk individuals early enough to intervene before adverse health outcomes occur. However, the assessment of loneliness is challenging due to the stigma of being labeled as lonely and the lack of integration of loneliness assessments into primary care or community-based services. To tackle the problem, we will use smart speakers and passive sensing data to automatically assess older adults’ level of loneliness as correlates of self-report scores on the UCLA Loneliness Scale. Our goal in this project is to develop, deploy, and validate a smart speaker-based system for in-home loneliness assessment that integrates Internet of Things (IoT) devices to gather both speech (acoustic and prosodic features) and behavioral data (e.g., smart speaker use patterns, in-home mobility, sleep) from older adults. We will enroll 70 individuals (age 65+) living alone in the community to collect digital biomarker data continuously for 3 months. The specific aims are to: (1) Develop an innovative remote loneliness assessment system that allows passive and unobtrusive capture of speech and behavioral data in the home setting; (2) Using a train- test approach, develop and evaluate the performance of novel multi-class machine learning (ML) algorithms— semi-supervised type of Generative Adversarial Networks (SGANs) — to estimate older adults’ loneliness scores. The UCLA Loneliness Scale will be completed by participants every two weeks for 3 months to collect ground truth data; and (3) Identify potential implementation barriers to the effective use of the system among older adults (n=30). In particular, we will assess potential privacy and security concerns, social influence, cultural values, and the level of personification of virtual agents that could influence the adoption and use of the system. The novel ML models will allow us to identify not only “already” lonely individuals but also “at-risk” individuals. The proposed research seeks to provide preliminary evidence that digital biomarkers from smart speakers and IoT devices can be used for automatic loneliness assessment in the community.

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OAC Core: MedKnights - Towards Secure and Flexible Medical IoT (IoMT) Infrastructure using Generative Adversarial Networks

US National Science Foundation

2022-07-01

With growing healthcare demands, the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) has grown significantly in recent years and is dominating the healthcare industry. However, these smarter and advanced medical devices are very complicated in terms of software and hardware, with defects and vulnerabilities that are found regularly and they are also vulnerable to possible malicious attacks. Healthcare organizations are the new focus of attackers for carrying out IoMT-focused cyberattacks, which are becoming more common. In recent years, ransomware and distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks are malware-based popular attacks on IoMT devices. Cyberattacks and disruptions in clinical care can have a catastrophic effect on patient safety, which trickles down to the medical staff?s responsiveness. Moreover, because different medical devices have varying vital capabilities, it is critical to enable differentiated network services for these devices with varying critical levels of operation under varying network dynamics. Hence it is crucial to efficiently detect and identify any malicious network activities to eliminate or minimize the impact of these attacks, as well as to detect and identify network traffic belonging to different medical devices.

The MedKnights project will extend knowledge in networking, machine learning, and the digital forensic domains in developing a holistic framework that can be deployed at the network edge components and effectively support different fine-grained security services for IoMT networks and devices. The main objectives of the project include: (1) creating a novel medical device testbed, IoMT network traffic datasets, IoMT device behavior signature datasets, and attack datasets; (2) employing generative adversarial networks (GANs) to identify many of the interesting features for medical networks and devices, to perform multi-class classification, automatic feature extraction, and be robust to noise, support drifts in networks, and support continual learning for new devices for securing IoMT networks and devices; and (3) enabling remote memory forensic capabilities for IoMT devices. The project will also carry out a number of educational activities involving K-12, undergraduate, and graduate students, make strong outreach efforts for recruiting and mentoring students from underrepresented groups, as well as enrich undergraduate and graduate curricula through exposing students to cutting-edge research in networking, security, and machin

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Courses

CMSC 440: Data Communication and Networking - Spring 2025

This course explores computer networking, focusing on the applications and protocols that run on the Internet. We will take a top-down approach to the layered network architecture, studying applications first and then proceeding down the network “stack” towards the physical link. We will look at the operation of applications such as the web, FTP, e-mail, and DNS. At the transport layer, we will study both connectionless UDP and connection-oriented TCP. Since TCP is the protocol that the majority of Internet traffic uses, we will study its operation in-depth, including flow control and congestion control. We will also look at how data is routed through the Internet, regardless of transport protocol. We will also introduce current “hot” topics, such as network security and wireless/mobile network.

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CMSC-691-002 - DP TOP: AI for Networking & Edge Systems - Fall 2024

This course aims to provide an in-depth exploration of the latest research and developments in the rapidly-evolving fields of networking and edge systems, focusing particularly on the transformative impact of AI and machine learning technologies. Equipped with both theoretical and practical components, this course is aiming to provide you with an extensive understanding of the state-of-the-art AI/ML methodologies applied to networking and edge systems. Throughout interactive and engaging lectures, we will delve into cutting-edge topics such as ML/AI fundamentals for networking, edge computing, network performance optimization, ML for IoT, security, and privacy issues in AI-enabled networking.

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