Research Student Initial

Review Form

Form to be completed by the supervisor in liaison with the student, and returned to the School Assistant
Registrar within 4 months of the date of initial registration.
Student Name: Houlin Chen Student ID Number: 320384

Degree Sought: PhD in Manufacturing Full Time/Part Time: Full Time

Date of Review 28/01/21

Agreed Working Title of Cybersecurity of Smart Grids

Research Project (12
words max):
Primary Supervisor Dr Samir Khan Associate Supervisor Prof Andrew Starr
Name: Name (if applicable):
Chair of Progress Reviewer:
Review Team:
Registration start date: 28/09/20 Current registration 28/09/23
end date:
Have you created your CRIS profile?

Yes ☐ No ☒

The attendance meeting minutes are attached?

Yes ☒ No ☐

Do you believe that the student understands what is currently expected of them?
(As referenced in Appendices B and C of Managing Research Students)
Yes ☒ No ☐

Is there an approved project title or research question?

Yes ☒ No ☐

If no, provide a brief description of the programme of supervised research (100 words max)

Is the final thesis and/or other outputs likely to require commercial/security restrictions?

Yes ☐ No ☒

Updated: 30 March 2020 Education Services 1

If yes please complete the Thesis Restriction Form and submit to Registry.

Frequency of meetings with student (for part-time students, frequency of discussion by correspondence)

every 2 weeks

Has an outline plan for the whole of the agreed period of registration been produced taking into account availability
of resources, location and mode of study? Please attach
Yes ☒ No ☐

Has access to suitable resources been agreed for the foreseeable future and contingency plans been put in place
where appropriate?
Yes ☒ No ☐

Has the requirement for a data management plan been discussed, and training highlighted? Please attach if a data
plan is already in progress (it should be written before data collection)
Yes ☐ No ☒

Has a risk assessment been undertaken for both the research activity and outcomes and the likelihood of these being
delivered? Please attach.
Yes ☐ No ☒

Has Ethics and Integrity training and assessment been completed satisfactorily? Please attach Certificate of
Completion.
Yes ☐ No ☒

If yes, has an ethical review of the research been undertaken (through a CURES application)? Please attach letter
confirming CURES.
Yes ☐ No ☒

Has a statement of current training and development needs been completed? Please also attach researcher’s
record from DRCD programme of courses attended and future bookings
Yes ☐ No ☒

Has the induction checklist been completed? Please attach.

Yes ☒ No ☐

If you have answered no to any of the questions, please summarise below and indicate what action will be taken,
giving timescales.

Data management plan: early yet - to be revised before data collection.

Risk management: training booked for March
Ethics training -booked for February.
CURES assessment has to be done.
Discuss training and development needs with supervisor, and create training log.
Some induction events are booked but remain to be finished.

Are there any personal circumstances that may affect or impede future studies?

Updated: 30 March 2020 Education Services 2

 Yes ☐ No ☒

If yes what actions have been taken to support the student?

Additional comments/considerations

Started during lockdown; changed to new supervisor in December.

Office Use Only: SITS code

Category of Progress: PS
PR
PM
PU

S = Entirely satisfactory or better ☐

R = Reservations ☒

MR = Major Reservations ☐

U = Unsatisfactory ☐

SIGNATORIES:
Name: Signature: Date:
Student: Houlin Chen 11 Feb 2021

Supervisor: Samir Khan 12/02/2021

Associate 10 Feb 2021

Supervisor: Andrew Starr

School Assistant
Registrar:

DoR approval following escalation

Director of Research Signature: Date:

Updated: 30 March 2020 Education Services 3

PhD Plan
Name: Houlin Chen
Department: SATM
Doctoral Programme: Cybersecurity of Electric Grid
Title of PhD project: Cybersecurity of Electric Grid

1. Description of the PhD project

a) Purpose

To defend electric grid from various forms of cyber-attacks.

b) Problem description

Electric grids are critical design, a misconfigured grid under the right circumstances can experience a
cascade failure, which one isolated incident triggers a large-scale black-out, like the one happened in
2013, in US and Canada.

Modern grid employs sophisticated control systems, which gathers data from sensors deployed in
various point of the grid. When a breaker trips, the system will attempt to restore power to the most
area possible by supplying electricity via alternate route. This system’s normal operation depends on
correct sensor data, correct breaker action and correct algorithm.

The rise of IoT technology has created the risk of this system’s vulnerabilities being exploited by
planned IoT based attacks.

c) Background and state of the art

In 2018, group of researchers demonstrated that using IoT enabled electrical consumer devices,
they call it Manipulation of Demand attack using IoT devices, can trigger a cascade failure. This
attack is novel and they believe grids are not equipped to handle it.

In 2019, another group of researchers argued that cascade failures are unlikely to be cause by the
MadIoT attack. Protective mechanism employed in modern grids are capable of dealing with the
attack scenarios proposed in the 2018 paper.

Furthering from the 2019 paper, we propose that even cascade failures are hard to cause, MadIoT
attack researches are not worthless. In fact, it is often better not to cause a cascade failure or other
similar catastrophic incident. A slow, meticulous attack that bleed the opponent is actually a better
choice. Notable examples includes computer worm called Stuxnet, this worm significantly delayed
the process of enemy state’s Uranium enrichment by causing non-catastrophic, slow-acting damage
to the centrifuges, while presenting fake data to the operator.

We can learn from Stuxnet, and design an improved version of MadIoT attack.

d) Aims and objectives

1.Design a Wi-Fi enabled smart plug that are capable of collecting data and being remote controlled;
2.Simulate a MadIoT attack on a grid under brownout condition;
3.Analyse successful attack simulations and program the plugs for the attack;

e) List of relevant literature

[1]"Distribution Automation Market by Component, Communication Technology & Utility - 2025 |

MarketsandMarkets", Marketsandmarkets.com, 2020. [Online]. Available:
https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/distribution-automation-market-65029172.html.
[Accessed: 21- Jan- 2021].

[2]S. Pahwa, C. Scoglio and A. Scala, "Abruptness of Cascade Failures in Power Grids", Scientific
Reports, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014. Available: 10.1038/srep03694 [Accessed 21 January 2021].

[3]C. Owens, "The Northeastern Blackout 2003 | the Blackout report", the Blackout report, 2019.
[Online]. Available: https://www.theblackoutreport.co.uk/2019/10/10/northeastern-blackout-usa-
canada-2003/. [Accessed: 21- Jan- 2021].

[4]"Transmission Span Sag Guardian (TSSG)- Gridwell", Gridwell.com.tw. [Online]. Available:

https://www.gridwell.com.tw/products/TSSG.php. [Accessed: 22- Jan- 2021].

[5]U.S. Dept. of Energy, Washington, DC (United States), "Final Report on the August 14, 2003
Blackout in the United States and Canada: Causes and Recommendations", U.S.-Canada Power
System Outage Task Force, Ottawa, ON (Canada), Washington, DC, 2004.

[6]J. Varghese, "IoT: The Electric Grid’s Final Frontier", T&D World, 2020. [Online]. Available:
https://www.tdworld.com/smart-utility/article/21119747/iot-the-electric-grids-final-frontier. [Accessed:
26- Jan- 2021].

[7]R. Morello, C. De Capua, G. Fulco and S. Mukhopadhyay, "A Smart Power Meter to Monitor
Energy Flow in Smart Grids: The Role of Advanced Sensing and IoT in the Electric Grid of the
Future", IEEE Sensors Journal, vol. 17, no. 23, pp. 7828-7837, 2017. Available:
10.1109/jsen.2017.2760014 [Accessed 26 January 2021].

[8]Q. Jones, "What Is the Smart Grid and How Is It Enabled by IoT?", Digi.com, 2020. [Online].
Available: https://www.digi.com/blog/post/what-is-the-smart-grid-and-how-enabled-by-iot. [Accessed:
27- Jan- 2021].

[9]S. Soltan, P. Mittal and H. Poor, "BlackIoT: IoT Botnet of High Wattage Devices Can Disrupt the
Power Grid", Usenix.org, 2018. [Online]. Available:
https://www.usenix.org/conference/usenixsecurity18/presentation/soltan. [Accessed: 27- Jan- 2021].

[10]"Smart RTUs | Schneider Electric Global", Se.com. [Online]. Available:

https://www.se.com/ww/en/product-subcategory/6040-smart-rtus/. [Accessed: 27- Jan- 2021].

[11]A. Robb, "Grid inertia: why it matters in a renewable world - Renewable Energy World",
Renewable Energy World, 2019. [Online]. Available:
https://www.renewableenergyworld.com/baseload/grid-inertia-why-it-matters-in-a-renewable-world/.
[Accessed: 28- Jan- 2021].

[12]B. Huang, A. Cardenas and R. Baldick, "Not Everything is Dark and Gloomy: Power Grid
Protections Against IoT Demand Attacks", Usenix.org, 2019. [Online]. Available:
https://www.usenix.org/conference/usenixsecurity19/presentation/huang. [Accessed: 28- Jan- 2021].

[13]D. Kushner, "The Real Story of Stuxnet", IEEE Spectrum: Technology, Engineering, and Science
News, 2013. [Online]. Available: https://spectrum.ieee.org/telecom/security/the-real-story-of-stuxnet.
[Accessed: 08- Feb- 2021].

[14]K. Zetter, "An Unprecedented Look at Stuxnet, the World's First Digital Weapon", Wired, 2014.
[Online]. Available: https://www.wired.com/2014/11/countdown-to-zero-day-stuxnet/. [Accessed: 09-
Feb- 2021].

[15]M. Holloway, "Stuxnet Worm Attack on Iranian Nuclear Facilities", Large.stanford.edu, 2015.
[Online]. Available: http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2015/ph241/holloway1/. [Accessed: 09- Feb-
2021].

[16]Langner Group, Can you HEAR Stuxnet damaging centrifuges at Natanz?. 2017.
[17]The Langner Group, "To Kill a Centrifuge", The Langner Group, Arlington | Hamburg | Munich,
2013.

[18]D. Basina, S. Kumar, S. Padhi, A. Sarkar, A. Mondal and R. krithi, "Brownout Based Blackout
Avoidance Strategies in Smart Grids", IEEE Transactions on Sustainable Computing, pp. 1-1, 2021.
Available: 10.1109/tsusc.2020.3014077.

[19]"How to Protect Your Appliances During Brownouts | Quick Electricity", Quick Electricity. [Online].
Available: https://quickelectricity.com/protect-appliances-during-brownouts/. [Accessed: 09- Feb-
2021].
Time Schedule
Research Student Induction Checklist
This checklist is designed as a summary for discussions in the very early meetings between
the student and the supervisor. The supervisor is responsible for arranging a suitable
induction programme for the research student. The student should take responsibility for the
completion of this form. The form should be completed, agreed and signed by both student
and the supervisor, and returned to the SATM Research team at SASSATM-
research@cranfield.ac.uk as part of the Initial Review process.
Please tick each box to indicate that it has been discussed during initial meetings:

1. Supervisor / Student relationship

√ Arrangement of a regular monthly meeting schedule / ad hoc meetings
√ Responsibility and form of notes of meetings / action points
√ Responsibilities of supervisors and students (see Research Student Handbook)
2. Student Progress
The research student monitoring system
The research student training programme
Personal development planning and recording
√ Expectations regarding reporting by student and feedback from supervisor
3. Research Project
√ The initial project definition and how it will be revised or reviewed
√ Initial priorities and objectives (including priority reading or courses to attend)
√ Projected future milestones, including any research deliverables
Project-specific training – including experimental facilities (where relevant)
4. Research Environment
√ Introduction to Departmental / Centre administrative staff (who should advise on
admin issues)
√ Introduction to fellow research students – appointment of a research “buddy”
(where appropriate)
Desk space, computing and printers
Health and safety – especially fire safety arrangements in building, labs, etc
Health and Safety Induction
Online fire awareness training
Typical working hours and holidays
5. Learning Support
Where and how students can raise concerns about the quality of their
supervision
√ The use and availability of facilities relating specifically to the programme of
supervised research (including specialist hardware and software, labs etc.)
The range of information and supplementary courses available to students
(including personal development planning and career advice)
√ The use and availability of facilities more widely available to all students such as
the Intranet, library, online survey tools, medical centre etc.

Please sign below to confirm you have covered the above in your early meetings:

Student Name: Houlin Chen 陈厚邻 Principle Supervisor:

Student Signature: Associate Supervisor:

Date: 25/02/2021
 Research Supervision Meeting Notes

Student Name Houlin Chen

Student Number 320384
Course PhD in Manufacturing
Month of registration
Month 1
(i.e month 14)
Supervisors Andrew Starr; Hongmei He;
Attendees at
Houlin Chen; Andrew Starr; Hongmei He;
Meeting
Date of Meeting 29/10/2020
In Video
Meeting by ☐ Telephone ☐ ☒ Other ☐
person Call

Incomplete actions from Previous meetings (completed by the Student):

Who Action to be taken Date Expected Linked Linked
Issued completion to to
date chapter objective
Houlin Read 20 papers and note their 23/10/202006/11/2020 N/A N/A
Chen problems and solutions.
Houlin Register with TES conference. 29/10/2020N/A N/A N/A
Chen

Discussion of ongoing progress including key achievements (completed by Student):

Found two papers on what I was planning to do, and they are good.

Discussion of Intellectual Development (completed by the Student)

Competition is fierce and even a niche topic like mine, a lot of people are apparently working
on it.

Indication of overall progress to date (completed by Student after discussion with

supervisor):
I have not yet started real work, right now I am still reading and broadening my
understanding.
 Actions for next meeting (include Risk Assessment, Health and Safety, Ethics, Data
Management Plans, Training. To be completed by the Student):
Who Action to be taken Date Agreed Linked to Link to
Issued completion chapter objective
date
Houlin Ask my supervisors what to do about the
Chen study that’s already been done.

Date of next meeting (completed by the Student):

06/11/2020

 Completion and submission of this form is required once a month.

 Meetings should be held at least monthly and minuted and submitted by the student
– this includes video or audio meetings.

Please also note the following with regards to meeting minutes following thesis submission;

 If you are between Thesis submission and Viva no you do not need to provide
minutes
 If you are completing Minor Corrections after your VIVA you do not need to provide
minutes
 If you are completing Significant Corrections or Review & Represent after your VIVA
then you DO need to provide meeting minutes

Minutes should be agreed with your supervisor(s) and sent once a month to;

TO: SATMattendance@cranfield.ac.uk
CC: Supervisor(s)
Subject: Month Year e.g. August 2020
 Research Supervision Meeting Notes

Student Name Houlin Chen

Student Number 320384
Course PhD in Manufacturing
Month of registration
Month 2
(i.e month 14)
Supervisors Andrew Starr; Samir Khan;
Attendees at
Houlin Chen; Andrew Starr;
Meeting
Date of Meeting 27/11/2020; 16/11/2020
In Video
Meeting by ☐ Telephone ☐ ☒ Other ☐
person Call

Incomplete actions from Previous meetings (completed by the Student):

Who Action to be taken Date Expected Linked Linked
Issued completion to to
date chapter objective
Houlin Write PhD plan for the next 3 months 16/10/202010/12/2020 N/A N/A
Chen and outline the general principle of the
3-year study.
Houlin Write literature review on related 16/10/2020Not N/A N/A
Chen papers and make clear the pathway of decided
the study.

Discussion of ongoing progress including key achievements (completed by Student):

After reading a few papers, I have developed crude plan for a potential experiment setup,
and some idea of possible pathways. Right now I am writing the PhD plan and the literature
review, to put my understanding to words, and submit for evaluation.

Discussion of Intellectual Development (completed by the Student)

It is easy to come up with seemingly novel ideas, but after closer examination, an
established work could be found. On the other hand, even if a paper’s published on a
subject, that does not necessarily mean every aspect is covered.
 Indication of overall progress to date (completed by Student after discussion with
supervisor):
Literature review partially written, not presentable right now. The PhD plan need major
rework, to include Gantt chart, a plausible sequence of events that reflects my
understanding of the subject, to justify the use of laboratories, for example.

Actions for next meeting (include Risk Assessment, Health and Safety, Ethics, Data
Management Plans, Training. To be completed by the Student):
Who Action to be taken Date Agreed Linked Link to
Issued completion to objective
date chapter
Houlin Present my PhD plan and partially 16/11/202011/12/2020
Chen written literature review
Houlin Attend online training courses in N/A N/A
Chen ‘DATES’

Date of next meeting (completed by the Student):

11/12/2020

 Completion and submission of this form is required once a month.

 Meetings should be held at least monthly and minuted and submitted by the student
– this includes video or audio meetings.

Please also note the following with regards to meeting minutes following thesis submission;

 If you are between Thesis submission and Viva no you do not need to provide
minutes
 If you are completing Minor Corrections after your VIVA you do not need to provide
minutes
 If you are completing Significant Corrections or Review & Represent after your VIVA
then you DO need to provide meeting minutes

Minutes should be agreed with your supervisor(s) and sent once a month to;

TO: SATMattendance@cranfield.ac.uk
CC: Supervisor(s)
Subject: Month Year e.g. August 2020
 Research Supervision Meeting Notes

Student Name Houlin Chen

Student Number 320384
Course PhD in Manufacturing
Month of registration
Month 3
(i.e month 14)
Supervisors Andrew Starr; Samir Khan;
Attendees at
Houlin Chen; Andrew Starr;
Meeting
Date of Meeting 11/12/2020;
In Video
Meeting by ☐ Telephone ☐ ☒ Other ☐
person Call

Incomplete actions from Previous meetings (completed by the Student):

Who Action to be taken Date Expected Linked Linked
Issued completion to to
date chapter objective
Houlin Write PhD plan for the next 3 months 16/10/202010/01/2021 N/A N/A
Chen and outline the general principle of the
3-year study.
Houlin Write literature review on related 16/10/2020Not N/A N/A
Chen papers and make clear the pathway of decided
the study.
Houlin Consolidate the Aims & Objectives 11/12/202005/01/2021 N/A N/A
Chen
Houlin Prepare for the initial review 11/12/202005/01/2021 N/A N/A
Chen

Discussion of ongoing progress including key achievements (completed by Student):

After reading a few papers, I have developed crude plan for a potential experiment setup,
and some idea of possible pathways. Right now, I am writing the PhD plan and the literature
review, to put my understanding to words, and prepare for the initial review.

Discussion of Intellectual Development (completed by the Student)

I need to pay attention and set my aims and objectives wisely, and once committed, there
cannot be hesitation or doubts like ‘someone else might beat me to the race’, because that
is the necessary risk to take, and doubts are counter-productive.
 Indication of overall progress to date (completed by Student after discussion with
supervisor):
Literature review partially written, the PhD plan partially completed;

Actions for next meeting (include Risk Assessment, Health and Safety, Ethics, Data
Management Plans, Training. To be completed by the Student):
Who Action to be taken Date Agreed Linked Link to
Issued completion to objective
date chapter
Houlin Finalise PhD plan and write literature 16/11/202010/01/2021
Chen review with clear objectives
Houlin Attend online training courses in N/A N/A
Chen ‘DATES’

Date of next meeting (completed by the Student):

Undecided;

 Completion and submission of this form is required once a month.

 Meetings should be held at least monthly and minuted and submitted by the student
– this includes video or audio meetings.

Please also note the following with regards to meeting minutes following thesis submission;

 If you are between Thesis submission and Viva no you do not need to provide
minutes
 If you are completing Minor Corrections after your VIVA you do not need to provide
minutes
 If you are completing Significant Corrections or Review & Represent after your VIVA
then you DO need to provide meeting minutes

Minutes should be agreed with your supervisor(s) and sent once a month to;

TO: SATMattendance@cranfield.ac.uk
CC: Supervisor(s)
Subject: Month Year e.g. August 2020
 Research Supervision Meeting Notes

Student Name Houlin Chen

Student Number 320384
Course PhD in Manufacturing
Month of registration
Month 4
(i.e month 14)
Supervisors Andrew Starr; Samir Khan;
Attendees at
Houlin Chen; Andrew Starr;
Meeting
Date of Meeting 10/02/2021;
In Video
Meeting by ☐ Telephone ☐ ☒ Other ☐
person Call

Incomplete actions from Previous meetings (completed by the Student):

Who Action to be taken Date Expected Linked Linked
Issued completion to to
date chapter objective
Houlin Write PhD plan for the next 3 months 16/10/202010/01/2021 N/A N/A
Chen and outline the general principle of the
3-year study.
Houlin Write literature review on related 16/10/2020Not N/A N/A
Chen papers and make clear the pathway of decided
the study.
Houlin Consolidate the Aims & Objectives 11/12/202005/01/2021 N/A N/A
Chen
Houlin Prepare for the initial review 11/12/202005/01/2021 N/A N/A
Chen

Discussion of ongoing progress including key achievements (completed by Student):

After some reading, I have generated a rough draft of the literature review, stating my
findings. Reading a report on infamous Stuxnet virus has shed light on some new strategies.

Discussion of Intellectual Development (completed by the Student)

I cannot become narrow minded and pursuit a wrong objective. It is crucial to read more
previous works and refine my own aims and objectives, so that in the end I can have
meaningful results. Also, ethical considerations are important.

Indication of overall progress to date (completed by Student after discussion with

supervisor):
Literature review draft completed, PhD plan draft completed.
 Actions for next meeting (include Risk Assessment, Health and Safety, Ethics, Data
Management Plans, Training. To be completed by the Student):
Who Action to be taken Date Agreed Linked Link to
Issued completion to objective
date chapter
Houlin Further the reading of literatures 10/02/202110/03/2021 N/A N/A
Chen
Houlin Attend missed induction courses and 10/02/202118/03/2021 N/A N/A
Chen relevant trainings

Date of next meeting (completed by the Student):

24/02/2021

 Completion and submission of this form is required once a month.

 Meetings should be held at least monthly and minuted and submitted by the student
– this includes video or audio meetings.

Please also note the following with regards to meeting minutes following thesis submission;

 If you are between Thesis submission and Viva no you do not need to provide
minutes
 If you are completing Minor Corrections after your VIVA you do not need to provide
minutes
 If you are completing Significant Corrections or Review & Represent after your VIVA
then you DO need to provide meeting minutes

Minutes should be agreed with your supervisor(s) and sent once a month to;

TO: SATMattendance@cranfield.ac.uk
CC: Supervisor(s)
Subject: Month Year e.g. August 2020