Contact Professor Saba Al-Rubaye

Areas of expertise

  • Aeronautical Systems
  • Autonomous Systems
  • Communications Systems
  • Electric and Hybrid Vehicles
  • Industrial Automation
  • Systems Engineering
  • Vehicle Health Management

Background

Professor Dr. Saba Al-Rubaye, a Canadian professional, currently serves as the Professor Chair in Telecommunications and Autonomous Systems at the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, Â鶹´«Ã½AV, and is also an expert at the UK Telecoms Innovation Network. She leads the development of 6G technologies and their applications in future communication networks, particularly in support of smart air mobility. With over 20 years of experience in both academia and industry, Prof. Al-Rubaye has published more than 100 peer-reviewed papers and has a proven record of driving innovative solutions in design, testing, consultation, leadership, and program development.

She has been actively involved in various high-profile projects funded by Innovate UK, Research England, EPSRC, the Department for Transport, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and the U.S. government. Notably, Prof. Al-Rubaye contributed to establishing the hardware-in-the-loop testbed for smart grid communications and system integration at Quanta’s Sustainable Technology Integration Laboratory (QT-STIL) in Toronto, Canada. These initiatives have played a key role in fast-tracking the adoption and integration of emerging technologies into future communication networks.

Prof. Al-Rubaye contributed to the development of industry standards, including IEEE P1932.1 for License/Unlicensed Interoperability and IEEE P1920.2 for Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communications for Unmanned Aircraft Systems. Her research has been widely recognized, winning best technical paper awards at the IEEE Vehicular Technology conferences in 2011 and 2015, and the best paper awards at the IEEE DASC conference in 2020, 2021, and 2024.

Prof. Al-Rubaye has held leadership roles at various international conferences, including serving as a general co-chair and TPC co-chair. She has delivered tutorials and talks at prestigious IEEE events like ICC and VTC, and has been invited to speak at renowned institutions such as the Communications Research Centre (CRC) of Canada, IEEE Toronto Chapter, and IEEE UK Chapter. Prof. Al-Rubaye is a Chartered Engineer (CEng), a member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (MIET), a Life Senior Member of IEEE.

Research opportunities

Telecommunications and Autonmous Systsm research group focusing on modelling, simulation, and testing, and all the aspects which addresses the new generation of emerging technology and integration capabilities:

5G/6G Communications & Networking

Integrated Sensing and Communications

Digital Twin for Air Mobility

Non-Terrestrial Networks (UAV & Satellite Communications)

AI/ML for Decision Making

Intelligent Antenna & RIS

UAV/Aircraft Security and Operations

Energy Efficient & Zero Emission

Excellent Postdoc & PhD candidates can contact me directly with CV and research topic to enquire about joining my research group

Workshop

Speaker in IEEE Smart Mobility 2024, Canada

Speaker in Future Networks World Forum, 2024, Dubai

Speaker and panellist at IEEE ICC 2024, Denver, USA

Speaker and panellist at IEEE PIMRC 2023, Toronto, Canada

Chairing and organising a new workshop for 6G Networks at IEEE ICC 2020, Irland

DARTeC conference - Speakers for Future Connectivity Challenge Digital Aviation Conference

Group Alumni (Staff/PhD)

Dr Abdulmohsan Aloseel- Embedded system security

Dr Nasr Abosata -Distributed Sensors for Industrial Applications

Dr Aminah Ahmed- Intelligent Traffic Systems

Dr Anirudh Warrier - UAV Handover & Interference

Dr Huw Whitworth - Connectivity & Security

Dr Mumin Ozpolat- UAS Networking

Dr Vahid Towhidlou- UAS Communications

Dr Ali Jihad - Wireless Antenna Design

External Examiner

Examiner for PhDs in telecommunications institute, university of Aveiro, Portugal

Current activities

Project- Advanced Air Mobility Ecosystems- Phase III

Co-Investigator & Technical lead - Prof Saba Al-Rubye

Sponsor- Innovation UK- Future Flight Challenges

Total Project Funded - £9.5 million

Partners- Atkins, Vertical Aerospace, Virgin Atlantic, Heathrow, Skyports, NATS, Bristol Airport, Connected Places Catapult, Â鶹´«Ã½AV

Shaping The Future of Advanced Air Mobility in the South West of England- For more info

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Project- Advanced Air Mobility- Phase II

(PREPARE FOR COMMERCIAL EVTOL AIRCRAFT SERVICES)

Co-Investigator & Technical lead- Prof Saba Al-Rubye

Sponsor- Innovation UK- Future Flight Challenges

Total Project Funded £2.5m

Partners- Atkins, Vertical Aerospace, Skyports, NATS, Connected Places Catapult, Â鶹´«Ã½AV, Neuron

An industry consortium aiming to demonstrate air taxi service in the South West region of England in response to the UK government's Future of Flight Challenge. This project will 'significantly accelerate the introduction of AAM in the UK'.

Shaping The Future of Advanced Air Mobility in The South-west of England- For more info

Test Field Trial at Cranfield Airport - Video

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Project Rise

Principal Investigator & Technical lead- Prof Saba Al-Rubye

Sponsor- Innovation UK- Future Flight Challenges

Total Project Funded £ 500,000

Partners- Dronecloud, Sky-drones, Â鶹´«Ã½AV and Skyports

The scheme project aims to integrate evolving Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM), the drone version of Air Traffic Control (ATM), with the control systems on-board drones to Unlock the future of drone operations through integration. Focusing on the approvals process and air traffic management (ATM) for flying within airspace controlled by an Air Navigation Service Provider (ANSP), integrating across a combined stack of independent software and hardware.

More info about Project Rise Website

Filed test trials at Cranfield Airport- Video

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Project - Unmanned Aircraft Systems Authentication System

Principal Investigator & Technical lead- Prof Saba Al-Rubye

Sponsor- Innovation UK- Future Flight Challenges

Total Project Funded £ 500,000

Partners- ANGOKA, Â鶹´«Ã½AV and Connected Places Catapult

The Unmanned Aircraft Systems Authentication System (UASAS) project brings together Cranfield, ANGOKA and Connected Places Catapult collaborators to create an authentication system that will provide a trusted identification service for drone usage. This system will protect communications from potentially devastating cyberattacks. Trusted identification will allow organisations to ensure that drones are flying in the right zones and without adverse effects to other parties, increasing overall confidence in drone technology.

Enabling Secure Authentication for Unmanned Aircraft Systems- Event Video

Cranfield Airport- UASAS- Test Field Demonstration - Video

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Project Smart Airport

Principal Investigator and Technical lead- Prof Saba Al-Rubye

Sponsor- Department for Transport ( DfT )

Total Project Funded £ 135,000

Partners- NCC-Group & Â鶹´«Ã½AV

The main aim of this project is to build end to end ecosystem for Smart Airports based on the use of digital twin and intelligent systems such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT), sensors and devices configured for specific purposes in different areas in order to control, manage and plan their operations in a centralised digital environment.

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Project Digital Aviation Connectivity & Security

Principal Investigator and technical lead- Prof Saba Al-Rubye

Sponsor- Department for Transport ( DfT )

Total Project Funded £ 135,000

Partners- Thales & Â鶹´«Ã½AV

The digital transformation envisaged by the Future Flight Challenge is redefining expectations around connectivity, security, communication system and control. Across civil and military air platforms, manned and unmanned, digital data drives everything - and the safety, effectiveness and efficiency of every mission depends on it.

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Inmarsat - Connectivity

Co-Investigator and technical lead- Prof Saba Al-Rubye

Sponsor- Inmarsat

Total Project Funded £ 100,000

Partners_ Inmarsat & Â鶹´«Ã½AV

The aim is to create roadmap for future aviation connectivity

Cranfield- Inmarsat Roadmap --- Digital Aviation Roadmap

For more info download the report from the link below:

Digital Now: Why the future of aviation starts with connectivity - Inmarsat-Cranfield

Clients

Thales

Atkins

Inmarsat

Honeywell

Ankoga

DroneCloud

Sky-Drone

Skyports

NCC-Group

Satellite Applications Catapult

EPSRC

Innovation UK

Department for Transportation (DfT)

Publications

Articles In Journals

Conference Papers

Books