CYPHER congratulates Ph.D. candidate Anissa Elias on receiving a Best Research Award at the ECBE Research Showcase, held on Friday, May 8, in FCAE at the University of Rhode Island.

Elias was selected as one of this year’s Best Research Award recipients at the ECBE Research Showcase. The recognition is especially meaningful as it comes shortly after she passed her comprehensive exam and reached ABD (all but dissertation) status.

Her research focuses on improving data analytics and anomaly detection in smart grid systems. These functions are often centralized through edge servers and cloud-based systems, creating challenges for speed, efficiency, and deployment. Elias’s work proposes a multi-modal approach that combines on-edge reasoning powered by a Small Language Model with machine learning-based anomaly detection.

The system has been successfully deployed on a Raspberry Pi 5 and validated using a Hardware-in-the-Loop testbed, demonstrating its potential for practical, resource-conscious applications in smart grid environments.

CYPHER is proud to celebrate Anissa’s achievement and her continued contributions to cybersecurity, intelligent systems, and resilient critical infrastructure.