Spotlight on: Professor Miguel Rio

In our monthly feature, we are shining a spotlight on members of the PETRAS community, to help us get to know the people that make up our diverse research hub. This month into the spotlight steps Miguel Rio, Professor of Computer Networks at UCL. If you would like to be featured in a future edition please contact robert.j.thompson@ucl.ac.uk

Miguel heads up the team for the project resilience and security in low power IoT. (RSIOT).

What is your role and what does it involve?
I’m helping to coordinate a Petras project on Security and Resilience for low power IoT devices. There will be billions of these devices and to have them secured and reliable is going to be a major challenge.

How long have you been with PETRAS and what was your previous role?
We just started in September but are really excited to join the Petras community. It’s the “place” to be if you want to solve crucial problems related to IoT.

Tell us about a project you are working on now which is top of your to-do list?
One of the projects at the top of my to-do list is a global Internet data measurement infra-structure that will allow us to answer fundamental questions about how the Internet (and IoT) behaves.

What about the IoT attracted you to working in this area?
The variety of devices that we are connecting to the network. Cameras, health-sensors, city-sensors, household objects, etc, etc…

What is your favourite album, film and novel?
Album and film are easy: Ziggy Stardust by David Bowie and Pulp Fiction. Novel is harder, since, for some time, the only fiction I read was sci-fi. I’ll just go with “Ready Player One” by Ernest Cline.  

Who would be your dream dinner guests?
Richard Feynman, Milton Friedman and Steve Jobs. If I can only choose people who are alive, Elon Mask and Barack Obama. Not many interesting people alive these days.

What advice would you give your younger self?
Learn how to pretend to be confident.

What would it surprise people to know about you?
The only surprise about me is that I have no surprises.