University of Utah research lab
Trustworthy autonomy starts with systems we can explain, test, and defend.
We connect semantic reasoning, digital twins, human-centered sensing, and real CPS testbeds into practical evidence for autonomous systems.
Research Themes
View all themes →We recover system semantics from legacy and modern cyber-physical systems, then use that structure to test, harden, and explain behavior in physical testbeds.
Explore theme →We build fidelity-aware twins that connect hybrid models, runtime traces, and verification workflows for safer design decisions.
Explore theme →Privacy-preserving sensing and information flow for trustworthy ubiquitous systems, from edge to cloud.
Explore theme →We study human-in-the-loop CPS that combines neural and environmental sensing with multimodal, memory-centered modeling.
Explore theme →We build industrial-control twins that connect control code, process models, and testbeds for validation, conformance checking, and mitigation synthesis.
Explore theme →SPHERE CPS Enclave is a reconfigurable, remotely accessible industrial-control experimentation environment for repeatable and shareable cybersecurity studies spanning PLC logic, SCADA/HMI interaction, process telemetry, and configurable network behavior.
Project detailsFMitF develops a provably correct stack that links formal hybrid-system models to PLC implementations, combining verified runtime monitoring with bidirectional model-code translation for industrial control systems.
Project detailsThis project integrates smartphone-based experiential sensing, wearables, and intracranial neural recordings to study autobiographical memory formation during real-world behavior and to inform future memory-enhancing neuromodulation.
Project detailsLatest News
Radio Interview
KPCW Mountain Money
Photo: Kahlert School of Computing
Luis Garcia joined KPCW's Mountain Money to explain how AI systems learn patterns, why guardrails can fail, and why tools such as Anthropic's Mythos Preview need constrained, verifiable test environments.
Yanran Lin was selected as a 2026 CRA-WP Grad Cohort Workshop Scholar, recognizing her momentum in trustworthy CPS and formal methods research.
Jared Pratt and Helen Zhang were awarded UROP fellowships for Spring 2026 to support their undergraduate research contributions in IoTrust Lab.
Luis Garcia was honored as an EAI Fellow in the 2025 class for sustained research and community impact in cyber-physical systems security.
Md Raihan Ahmed, Jainta Paul, Levi Taiji Li, Luis Garcia, Mu Zhang
IEEE/IFIP DSN 2025
Sima Arasteh, Pegah Jandaghi, Nicolaas Weideman, Dennis Perepech, +3 more
arXiv 2025
Matthew Chan, Luis Garcia, Nathaniel Snyder, Marcus Lucas
Security and Privacy in Cyber-Physical Systems and Smart Vehicles: Second EAI International Conference, SmartSP 2024, New Orleans, LA, USA, November 7--8, 2024, Proceedings
Luis Garcia, Jelena Mirkovic, David Balenson, Erik Kline, +7 more
ACM/IEEE ICCPS 2025
Courses
CS/ECE 3700
UndergraduateIntroductory digital logic and systems design course covering finite state machines, timing analysis, CMOS circuits, and FPGA architectures. Students learn to design and implement digital systems using hardware description languages.
CS 6963/5963
GraduateGraduate-level project-based course exploring security and safety challenges in cyber-physical and IoT systems. Students work on real-world projects involving industrial control systems, sensor networks, and autonomous systems security.
CSCI 430
UndergraduateUndergraduate introduction to computer and network security covering applied cryptography, network threats, system vulnerabilities, and security protocols. Hands-on labs with penetration testing and secure coding practices.
People
Lab Overseer
Luis's morale auditor and snack-security supervisor, with an occasional sea-shanty stress test for the lab.
Chief Purring Officer
Sayom's keyboard-thermal specialist, paper-stack reorganizer, and late-night debugging supervisor.
Opportunities
Share the research problem you want to work on, the systems you have built, and how it connects to trustworthy CPS.
PhD and undergraduate researchers interested in CPS security, sensing, and autonomy.
Researchers ready to lead focused work across formal methods, testbeds, and trustworthy AI.
Short-term visits around shared systems problems, datasets, and experimental platforms.
Academic and industry partners building safer cyber-physical systems in real settings.
Contact
Assistant Professor
Kahlert School of Computing, University of Utah
EmailKahlert School of Computing
50 Central Campus Dr
Salt Lake City, Utah 84112
