2026 – 2027 MEng Projects
Multiple Project Supervised by Dr. Mostafa Taha
Supervisor: Mostafa Taha
Website: /mtaha/
Student Category: M.Eng
1. NeuroLogic Shield: A Modular Robustness Assessment Platform for Neural and Logic-Based AI Models
Project Title: NeuroLogic Shield: A Modular Robustness Assessment Platform for Neural and Logic-Based AI Models
Project Description: Modern machine learning and AI systems, e.g., whether neural networks and logic鈥慴ased models, can behave unpredictably when exposed to small, carefully crafted input perturbations. This project focuses on giving students hands鈥憃n experience with adversarial robustness, a critical skill for validating AI models before deployment. Students will build a compact 鈥淣euroLogic Shield鈥 platform that evaluates how two types of models: a simple multilayer perceptron (MLP) and a differentiable logic鈥慻uided network (DLGN), respond to a single, well鈥憉nderstood adversarial method: the Fast Gradient Sign Method (FGSM). By limiting the scope to one attack and two model classes, the project stays accessible while still offering deep value in understanding model behavior, debugging, and system鈥憀evel evaluation.
The student/team will implement FGSM from first principles, integrate it into a clean and modular evaluation pipeline, and run controlled experiments to assess each model鈥檚 robustness. They will design lightweight visualizations and a simple reporting interface that clearly communicates attack impact, accuracy degradation, and model鈥憇pecific vulnerabilities. The emphasis is on correctness, engineering clarity, and reproducible experimentation rather than building a full adversarial suite. With support in the form of starter code, background training, and close supervision, students can complete a technically meaningful project that teaches practical ML auditing skills and potentially produces a small open鈥憇ource contribution or workshop鈥慻rade technical report.
2. Explainable Intrusion Detection System (IDS) on FPGA using Differential Logic Gate Networks
Project Title: Explainable Intrusion Detection System (IDS) on FPGA using Differential Logic Gate Networks
In this project, the student will design an Explainable Intrusion Detection System (IDS) using Deep Differential Logic Gate Networks (DDLGNs) and deploy it on an FPGA platform. The main goal is to detect malicious network activity in a way that is both fast and easy to understand. Unlike many traditional machine learning models that act like black boxes, DDLGNs make decisions using logical rules, which allows the system to explain why a network event is classified as normal or malicious. This is especially useful for cybersecurity applications, where trust and clear decision-making are very important.
The project will involve training a DDLGN-based IDS model, converting it into a logic-gate representation, and deploying it on an FPGA for efficient real-time inference. The system will take selected network features as input, classify the traffic, and provide simple rule-based explanations for its decisions
3. QuantumVerify: Design and Evaluation of a Post-Quantum Secure Document Signing Platform
Project Title: QuantumVerify: Design and Evaluation of a Post-Quantum Secure Document Signing Platform
As quantum computing advances, many widely used digital鈥憇ignature schemes鈥攕uch as RSA and elliptic鈥慶urve signatures鈥攆ace long鈥憈erm vulnerabilities, raising concerns about the authenticity of documents that must remain trustworthy for years or decades. This project explores that emerging security challenge by building 鈥淨uantumVerify,鈥 a functional document鈥憇igning platform that relies entirely on standardized post鈥憅uantum signature algorithms. Students will integrate CRYSTALS鈥慏ilithium and Falcon into a realistic signing workflow to examine how these quantum鈥憆esistant schemes behave in practice. The project blends security fundamentals with applied engineering: instead of studying cryptographic math, students gain hands鈥憃n experience with how post鈥憅uantum primitives affect file sizes, performance, user workflows, and the feasibility of long鈥憈erm digital authenticity.
The student/team will develop a working document鈥憇igning and verification application, run controlled experiments on files of varying sizes, and benchmark key metrics such as signing time, verification latency, key sizes, and signature overhead. The focus is on reproducible engineering evaluation and clear reporting rather than building a full production system. Students will also deploy the platform to a Raspberry鈥疨i or microcontroller to compare desktop鈥慶lass and embedded鈥慶lass performance, highlighting real鈥憌orld constraints faced in IoT, compliance, and low鈥憄ower environments. The final result offers both practical insight into the trade鈥憃ffs between Dilithium and Falcon and a hands鈥憃n experience with technologies that organizations will increasingly rely on as part of the post鈥憅uantum transition.
4. Privacy and Transparency in Modern AI Services
Project Title: Privacy and Transparency in Modern AI Services
Modern AI services are becoming central to communication, business operations, and software platforms across Canada, yet most users still have little visibility into what happens to their data once it鈥檚 submitted to an AI tool. This project explores the emerging 鈥淎I Transparency Gap鈥: a growing uncertainty around who has access to user data, how long it鈥檚 stored, whether it contributes to future model training, and where in the world it travels. For organizations required to comply with Canadian privacy principles, especially PIPEDA鈥檚 Accountability and Cross鈥態order Transfer guidelines, this lack of clarity creates practical and legal risks. The goal of this project is to make those hidden processes visible in a way that is understandable to both technical and non鈥憈echnical audiences.
The student/team will investigate how major AI鈥慳s鈥慳鈥慡ervice platforms manage data by creating a structured taxonomy of privacy and access risks, then turning those findings into a public鈥慺acing transparency dashboard. Students will analyze documentation, APIs, and platform behaviour to classify services based on access hierarchy, data residency, training ingestion, cross鈥憇ession memory, and output ownership. Using these insights, they will build a web鈥慴ased 鈥淎I Privacy Pulse鈥 tool that presents simple scorecards, like a nutrition label, for each AI provider. This tool will help Canadian users and small organizations make informed decisions about which AI services align with their privacy expectations.
Multiple projects on aspects of Software Verification and Validation
Project: Multiple projects on aspects of Software Verification and Validation
Supervisor: Yvan Labiche
Website: /squall/
Student Category: UG / MASc / M.Eng. / Ph.D.
Project Description: The Software Quality Engineering laboratory studies various problems in the field of software verification and validation with the aim to provide sufficient empirical information so that engineers can make informed decisions to use such or such software testing technique. Application domains vary greatly with past work in aerospace, medical imaging, telecommunication, and finance. Problems include the semi-automated construction of tests from plain language specifications, solving the oracle problem (how do we know the outcome of a test execution is what we expect), optimizing software testing from finite state machines and extended finite state machines, and studying the impact of structural coverage principles. Solutions rely on proven, theoretical techniques borrowed from computer science and applied mathematics as well as heuristics, meta-heuristics, machine learning, and AI.
Pre-requisite: Successful students tend to have background in software engineering, computer science, or computer engineering.