Optimized Computing and Communications (OC2) LabWestern Engineering

    OC2 Lab

    OC2 Lab Logo
    The Optimized Computing and Communications (OC2) Laboratory was established in 2004 within the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Western University by Prof. Abdallah Shami, who serves as the current director as well. The lab's current research focuses on the application of Artificial Intelligence in Autonomous Vehicles, Network Security, and Smart Cities/Communities. It also addresses problems related to 5G/6G Networks, Industrial Internet of Things, and Smart Infrastructure/Digital Services. Since its inception, the OC2 Lab has gained an international reputation for its strong contributions to both academic and industrial research. The lab maintains ongoing collaborations with major national and international telecom companies and federal research organizations, including IBM, Ericsson, and the National Research Council Canada (NRC).

    The OC2 Lab's offices are located in the Thompson, Spencer, and Amit Chakma Engineering Buildings on Western’s main campus. Currently, there are more than 10 active members working in the OC2 Lab and over 40 former OC2 alumni members.

    The OC2 lab is an avid supporter of the open-source community and firmly believes in data democratization. Visit Western OC2 Lab Open-Source Code and Dataset Repositories for the latest releases.

     

    Latest News
    - May 2024: OC2 PhD candidates Sulaiman Aburakiha and Ibrahim Shaer have received the prestigious 2024 Western ECE Graduate Student Award for Excellence in Research.
    - May 2024: Dr. Shami received the 2024 Western Faculty Scholar Award. 
    - May 2024: Drs. Shami and Yang will give a tutorial on "AutoML for Intrusion Detection in 6G and IoT Systems: From Theory to Practice," at the 2024 IEEE World Forum on Public Safety Technology (WF-PST), Washington DC, USA.
    - December 2023: Dr. Shami received the 2023 “Technical Achievement Award” from the IEEE Communications Society, Information Infrastructure and Networking Technichal Committee, “for his exceptional achievements in information infrastructure and networking, notably through innovative orchestration of virtualized resources, visionary AI application in network service placement, and his outstanding leadership in championing open-source practices in the field.”
    - December 2023: Dr. Shami received the Western Academy for Advanced Research (WAFAR) Fellowship, Western University, Smart City Research Theme, Jan. 2024 - Dec. 2024 [workload: 100% Research, 0% Service, 0% Teaching] .
    - December 2023: Dr. Li Yang, an OC2 PhD graduate in August 2022 and Postdoctoral Fellow in the OC2 Lab from August 2022 to December 2023, will join the Faculty of Business and Information Technology at Ontario Tech University, Ontario Canada, as a Tenure-Track Assistant Professor, starting January 1, 2024.
    - October 2023: Dr. Dimitrios Manias has been awarded the prestigious Governor General’s Academic Gold Medal. Dr. Manias successfully defended his Ph.D. thesis, entitled "Robust and Intelligent Management and Orchestration of Next-Generation Networks and Systems," in June 2023.
    - October 2023: Dr. Shami will deliver a Keynote Talk titled "Zero-Touch Network Security: Use-Case Driven Analysis" at the "The International Conference on Intelligent Data Science Technologies and Applications (IDSTA2023) / The International Conference on Blockchain Computing and Application (BCCA 2023)" in October 2023.
    - October 2023: Dr. Shami is scheduled to deliver an invited talk titled “Securing Intra and Inter-Vehicle Networks: Intrusion Detection in Smart Vehicle Infrastructure” at the Canadian Urban Transit Research & Innovation Consortium (CUTRIC) Smart Infrastructure event in October 2023.
    - September 2023: Dr. Shami will deliver a Keynote Talk titled "Bridging Academia and Industry: Insights from 5G and AI Innovations" at the "36th IEEE Canadian Conference on Electrical and Computer Engineering (IEEE CCECE)" in September 2023.
    - June 2023: Dr. Shami was inducted as a Fellow for the Canadian Academy of Engineering (CAE). This recognition is awarded to individuals who have made noteworthy and exceptional efforts in promoting Canadian solutions to urgent challenges related to social, environmental, economic and technical issues. 
    - May 2023: Dr. Shami received the 2023 R.H. Tanner Industry Leadership Award from IEEE Canada for "his leadership in technology transfer in the areas of telecommunications network planning, orchestration and optimization and industrial Internet of things." Western news story link
    - May 2023:  Dr. Shami joined the Editorial Board of the IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security
    - April 2023: Dr. Shami will give a Keynote Talk at "The International Conference on Intelligent Data Science Technologies and Applications (IDSTA2023)" in October 2023.
    - Dec 2022: Sulaiman Aburakhia received the best paper award at the Fifth International Conference on Communications, Signal Processing, and their Applications (ICCSPA'22), Cairo, Egypt, December 27-29, 2022. 
    - Dec 2022: Dr. Shami has been elected a Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada (EIC) in recognition of his excellence in engineering and his services to the profession and to society. Western news story link.
    - Dec 2022: Dr. Shami to give a Distuingshed talk titled "End-to-End 5G Prototype: AI-Enabled Network Data Analytics Function" at the Fifth International Conference on Communications, Signal Processing, and their Applications (ICCSPA'22), Cairo, Egypt, December 27-29, 2022.
    - Dec 2022: Dr. Shami to give an industry talk titled "AI/ML Techniques for Optimization" at the IEEE 2nd Systems Optimization Imperatives, Techniques, and Opportunities for Future Networks Workshop at IEEE Future Networks Conference. 
    - Nov 2022: Dr. Li Yang received the Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-financed Students Abroad, which recognized Li as one of the top 650 most outstanding young talents among more than half a million Chinese international students every year. 
    - Oct 2022: Dr. Shami sits on panel of academic leaders from across Canada to discuss areas of research, opportunities for innovation and skills development at the Canadian Academy of Engineering International Workshop on Sustainable, Intelligent Next Generation Systems.
    - Sept 2022: Dr. Abdallah Moubayed has joined the Lebanese American University as a Tenure Track Assistant Professor. 
    - Sept 2022: Dr. Shami received the IEEE Canada M.B. Broughton Merit Award for “leadership in serving the IEEE Canada London Section, IEEE Canada, and the IEEE Communications Society.”
    - June 2022: OC2 IEEE Transactions on Network and Service Management paper "Multi-Stage Optimized Machine Learning Framework for Network Intrusion Detection" was selected as a highlight on IEEE Xplore as part of their Innovation Spotlight.