Dissertations

What follows is an ad-hoc list of topical research areas for projects. I am happy to work with anyone in the research fields of cybersecurity/networking/distributed systems/blockchain/legal technology etc and of course in many of the topic areas listed here.

1999/2000 – Networking

  • .NET – Peer-to-Peer Networked Apps with the Microsoft .NET Framework
  • Adaptinet – Adaptive Networking with the Adaptinet SDK
  • Internet Congestion – Examining bottlenecks leading to Internet Congestion
  • MMStream – Throughput/Bandwidth measurements
  • Streaming Video – Through the Real Time Protocol and JMF
  • Streaming Audio/Video – Examined using The Real Time Protocol (RTP) with JMF
  • MapPoint Web Services – Integrate location-based services, such as maps, driving directions, and proximity searches into applications
  • iBus – Streaming Multimedia
  • Location Based Services – Interfacing to a Mobile Positioning Center
  • Buzzpad – A Peer-to-Peer Application Framework
  • Jade – Java Agent DEvelopment Framework – run Agents on Mobile Devices
  • XMIDDLE – A data sharing middleware for ad-hoc networks
  • Autonomic Computing – IBM Autonomic Computing Toolkit for development of autonomic behavior

2000/01 – Network Simulation

  • Network Simulations – Research various parameters and their influence on TCP/UDP
  • Cellular IP – new mobile host protocol that is optimized to provide access to a Mobile IP enabled Internet in support of fast moving wireless hosts. llular IP
  • Nipper – Neat Internet Protocol Packet EditoR
  • JavaSim – component-based, compositional simulation environment.
  • SSF.NET – high-performance network modeling, simulation, and analysis.
  • nscript – Java GUI front-end for the Network Simulator from Berkeley
  • BlueHoc simulator – this provides a Bluetooth extension to the NS-2 simulator
  • BonnMotion – Create and analyse ad hoc mobility scenarios.
  • SUMO – Create and simulate urban traffic mobility scenarios in the city

2001/02 – Distributed Systems

  • Java Spaces – Distributed Systems
  • JDBC – Java Database Connectivity Standard
  • Patterns – Using Patterns to Document Adaptable Java Frameworks
  • Middleware – Creating middleware for streaming media
  • iBus – A Java Middleware Message Bus System
  • JTAPI – Java API for telephony call control
  • Virtual Network Computer – Source code for accesing remote computers
  • OmniOrb – robust high-performance CORBA 2 ORB
  • SwarmCast – a P2P content distribution system that employs Forward Error Correction codes to perform fast, distributed downloads of large, popular content
  • OMNI – Operating Space Missions as Nodes on the Internet
  • Java TSpaces – Communication middleware to create the first instances of Intelligent Connectionware components
  • Creating Self Managing Computer Systems
  • Web Robots – Harvest the information on the web using Automated Robots
  • Automated Teller Machines – Investigate problems with Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) Navigation Menus

2002/03 – Java

  • J2ME – Java2 Micro-Edition for Portable Devices such as phones & PDA’s (3G Email?)
  • SMS – Using Java to send SMS messages
  • Forte IDE – Network Monitoring Tool using Java beans with Forte
  • Reflection – Modifying a system’s behaviour and implementation incrementally at runtime
  • iBus – Messaging framework
  • Middleware – Java Middleware Frameworks
  • RTP – RTP Monitoring Framework
  • JMF Demultiplexor – Demultiplexer plug-in for extracting individual media tracks
  • Enterprise Java APIs – Java Naming and Directory Interface (JNDI)etc
  • SMS – Short Message Service Java Development Toolkit from Noctor
  • SMS 2 – Preventing kids from skipping school with SMS
  • FEC – Java based Forward Error Correction for mulicast Applications
  • Brazil project – web-based infrastructure linking people securely to info, computers/other devices leveraging existing standards & protocols.
  • jXTransformer – Store and retrieve XML files from relational database
  • jboss – Open Source, standards-compliant, application server implemented in 100% Java

2003/04 – Multimedia

2004/05 – Wireless & Collaborative Networking

2005/06 – Web Based Programmimng

2006/07 – Intelligence & Mobility

2007/08 – Security & Gaming

  • Geopriv – Geographic Location/Privacy (Geopriv) architecture for sharing and protecting location information as it travels across IP
  • Security – Using ‘Shields Up’ to test for computer weaknesses
  • Software Assurance – Creating error free software. Verifying before creation.
  • Spam Mail – Tracing the spammers
  • Video Security – Ramping Up Security With Streaming Video
  • Uncrackable Encryption – OTP One Time Pad system using a simple XOR of message and key
  • Steganography – The art of encoding hidden messages within images
  • Honeynet – Building Intelligent Intrusion Detection Systems
  • HoneyMonkey – Stop attacks that use Web servers to exploit unpatched browser vulnerabilities and install malware
  • Tackling SPAM with Machine Learning – Use Weka (collection of machine learning algorithms for data mining tasks) to address SPAM
  • SPAM Prevention – Use Nolisting to fight spam through specifying a primary MX that is always unavailable.
  • Illegal Accessing of USB Drives – Detect access and/or copying of information on portable storage devices
  • Mobile Gaming – Develop educational games for mobile devices with Java
  • Collaborative Mobile Games – Campus-wide WiFi Collaborative Mobile Game
  • Adventure Games – Create point-and-click educational adventure games
  • RoboCode – Design a small automated 6-wheeled robot to fight it out with other robots until only one is left
  • Xbox 360 Educational Gaming – Design an educational tool and deploy it on the Xbox 360 using XNA Game Studio Express
  • Nintendo DS 3D World – Create an interactive 3D virtual tour of campus to help students familarise themselves as early as possible
  • 3D Virtual Campus Tour – 3D Virtual Campus Walkthrough with Google Sketch, 3D warehouse and Google earth
  • Barcoding the web – Determing Location in Urban Gaming with online Smart Bar Codes
  • Intel Mobile Platform SDK 1.2 – Develop and deploy compelling mobile games that are tuned for the mobile world.
  • Gaming Physics Engine – Develop improved algorithms to deal with penetration and sustained contact in games

2008/09 – Web 2.0 & Search

  • Web Services – developing with the Microsoft Web Services Development Kit
  • Flickr API – Develop 3rd party Flickr services using the Flickr API
  • Google Desktop SDK – Write a desktop search API plugin to search web history from a web browser
  • My Me Mapping – Pinpointing Users in CyberSpace through Online Mapping Services
  • Microsoft Gadgets for Live.com – Integrate educational gadgets with Live.com where you decide the content and layout.
  • Mappr! – Use Mappr to create an interactive environment for exploring place, based on the photos people upload to Flickr
  • Google Web Toolkit (GWT) – Build an AJAX application which provides a visualisation of an Autonomous Network Scenario
  • Intel Web 2.0 Technology Development Kit – Web 2.0 applications which adapt to state changes such as battery power levels and bandwidth variations.
  • Geotagged Wikipedia Entries – Build applications which integrate with the information on Wikipedia for location based applications
  • Google Earth – Mashing Up applications with Google Earth
  • YouTube Speech Interface – Mashing Up a YouTube Application by incoporating speech so as to have a taking party jukebox
  • Emotional Search – Integrate location into search dependent on emotional queries
  • Search Engine Optimization – Comparing the claims of automated search engine optimization software versus manual search engine submission
  • Google Web APIs – Automonitor the web for new information on a subject using the Google APIs
  • Web Site Personalisation – Automated techniques for maximizing the performance of personalized Web sites
  • Google Adwords – Develop an automated techniques for managing Google Adwords campaigns
  • XML based News Intelligence – Making News Understandable to Computers

2009/10 – Wireless Sensor Networks

2010/11 – Ambient Intelligence & Pervasive Healthcare

2011/12 – Location Based Services and Positioning

2012/13 – Location & Mobile

2013/14 – Movement Detection & Security

2014/15 – Network & Security Analytics

2015/16 – Human Behaviour Detection

  • Undo Computing – Restore system integrity after an intrusion, by retroactively undoing changes made by an adversary while preserving legitimate user actions
  • User Mobility Determination – Using WiFi to determine people movement patterns.
  • Detecting Human Movement – Use off the shelf mobile phones to determine human movement & their subsequent behaviour.
  • Remote Respiratory Clinics – Create a solution to allow electronic stethoscope recordings to be sent to hospital consultant.
  • The Physical Web – Use Google’s open Eddystone-URL Bluetooth beacon format to provide new interactions for users
  • Mobile Phone based Social Sensing – Capture social and behavioural aspects of phone users with inbuilt sensors

2016/17 – Security

2017/18 – Indoor Movement Detection/Web Scraping

2018/19 – Security/Data Science/Indoor Location

2019/20 – NLP/Security/Indoor Location

2020/21 – Web Scraping/Legal Technology

100 Thesis Ideas

One Hundred Ideas for Computing

Past Thesis Examples

  • 2000 – Network Congestion by Colleen Bradley
  • 2000 – Web Enabled Legal Aid by Lee Higgins
  • 2000 – Java Middleware by Martin Golden
  • 2001 – Short Message Service by Peter McLoughlin
  • 2001 – SMS by Richard Craig
  • 2001 – Group SMS Messaging application by Lee Stuart
  • 2001 – J2ME Email Application which runs on a Motorola Accompli 008 by Tony Solon
  • 2001 – Web Collaboration Environment by Christy Craig
  • 2001 – Global Positioning Satellite Movement for Mobile Devices by Martin McCartney
  • 2002 – Educational Web Collaboration Environment by Feena O’Reilly
  • 2002 – SMS threashold Alarm Generic API Service by Kevin O’Connor
  • 2002 – A Middleware Framework for Streaming Media to Heterogeneous Clients by Alan Bradley
  • 2002 – VoiceXML by Ashlean McNulty
  • 2003 – Role of Border Gateway Protocol in Controlling Congestion by Lorraine Bradley
  • 2003 – Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) Transcoding by Ronan Toland
  • 2003 – Factors influencing Web Page loading delay by Connor Duffy
  • 2003 – Illustrating the Semantic Web using RDF by Gary Gumbleton
  • 2004 – Online Collaboration with Communication Server MX by Kathleen O’Connor
  • 2004 – An evaluation of Steganography Image Techniques by Karen Bailey. You can also download the Steganography Software
  • 2004 – A Peer to Peer System by Jonathan Doherty
  • 2004 – WikiWikiWeb by Kiera Doherty
  • 2004 – Wireless Tracking using GPS by Alison Woodrow
  • 2005 – Scheduled RSS Feeds for Streaming Multimedia to The Desktop using RSS enclosures by Sheila McKinney
  • 2005 – A Location Based Mobile Tourist Guide by Keith Smith
  • 2005 – Automated Braodcast Media Monitoring using the Google API by Aiden Doherty
  • 2005 – The Deployment of Wiki in the Workplace by Cliona Murphy
  • 2005 – Investigating Web Site Design Conformance with Web Accessibility Initiative Guidelines by Nicolle Walters
  • 2005 – Finanical Monitoring with the Google API by Melissa McFadden
  • 2006 – Securing Wireless Devices by Paul Canning
  • 2006 – Wide Area Gaming Middleware using RFID by Derek Harkin
  • 2007 – Steganography Detector by Joanne McDevitt
  • 2007 – Multilingual Mobile Device Portal by Winston Huang
  • 2007 – Investigating HCI problems in ATM menu Design by David King
  • 2007 – WiFi Location Estimation Algoirthm by Eoghan Furey
  • 2007 – Urban Gaming – Matching Shapes with RFID by Martin Porter
  • 2008 – Adaptive Mobile Applications by Conrad Deighan
  • 2008 – A Voice Enabled YouTube Jukebox by Emma Mc Gonigle
  • 2008 – Bridging the Gap between Online and Offline Apps with the Google Gears API: A Case Study for Diabetics by Karen Lee
  • 2008 – Continuous RFID-Enabled Location Awareness by Stephen Norrby
  • 2009 – Locating and Logging Devices using Ekahau Positioning System by Colm Mc Menamin
  • 2009 – An Ultra-Wideband Location Positioning Navigation System for Mobile Robotics by James Knox
  • 2009 – Indoor Wireless Location Determination using the Trapeze LA200 by Jude McGlinchey
  • 2009 – RFID Implementation for the Electronic identification of Cattle by William Mc Devitt
  • 2010 – A Practical Network Coding and Routing Scheme based on Maximum Flow Combination by Lianlong Wu
  • 2010 – Integrating Geolocation into Web Applications for additional security by jonathan Orr
  • 2010 – Discriminating between Nasal and Mouth Breathing by Peter Yuen
  • 2010 – An Investigation into the Reachability of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Technologies in Adverse Conditions by Christopher Laughlin
  • 2011 – Incorporating Radio Frequency Identification into the Production Line for Work Flow Improvement by Andrew Mc Clintock
  • 2011 – Google Earth 3D Virtual Campus Tour by Anthony Mc Taggart
  • 2012 – The Detection of Empty Resist Bottles or Air in the resist lines of a Polaris Coating Tool by Terence Sweeney
  • 2012 – RFID Lone Worker Tracking by Fergal Canning
  • 2012 – An automated system for reading hand measurements in patients with rheumatoid arthritis by Aaron Bond
  • 2012 – Building an active RFID people/asset tracking system with mesh networking by Sean Carlin
  • 2012 – Assessing Hand Movement in Arthritic Patients Using Wearable Glove Technology by Roisin Lautman
  • 2013 – Detecting Anonymous Proxy Usage by Jonathan McKeague
  • 2014 – Using Leap Motion and Gamification to Facilitate and Encourage Rehabilitation in those with Hand Injuries by Jamie Taylor
  • 2014 – Text based steganography by Robert Lockwood
  • 2015 – Usability and Security of Password Creation Schemes by Andrew Snodgrass
  • 2015 – Detection of Social Interaction Using Consumer Grade Hardware via Device Free Passive Localisation by Tim Dougan
  • 2016 – Voice biometric identification of users based on unique vocal characteristics by Bart Kaszewczuk
  • 2016 – A Location Aware Retail Application using Bluetooth Beacons by Gary Mansell
  • 2018 – Scraping Websites for Law Enforcement by Evan Gallagher
  • 2018 – A Task-based Interaction Chatbot by Dana Doherty

 

Free Research Tools

Microsoft Research Labs Downloads Freely available Software to download and examine.
Google Developer Resources – The best place to start when developing for Android and Google Services
Easy Java Simulations is a software tool designed for the creation of discrete computer simulations. EJS is a program that helps you create scientific simulations easily.
Google Web Toolkit (GWT) is a Java development framework that makes writing AJAX applications easier
A lot of statistics in your project? …then view parts 1-3 of this documentary on the rise of data visualisation Data Visualisations
Create graphical views of your dataset using Many Eyes.
If you need to create a professional survey as part of your project, then check out Survey Monkey.
If you need to survey your wireless network to ascertain weaknesses, then this Aircrack-ng suite of tools is what you need.
If you are interested in doing a mashup then visit ProgrammableWeb Mashups

Research Writing Up & Publishing

How to Structure Your Thesis.
A Survival Guide to a PhD – A fantastic realistic overview by Andrej Karpathy.
How to structure a computer science PhD – Old informal sound advice from UCL
What should a PhD look like – advice from Barry Witcher, Norwich Business School
Structuring Your Thesis – advice from Paul Frazer adapted from Patrick Dunleavy, Authoring a PhD (2003)
A structured approach to organising a PhD thesis – advice from a doctoral consoritum in 1995
How I wrote my PhD in 3 months – James Hayton PhD
The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person’s Guide to Writing in the 21st Century – Steven Pinker, Harvard University
Writing your thesis – Champion et al.
How to read a scientific paper.
Advice on Research and writing
Guide to Grammar and Writing by Charles Darling
Writing and Presenting Your Thesis or Dissertation by S. Joseph Levine, Ph.D.
How To Write A Dissertation or Bedtime Reading For People Who Do Not Have Time To Sleep
List of links on being a graduate student
Notes On The PhD Degree by D. Comer.
On Being A Scientist: Responsible Conduct In Research by NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
You and your research.
Library notes for Engineering Researchers.
Discussion on Ph.D. thesis proposals in computing science by H. Lauer.
Guide for writing a funding proposal by J. Levine.
How to publish in top journals.
How to Write Publishable Papers and here is a list of journals (mostly non-IT).
PhD writing links
Your PHd Thesis: How to Plan, Draft, Revise and Edit Your Thesis – A book by Brewer et al.,

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