Dr. Carlos Rubio Medrano
Dr. Carlos Rubio-Medrano is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. He obtained his Bachelor of Science in Computer Science degree from Instituto Tecnológico de Chihuahua II, Mexico; his Master of Science degree in Computer Science from the University of Texas at El Paso; and his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Arizona State University. He worked in the cybersecurity industry and as an academic for several years and has worked at TAMU-CC since 2020. His hard work has shown throughout the years, and as a result, he has received great opportunities pertaining to his field of study.
First, Rubio-Medrano was selected to be featured in the “Why I Teach” video, which was featured at the Fall 2023 Faculty and Staff meeting led by TAMU-CC’s President Kelly M. Miller. The video featured Rubio-Medrano discussing his appreciation for being a teacher, mentor, and researcher, and it also mentioned his goals as a professor. Rubio-Medrano’s main goal is that his students succeed in their research and learn something valuable to take with them post-graduation.
“I wanted my video to mention my motivations for teaching, but I also wanted it to state why I chose this career,” said Rubio-Medrano. “I really wanted to translate my research into the classroom to get my students involved; to where I'm not only their professor, but their mentor.”
Second, Rubio-Medrano attended the 2023 Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) Annual Research Conference (TARC) in College Station, TX. The conference’s goal was for participants to network with funding agencies and work with colleagues to create action plans to pursue external funding within TEES. Rubio-Medrano and Dr. Mehdi Sookhak, also an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at TAMU-CC, along with other researchers created the research proposal, “ZTAC: Zero Trust Access Control Using Post-Quantum Cryptography.” They derived their research idea from the military research center, George Bush Combat Center, an institute within the Texas A&M University System. The team researched a way for autonomous vehicles to communicate remotely and safely while on the battlefield so that enemies cannot tamper with the communication systems. Rubio-Medrano and his team presented their ideas to a panel of judges at the end of the conference and were awarded 3rd place among many other interesting research projects presented.
“It was a very good experience,” said Rubio-Medrano. “It was the first time that I had to do this kind of brainstorming and idea development over several hours, since working in research there is usually several weeks provided to write a research proposal, not several hours… I also got to meet a lot of people from the TAMUS.”
Last, Rubio-Medrano and Dr. Dvijesh Shastri, a professor at the University of Houston -Downtown, received funding from Google in a joint program with CAHSI, the Computing Alliance of Hispanic-Serving Institutions, an NSF funded program. Their research project aims to improve the cybersecurity of Smart Homes. As an example, the project aims to only allow the homeowner to access the home using a Smart Lock by using voice commands. With that in mind, the funding will be used to continue their research in creating a viable voice-assistant for homeowners that is not only efficient and secure, but also prevents the need for using Graphical User Interfaces (GUI), e.g., a smartphone screen.