Dr Diarmuid O'Briain

Dr Ó Briain has lectured  since the 1980s, first at the School of Signals in the Irish Defence Forces, then Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) in the 1990s before lecturing in  IT Carlow in 2003 until 2015. Four years lectuering at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Makerere University in Uganda before returning to IT Carlow in 2019. In 2022, Diarmuid took up a role as Head of Department of Academic Apprenticeship and TUS and returns to SETU as Head of Department, Electronic Engineering and Communications in February 2025. 

Research Interests

Dr Ó Briain completed his M.Sc. by research on Measurement and Analysis of Traffic Streams in Residential Broadband Networks in 2011. He was a founding member of the netLabs!UG Research Centre in 2016 at the College of Engineering, Design, Art and Technology (CEDAT), Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda and he completed his Ph.D. on Enabling models of Internet eXchange Points (IXP) to support spatial planning with a focus on East Africa in 2019. His research interests in Telecommunications include; Software Defined Networks (SDN), Software Defined Radio (SDR), Internet eXchange Points (IXP) and Information Security.

Having started his career in the Signals Corps in the Irish Defence Forces, Dr Ó Briain moved to USRobotics as a Technical Trainer in the companies carrier division. Through corporate acquisition Diarmuid spent time in 3Com and then UTStarcom, first as the Head of Engineering at the Dublin based EMEA Professional Services organisation before a period as the EMEA Projects Office manager. In 2009, Diarmuid joined an Irish telecommunications company, Ripplecom, as Chief Technical Officer (CTO) where he remained until 2015. 

Engagement and Collaboration

The 6th National Conference on Communications (Uganda) 2020

Appointed to the Programme Committee of the Uganda National Conference on Communications run by the Uganda Communications Commission biennially. Held in 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Engineer's Ireland Council 2020 - 2023

An elected member of Engineer's Ireland Council, responsible for the strategic operations of the Institution.

Engineer's Ireland Executive Board 2020 - 2021

Appointed by council to the institution Executive Board which is the governing body within Engineers Ireland with responsibility for the policies and budgets of the Institution.

Irish Signals and Systems Conference (ISSC) 2021

Peer reviewer for the 32nd Irish Signals and Systems Conference hosted by Athlone Institute of Technology (AIT).

Makerere University Research & Innovations Fund (RIF) Secretariat 2020, 2021

Project Proposal reviewer for the Makerere University Research & Innovations Fund (RIF) Secretariat.

Africa Research Journal 2020

Peer reviewer for the Special Issue of the South African Institute of Electrical Engineers "Africa Research Journal" focused on East Africa.

M4D Conference 2018

6th International Conference on M4D Mobile Communication Technology for Development (M4D) held in Kampala, Uganda.

https://doi.org/10.23919/ISTAFRICA.2017.8102289Current

• Conrad Ekisa – Cyber-security deficiencies in Industrial Control Systems (ICS) – Level 10 – Supervisor – Ongoing
• Alfred Ocaka – Addressing Cybersecurity challenges in Industrial Control and Automation Environments in the era of Industry 4.0 – Level 10 – Supervisor – Ongoing
• Seán McCoy – Honeypots for Cyber Threat Intelligence – Level 9 – Co Supervisor – Ongoing
• Martin Galiwango – Exploring Uganda Internet Ecosystem – Level 9 – Co Supervisor – Ongoing

Previous

• Gavin Pyke - Does the Irish Naval Service have Resilient Position, Navigation and Time Systems? – Level 9 – Co Supervisor – 2019/20
• Killian Doyle - Cybersecurity, the insider threat – Level 9 – Co Supervisor – 2019/20
• Ronald Lukanga and Joseph Odur. Building Virtual Routing using Pyretic between SDN domains. Level 8 – Supervisor – Supervisor – 2017/18
• Ronald Matovu and Caroline Namuddu. ISP interconnectivity in Uganda. Level 8 – Supervisor – Supervisor – 2017/18
• Emmanuel Ochom and Ronald Smart. Deployment of Micro-Clouds in a Telecom Network. Level 8 – Supervisor – 2017/18
• Ambrose Ahurra, Maathe Kenneth Kamurali. (2017). Software Defined Networking. Level 8 – Supervisor – 2016/17
• Martin Emukuny, Denis Okotel. (2017). SDN-North Bound Interface. Level 8 – Supervisor – 2016/17
• Ngobi Stim Lugwala, James Makubuya Kirabo. (2017). Enterprise toolchains to enable DevOps. Level 8 – Supervisor – 2016/17
• Jordan Ongwech. (2017). Using Public Cloud for Systems Research. Level 8 – Supervisor – 2016/17
• Eunice Patricia Aber, Vivian Mugoda. (2017). Cloud based Handicap sailing system. Level 8 – Supervisor – 2016/17
• Geoffrey Pao, Kiyimba Jemimah Mirembe. (2016). Design and implementation of a VoIP network for CEDAT. Level 8 – Supervisor – 2015/16
• Edgar Kanyesigye, Ivan Maanigaruhanga. (2016). IPv6 Migration in Uganda. Level 8 – Supervisor – 2015/16
• Francis Luberenga, David Tusubira. (2016). Remote online monitoring in low network coverage areas. Level 8 – Supervisor – 2015/16
• Marion Kyarisiima, Dorcus Asiimwe. (2016). Designing of an Information Security System. Level 8 – Supervisor – 2015/16
• Maria Katusiime, Pius Ssentongo. (2016). Development of an Information Security Framework for SMEs in Uganda. Level 8 – Supervisor – 2015/16
• Kennedy Kenega, Eric Okia. (2016). An investigation of mechanisms to deploy voice services over Fixed or Nomadic Broadband for ISPs who don’t offer mobile voice services. Level 8 – Supervisor – 2015/16
• Alan O'Regan. (2015). An analysis of the current methods of preventing access to child abuse material online. Level 9 – Supervisor – 2014/15
• Matthew O'Toole. (2015). Can the conflict between cloud computing and data protection be resolved? Bord na Mona a case study. Level 9 – Supervisor – 2014/15
• Trevor Murphy. (2015). The examination of the usage of computer coding to aid learning in Irish primary schools. Should it be part of our primary educational syllabus?. Level 9 – Supervisor – 2014/15
• Jayveersinh Bhupatsang Mandora. (2014). The Economics of Virtualization: Moving Business an Application-Based Cost Model. Level 9 – Supervisor – 2013/14
• Rachit Gaur. (2014). Enhanced Security Architecture for Data stored in datacentre. Level 9 – Supervisor – 2013/14

Publications

Peer Reviewed Journal Articles

Ekisa, C., Ó. Briain, D. and Kavanagh, Y. (2024). Modelling and Simulating Advanced Cyber-threats to Industrial Control Systems with an Emulated Testbed. 14 June 2024. 35nd Irish Signals and Systems Conference (ISSC), https://doi.org/10.1109/ISSC61953.2024.10603140

Ekisa, C., Ó. Briain, D. and Kavanagh, Y. (2024). Leveraging the MITRE ATT&CK Framework for Threat Identification and Evaluation in Industrial Control System Simulations. 13 June 2024. 35nd Irish Signals and Systems Conference (ISSC), https://doi.org/10.1109/ISSC61953.2024.10602968

Ocaka, A., Ó. Briain, D., Davy, S. and Barrett, K. "Evaluating the Impact of Cyberattacks on PLC Performance: A Systematic Implementation and Empirical Investigation," IFAC-PapersOnLine, Volume 58, Issue 3, 2024, Pages 387-392, ISSN 2405-8963, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ifacol.2024.07.182

Ocaka, A., Ó. Briain, D., Davy, S. and Barrett, K. "Cybersecurity Threats, Vulnerabilities, Mitigation Measures in Industrial Control and Automation Systems: A Technical Review," 2022 Cyber Research Conference - Ireland (Cyber-RCI), Galway, Ireland, 2022, pp. 1-8, https://doi.org/10.1109/Cyber-RCI55324.2022.10032665

Ekisa, C., Ó. Briain, D. and Kavanagh, Y. "VICSORT - A Virtualised ICS Open-source Research Testbed," 2022 Cyber Research Conference - Ireland (Cyber-RCI), Galway, Ireland, 2022, pp. 1-8, https://doi.org/10.1109/Cyber-RCI55324.2022.10032670

Ekisa, C., Ó Briain, D., Kavanagh, Y. (2021). An Open-Source Testbed to Visualise ICS Cybersecurity Weaknesses and Remediation Strategies – A Research Agenda Proposal. 10 June 2021. 32nd Irish Signals and Systems Conference (ISSC), pp. 1-6, https://doi.org/10.1109/ISSC52156.2021.9467852

O’Briain, D., Denieffe, D., Okello, D., & Kavanagh, Y. (2020). The Internet in East Africa, a mixed methods study. East African Journal of Science, Technology and Innovation, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.37425/eajsti.v2i1.193

Ó Briain, D., Denieffe, D., Okello, D., Kavanagh, Y., (2020). Enabling models of Internet eXchange Points for developing contexts. Development Engineering 5, 100057. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.deveng.2020.100057

Ó Briain, D. (2015). How FTTB pilot scheme helped company evolve into retail provider over new wholesale networks [online]. The Engineers Journal. 16 June 2015. http://www.engineersjournal.ie/2015/06/16/fttb-pilot-project/.

Ó Briain, D. (2014). Protecting the future of ICT - is Ireland being left behind? [online]. 14 October 2014. The Engineers Journal. http://www.engineersjournal.ie/2014/10/14/protecting-future-ict-ireland-left-behind/.

Ó Briain, D. and Grandgeorge M. (2012). Telecommunications and the evolution toward the IMS. The Engineers Journal. July/August 2012.

Conference Proceedings and Papers

Ekisa, C.,  Ó Briain, D., Kavanagh, Y. (2021). An Open-Source Testbed to Visualise ICS Cybersecurity Weaknesses and Remediation Strategies – A Research Agenda Proposal. 10 June 2021. 32nd Irish Signals and Systems Conference (ISSC), pp. 1-6, https://doi.org/10.1109/ISSC52156.2021.9467852

Ó Briain, D., Denieffe, D., Kavanagh, Y., Okello, D. (2018). A Proposed Architecture for Distributed Internet eXchange Points in Developing Countries. IST-Africa 2018, 09-11 May 2018, Gaberone, Botswana. IEEE. ISBN: 978-1-5386-7165-8.

Ó Briain, D., Denieffe, D., Kavanagh, Y., Okello, D. (2017). Rebuilding the Internet eXchange Point in Uganda. 28th Irish Signals and Systems Conference, 20/21 June 2017, Killarney, Ireland. IEEE. ISBN: 978-1-5386-2221-6, https://doi.org/10.1109/ISSC.2017.7983593

Ó Briain, D., Denieffe, D., Kavanagh, Y., Okello, D. (2017). Elastic Everything - What of the Developing World?. IST-Africa 2017 Conference 31 May - 02 June 2017, Windhoek, Namibia. IEEE. ISBN: 978-1-5386-3837-8, 

Ó Briain, D., Denieffe, D., Kavanagh, Y., Okello, D. (2016). The move to a software defined future and the implications for Uganda. 15 September 2016. National Conference on Communications (NCC), Mbarara. Uganda Communications Commission (UCC). ISBN: 978-9970-615-01-8.

Dissertation and Thesis

Ó Briain, D. (2010). Measurement and Analysis of Traffic Streams in Residential Broadband Networks. M.Sc. Institute of Technology Carlow.

Ó Briain, D. (2019). Enabling models of Internet eXchange Points to support spatial planning: the case for East Africa. Ph.D. Institute of Technology Carlow.