Texas Tech Researcher’s Work Focuses On Rural, Remote Critical Infrastructure

Brenda Connor is using private cellular telecommunications and artificial intelligence to improve cyber-physical system security and operational efficiency.

It is no stretch to say the research of Brenda Connor will not only make the world a better place, but will also make it safer, starting right here in our own backyard.

Connor is one of the first new hires at Texas Tech University as a result of the Texas University Fund (TUF) initiative voters resoundingly approved in November 2023. The initiative created a $3.9 billion endowment to support the collective research enterprise at the state’s public universities.

“A stable and secure telecommunications network that ensures government agencies can send essential notifications and citizens remain able to communicate during national and regional crises is foundational to our national security,” said Joseph Heppert, vice president for research and innovation at Texas Tech.

“Telecommunications is now an essential part of nearly all aspects of community and private sector activity and is also key to ensuring the readiness of our armed forces. Dr. Connor’s innovative research will greatly increase the security of the nation’s critical infrastructure. Support for her groundbreaking research is a wonderful example of how TUF is helping Texas Tech recruit outstanding researchers that serve the needs of Texas citizens, while growing the national prominence of our research enterprise.”

Connor’s work dovetails nicely with the strategic-research-focused mission of TUF dollars. Her research centers on the use of private telecommunication networks and artificial intelligence (AI) to strengthen critical infrastructure. The research is as practical as it is vital in the rural, wide-open spaces that characterize West Texas and other areas throughout the country.

“This is not a case of working on technology for technology’s sake,” Connor said. “We are working on technology for societal impact. Critical infrastructure is super important to West Texas because a lot of people here in Lubbock and here at Texas Tech have come from smaller communities, and what we’re working on here is going to help those communities.”

Connor holds a doctorate in engineering and industrial management and is a certified information systems security professional (CISSP) who teaches in the Edward E. Whitacre Jr. College of Engineering after a long career with telecommunications giant Ericsson in the private sector. At Texas Tech, she holds a dual appointment as senior technical managing director of the Critical Infrastructure Security Institute and as professor of practice in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Brenda Connor talking to a man at an industrial site.

The work allows for collaboration across a number of disciplines, including petroleum engineering and animal sciences and Texas Tech enterprises such as the New Deal Farm and the Global Laboratory for Energy Asset Management and Manufacturing (GLEAMM).

“These teams have been extremely open minded to the ‘new guy’ wanting to take them outside their comfort zones,” she said. “I have so many new friends.”

She leads research efforts that have national security and U.S. Department of Defense applications as well as the ability to help businesses improve operational and workforce efficiency. The idea is to accelerate the time it takes to use Integrated Sensing and Communications (ISAC) in protecting critical infrastructure resources such as oil and gas, animals for farm production, water/wastewater systems and microgrids, especially in harsh and remote environments.

In the near term, Connor expects to establish a Critical Infrastructure Telecommunications Ecosystem Incubator (CITEI) that accentuates understanding and collaboration, accelerates commercialization opportunities and – most importantly – addresses national security needs. This has become a huge priority in the face of recent global events with drone-led infrastructure attacks.

The main feature of the ecosystem incubator is ISAC. ISAC integrates radar capabilities into existing cellular telecommunications systems, providing more extensive data-gathering to sense passive devices such as object detection and tracking of drones and cars and pattern-of-life analysis for livestock biosecurity predation detection.

“ISAC is very different from cellular communication,” Connor explains. “With a phone, you send messages and messages are sent back. It’s active and a two-way dialogue. With sensing, it’s one-way with no active participation by the sensed item.”

Brenda Connor talking to a group of engineers.

Likewise, there is application with heavily automated systems, Supervisory and Control and Data Acquisition or SCADA, which often monitor and actuate industrial processes in remote areas.

For example, imagine an oil well, which has numerous controls and sensors providing information about its operational effectiveness and health. If the well encountered a production malfunction, it could be addressed quicker and more cost-effectively.

“SCADA allows for control and monitoring of a system remotely,” Connor said. “If the system is incredibly remote, like some of the areas we have in West Texas, you can not only command and control them, but you can also get visualization of how they’re operating. That’s why SCADA input-output automation is so important.”

There is a direct bottom-line impact for businesses. In the oilfield, as many as 30,000 barrels of oil per year are stolen, according to published reports. Multiply that by the cost per barrel ($60-$100), and it’s a significant amount of money. Other resources such as copper piping also have vanished in large areas difficult to monitor.

A third impact is providing private communications where public telecommunications may be sparse, making it possible to reach an employee with important or new information in real time.

“Right now, if you are unable to talk to personnel, you have to dispatch someone from headquarters or the closest point to go find them,” she said. “It might take a lot longer, and what happens if it’s an emergency situation? Private cellular communications may have a positive financial impact or even a possible life-saving impact.”

The new technology would allow for two-way communication, informational updates and even photographic images of the issue as it is addressed and resolved.

“Obviously, I’m not the only one looking at ISAC,” she said. “I am looking at it in the context of critical infrastructure in areas that are rural remote, and that means I have considerations for modularity and for ease of deployment in areas where you don’t necessarily have a power outlet sitting there waiting for you to plug it in.”