Rizwan Merchant
Software Engineer & Cyber Security Researcher
Computer Science alumnus from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, pursuing a Master’s Degree in Computer Science with a focus in Cyber Security of Cyber Physical Systems, and prior experience in aerospace project development, specifically small satellites. Excellent project management skills, enjoys a high-pressure team environment. Quickly integrates into projects with any existing development platform and perform designing, coding, debugging, and testing application and system software.
Rizwan Merchant
September 11th, 1987
Lafayette, LA
- IEEE National Member - Since January 2015
- Young Amateur Radio Club - Since January 2019
Science Applications International Corporation
Location: Houston, TX
Systems Safety Engineer
Contractor in support of NASA's Safety and Mission Assurance Government Furnished Equipment division providing safety analysis of software for various NASA missions, including static analysis of software, Failure Mode and Effects Analysis. Hazard Analysis, design safety reviews.
Cajun Advanced Picosatellite Experiment
Location: Lafayette, LA
Program Manager June 2017 - Current
Oversees the CAPE Program's projects, and business activities, and developed organization charter and structure for organization .
ESG-Grid Project Manager & Software Developer January 2014 - Current
Developing smartphone controlled mobile Ground Station network to communicate with cubesats in orbit.
CrawSat VI Software Developer November 2017 - March 2018
Developed software for the CrawSat VI High Altitude Weather Balloon Project to gather sensor data and transmit to a ground station via radio.
CAPE-2 Assistant Project Manager & Software Developer June 2011 - November 2013
Developed Ground Station software to communicate with the CAPE-2 Satellite in orbit, and Integration Manager providing spacecraft updates and documentation to NASA and Launch Provider.
CrawSat III Project Manager Feburary 2008 - January 2010
Managed team and wrote software for CrawSat III Weather Balloon Project.
Informatics Research Institute at University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Location: Lafayette, LA
Research Assistant
Developing Cyber Securty Assessment of Electric Vehicles, Charging Stations, and Building Energy Management Systems for the Informatics Research Institute and Idaho National Laboratory and United States of America Department of Energy.
Idaho National Laboratory
Location: Idaho Falls, Idaho
Software / Reverse Engineering Intern in Cyber Security Research and Development Department
Investigated Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructures Security for DC Fast Charging and Wireless Inductive Charging, specifically standards for IEEE 802.11p and SAE J2735 (Dedicated Short Range Communications Dictionary Message Set). Implemented an IEEE 802.11p Packet Sniffer and Transmitter using GnuRadio and a HackRF software defined radio. Additionally implemented a charging station power switch using a Velocio Programmable Logic Controller.
Andy-X
Location: Lafayette, LA
Project Manager
Worked on Research and Development of Robotic Swarm Utilizing Android Smart Phones as Undergraduate Research Assistant.
Techneaux Technology Services
Location: Lafayette, LA
Student Project Manager
Managed a student project to develop a Help Desk Ticketing System Mobile Application for Android and iOS platforms, and was lead Android developer
Software Developer Intern
Maintained and developed company application, responsible for managing employee work logs, company invoicing, service ticketing, and various other features using .Net and LightSwitch.
UL Lafayette Upward Bound Summer Enrichment Program
Instructor
Taught web-development summer classes to high-school upperclassmen each summer.
Masters Degree
University of Louisiana at Lafayette in Lafayette, LA
Masters of Science, Computer Science
Thesis: Improving Vehicle to Infrastructure Security Through Trusted Authentication: Application to Electric Vehicles
Bachelors Degree
University of Louisiana at Lafayette in Lafayette, LA
Bachelor of Science, Computer Science Minor in Psychology, May 2016
Amateur Radio License
Federal Communication Commission Issued License: KF5BNL
Cyber-physical System Security of Vehicle Charging Stations
R. Gottumukkala, R. Merchant, A. Tauzin, K. Leon, A. Roche and P. Darby, "Cyber-physical System Security of Vehicle Charging Stations," 2019 IEEE Green Technologies Conference(GreenTech), Lafayette, LA, USA, 2019, pp. 1-5.
National Society of Leadership and Success Membership
Inducted in November 2018 by the National Society of Leadership and Success, UL Lafayette Chapter
Delta Alpha Pi Honor Society Membership
Inducted in April 2018 by the Delta Alpha Pi Honor Society, UL Lafayette Chapter
Louisiana Clean Fuel Leader Award: Most Innovative Project of the Year 2017
Awarded to the Diagnostic Security Module Team at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in Association with the Informatics Research Institute and the Idaho National Laboratory.
IEEE Region 5 Student Paper East Area Contest 2015
2nd Place for research paper entitled "Android Smartphone-based Robotic Swarm Technology" to IEEE Region 5 East Area Student Paper Contest.