About

Mohsen Salehi

I am a PhD candidate at the Dependable Systems Lab (Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, UBC) under the supervision of Prof. Karthik Pattabiraman. My research focuses on security in embedded and robotic systems — including firmware debloating, compartmentalization, and ML-based attack recovery for cyber-physical systems. I received my M.Sc. from Sharif University of Technology (2020) and my B.Sc. from the University of Isfahan (2018).

Research

Publications

USENIX VehicleSec '26
RVDebloater: Mode-based Adaptive Firmware Debloating for Robotic Vehicles
Mohsen Salehi and Karthik Pattabiraman
USENIX Symposium on Vehicle Security and Privacy (VehicleSec), 2026 Acceptance Rate: TBD
arXiv
ACM CCS '24
AutoPatch: Automated Generation of Hotpatches for Real-Time Embedded Devices
Mohsen Salehi and Karthik Pattabiraman
ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security, 2024 Acceptance Rate: 16.7%
arXiv ACM DL Artifact
ACM CCS '22 — Poster
Poster: AutoPatch — Automatic Hotpatching of Real-Time Embedded Devices
Mohsen Salehi and Karthik Pattabiraman
ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security, 2022
ACM DL
IEEE IoTJ
PLCDefender: Improving Remote Attestation Techniques for PLCs Using Physical Model
Mohsen Salehi and Siavash Bayat-Sarmadi
IEEE Internet of Things Journal, 2020 Impact Factor: 10.6
IEEE Xplore
Background

Education

University of British Columbia
PhD Candidate · Computer Engineering
Research: Enhancing Security in Critical Embedded Devices
Supervisor: Prof. Karthik Pattabiraman  ·  GPA: 90/100 (A+)
Sep 2021 – Present
Sharif University of Technology
M.Sc. · Computer Engineering / Secure Computing
Thesis: Improving Remote Attestation Techniques for IoT Devices Using Physical Model
Supervisor: Dr. Siavash Bayat-Sarmadi  ·  GPA: 19.37/20
Sep 2018 – Sep 2020
University of Isfahan
B.Sc. · Computer Engineering / Software Engineering
Thesis: Design and Implementation of an Access Control Solution for Hybrid Mobile Applications
Supervisor: Dr. Behrouz Tork Ladani  ·  GPA: 17.3/20
Sep 2014 – Sep 2018
Academic

Experience

Teaching Assistantship — UBC
Software Engineering Project (CPSC 319)
Instructor: Dr. Jerry Jim
2025, 2026
Computer Engineering Capstone Design Project (CPEN/EECE 491)
Instructor: Dr. Paul Lusina
2024, 2025, 2026
Building Modern Web Applications (Vancouver Summer Program)
Instructor: Prof. Karthik Pattabiraman
2023, 2024, 2025
Program Analysis for Reliability and Security Engineering (CPEN 400P)
Instructor: Prof. Karthik Pattabiraman
2022, 2023
Software Construction II (CPEN 322)
Instructor: Prof. Karthik Pattabiraman
2022
Co-supervisor · UBC
Jerry Shao  ·  Luke Matson  ·  Boyd Hamilton  ·  Kevin Li
Teaching Assistantship — Sharif University of Technology
Hardware Security and Trust (CE 40749) Head TA
Instructor: Dr. Siavash Bayat-Sarmadi
2018 – 2020
Cryptographic Engineering (CE 40744)
Instructor: Dr. Siavash Bayat-Sarmadi
2018 – 2020
Recognition

Honors & Awards

University of British Columbia
President's Academic Excellence Award
2021 – 2026
Four Year Fellowship (4YF) — top 10 students in incoming PhD class
2021 – 2025
Academic Excellence Award
2021 – 2026
Faculty of Applied Science Graduate Award (GSI)
2023 – 2025
2nd Place — Vancouver Unikraft Hackathon
Sep 2023
Sharif University of Technology
1st Place — M.Sc. graduates in Computer Engineering
2018 – 2020
Member & Fellow — Iran's National Elites Foundation & Exceptional Talent Center
2019 – 2020
60th Place — Iranian national Computer Engineering M.Sc. entrance exam (20,000+ participants)
2018
University of Isfahan
3rd Place — Artificial Intelligence Challenge, Sharif University of Technology
2016 & 2017
3rd Place — B.Sc. graduates in Software Engineering
2014 – 2018
Honorable Mention — ACM/ICPC Regional Contest, Asia Region
2016
Top 1% — Iranian university entrance exam for B.Sc. (250,000+ participants)
2014
Community

Service

Subreviewer
IEEE/IFIP DSN
2022, 2025, 2026
Artifact Evaluation Committee Member
IEEE/IFIP DSN 2024 — inaugural AE track
2024
Subreviewer
DeepTest'23 Workshop (co-located with ICSE)
2023
Subreviewer
International Symposium on Reliable Distributed Systems (SRDS'23)
2023