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Malka N. Halgamuge

Also known as: https://academics.rmit.edu.au/malka-halgamuge

RMIT University, La Trobe University, University of Melbourne, The University of Melbourne

ORCID iD 0000-0001-9994-3778
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About

Dr Malka N. Halgamuge is a Senior Lecture at RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia. She currently serves as Chair of the IEEE Computational Intelligence Society (Victorian Section), Vice Chair of the IEEE Victorian Section, Australia and N2Women Board - Geo-Diversity Co-Chairs (Oceania). Malka is the Associate Editor for IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics (Q1, IF:10.9) and Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence (EAAI), Elsevier (Q1, JIF: 8). She obtained her PhD at the Dept. EEE The University of Melbourne, Australia.

Malka has served as Chief Investigator on multiple grants totaling over AUD $2M, including funding from the Australian Government, e.g., Australian Government grants from Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), Department of Defence, Defence Science Institute (DSI), Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE), and Australian Government, Department of Industry.

Prior to RMIT, she worked as a Researcher in the Dept of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at The University of Melbourne (2007-2021) and Senior Lecturer in Cybersecurity and the Course Coordinator for Micro-credential Subjects (Cybersecurity Short Courses) at La Trobe University. She also worked as the Program Manager for the Australian Government's Cyber Security Skills Partnership Innovation Fund ($4.7m investment) with the Pro Vice-Chancellor and her Industry Engagement team, SCEMS, and industry partners (Wiley, CISCO, GHD, Optus, Quantum Victoria, Practera, War on Wasted Talent) to develop micro-credential short-courses and students' work-based learning placements (industry) to uplift Australia's cyber security capability. She also served as the department's Course Coordinator for Micro-credential Subjects (43 Cybersecurity Short Courses).

She is passionate about research in the IoT, data communications, cybersecurity, AI applications, and the security and energy efficiency of LLMs. Malka has over 120 peer-reviewed publications in scientific journals and conferences. In addition to 49 book chapters, she is a co-author of 5 books: “Mitigating the Risks of AI Deepfakes”, "Integrating IoT and AI for Indoor Air Quality Assessment", "Indoor Air Quality Assessment for Smart Environments", "Natural Disasters, When Will They Reach Me?", and "Resource Allocation in Wireless Networks: Cellular and Sensor Networks".  Her Google Scholar profile: 6030 citations, an h-index of 40, and an i10-index of 95;  SciVal Field-Weighted Citation Impact = 4.99 (2022 to > 2026). She has been consecutively listed among the top 2% of the world’s most cited researchers (Stanford University database, 2020-2025).

Accomplishments:
Fellowships
Malka received the CAS President's International Fellowship from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (2017 & 2018), Incoming Leaders Fellowship from Australia India Institute (2016), Next Step Initiative Fellowship (2015), Australia-China Young Scientist Fellowship (2014), Dyason Fellowship to undertake research at Department of Epidemiology, University of California (UCLA), Los Angeles, USA (2013), Early Career Researcher (ECR) Award (2013) from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. Two papers she co-authored with her PhD students at The University of Melbourne received the Best Paper Award (2012) and Best Student Paper Award (2011). Malka received the Vice-Chancellor's Engagement Award (2010) and the Vice-Chancellor's Knowledge Transfer Award (2008) for her research at The University of Melbourne. She was also awarded the Solander Fellowship (2007 and 2008) for research collaboration with the Departments of Neurosurgery and Radiation Physics at Lund University. She was among the short-listed applicants for both the 2009 and 2010 LOreal Australia for Women in Science Fellowship out of over 200 female scientists who applied in Australia.

Leadership
Malka was the Keynote Speaker (IC2DE’26, ICSIT’26, COSITE'25, ICEMI'25, ICACMVE'23, EcoSSSoil’19, EPR’18), Plenary Speaker (IEEEPowerCon’24, AIBC'24, ICBET'18), Associate Editor, Editorial Board Member, IEEE Senior Member, and Chair of IEEE VIC Computational Intelligence Society, IEEE VIC Section. She was the Program Co-Chair, Track Chair, Publication Chair, Advisory Chair, Publicity Co-Chair, Session Chair, Guest Editor, and a Member of the TPC for 300 international conferences. She has presented 46 invited/guest lectures in academia (e.g., Oxford University, Ohio State University), industry (e.g., IBM, KPMG East Africa, AISA), and at 8 IEEE sections. Malka has conducted 17 media interviews, articles, radio interviews, and TV interviews (ABC News).

Industry Experience
- Electro Magnetic Radiation Consultant, EMR Australia Pty Limited, Sydney (Jan 2014 - 2021).
- Founder & Director of SenseRadiation Pty Ltd (Jul 2015 – Jul 2018)
- Algorithm Trading Researcher/Consultant - Part-time, GreenBox Services Pty Limited, Melbourne - Developing algorithms to predict electricity demand (Sep 2013 - Mar 2014).

Employment

  • RMIT University Senior Lecturer (Cybersecurity)
    2022 - Present
  • La Trobe University Senior Lecturer (Cybersecurity)
    2021 - 2022
  • The University of Melbourne Researcher
    2007 - 2021

Education

  • University of Melbourne PhD (Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical Engineering)
    2003 - 2006

Projects & Funding

Projects & funding information is unavailable.

Publications (201)