Today, we had the privilege of attending an insightful session with Dr. Veelasha and Dr. Peter Schwabe in LT2, where they shared the unique journeys that led them to their successful careers, along with key lessons in research and cryptography.

Dr. Veelasha’s Journey to Research

Dr. Veelasha kickstarted by giving us a detailed roadmap of her career path. She emphasised that she came from a decent family, but her parents prioritised her education and were prepared to do everything to ensure that their children could get the best education possible. She added that after completing secondary education, she went to Australia where she was enrolled in an IT security course. In her first lecture, she was shocked to see the boys outnumbering the girls and thought to herself that maybe this path was not for her and decided to swap courses and do economics instead. She basically said that she entered a “panic” mode where she sought help from many people. At last, she felt reassured when a professor comforted her that “if the boys can do it, so can you”. The latter added that it was the principal reason she was here and that she wanted to enter the IT world. She struggled and worked as a cleaner and a dishwasher to cover the rent of her shared apartment. However, she found joy in what she was doing because she was constantly seeking knowledge, loved to collaborate with others in the field, and deemed her work as having real-world applications.

Dr. Peter Schwabe’s Insights into Cryptography

Dr. Peter Schwabe, the co-inventor of Kyber, also shared his roadmap on becoming a professor. He shared his experience where he was interviewed after a 30-hour flight with little hope for the prospect, but he somehow managed to secure the position. He explained to us the basics of cryptography with the traditional example of Alice sharing encrypted information with Bob and how Eve, an attacker, might intercept the information pipeline and steal personal information. He also pointed out how privacy might become an issue with the emergence of quantum computers and urged the development of a post-quantum algorithm to secure data once more. He then concluded with his various contributions, such as Kyber and OpenTitan.

 

 

Overall, this session was informative and enriched us with a solid foundation of the fundamentals of cryptography and the importance of data security.

Article by Zahiir Peerbux, member of cyberstorm.mu