Mastering Maritime Cyber Security (MMCS)

Tony Graham
MSc, CEng, MBA, FRINA, FICCPM, FREng, RCNC
Visiting Professor at LJMU

Tony Graham sustained a highly successful track record in engineering and programme/project management inside the Ministry of Defence over a 34-year career. Tony trained as a Naval Constructor and achieved the rank of Constructor Rear Admiral alongside his appointment as Head of the Royal Corps of Naval Constructors.

Whilst he is well known for his leadership of the Battlefield Infrastructure Team during OP TELIC (Iraq War) and his turnaround of both the Landing Ship Dock (Auxiliary) project and the MARS Fleet Tanker project, it is his sustainment of the Queen Elizabeth Aircraft Carrier programme over a highly challenging seven-year period for which he is perhaps best known.

His final role in the UK Ministry of Defence was as Director Ships procuring and supporting all ships of the Royal Navy (2011-2015).

More recent private sector company roles have included Cammell Laird (Chief Operating Officer) and OCEA Shipbuilding UK Ltd (currently Chairman).

Dr Abdul Khalique
Head of Maritime Centre, Programme Leader for Professional Doctorate (EngD)

Dr Abdul Khalique is the Head of the Maritime Centre and Programme Leader for the Doctor of Engineering (EngD) at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU). A qualified Master Mariner, Dr Khalique is a seasoned seafarer turned academic who has worked at Shetland School of Nautical Studies, Warsash Maritime Academy (Southampton Solent University), Serco Marine and now at LJMU. During his shore-based career, he significantly expanded his academic contributions by authoring several widely used textbooks for nautical cadets and officers. Notably, NavBasics has been extensively adopted by institutions such as Durban University of Technology and Akademi Laut Malaysia (ALAM).

Dr Khalique holds a Doctor of Engineering (EngD), with his research focused on Human Factors through use of maritime bridge simulators. As the Head of the Maritime Centre, Dr Khalique supports simulator-based training for senior deck officers and pilots and leads consultancy projects focused on developing new ship and port simulator models for proof-of-concept studies. He led the development of the MSc Renewable Energy and MSc Maritime Energy Efficiency programmes currently offered at Liverpool John Moores University. His expertise contributes significantly to various research initiatives within LJMU.

Dr Alan Bury
BSc (Hons) MA PhD FCILT SFHEA FAUA FInstLM, Senior Teaching Fellow

Dr Alan Bury is a Chartered Logistician and Senior Teaching Fellow at LJMU’s School of Engineering, where he has taught since 2011 and completed his PhD in Transport and Logistics. He has contributed to over forty-two modules in nautical and engineering programmes at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, trained hundreds of seafarers, and supervised more than 22 BSc and 35 MSc dissertations, as well as being involved in the supervision of 9 PhD theses. Dr Bury has authored over 25 peer-reviewed publications and, with additional talks, technical papers, and articles, has produced more than 70 works. He has played a key role in research projects exceeding £7.2 million in funding and is an active member of LJMU’s Maritime Centre, Applied Computing Research Group, and Logistics, Offshore and Marine Research Institute. His research centres on pedagogic innovation in seafarer training, simulator-based teaching, and competency assessment, with further interests in human factors in maritime operations. Prior to joining LJMU, Dr Bury spent nine years as a Merchant Navy Officer operating worldwide. In 2023, he received the Merchant Navy Medal for Meritorious Service, recognising his contributions to maritime education.

Dr Chia-Hsun Chang
Reader, School of Engineering

Dr Chia-Hsun Chang is Reader in Maritime Logistics. He started his position as Lecturer in Maritime Studies and LOOM member in July 2017. Before joining the LJMU, he was an Assistant Professor at Chung-Ang University in South Korea and a Research Fellow at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. His research interests include maritime management, risk management, logistics management, maritime autonomous surface ships (MASS), and maritime cybersecurity. He has more than 70 publications, including 32 high-quality journal papers (e.g., Risk Analysis, Ocean Engineering, Transport Policy, Reliability Engineering and System Safety) and 38 international conference papers.

Dr Chang has completed 10 research grants, mainly in Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) and Maritime Cybersecurity, including MASS risk assessment (funded by CILT), MASS regulations (funded ESRC), MASS education and training (funded IAMU), Maritime cybersecurity risk assessment (funded by IAMU) and Co-I of EU projects.

Dr Chang has successfully supervised 1 postdoctoral and 3 PhD projects from LJMU. Currently, he is supervising 5 PhD students. He is also an Executive Committee of University Transport Study Group.

Dr Christos Kontovas
Reader, School of Engineering

Christos Kontovas is a Reader in Sustainable Maritime Transportation and Logistics at the School of Engineering, Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU). Dr Kontovas holds a Diploma (2005) in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, and a PhD (2011) in the field of maritime safety and environmental protection, both from the National Technical University of Athens, Greece. His research focuses on quantitative methods—including cost-benefit analysis, decision analysis, and risk analysis—related to health, safety, security, and environmental protection, with a particular emphasis on ship air emissions. His recent work has centred on risk management in maritime cybersecurity and various aspects related to autonomous vessels.

Christos has extensive experience through his participation in several large-scale EU projects, as well as from serving as a member of multiple delegations to the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

Dr Kontovas has co-authored more than 80 publications, including over 40 papers in peer-reviewed journals and more than 30 full papers in conference proceedings. He has an h-index of 30 and over 4,800 citations on Google Scholar. Based on citation counts and other relevant metrics, he is listed among the world’s top 2% of researchers in his field (Stanford/Elsevier list).

Dr Steve Symes
PhD MEng BEng BA HGDip HEDip AFHEA CEng MIMarEST MIMechE
Neuroscience, Neuroimaging and Human Performance

Stephen's diverse academic background began with a degree in Business and Finance from the University of Chester. He then pursued a medical degree at the University of Western Australia, where he specialised in ophthalmology and neurology. Demonstrating a unique interdisciplinary approach, Stephen later transitioned to aerospace engineering, undertaking studies at the University of Liverpool before completing his PhD at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) in 2022. His doctoral research specifically explored neurology-based human performance assessments using a TRANSAS simulator.

Presently, Stephen serves as a research fellow in the Computer Science department at LJMU, contributing to advancements in earth monitoring through the application of AI and machine learning models. Outside his academic achievements, Stephen possesses a multi-faceted background. He is a former sportsman, having competed in numerous international swimming events. Simultaneously, Stephen has committed 23 years to service as an officer in the UK military, where he currently holds the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. His service has been acknowledged with the Distinguished Service Order, leading to his honorary position as Director of Operations for the Ministry of Defence. Through the MOD, Steve has worked on multiple cyber security projects. One of which included using AI and ML algorithms to recognise safe and dangerous signals targeting ports, vessels and port holdings. Steve, was also in charge of setting up simulated cyber security threat scenarios using various simulators through the MOD in partnership with the Turing institute and University College London. Steve is a fully certified ethical hacker, has his AZ900, SC900, NETWORK+ & SECURITY+ qualifications through the EC council and CompTIA.

Stephen's diverse academic background began with a degree in Business and Finance from the University of Chester. He then pursued a medical degree at the University of Western Australia, where he specialised in ophthalmology and neurology. Demonstrating a unique interdisciplinary approach, Stephen later transitioned to aerospace engineering, undertaking studies at the University of Liverpool before completing his PhD at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) in 2022. His doctoral research specifically explored neurology-based human performance assessments using a TRANSAS simulator. Presently, Stephen serves as a research fellow in the Computer Science department at LJMU, contributing to advancements in earth monitoring through the application of AI and machine learning models. Outside his academic achievements, Stephen possesses a multi-faceted background. He is a former sportsman, having competed in numerous international swimming events. Simultaneously, Stephen has committed 23 years to service as an officer in the UK military, where he currently holds the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. His service has been acknowledged with the Distinguished Service Order, leading to his honorary position as Director of Operations for the Ministry of Defence. In the private sector, Stephen is a co-founder of SS Trident, an engineering and medical consultancy. He also serves as a Director for Trident Group (a property business), a Non-executive Director and Advisor for Fusion Group (a construction business) and Symes Wealth Management, and holds the position of Chairman at UK Land Source Ltd, alongside his responsibilities as a government advisor.

Dr Chris Mobley
D.Phil, M.Phil, B.Eng
CEO/CTO and Founder, Blueskytec Ltd

Chris is an engineer that has spent his career in academia and Industry. His career has been focused on applied electronic engineering and digital signal processing. His early career was spent at Dockyards with MoD Ship Design where he was introduced into high voltage electrical propulsion systems in Surface Ships and Submarines. A 10-year career at University of Bath and University of West of England, satisfied his curiosity for teaching and research in digital systems and digital signal processing. This included developing sensor systems for high performance Internal Combustion Engines, where he gained an MPhil and PhD. After university life a change of career direction saw Chris work for Thales on a number of Radar and Communication projects, using his DSP knowledge in high performance RF to Base Band systems. In a fortunate meeting, Chris and 3 others founded a company, Persides which they grew to a 100-person team delivering consultancy and products, over a 10-year period. In 2013, the time was right to sell the business and start something new, so in the spring of 2013, Chris founded Blueskytec. In 2005-7, during his time at Persides, Chris was the main technical lead of a new government Software Defined Crypto project, so after forming Blueskytec, armed with his ideas around cryptography, his company provided the perfect vehicle to explore these ideas. 8 years further on and Blueskytec is using its patents to protect some of the UK and US critical assets in the Critical National Infrastructure.

Charlie Bird
Blueskytec Ltd

• The Full Event Fee is £1895.
• A place on the course can be secured by either paying a £1000 (non-refundable deposit) or paying in full (£1895).
• If the event is cancelled for whatever reasons, then a 100% refund of payments made will be provided, LJMU will not be liable for any travel or expenses commitments.
• To ensure optimal delegate experience, each course requires a minimum number of participants. If this threshold is not met, LJMU reserves the right to cancel the course. Delegates will be notified of cancellation at least two weeks in advance and offered a transfer to the next available dates. If unable to attend, a full refund will be provided.
• If a delegate cannot attend and cancels before 20 May 2026 then they can do so free of charge, and a full refund will be provided.
• If a delegate cannot attend and cancels after 20 May 2026 and before 20 June 2026 then they will receive a full refund of fees paid less £500 administration charge.
• No refund will be available if a Participant cancels after 20 June 2026.
• Lunches will be provided each day.
• An Event Dinner is provided one evening.
• The Event security level is Unclassified and is open to international delegates.
• Event fee does not include travel, accommodation, or any other living expenses.
• Upon completion of the booking form, the customer automatically accepts the terms and conditions listed on the brochure. 
• LJMU will not be liable for any failure or delay in the performance, in whole or in part, of any of its obligations in connection with the provision of the course arising from or attributable to acts, events, omissions or accidents beyond its reasonable control. 
• LJMU will not be liable for any loss, injury, or damage to persons or property during the course, except where such loss, injury, or damage is caused by the University’s negligence. The University shall not be responsible for any damage or loss resulting from the actions of the attendees, including damage to any personal equipment they bring on site, such as laptops or other devices.

The event organisers reserve the right to change the events contents, topics, location, schedule or speakers at any time. Speakers may be changed subject to availability or due to their unexpected absence. Location changes will be limited to within LJMU city campus buildings where possible. Topic and content adjustments may occur in response to registrant feedback.

Liverpool is a ‘world in one city’ with a proud heritage of arts, music, sport and culture. Liverpool is home to Liverpool FC and Everton FC. The city has a large and historic waterfront which includes Cammell Laird and a busy cruise ship terminal. Those who love maritime heritage will find much to do, including visiting the Western Approaches Museum (Battle of the Atlantic), U534 The U-Boat Story, and much more.