Brenda Connor, a recent hire at Texas Tech University, is focusing her research on improving the safety and security of critical infrastructure in rural and remote areas. Her appointment follows the approval of the Texas University Fund (TUF) in November 2023, which established a $3.9 billion endowment to support research at Texas public universities.
“A stable and secure telecommunications network that ensures government agencies can send essential notifications and citizens remain able to communicate during national and regional crises is foundational to our national security,” said Joseph Heppert, vice president for research and innovation at Texas Tech.
“Telecommunications is now an essential part of nearly all aspects of community and private sector activity and is also key to ensuring the readiness of our armed forces. Dr. Connor’s innovative research will greatly increase the security of the nation’s critical infrastructure. Support for her groundbreaking research is a wonderful example of how TUF is helping Texas Tech recruit outstanding researchers that serve the needs of Texas citizens, while growing the national prominence of our research enterprise.”
Connor’s research uses private telecommunication networks and artificial intelligence to strengthen infrastructure, particularly in rural regions such as West Texas. “This is not a case of working on technology for technology’s sake,” Connor said. “We are working on technology for societal impact. Critical infrastructure is super important to West Texas because a lot of people here in Lubbock and here at Texas Tech have come from smaller communities, and what we’re working on here is going to help those communities.”
Connor, who holds a doctorate in engineering and industrial management and is a certified information systems security professional, teaches in the Edward E. Whitacre Jr. College of Engineering. She also serves as senior technical managing director of the Critical Infrastructure Security Institute and professor of practice in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Her work involves collaboration with multiple disciplines at Texas Tech, including petroleum engineering, animal sciences, and university projects like the New Deal Farm and the Global Laboratory for Energy Asset Management and Manufacturing (GLEAMM). “These teams have been extremely open minded to the ‘new guy’ wanting to take them outside their comfort zones,” she said. “I have so many new friends.”
Connor leads research with applications for national security and the U.S. Department of Defense, as well as for improving business efficiency. Her focus is on speeding up the use of Integrated Sensing and Communications (ISAC) for protecting infrastructure resources such as oil and gas, livestock, water systems, and microgrids in remote locations.
Connor plans to establish a Critical Infrastructure Telecommunications Ecosystem Incubator (CITEI) to enhance collaboration, accelerate commercialization, and address national security needs, especially as infrastructure faces new threats such as drone attacks.
The main component of the incubator, ISAC, integrates radar into cellular networks to improve data gathering, such as detecting drones, vehicles, or analyzing patterns related to livestock safety. “ISAC is very different from cellular communication,” Connor explains. “With a phone, you send messages and messages are sent back. It’s active and a two-way dialogue. With sensing, it’s one-way with no active participation by the sensed item.”
She also highlights the importance of Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems in monitoring and controlling remote industrial processes. “SCADA allows for control and monitoring of a system remotely,” Connor said. “If the system is incredibly remote, like some of the areas we have in West Texas, you can not only command and control them, but you can also get visualization of how they’re operating. That’s why SCADA input-output automation is so important.”
Connor notes that theft in oilfields—sometimes as much as 30,000 barrels annually—poses significant financial losses, with other resources like copper also at risk due to limited monitoring in large rural areas.
Another benefit of her research is improving private communications where public networks are lacking, allowing real-time contact with employees in remote areas. “Right now, if you are unable to talk to personnel, you have to dispatch someone from headquarters or the closest point to go find them,” she said. “It might take a lot longer, and what happens if it’s an emergency situation? Private cellular communications may have a positive financial impact or even a possible life-saving impact.”
The technology would enable two-way communication and real-time sharing of information, including images during incident resolution. “Obviously, I’m not the only one looking at ISAC,” she said. “I am looking at it in the context of critical infrastructure in areas that are rural remote, and that means I have considerations for modularity and for ease of deployment in areas where you don’t necessarily have a power outlet sitting there waiting for you to plug it in.”
