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Sukhwant Sagar

Sessional Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream

Department:

Electrical Engineering & Computer Science

Email: sksagar@yorku.ca

Bio

Dr. Sukhwant Sagar is a Sessional Assistant Professor in the Teaching Stream (CLA) within the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at York University. She earned her PhD in Information Technology from the University of Salford (UK), MSc in Software Systems from BITS Pilani (India), and a B.Tech in Computer Science & Engineering from Punjab Technical University (India). With over 22 years of experience teaching and mentoring undergraduate and graduate students in Computer Science and Software Engineering, Dr. Sagar brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to her role.

Dr. Sagar designs and delivers courses in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, and Cybersecurity. Before joining York University, she taught at Durham College, where she served as the Program Coordinator for the Cybersecurity Graduate Certificate program. In this capacity, she played a pivotal role in developing comprehensive educational programs and fostering collaborations with industry partners. Additionally, Dr. Sagar has taught as a sessional professor in the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science at Ontario Tech University.

Dr. Sagar is actively involved in academic and industry initiatives. She serves as a reviewer for Mitacs Accelerate research proposals, assessing projects by graduate and PhD students. She was invited to participate in the Waterloo Security Dialogue roundtable discussion, organized by CIGI (Centre for International Governance Innovation) and Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst, to address the cybersecurity talent shortage in Canada. Dr. Sagar has also been appointed as a third-party assessor by the Ministry of Colleges and Universities, PARIS: Program Approval & Registration Information System, to evaluate cybersecurity programs developed by private colleges.

Her contributions extend to advisory roles, including serving on the advisory board for the International Conference on Recent Trends in Artificial Intelligence and Data Science (ICRTAIDS-2024). Dr. Sagar has been a speaker at several prestigious events and forums, such as Canadian Women in Cybersecurity, the CISO Forum, the ISC² Toronto Chapter, the Public Sector Network, and other technology-focused conferences.

Committed to continuous professional growth, Dr. Sagar is an AWS Certified Cloud Developer Associate and holds certifications as a Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), Microsoft Azure Cloud Practitioner, AWS Cloud Practitioner, and Accredited Educator. She remains current with advancements in her field through memberships in professional organizations such as ACM, IEEE, ISTE, and CSI.

Research Interests

  • Software Engineering and Design
    Principles of software architecture, object-oriented design, and design patterns, with an emphasis on maintainable, testable systems and the translation of design theory into industry-aligned development practice.
  • Cybersecurity, Privacy, and Digital Forensics
    Information security and privacy-preserving system design, network monitoring, penetration testing, and ethical hacking, extending to computer forensics and incident investigation methodologies.
  • Artificial Intelligence for Secure and Trustworthy Systems
    Applications of machine learning to security problems, including adversarial threats to AI systems such as prompt injection, and the responsible integration of AI tooling into software development workflows.
  • Computer Science Education
    Evidence-based pedagogy for large-enrollment computing courses, including scalable assessment design, automated feedback and code-tracing tools, academic integrity in the age of generative AI, and inclusive teaching practices that broaden participation in computing.

Selected Publications

  • Sagar, S.K., Oladinrin, O.T., Arif, M., Kaushik, A. and Islam, R. (2023), "Impact of trust in virtual project teams: structural equation modelling approach", Construction Innovation, 2023-08-22. https://doi.org/10.1108/CI-03-2023-0039, Emerald Publishing Limited
  • Sagar, S.K., Oladinrin, O.T., Arif, M.and Rana, M.Q.(2023), "Interpretive structural model of trust factors in construction virtual project teams", Construction Innovation, Vol. 23 No. 1, pp. 248-264. https://doi.org/10.1108/CI-09-2021-0179, Emerald Publishing Limited
  • Sagar, S.K., Arif, M., Oladinrin, O.T.and Rana, M.Q.(2022), "Challenges negating virtual construction project team performance in the Middle East", Built Environment Project and Asset Management, Vol. 12 No. 4, pp. 613-629. https://doi.org/10.1108/BEPAM-08-2021-0104, Emerald Publishing Limited
  • Sagar SK, Arif M, Oladinrin OT, Rana MQ (2021) Exploring Factors Affecting Trust in Construction Virtual Project Teams. J Archit Eng Tech 10: 254.
  • Kaur, V. Akre and M. Arif, "SMART project management for SMART cities: Analyzing critical factors affecting trust among Virtual Project Teams," 2019 Sixth HCT Information Technology Trends (ITT), Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates, 2019, pp. 65-72. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9075131
  • Sukhwant Kaur, Dhruv Verma, Trishna Thrinath (2017) “Easy Glass: Implementation of Optimized Glass Technology Using Integrated Fingerprint and Touch-Screen Sensors” in International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), ISSN (Online): 2319-7064, Volume 6 Issue 2, February 2017. DOI: 10.21275/ART2017588
  • Sukhwant Kaur, Mohammed Arif, Vishwesh Akre (2016), “Effect of Social Media on Trust in Virtual Project Teams of Construction Sector in Middle East” in IFIP International Federation for Information Processing 2016, Published by Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016. I3E 2016, LNCS 9844, pp. 419–429, 2016. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-45234-0_38.
  • Sukhwant Kaur, Trishna Thrinath, Sachin Jangir, Dhruv Verma (2014), “Dragon Voice: Implementing Chirognomy Using Text and Speech Recognition Techniques” in International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer Science and Software Engineering, Volume 4, Issue 11, pp- 93-99, November 2014 ISSN: 2277 128X.
  • Megha Satish, Sukhwant Kaur, S.K. Pandey (2014), “Implementation of Radio Frequency Identification Technology in accessing information in Hospitals, IJRET”: International journal of Research in Engineering and Technology, Vol 3, Issue11, November 2014 eISSN: 2319-1163 pISSN: 2321-7308
  • Sukhwant Kaur, Mritunjay Ojha, Anand Pardeshi (2012),” Implementation of Multiplayer Bluetooth Memory Game for Mobile Phones” in International Journal of Information and Electronics Engineering, Vol. 2, No. 5, PP 817-820, September 2012 ISSN:2010-3719 DOI: 7763/IJIEE.2012.V2.216. The paper is indexed in  Google Scholar, Electronic Journals Library, Engineering & Technology Digital Library, Crossref and ProQuest, DOAJ, Ei (INSPEC, IET).
  • Sukhwant Kaur, Mritunjay Ojha, Anand Pardeshi (2012),” Implementation Issues for Developing Credit Card software for mobile phones” in International Journal of Information and Electronics Engineering, Vol. 2, No. 5, PP 821-824, September 2012, ISSN: 2010-3719 DOI: 10.7763/IJIEE.2012.V2.215. The paper is indexed in  Google Scholar, Electronic Journals Library, Engineering & Technology Digital Library, Crossref and ProQuest, DOAJ, Ei (INSPEC, IET).
  • Sukhwant Kaur, Pati, Sandhya; Lotlikar, Trupti; Cheryl, R.; Jagdish, T.; Abhijeet, D. (2011) “Implementation Results of Search Photo and Topographic Information Retrieval at a Location” in International Journal of Advances in Engineering & Technology (IJAET) ISSN: 2231-1963, pp- 227-235 Vol 1 Issue 5, November 2011. Impact Factor: 1.56. The paper is indexed in Indexed by Ei Compendex (Elsevier), Scopus (Elsevier), INSPEC (IET).
  • Kiruthika, Sukhwant Kaur, K.V. Santhilata(2009) “Metrics for Web Application Development” in International Conference on Software Technology and Engineering ICSTE '09, organized by IACSIT Chennai on 24 -26 July 2009, ISBN: 978-9-814 2-8724-1, pp-282-286, DOI: 10.1142/9789814289986_0052 The paper is Indexed in Thomson ISI

For a complete list of publications, please visit my Google Scholar profile.

Recent Projects

Funded Teaching and Learning Projects

Lassonde School of Engineering, York University — Start-up Teaching and Learning Grant

  • Student Code Execution Tracer: A Web-Based Code Visualization and Debugging Tool
    Design and development of an interactive web tool that converts student-authored Java source code into a step-by-step visual runtime trace. Unlike generic algorithm visualizers that replay predefined examples, the tool analyzes the actual behaviour of student code, surfacing logical errors, broken pointer chains, incorrect object references, and structural disconnections that are difficult to detect through code review alone. Organized across four modules — linear structures, trees, heaps, and sorting- it links execution to visual feedback to strengthen debugging skill, conceptual understanding, and problem-solving in data structures.
  • Modernizing EECS3311 Software Design: Contracts (TLA+), Patterns (Java), and Formal Verification (Dafny)
    Realignment of EECS3311 lab and assessment materials with core Design-by-Contract principles, integrating TLA+/PlusCal for formal model checking, Java for object-oriented design patterns, and Dafny for Hoare-triple reasoning and program verification. Adapts relevant material from EECS4315 (Mission Critical Systems) to build a pedagogically sustainable pathway connecting formal verification methods to practical software design.
  • Integrating an Experiential Programming Component into EECS3101: Design and Analysis of Algorithms
    Extension of the programming component introduced in Fall 2025, shifting the course beyond a primarily pseudocode-based treatment toward executable, testable, and debuggable implementations in Eclipse. Covers BST deletion, Dijkstra's algorithm, heap structures, graph representations, topological sorting, and minimum spanning trees.

Supervised Student Research

York University, Lassonde School of Engineering — EECS4080 Independent Project, Summer 2026

  • Detecting Direct Prompt Injection Attacks in LLM Applications
    Design and benchmarking of a local ML detection framework that identifies direct prompt injection attacks at the text ingestion layer, before input reaches the LLM application. Comparative evaluation of four architectures: a fine-tuned DistilBERT classifier, an embedding-based vector-space classifier, a local LLM-as-a-Judge, and an off-the-shelf industry baseline (ProtectAI DeBERTa).

Previously Supervised Undergraduate Projects

Manipal University Dubai, School of Engineering and Information Technology, 2011–2018

Assistive and Accessible Computing

  • Development of a Two-Way Text-to-Voice Communication System on Mobile Phones — Bidirectional speech-to-text and text-to-speech channel enabling communication between users with differing sensory or literacy constraints.
  • Mobility for the Challenged — Navigation and route-planning support for users with physical disabilities, prioritizing accessible paths and barrier avoidance.
  • ViBrain (for users who are deaf or hard of hearing) — Vibration-based alerting layer converting environmental audio cues into haptic signals.
  • V-Mail (for users who are blind or low-vision) — Voice-driven email client with an audio-first navigation model, removing dependence on visual layout.

Sensing and Wearable Systems

  • Easy Glass: Optimized Glass Technology with Integrated Fingerprint and Touch-Screen Sensors — Wearable smart-glass prototype combining fingerprint authentication with touch-surface input for secure interaction on head-mounted displays.
  • Application of RFID Technology in Real-World Games — RFID tagging to bridge physical and digital gameplay, with players and objects tracked through tag reads in a live environment.

Fr. Conceicao Rodrigues Institute of Technology, Mumbai, India, 2008–2011

Mobile Applications

  • Implementation of Credit Card Software for Mobile Phones — Mobile payment application addressing secure transaction handling under the constraints of resource-limited handsets.
  • Multiplayer Bluetooth Games for Mobile Phones — Peer-to-peer multiplayer game over Bluetooth, covering device discovery, connection management, and state synchronization across paired handsets.
  • SMS Spam Manager for Mobile Phones — Client-side filtering system classifying incoming SMS traffic and quarantining unsolicited messages.

Image Processing, Media, and Information Retrieval

  • Design and Architecture of a Feature-Extraction-Based Learning Image Search Engine — Content-based retrieval using extracted visual features rather than text metadata, with a learning component refining ranking against user selections.
  • Image Processing Software for Mobile Phones — On-device manipulation and enhancement pipeline adapted to the memory and compute limits of mobile hardware.
  • Talking Sketch: A Sketch Generation System with Lip-Sync — Sketch-style facial animation synchronized to speech input, combining phoneme extraction with viseme mapping.

Software Engineering and Measurement

    • Metrics for Web Application Development — Definition and empirical evaluation of a metric suite for estimating effort and complexity in web application projects.

Several of these projects resulted in peer-reviewed publications; see Research and Publications.

Courses Taught

Graduate Level:

  • Information Security
  • Network Monitoring and Penetration Testing
  • Computer Forensics
  • Data Structures and Algorithms
  • Linux and C Programming
  • Operating Systems and Scripting Languages
  • Quality Assurance and Software Testing
  • Hacking and Exploits

Undergraduate Level:

  • Advanced Object-Oriented Concepts
  • Software Tools
  • Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
  • Introduction to Programming
  • Object-Oriented Programming
  • Data Structures
  • Design and Analysis of Algorithms
  • Introduction to Software Development
  • Software Engineering
  • Cloud Computing Fundamentals
  • System Software and Operating System
  • Emerging Technologies
  • Object-oriented analysis and design using UML
  • Programming Foundations: Python
  • Software Design and Analysis
  • Principles of Software and Requirements Engineering
  • Image processing
  • Computer Networks and Security
  • Advanced PowerShell scripting
  • Event-driven programming using Java
  • Computer Organization and Design
  • Digital Image Processing
  • Software Testing and Automation
  • Emerging Technologies