In a world powered by semiconductor chips—from smartphones to satellites—the hidden lines of silicon are now the frontlines of cybersecurity. Behind the walls of government labs and commercial innovation hubs, a quiet revolution is taking place. At its heart is the work of Dr. Sajeed Mohammad, a young researcher who is transforming how we protect chips from within—at the logic level.
As global industries race to secure supply chains and harden digital infrastructure, the threat to chips has grown alarmingly complex. Hardware Trojans, firmware backdoors, reverse engineering, and code injections now jeopardize not just devices, but entire national security ecosystems. Mohammad’s work addresses this not with patches or post-deployment fixes—but by fundamentally redesigning how chips establish trust at boot, during runtime, and throughout their lifecycle.
The Problem Beneath the Surface
While software exploits garner headlines, the truth is more concerning: if the firmware or the hardware itself is compromised, no amount of software-based protection can truly secure a system. Firmware acts as the bridge between hardware and software, and a single malicious instruction injected at this level can open the floodgates to a range of attacks—from IP theft to system-level hijacking.
Moreover, conventional trust models assume that devices are secure at manufacture, ignoring the possibility of tampering during fabrication, testing, or distribution. The stakes are enormous, not only in terms of financial loss but also national security and human safety.
Engineering Security from the Core
Mohammad’s research focuses on developing a multi-pronged defense against hardware and firmware threats. This includes pioneering secure boot architecture, developing CAD tools, secure hardware, formal verification, creating dynamic attestation frameworks to validate firmware during execution, and designing novel techniques to thwart reverse engineering. This is especially relevant in contexts where hardware or firmware compromise can lead to irreversible control over systems—such as aerospace devices, automotive microcontrollers, and national defense infrastructure.
His innovations, including the DyFORA architecture (Dynamic Firmware Obfuscation and Remote Attestation) and FortBoot (a secure booting protocol rooted in device-specific signatures), present a dramatic shift from traditional static verification methods. Instead of relying solely on pre-deployment firmware checks, these systems continuously validate runtime behavior using hardware-generated entropy, binding firmware, and hardware in ways previously unexplored. These contributions directly bolster defenses against side-channel attacks, firmware piracy, and malicious code injections.
Real-World Validation and Government-Backed Impact
What sets this body of work apart is its tangible relevance. Elements of Mohammad’s work were developed in collaboration with the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC), US Air Force, and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) – backed initiatives focused on building secure semiconductor chips and securing the semiconductor supply chain. These collaborations underscore the national and industrial significance of his research, positioning it as part of a broader solution to safeguard critical infrastructure.
Dr. Mohammad’s work gained national significance when he contributed to the DARPA AISS (Automatic Implementation of Secure Silicon) program—a U.S. defense initiative targeting chip-level protection in the semiconductor supply chain. His research was integrated into methodologies and IP designs that support tamper resistance, supply chain traceability, and logic-level trust assurance.
Peer Recognition and Leadership in the Field
Mohammad’s technical credibility is mirrored by growing peer recognition in top-tier research venues. The body of work has been featured in IEEE and ACM publications and has earned invitations for critical peer review from several elite journals and conferences including IEEE Transactions on VLSI Systems (TVLSI), IEEE Embedded Systems Letters (ESL), ACM Transactions on Embedded Computing Systems (TECS), IEEE Transactions on Design Automation of Electronic Systems (TODAES), IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems for Artificial Intelligence (TCSAI), IEEE International Conference on Computer Design (ICCD) – where he also serves as a Program Committee Member (TPC), IEEE International Conference on Computer-Aided Design (ICCAD), IEEE International Conference on Physical Assurance and Inspection of Electronics (PAINE), IEEE International System-on-Chip Conference (SOCC), IEEE International Conference on Microelectronics (ICM), IEEE International Conference on Consumer Electronics (ICCE), and IEEE International Symposium on Smart Electronic Systems (iSES).
These are not generic invitations; they reflect trust from Tier-1 IEEE/ACM venues where cutting-edge work in hardware security is reviewed and advanced. Such appointments are a testament to domain expertise and reflect trust from the global research community. His insights are shaping the quality and direction of scientific work in these domains, and his influence is increasingly visible across the chip security community.
Bridging Research and Industry
Mohammad’s trajectory stands at the intersection of research and real-world implementation. He has collaborated with prominent government and corporate entities including DARPA, Synopsys, SRC, and ARM, Texas Instruments, transforming theoretical security mechanisms into deployable tools and frameworks for security, verification, and design assurance.
Mohammad currently serves as a Senior CAD Engineer at Rambus, where he brings his academic innovations into practical deployment pipelines for chip manufacturers. His previous internships at Intel and Rambus further enriched his experience, exposing him to the industry’s urgent demand for scalable, verifiable, and power-efficient security mechanisms.
He has published in top-tier IEEE and ACM venues, reviewed for leading hardware security venues, and participated in technical program committees—an unusual feat for someone early in their career. These engagements not only validate the academic rigor of his work but also place him at the heart of ongoing conversations about the future of secure hardware.
Building the Future: Educator and Mentor
During his Ph.D., Dr. Mohammad mentored 27 students across undergraduate and graduate levels. He assisted in hardware security coursework and supported student-led projects, several of which have translated into successful graduate admissions and industry roles.
This mentorship is vital in the domain that faces a global shortage of security-trained engineers. His efforts ensure that a pipeline of skilled professionals continues to grow—critical for defending the next wave of digital infrastructure.
Toward a More Secure Digital Future
Mohammad’s journey is emblematic of a broader shift: a recognition that hardware cannot be treated as a trusted foundation unless the trust is explicitly designed, implemented, and verified. His work offers a blueprint for how we might achieve this—by blending formal verification, cryptographic integrity, and device-specific identity at the lowest levels of system architecture.
As chip design continues to evolve, the need for robust, hardware-rooted security will only intensify. Whether securing medical devices, protecting financial data, or enabling next-generation AI systems, the foundational role of secure silicon cannot be overstated. Researchers like Sajeed Mohammad are making sure that the foundation remains unbreakable.
Looking Forward
Dr. Sajeed Mohammad’s journey—from academia to high-impact industry contributions—mirrors a broader shift in how security must be integrated into technology. His work exemplifies a new mindset: security is not a layer; it is the foundation.
In a world where the stakes are rising—from protecting personal data to defending nations—researchers like Dr. Mohammad are not just engineers. They are architects of trust in the digital age. As the semiconductor industry navigates geopolitical instability, quantum computing threats, and AI’s growing appetite for secure hardware, these foundational innovations will determine the safety, privacy, and sovereignty of global systems.
