Mastering Maritime Cyber Security (MMCS)

Philip Waterhouse
FJMU FCILT MA DL, Visiting Professor at LJMU

Phil Waterhouse joined the Royal Navy as a Junior Sailor in 1982, he was about to commence Petty Officer courses when he was promoted to the Officer Corps in 1988.

Roles included logistics command posts at sea in Frigates, Destroyers and Amphibious ships as well as seagoing appointments on operational battle staffs. Ashore he commanded the Defence Maritime Logistics School as well as a major MOD logistics project, was the head of RN logistics strategy and future capability and was the Deputy Commanding Officer/Chief Operating Officer of Devonport Naval Base. On selection for Commodore, he became Naval Regional Commander Northern England and the Isle of Man in early 2017 and in 2021 further assumed the duties of Commander RN Cadet Forces, coincidentally he became an Aide de Camp to the Sovereign.

Retiring from the Royal Navy in 2023, he worked for two years as the Group Corporate Affairs Director for APCL, an international and national group of companies that provide naval and mercantile ship building, ship repair and ship maintenance.

Leaving APCL in late 2025, in 2026 he set up Steer North Ltd, a Maritime and Naval Consultancy business, he is the MD.

Phil is a Deputy Lieutenant of Greater Manchester, an Honorary Fellow of Liverpool JM University, a Fellow of the Institute of Logistics and Transport, the Chairman of Mersey Maritime, Chairman of the Maritime Art Collection Under Steam, Patron of Alexandra House Plymouth, President of Hull4Heroes, an RNRMC Ambassador and is a Younger Brother of Hull Trinity House. A former Chair of Broughton House Veterans Care Village in Salford and the current Vice Chair (Navy) of the North of England RFCA, he is passionate in supporting the Armed Forces Covenant and all it means for serving and retired service personnel and their families.

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. Dinos Anthony Kerigan-Kyrou
PhD, CMILT, AMRINA

Dinos Kerigan-Kyrou is a founding member of the Cybersecurity Taskforce of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects. Between 2022 and 2025 he was the rapporteur of the NATO Maritime Interdiction Operational Training Centre - NMIOTC - Maritime Conference and Maritime Cybersecurity Conference. At NMIOTC Dinos assists in the development of the maritime hybrid threats course. He is a NATO DEEP (Defence Education Enhancement Programme), Professional Military Education instructor and has served in Africa, the Balkans, and Central Europe. Dinos is a member of the Partnership for Peace Consortium (PfPC) Marshall Center Academic Publications Board. He is a coauthor of the NATO / PfPC Cybersecurity Curriculum and a lead contributor for the Hybrid Threats and Hybrid Warfare Curriculum. Dinos is an advisor at CompleteGRC Ireland, and a board member of The Cyber Escape Room Co. He holds the Lead Auditor qualification in Information Security Management Systems from the British Standards Institution. Between 2017 and 2024 he coordinated and led the cybersecurity and hybrid threats education and training for the Joint Command and Staff Course of the Irish Defence Forces.

Captain (retired) Jamie Redfarn

Jamie Redfarn was a Woodroffe Scholar at Trinity College, Oxford where he read his undergraduate degree in Theology and Religion. He pursued an MSc at SOAS and where he wrote his thesis on the PLA Navy’s expansion in conjunction with the Belt Road Initiative. He commissioned into the Life Guards, The Household Cavalry and served two operational tours in Eastern Europe and the Balkans. Jamie is a member of the Cybersecurity Task Force of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects, and rapporteur of the NATO Maritime Interdiction Operational Training Centre Conference and Cybersecurity Conference, 2026.

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 (for example 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.
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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.