Associate professor in CSSE earns fellowship at cyber research center in Tel Aviv to uncover additive manufacturing systems vulnerabilities
Published: Sep 15, 2025 8:40 AM
By Joe McAdory
Want to secure high-tech 3D printers? The first step: learn how to compromise them.
That’s exactly what Mark Yampolskiy, associate professor of computer science and software engineering, will do as a visiting research fellow at Tel Aviv’s Blavatnik Interdisciplinary Cyber Research Center (ICRC), where he’ll collaborate with peer worldwide to uncover vulnerabilities in additive manufacturing systems.
“In cybersecurity, you really need to understand how to attack a system before you can effectively defend it,” said Yampolskiy, whose fellowship begins in late December. “How can they be compromised? How can the compromised system then be manipulated? If you don't this, any defense you build could fail. However, if we do know this, we can better assess existing countermeasures for their sufficiency and also develop better strategies to protect the AM systems. Hopefully, this work will lead to deeper collaboration and even joint research proposals.”
For up to 12 months, ICRC visiting research fellows are provided access to a collaborative environment of 50 faculty members and more than 200 cyber researchers from different faculties, spanning disciplines from computer science to law and humanities. Fellows can pursue research in any scientific discipline relevant to digital trust, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity.
“This fellowship has the potential to put Auburn University on the map at one of Israel’s most prestigious universities,” Yampolskiy said.
Yampolskiy was not only excited about the research itself, but also the opportunity to brainstorm and develop new ideas with fellow researchers in manufacturing cybersecurity.
“Obviously, you can find a variety of expertise here in the United States or here also at Auburn University,” he said. “But typically, people from different countries have different ways of doing science and have insights into how to find alternative solutions or identify some problems. For me, it’s an opportunity to learn from them. For them, it’s an opportunity to learn from me. And I think both sides can greatly benefit from this.”
Yampolskiy earned the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) International Additive Manufacturing Young Professional Award in 2021. Within the ASTM F42 committee, he organized and currently leads the working group whose goal is to develop guidelines and standards for additive manufacturing security that can be used by additive manufacturing adopters.
Currently, he is leading a $425,000 project, “Side-Channel-based Detection, Localization, and Investigation of Sabotage Attacks in Manufacturing,” funded by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, which explores detection methods to prevent sabotage attacks targeting 3D-printed components.
Media Contact: , jem0040@auburn.edu, 334.844.3447
Mark Yampolskiy will collaborate with peer researchers at the Blavatnik Interdisciplinary Cyber Research Center in Tel Aviv to uncover vulnerabilities in additive manufacturing systems.
