ITL Ustus Agur Scholarship was awarded to TalTech doctoral student Junaid Sajid

The scholarship was awarded to Junaid Sajid, a doctoral student at Tallinn University of Technology, for his outstanding doctoral thesis, which is closely related to the needs of Estonian society, on the topic of artificial intelligence-based detection of malicious drones using mobile communication networks. The doctoral thesis is supervised by Muhammad Mahtab Alam from TalTech.

The use of drones is rapidly expanding in both civilian and military applications – from agriculture and logistics to urban planning and national defense applications. However, their growing role brings new security risks. Traditional detection methods, such as radar or cameras, may not work in densely populated areas, with low-flying drones, or in stealthy scenarios.

Junaid Sajid’s doctoral thesis offers a novel solution to this challenge. His framework analyzes mobile network signal metrics and drone movement patterns, enabling real-time detection and classification of malicious drone behavior. The solution leverages existing 5G infrastructure, making it energy-efficient, cost-effective, and quickly deployable.

Fellow Junaid Sajid: “I am deeply honored to receive the Ustus Agur Fellowship and am sincerely grateful for this recognition. Estonia is one of the world’s most advanced digital countries, and my goal is to contribute to ensuring that our society is safe and technologically resilient. My research shows how existing and future mobile infrastructure can be used for early detection and mitigation of drone threats using AI-based methods. I hope that its results will help strengthen both Estonia’s security and the development of safe autonomous systems. My research is carried out in collaboration with two leading technical universities: Politecnico di Milano and the National University of Sciences and Technology. We are also grateful to the NATO Science for Peace and Security Programme for supporting this research under one of its priority areas.”

Scholarship recipient Junaid Sajid and co-supervisor Ivo Muursepp from TalTech

In addition to the security field, the research will help promote smart urban space, rapid crisis response and the safe deployment of new drone-based services. The solution supports Estonia’s ambition to develop digital independence, a capable ICT ecosystem and an innovation-based economy.

Andre Visse, member of the ITL board (Telia Eesti AS), says that the Ustus Agur scholarship is a recognition with a long tradition, with which we want to highlight doctoral students who create added value for the entire Estonian economy and society through research. “Doctoral specialists are the backbone of our technology sector – they bring new knowledge to companies, increase innovation capacity and help Estonia remain at the forefront of digital countries. Junaid’s work is an excellent example of how high-level science helps solve real and pressing security and societal issues and creates the basis for new technological opportunities.”

Eeva Vakker, Development Manager of the IT Academy at Harno, said that this year’s competition highlighted research topics with significant relevance for Estonia’s digital society and the technology sector. The standard of this year’s competition was very high, and the candidates’ proposals offered well‑reasoned, practical solutions to the technological challenges facing Estonian society.

The ITL Ustus Agur Scholarship is intended to support a doctoral student at a public university whose research is related to the field of information and communication technology (ICT) or its applications. The aim of the scholarship is to honor the legacy of Ustus Agur, a pioneer of the Estonian information society, and to recognize doctoral students who contribute to Estonia’s digital future. The scholarship has been awarded since 2003 and is part of the IT Academy program, coordinated by HARNO in cooperation with universities and ICT sector companies.

Photos: Joanna Jõhvikas
ITL and HARNO press release 28. November 2025