CCI Workshop: Next Steps for NextG

Earlier this month, about 30 researchers from George Mason University, Old Dominion University, University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Virginia Tech, who are working on CCI-funded Securing NextG projects, gathered in Arlington to discuss their work with the hopes of sparking ideas for more projects. 

It’s the second such workshop—the first was for CCI-funded projects concerning cybersecurity’s role in curbing misinformation and disinformation. The seemingly simple act of meeting face-to-face and the research connections that can result makes me especially excited to attend the upcoming first CCI Symposium in early April, where about 200 CCI-funded researchers and students will discuss cybersecurity-related projects and participate in professional development training.

New NSF Assistant Director of Technology, Innovation and Partnerships to give keynote at CCI Symposium

We’re looking forward to hearing from symposium keynote speaker Erwin Gianchandani. Last week, he was named the inaugural assistant director of a new National Science Foundation directorate focused on Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP). The new directorate is expected to help accelerate the development of new technologies and products. It also shares a focus with CCI––trustworthy artificial intelligence and cybersecurity.  

New Call for Proposals will catapult your research idea to the marketplace

Dreams to Reality Incubator
opens at VCU

Virginia Commonwealth University, which leads the CCI Central Virginia Node, opened the Dreams to Reality Incubator (D2RI) this month. The incubator will host a program for faculty-student teams. A call for proposals is expected in June 2022. Please email d2ri@vcu.edu with any questions.

CCI Cyber Camp

Virginia undergraduate students are invited to join us for the enormously popular CCI Cyber Camp on June 6-9, 2022 at the Virginia Tech Research Center in Arlington, Virginia. Registration is open now and closes April 1. There is a qualifying event April 8-10 and also an information session at 1 p.m. March 28. Students will be able to test their skills, learn some new ones, and polish their resumes, cover letters, and job interview techniques to help them build a career in this meaningful field.

The qualifying event is focused on cybersecurity specifically in the areas of cryptography, networking, reverse engineering, and web. It would be helpful for students to have experience with network packet analysis using tools such as Wireshark or tcpdump. For some reverse engineering challenges, it helps to be comfortable using a Linux system and know about assembly language programming and how to do some basic software reverse engineering. Other challenges mostly require technology and programming experience that students would encounter in their computer science or electrical and computer engineering studies. Python scripting might help with some of the challenges but is not necessary.

Please share the news and encourage Virginia undergrads to register!

Building Up

We’re hard at work building what will become the largest indoor software-defined radio (SDR) network testbed in the United States based on the Open Access Radio Network (O-RAN). When equipment arrives, researchers go grab the tool box and get to work. 

Power Delivery Units (PDUs), which allow researchers to remotely turn radios on and off, went up in the ceiling racks this month. The PDUs joined Octoclocks, which synchronize the radios, enabling massive scale multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) experiments. This equipment also will save power, greening the testbed.

External funding

Experiential Learning Proposals due soon

CCI-funded art project on display at
George Mason University

Artist Michael McDermott had to consult a lawyer before undertaking a CCI-funded art project using about discarded cell phones from which he extracted some 221,074 images and 30,958 texts. One of the installations from this ongoing project, "Undeleted," is on exhibit through March 25 in the Buchanan Hall Gallery on George Mason University’s Fairfax Campus, where McDermott is an assistant professor in the School of Art. Learn more about the art project and its timely take on cybersecurity.

Cyber Fusion

I had a great time attending the Commonwealth Cyber Fusion event, which was co-hosted by the Virginia Military Institute (VMI), Sen. Mark R. Warner, CCI, and the Virginia Cyber Range. More than 130 students representing 19 Virginia colleges competed. 

There were two competing divisions, one for community colleges and the other for four-year colleges. Community college winners were Lord Fairfax Community College in first, Danville Community College in second, and Northern Virginia Community College in third place. The defending champion, George Mason University, captured first for the four-year college division. Liberty University came in second, the University of Virginia placed third, and VMI came in fourth. Congratulations students!