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CCI in Arlington this month welcomed an 18-member delegation from Taiwan, which included leadership from the Taiwan Bureau of Standards, Metrology, and Inspection (BSMI) of the Ministry of Economic Affairs; Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI); Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER); Taiwan Testing and Certification Center (ETC); Metal Industries Research & Development Centre (MIRDC); Institute for Information Industry, Software Technology Institute; Auray Technology Corp.; and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States.
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CCI's 2023 Annual Report Now Available
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We recently posted our annual report for fiscal year 2023. You can learn more about the work we’re doing in our workforce development, innovation, and research mission lines.
In four years of operations, CCI has brought in $192 million in external funding, contributed to the creation of 2,517 jobs, helped generate $196 million in labor income, and added $367 million to Virginia’s Gross Domestic Product. CCI has formed 652 external partnerships since we began operations in 2020.
In fiscal year 2023, CCI supported a record 330 interns. CCI workforce programs also resulted in 45 direct full-time job placements. It's a good start to addressing the more than 60,000 open cybersecurity jobs in Virginia (source: CyberSeek.org).
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CCI Research Director Eric Burger shares his expertise at a congressional briefing for Global Encryption Day.
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CCI Research Director Eric Burger served as panel moderator at the PGP* (Pretty Good Policy) for Crypto – Congressional Briefing and Panel for Global Encryption Day. House Majority Whip Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., participated in the Oct. 17 event.
Eric brings deep and varied experience to CCI with his more than 25 years in industry, academia, and government. He added invaluable insight while moderating the panel, discussing such complex topics as the ongoing debate between law enforcement's need for "backdoors" into encrypted communications for criminal investigations and the cybersecurity risks such backdoors could pose.
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CCI xG Testbed goes on the road
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The CCI xG Testbed is a standout in the nation, allowing industry and researchers to put their products and ideas to the test. The testbed also is an Open Testing and Integration Center (OTIC) as designated by the Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) Alliance. We're one of 15 OTICs in the world and the only one in Virginia and the Washington, D.C., region.
Aloizio P. DaSilva, CCI xG Testbed director, has been taking our story on the road in the past month, including to the highly regarded Mobile World Congress in Las Vegas and to international conferences.
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Apply now to INNOVATE Cyber Challenge
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The next cohort of the outstanding INNOVATE Cyber Challenge runs from Jan. 11 to April 18, 2024. Applications from undergraduate cybersecurity students attending public Virginia two- and four-year institutions are being accepted through Dec. 15, 2023.
Students earn $1,000 participating in this online experiential learning program. They work in teams to identify a cybersecurity-related challenge or issue and use a design-thinking approach to address the challenge, honing their skills along the way. The results are impressive. I look forward each year to the students’ presentations and strongly encourage Virginia undergrads to apply.
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George Mason University’s PatriotHacks is a smashing success!
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From left, Sai Preethi Pantangi, Akhil Rachure, a Salesforce representative, Sai Kumar Kattera, and Kevlar Nalankilli. The team won two tracks at the hackathon, one sponsored by Peraton and another sponsored by Salesforce. Both their winning projects involved mapping out areas where car crashes have occurred.
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For 36 hours earlier this month, more than 500 students gathered in person and online to participate in PatriotHacks. They tested their skills and acquired new ones under intense but fun conditions. Nine sponsors devised problems for the students to solve.
"CCI NoVa Node is making significant investments in hands-on cybersecurity experiences for the tech talent pipeline in the [Northern Virginia] region,” said Liza Wilson Durant, CCI Northern Virginia Node director. “Events like PatriotHacks are an important way to build technical capacity in students, share innovative ideas across disciplines, and support the development of the diverse pipeline of talent we are cultivating in Northern Virginia."
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CCI researchers winning significant grants and awards
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The Department of Defense awarded a $9 million grant to the Virginia Commonwealth University College of Engineering for research and development of electro-optics, infrared, radio frequency, and edge security technologies.
“The future of engineering is interdisciplinary,” said CCI Central Virginia Director Erdem Topsakal, who also is a co-lead of DoD grant-funded The Convergence Lab Initiative. “Innovative research breakthroughs are the direct result of experts from many fields collaborating to solve the complex challenges we face today. The result will be improved national security and new technology that also has a place in the commercial sector.”
CCI Southwest Virginia Node Director Gretchen Matthews and Hiram H. López, mathematics assistant professor, received a combined $626,117 National Science Foundation grant for their project “Evaluation Codes, Duals, and Applications.” The researchers are focusing on designing codes and algorithms that recover erased data or correct errors using less information than traditional methods, building frameworks for use in practical settings, and employing them in quantum error correction.
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FBI’s Cyber Collegiate Academy at VCU Cybersecurity Center
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More than 200 students from Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia State University, and the University of Richmond, attended the Richmond FBI’s Cyber Collegiate Academy earlier this month. Led by CCI Fellow Milos Manic, the VCU Cybersecurity Center (CSeC) hosted the event, which had 300 applicants –– 100 more than the event could accommodate.
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Old Dominion University and CCI Coastal Virginia Node hire new
cybersecurity faculty
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As we grow Virginia’s cybersecurity ecosystem, more cybersecurity professors are needed to teach the next class of future professionals. ODU and CCI Coastal Virginia Node have hired six faculty members, three of whom are a result of a collaboration with George Mason University and the CCI Northern Virginia Node, which also will have new hires. The CCI Supply Chain Cybersecurity Cluster will conduct cybersecurity-related research and collaborate on federally funded research grants.
In addition, ODU has appointed Frank Liu as the inaugural director of ODU’s new School of Data Science.
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First international srsRAN Project Workshop a big success
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CCI researchers and grad students learned a lot and enjoyed the first global srsRAN Project Workshop at the Virginia Tech Research Center in Arlington this week. Our partner Software Radio Systems (SRS) hosted the two-day workshop, bringing together the international 5G radio access network (RAN) community.
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Don’t miss the final Clearance Preparedness Program session
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Our online Clearance Preparedness Program has been a rousing success. The final session on Nov. 29 at 3:30 p.m. covers social media and what to consider in a virtual world. Missed a session? You’ll find recordings of past sessions on our website. Participants who attended 80 percent of the sessions will receive a certificate of completion.
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Looking to hire cybersecurity students? Commonwealth Cyber Fusion
is a must attend
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Virginia companies have discovered where to find up-and-coming cybersecurity professionals –– at Commonwealth Cyber Fusion, which will be held Feb. 23-24, 2024, at the Virginia Military Institute.
The hackathon event is great for students, but companies benefit, too! At Cyber Fusion’s job fair and employer panel, companies such as CACI have met future interns who often become full-time employees. I encourage our industry partners to beat the rush and join this event.
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Cybersecurity Awareness Month is drawing to a close, but we still have lots of activity moving forward. Follow us on social media, and visit our website to keep up with our latest news.
I’m honored to serve as General Chair for IEEE MilCom 2023 and am looking forward to seeing many CCI researchers and partners next week.
Cheers,
Luiz DaSilva
Executive Director
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