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Funded Projects

Research is integral to CCI's mission. The statewide initiative funds collaborative projects that reach across disciplines and geography to find new solutions. 

 


Research in Supply Chain Cybersecurity

The Commonwealth Cyber Initiative has funded several projects that advance the state of Supply Chain Cybersecurity. We awarded 10 grants to members of CCI's research network.


Experiential Learning Programs 2023

The Commonwealth Cyber Initiative has funded a new round of proposals for experiential learning projects that provide Virginia students with the essential skills and knowledge to launch successful careers in cybersecurity. 


Cyber Arts and Design Program 2023

The Commonwealth Cyber Initiative has funded several projects that connect the CCI network with Virginia’s arts and design research community. This second version of the program, following a similar arts and design program in 2020, engages the community of researchers in arts and design to reimagine and depict the results of cybersecurity research either for scientific or creative arts purposes. 


2023: Securing Interactions Between Humans and Machines

The Commonwealth Cyber Initiative Hub, as well as the Southwest Virginia and Northern Virginia nodes, funded 15 cross-disciplinary projects totaling about $800,000. 


2022-2023 Experiential Learning Programs

The Commonwealth Cyber Initiative funded nine projects for a total of about $900,000 as part of its Experiential Learning Grant Call for Proposals.  

VMI cadets work on laptops
One of the projects that CCI funded in experiential learning was for “Future Cyber Security Educators: Empowering Cadets as Educators,” led by Mohamed Azab, assistant professor, computer and information sciences at Virginia Military Institute. Participants get training in leadership methods and teaching techniques while interacting with stakeholders from academia, national defense, and private industry.

CCI Cybersecurity Research Collaboration 2021 Program

CCI Regional Nodes funded six projects for a total of $750,000 in 2021.  


Securing NextG 2021 Program

The Commonwealth Cyber Initiative funded nine projects for a total of $900,000 in late 2021 as part of its Securing NextG Call for Proposals. 


Art and Design Research

The Commonwealth Cyber Initiative has funded several projects that connect the CCI network with Virginia’s arts and design research community. The CCI Building Bridges Arts and Design Collaboration Program engages the community of researchers in arts and design to reimagine and depict the results of cybersecurity research either for scientific or creative arts purposes. 


Cyber Arts and Design Exhibit

The Commonwealth Cyber Initiative’s Building Bridges Arts and Design Collaboration Program funded five projects to connect Virginia’s arts and design community with cybersecurity researchers. Visitors explored these exhibits, which blend artistic sight, sound, and movement with cybersecurity, at the Taubman Museum of Art on Nov. 4-5, 2022.

Musician performs in front of screen with another musician
In the funded project “Enabling Online, Real-time Networked Music Collaboration,” part of a series of projects on the intersection of cybersecurity and arts and design, musicians in different locations could perform as if they were in the same room. This project, along with others funded by CCI’s Building Bridges Arts and Design Collaboration Program, was presented in an exhibit at the Taubman Museum of Art in Roanoke, Va., where Virginia Tech senior DeRay Manning performed virtually with another musician.

Additional Funded Projects

The Commonwealth Cyber Initiative has funded 22 research proposals for a total of $4 million, the initiative announced Dec. 18, 2020. Each of these projects represents a collaboration between faculty members at two or more universities in Virginia, including George Mason University (GMU), James Madison University (JMU), Old Dominion University (ODU), University of Virginia (UVA), Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), Virginia Tech (VT), and William & Mary. MITRE Corp. and the Global Center for Automotive Performance Simulation (GCAPS), an affiliated company of Virginia Tech, also are participating. 

CCI has a Hub and Node structure––the CCI Hub coordinates the entire network and the four CCI Nodes focus on specific regions in Virginia. Projects are organized by node:

The Commonwealth Cyber Initiative has funded five new projects that connect the CCI network with Virginia’s arts and design research community, the initiative announced Dec. 18, 2020. The CCI Building Bridges Arts and Design Collaboration Program engages the community of researchers in arts and design to reimagine and depict the results of cybersecurity research either for scientific or creative arts purposes. CCI has worked in partnership with the Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology at VT and the Da Vinci Center at VCU to create the program. Ben Knapp, founding director of ICAT, and Allison Schumacher, director of academic alchemy at the da Vinci Center, have been instrumental.  

CCI has a Hub and Node structure––the CCI Hub coordinates the entire network and the four CCI Nodes focus on specific regions in Virginia. The CCI Building Bridges Arts and Design Collaboration Program grant awardees, including principal investigator (PI) and CCI Node affiliation, are: 

A Self-Calibrating, Network-Based, Portable High-Density Loudspeaker Array for Evaluation of Cybersecurity Data and Artistic Expression (Southwest VA Node)

Develop a Gamified Mobile Application for Cybersecurity Education and Assessment via a User-Centered Design Process (Coastal VA Node)

Exploring AI and 5G Capabilities for Enabling Online, Real-time Networked Music Collaboration (Southwest VA Node)

Moving Choreography to a New Universe: an AI-Driven Privacy Automation Approach (Central VA Node)

UNDELETED (Northern VA Node)

Earlier this year, the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative sought proposals for scalable pilot programs for experiential learning from member institutions across Virginia that would provide students with industry experience and enhance their skillsets to better prepare them to enter the cybersecurity workforce. The program supports Virginia’s Commonwealth Cyber Initiative that aims to create a statewide ecosystem of excellence in cyber-physical systems and serve as a catalyst for research, innovation, talent development, and commercialization of technologies at the intersection of security, autonomy, and data.

A panel of faculty from CCI member institutions reviewed the submissions and awarded funding for six experiential learning projects to faculty and their students across the state:

Cyber startups: Pilot program for novel experiential learning

Experiential learning through the Commonwealth STEM Industry Internship Program

AI-Security Living Lab Experience (AISLE)

Training in the Integration of Cyber Physical Systems and Security

Drone Racing Competition: Learning, Defending, and Attacking

Data poisoning and satellite reconnaissance: Bridging application and education