Pursuing a major research grant can be a daunting task. As part of its mission to promote cybersecurity research, innovation, and workforce development in Virginia, the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI) gives researchers resources they need to snag their target.

The CCI Fellows program is such an initiative. Designed to help researchers submit multi-institutional, multidisciplinary research proposals on a grand scale, submissions are currently being accepted through the CCI hub at the Virginia Tech Research Center — Arlington.

But CCI’s support doesn’t stop there — its pool of programs continues to expand to bolster research and innovation in Southwest Virginia, including the Cybersecurity Research Engagement Program, which recently awarded 13 projects across the university.

Cybersecurity Research Engagement Program

The research engagement program seeds research efforts at the intersection of data, autonomy, and security along two tracks:

  1. Large-scale proposal development support to increase proposal competitiveness through pilot studies, dedicated research time, collaboration, or other specified mechanisms.
  2. Startup engagement to connect students or faculty members with Virginia-based startups.

The following researchers from the College of Engineering; the College of Science; the College of Architecture, Arts, and Design; as well as the Virginia Tech National Security Institute will receive support from the Cybersecurity Research Engagement Program:

  • Principal investigator (PI): Manish Bansal, industrial and systems engineering associate professor

  • PI: Jin-Hee Cho, computer science associate professor
    Co-PI: Bo Ji, computer science associate professor
    Co-PI: Thang Hoang, computer science assistant professor

  • PI: Brendan David-John, computer science assistant professor
    Co-PI: Bo Ji, computer science associate professor

  • PI: Bradley Davis, Spectrum Dominance Division assistant director, National Security Institute
    Co-PI: Alan Michaels, electrical and computer engineering professor

  • PI: Tugba Erpek, National Security Institute research associate professor
    Co-PI: Yalin Sagduyu, National Security Institute research professor

  • PI: Peng Gao, computer science assistant professor
    Co-PI: Bo Ji, computer science associate professor

  • PI: Dong Ha, electrical and computer engineering professor
    Co-PI: Sook Ha, electrical and computer engineering collegiate assistant professor
    Co-PI: Fariborz Loharbi Pour, electrical and computer engineering postdoctoral fellow

  • PI: Ruoxi Jia, electrical and computer assistant professor
    Co-PI: Derek Kaknes, statistics health data scientist

  • PI: Jason LeGrow, mathematics assistant professor
    Co-PI: Travis Morrison, mathematics assistant professor

  • PI: Ali Mehrizi-Sani, electrical and computer engineering associate professor
    Co-PI: Chen-Ching Liu, American Electric Power Professor in electrical and computer engineering associate
    Co-PI: Agnieszka Miedlar, mathematics associate professor
    Co-PI: Paul Cazeaux, mathematics assistant professor

  • PI: Na Meng, computer science associate professor
    Co-PI: Luis Borunda Monsivais, architecture visiting assistant professor of practice
    Co-PI: Andrew Gipe-Lazarou, architecture visiting instructor

  • PI: Xuan Wang, computer science assistant professor
    Co-PI: Aiguo Han, biomedical engineering and mechanics assistant professor

  • PI: Dawei Zhou, computer science assistant professor
    Co-PI: Junjie Hu, University of Wisconsin-Madison
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