Commonwealth Cyber Initiative in Southwest Virginia awards $1 million in new programs

Researchers can learn about future opportunities at next month’s annual regional meeting.

Kelly Izlar

6 Sep 2023

Student in background being filmed by a smart phone, which is in the foreground — Kaushiki Valluri (at right), who recently graduated with a degree in computer engineering, explains her Commonwealth Cyber Initiative-funded research project at last spring's student researcher showcase. Photo by Chelsea Seeber for Virginia Tech.

The Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI) in Southwest Virginia gave a set of ambitious cybersecurity projects a big boost with awards of up to $75,000 each for the current fiscal year.

Such projects are one way CCI Southwest Virginia concentrates talent to further the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative’s mission to advance Virginia as a global cybersecurity leader. Researchers working in data, security, and related areas can learn more about upcoming opportunities at the annual CCI regional meeting on Oct. 3 from 8:30 a.m. to noon.

“What’s your field? If there’s a technological component involved, cybersecurity issues are likely,” said Gretchen Matthews, director of the Southwest Virginia node. “We are here to ensure that researchers have the resources and expertise they need to infuse security into their efforts.”

Focusing on high-impact sectors, CCI teams are uniquely suited to unravel the knottier cybersecurity problems of the day, including projects that:

This year's cybersecurity research projects will:

Advance quantum networks
Ed Barnes, professor, Department of Physics, College of Science, Virginia Tech Center for Quantum Information Science and Engineering
Increase resiliency of communications in cyber-physical systems
Maice Costa, research assistant professor, Virginia Tech National Security Institute
Yalin Sagduyu, research professor, Virginia Tech National Security Institute
Protect adolescents from cybergrooming
Jin-Hee Cho, associate professor, Department of Computer Science, College of Engineering
Lifu Huang, assistant professor, computer science
Sang Won Lee, assistant professor, computer science
Preserve freshness of information in wireless networks without compromising privacy
Harpreet S. Dhillon, professor, Elizabeth and James E. Turner Jr. ’56 Faculty Fellow, Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering
Enhance security for the Internet of Things
Thang Hoang, assistant professor, Department of Computer Science, College of Engineering
Tran Viet Xuan Phuong, research assistant professor, Old Dominion University
Secure automation systems in commercial motor vehicle fleets
Xiaojian Jin, research associate, Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI)
Zeb Bowden, division director, VTTI
Andrew Krum, group leader, VTTI
Rich Hanowski, division director, VTTI
Build faster, simpler, and more secure quantum algorithms
Jason LeGrow, assistant professor, Department of Mathematics, College of Science
Travis Morrison, assistant professor, mathematics
Jamie Sikora, assistant professor, Department of Computer Science, College of Engineering
Simulate and analyze potential smart grid cyber threats in real time
Chen-Ching Liu, American Electric Power Professor, Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering
Build a high-performance intrusion detection system
Wenjing Lou, W.C. English Endowed Professor, Department of Computer Science, College of Engineering
Randy Marchany, university information technology security officer, Virginia Tech IT Security Office and Lab
Mitigate bias in machine-learning models while preserving privacy
Gretchen Matthews, professor, Department of Mathematics, College of Science
Track how personal information propagates across the internet
Alan Michaels, professor, Virginia Tech National Security Institute, Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering
Classify adversarial images from generative artificial intelligence models
Bimal Viswanath, assistant professor, Department of Computer Science, College of Engineering
Taejoong Chung, assistant professor, computer science
Peng Gao, assistant professor, computer science
Combat misinformation campaigns
Yaling Yang, professor, Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering
Lingjia Liu, professor, Bradley Senior Faculty Fellow, electrical and computer engineering
Yang "Cindy" Yi, associate professor, electrical and computer engineering
Protect privacy in health care
Hailong Zhang, assistant collegiate professor, business information technology, Pamplin College of Business
Jiayi Liu, assistant professor, business information technology