Bringing its deep expertise in wireless communications, cybersecurity, engineering, and mathematics, Virginia Tech has joined an industry-university collaborative research center focused on cyber research and funded by the National Science Foundation. 

Virginia Tech and the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI) are boosting the capabilities of the National Science Foundation's Cyber SMART Research Center. SMART stands for science, management, applications, regulation, and training.

“Cyber SMART, from its initiation and by design, is multidisciplinary, but due to the nature of both the University of Notre Dame and Georgetown University, our science and engineering coverage was limited,” Cyber SMART Center Director Ophir Frieder said. “Virginia Tech becoming a Cyber SMART site dramatically altered our landscape.  Specifically, Virginia Tech joining Cyber SMART not only vastly expanded our research scope through its engineering excellence, but it also, especially through CCI, greatly enhanced our impact in terms of personnel development.”

Virginia Tech hosted the Cyber SMART Fall 2024 Research and Industry Advisory Meeting earlier this month at the Virginia Tech Research Center — Arlington. Two dozen participants met in person with others online to discuss current projects and future outreach, including secure communication for national security and emergency first responders, governance of digital assets, privacy-preserving authentication and identification, smart contracts, and more.

Gretchen Matthews, director of the CCI Southwest Virginia Node and a mathematics professor at Virginia Tech, is the Virginia Tech Site Director for Cyber SMART. CCI is a statewide consortium of more than 40 Virginia universities and colleges focused on cybersecurity. 

“We have deep reach across the state within the CCI network,” Matthews said. “CCI and Virginia Tech are adding workforce development, test beds, and a unique blend of expertise across disciplines that will increase the national impact of Cyber SMART. CCI’s mission looks beyond traditional STEM to include policy and business. We also bring strengths in agriculture, transportation, manufacturing, power and energy.”

Workforce development is a key component of Virginia Tech and CCI’s mission. Through project-based learning and other industry-affiliated programs, CCI pays a stipend to students while they gain valuable experience working at companies, Matthews said. 

CCI and Virginia Tech complement the strengths of Georgetown and Notre Dame, which includes blockchain, cryptography, cryptocurrency regulations and standards, and cyber forensics, said Jarek Nabrzyski, executive director of Cyber SMART and director of the Notre Dame Site. 

“Together, our diverse expertise creates a comprehensive approach to tackling challenges in cybersecurity and related fields,” Nabrzyski said. “Virginia Tech’s location in Virginia, especially in Northern Virginia’s technology and policy hub, will undoubtedly help attract more industry partners and deepen our relationships with existing ones. By combining these strengths, Cyber SMART is poised to make an even greater impact on both industry and policy.”

In addition to Matthews, the Virginia Tech and CCI researchers working with Cyber SMART include the following: 

  • Eric Burger, CCI research director, co-principal investigator, Cyber SMART Virginia Tech site
  • Shin’ichiro Matsuo, CCI research professor, Cyber SMART co-director and lead researcher of blockchain ecosystem
  • Peter Beling, Cyber SMART Virginia Tech site co-principal investigator, industrial and systems engineering 
  • Arianna Schuler Scott, Cyber SMART Virginia Tech site manager 
  • Wenjing Lou, computer science professor, Virginia Tech
  • David Simpson, business information technology professor, Virginia Tech



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