Most recent gift of $400,000 for Electronic and Cyber Security Center

Johnson C. Smith University will develop an undergraduate research center in August to discover new electronic and cyber security innovations that could impact the nation.

The University received a $400,000 Congressionally-directed grant from Congress after Congressman Mel Watt brought the idea to their attention. The recent Congressional grant now brings the total amount to more than $700,000 in committed federal funds to help JCSU's Homeland Security-Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Center (HS-STEM).

The new Undergraduate Research Center for Electronic and Cyberspace Security will train computer science and engineering faculty along with students in telecommunications systems, security and disaster recovery. Both will also research electronic imaging technologies, electronic and cyber security system architecture design, analysis for optimum performance, data mining and analysis as related to national security.

"This is a very exciting time for us because of its strong national interest," said Dr. Magdy Attia, Chair of the Council of Deans and Dean of STEM College/ James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Computer Science & Engineering. "It is one of President Obama's initiatives to improve the cyber security technology preparedness and to produce an emerging workforce in this area."

Once the center is fully operational, it will also serve as a resource for aligning and integrating computer science and engineering curricula to address national needs in electronic and cyber security. Current faculty and one new additional member will design an outreach program to expose and increase the awareness of Smith students across all disciplines in electronic and cyber security by offering a two-week summer camp every year.