S
2
ERC @ Virginia Tech
Program Overview
http://www.cyber.vt.edu/s2erc
T. Charles Clancy
, PhD
Co-Director, NSF Security and Software Engineering Research Center
Associate Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
NSF I/UCRC Program
•
Industry/University Cooperative Research Center
•
Program seeks to build ecosystems where industry
can effectively invest in university research and
easily leverage the results
•
Began in 1976, with over 100 I/UCRCs currently in
operation
Key Program Tenets
•
NSF provides grant to support center operations
•
Industry members pay annual membership fee
•
Pooled membership fees are allocated to
university research projects by advisory board
made up of the member companies
S
2
ERC
•
Founded in 1985 as the Software Engineering
Research Center
•
Rechartered in 2010 as the
Security and
Software
Engineering Research Center to reflect the growing
need to address software security challenges
•
Virginia Tech joined in 2011 to focus specifically on
the
cybersecurity
research area
Virginia Tech Extended Campus
Virginia Tech
Extended Campus
Blacksburg Roanoke Richmond Arlington SW Virginia Hampton RoadsVT Research Center @ Arlington
New 144,000 sqft building
University invested in 8,000 sqft in new VTRC Arlington for Cyber R&D Literally across the street from NSF and two blocks from ONR & DARPA
Program Size ECE – 73 faculty 750 UG; 400 Grad $28M/yr expenditures CS – 37 faculty 400 UG; 200 Grad $7M/yr expenditures 3 NAE, 20 fellow, 30 CAREER
VT Cyber Security Strategy
Research
•
Virginia Tech goal to grow research
enterprise by 25% in next few years
•
Significant federal spending in cyber
security while curbing other spending
necessitates major cyber R&D efforts
Education
•
Develop academic programs that meet the needs
of government and industry in cyber security
•
Half of Virginia Tech engineering grads take jobs in
DC area, majority with defense contractors
Cyber Education Strategy
7,500 in WDC Area
12,500 Nation-Wide
60% of Cyber Jobs in
WDC Metropolitan
Area
Reflects Major
Federal Investment in
Cyber
CurriculumMinor in Cyber Security Graduate Certificate in Cyber
Security
Four new courses at
graduate and undergraduate level
Online Masters of Information Technology
Cyber Education Ecosystem
Curriculum
Development Student Club
Career
Mentorship Scholarships
Research Opportunities
Faculty Expertise in Cyber
App
lied
Ba
sic
Component System OS Application Network Internet
25 Faculty Working in Areas Related to Cyber
Security
Broad Faculty Expertise Covers Spectrum
Key Application Areas Wireless
Transportation Power Health IT Individual Professor
VT Affiliates and Projects
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Awarded August 2011
–
PI: Dr. Charles Clancy
–
Coordinator: Dr. Ingrid Burbey
•
Inaugural Affiliates
–
General Dynamics AIS
–
Northrop Grumman IS
–
Verisign Labs
–
L-3 STRATIS (double member)
•
New Affiliates
–
General Electric
–
SAIC
–
Centripetal Networks
Secure Hardware Architectures Anonymous Computation in the Cloud Smartgrid SecuritySecure Spectrum Access for Public Safety
Program Tomography for Malware Detection
Visualization and Cyber Situational Awareness
Industry Partnership Business Model
•
Leverage S2ERC investment for large research and development
partnership between industry and university
Id en ti fy Topic S2ERC Project Federal R&D Contract Phase 1 Federal R&D Contract Phase 2 Product Development Commercial Sales
•
VT brings credibility to industry partner’s research proposals to
federal sponsors
•
Industry partner brings tech transition path so sponsors know the
results will tangible
•
Leverage each other’s contract vehicles and relationships for
developing additional business opportunities
•
Win-Win
Partner Precompetitive IR&D
Project Selection Process
•
Industry membership fees are pooled to
establish a research fund
•
IAB votes on university projects to fund
•
Source of project proposals:
– Responses to affiliate-issued RFI
– Internally generated by university faculty
•
Project funding is $35K/year ($30K from
research fund; $5K/year match from VT)
•
One-to-one relationship between
membership fee, member’s vote, and
funded projects
Member Dues $30K/year Center Research Fund Industry Advisory Board Funded Grad Student ProjectIntellectual Property
•
All members who are interested in a
particular project outcome can obtain
royalty-free license to resulting IP
•
Members can negotiate for an exclusive
license if necessary on a per-project
Frequently Asked Questions (1)
•
How can I protect my IP if my competitors are also members?
– Each project generally has one key industry champion who is promoting the project and involved hands-on in the execution; others do not seek to interfere
– Typically this is precompetitive, early-stage research and therefore IPR is rarely a problem in practice; competitive IP development generally occurs in follow-on R&D efforts external to the I/UCRC program
•
What prevents my membership dues from being at a S
2ERC site
other than Virginia Tech?
– As an IAB member, your vote decides how the collective funds are spent. If you want to fund VT research, vote for VT projects.
•
What are my responsibilities as an affiliate?
– Affiliates need to attend the center showcase events which occur every six months. This is where the IAB votes on projects and funding decisions are made.
– You are encouraged to interact closely with the faculty executing the projects you are interested in.
Frequently Asked Questions (2)
•
Why would I fund S
2ERC rather than funding Virginia Tech directly?
– By funding projects through S2ERC you take advantage of significantly lower
overhead rates because NSF covers the center operations. With all the cost share and subsidies, every $1 buys roughly $2.50 in research.
– Participating in the center gives you visibility into a large range of research that may be of interest to your company, and would be accessible through the
