Planning IUCRC Syracuse University: Center for High-Assurance Secure Systems and IoT (CHASSI)

Syracuse University, Syracuse NY

Investigators

Abstract

This IUCRC planning project will establish the feasibility of a multi-site Center for High-Assurance Secure Systems and Internet-of-Things (CHASSI) that will focus on areas where both security and high assurance are necessary to support operations of high mission criticality, due to safety or economic impact. Examples include medical devices, manufacturing, the energy grid, real-time financial markets, construction, and defense. Combining security and high-assurance is hard. Intentionally combining them will lead to new models, techniques, designs, architectures, and systems that will be applicable across of range of important U.S. industries. CHASSI has five sites: University of Kansas (KU), University of Minnesota, Syracuse University, Case Western Reserve University, and Indiana University. CHASSI research has four thrusts: (1) Architectures, design and formal modeling for systems-level security, privacy, stability, and performance; (2) Secure communication, sensing, and devices; (3) Scalable trust and privacy; and (4) Human behavior for privacy and security. SU brings expertise in mission and systems assurance, and certified security by design. Complementary expertise at other sites includes attestation, networking, cyber-physical systems, hardware, software, database, and mobile security, assurance of medical devices, industrial Internet-of-Things (IIoT), manufacturing and energy applications, and human factors. CHASSI faculty members will gain an understanding of the specific interests and actual needs/barriers of industrial companies. Companies benefit from exposure to university research across all sites, learning from other industry colleagues, students as potential hires, and faculty that might perform center projects or proprietary research. SU will advance diversity by recruiting and educating students with its Inclusive Excellence programs Posse Scholars, McNair Scholars Program, Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program, Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation, National Society of Black Engineers, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, Society of Women Engineers, and Women in Science and Engineering. The collaborators from this multi-university-industry Center will host a single Center-wide repository at https://chassi.ku.edu. This shared repository will include meeting materials, program information, publications, etc., and will be made available for a minimum of five years after conclusion of the award or until the Center transitions to the next phase. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.