REU Site: Research Experiences for Undergraduates - Emerging Issues in Cybersecurity

New Mexico Institute Of Mining And Technology, Socorro NM

Investigators

Abstract

This funding renews a Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) site at New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (New Mexico Tech) with a focus on emerging issues in cybersecurity. This renewal will bring ten undergraduate students to New Mexico Tech for a ten-week research experience each summer. Recruiting efforts of this REU site will primarily focus on students from regional institutions with limited research resources, especially female and minority students who are traditionally under-represented in the computing field. The program will expose the REU students to exciting cutting-edge research problems in cybersecurity and empower them with an understanding of general research methods, working knowledge of cybersecurity, technical writing and presentation skills, and an exposure to entrepreneurship pathways. The research projects of this site address a range of important and emerging cybersecurity topics including document format malware detection, wireless security, web security, automated threat report generation, location privacy of mobile users, zero-day attack detection, and cybersecurity risk assessment and management for precision agriculture. Led by experienced researchers, students will use state-of-the-art facilities to develop new methods, algorithms, protocols, and software tools to advance the knowledge and practices in the cybersecurity area. The goals of this site include: providing students experiences on cutting edge research in cybersecurity; broadening participation in computing; motivating students to pursue graduate studies in computer science; and preparing a future workforce in cybersecurity. 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.