REU Site: Research and Training Experience for Undergraduates in the Areas of Cybersecurity, Data Analytics and Blockchain for Securing Big Data and Cyber-Physical Systems

Missouri University Of Science And Technology, Rolla MO

Investigators

Abstract

This award is to set a new site for Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) in the Computer Science Department at the Missouri University of Science and Technology. Each summer a cohort of undergraduate students will visit Missouri S & T campus to work with faculty in small groups to design, implement, and evaluate research projects involving Cybersecurity, Data Analytics, and Blockchain for securing systems such as Cyber-physical Systems. The site will focus on recruiting under-represented and women students from diverse groups in computing fields from 2 to 4-year institutions. The students will participate in professional development activities that make them more aware of graduate school and professional aspects of a computing career. The students will be able to use the state-of-the-art facilities available at the university and interact with faculty mentors to conduct challenging and timely research on emerging technologies to develop secure systems for the future. This new REU Site at The Missouri University of Science and Technology will focus on research projects involving Secure Data Sharing Scheme for Cloud, IoT Access Control Using Permissioned Blockchain, Security and Trustworthiness in Data-Driven CPS and IoT and Crowd-Audit in ML-based Systems. The use of cybersecurity across different domains and technology offers an effective means for establishing secure cyberinfrastructures across a wide variety of applications thus, contributing toward a technology-based society. REU students, postdocs, graduate students, and faculty will have the opportunity to explore problems that are important and timely, and relevant to our society. This project will also build human capacity in cybersecurity, machine learning, CPS, and IoT research and knowledge. The program will provide experiences to undergraduate students that may influence their choices about further education and future careers and continue to give them the confidence to pursue these choices and thus, increase the size and diversity of the scientific workforce. This site is supported by the Department of Defense ASSURE Program in partnership with the NSF REU Program. 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.