Virginia Tech and VMI have received sizable grants ($2.8 Million and $1.45 Million respectively) from the Department of Defense to continue developing the Department of Defense (DoD) Senior Military College Cyber Institute (SMC2I), at Virginia Tech and the VMI Cyber Defense Laboratory in Lexington.
“The National Security Agency is excited to partner with Norwich, the Citadel, University of North Georgia, Virginia Tech, Texas A&M, and Virginia Military Institute in the DoD Cyber Institute pilot program,” said Diane Janosek, the commandant of NSA’s National Cryptologic School, which houses the National Centers for Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity Program. “The multi-disciplinary programs created by these six Senior Military Colleges will build crucial leadership skills as well as critical cybersecurity competencies for the cybersecurity professionals who will serve the nation as DoD civilians or as military professionals. This innovative pilot is a key element in expanding the pool of eligible and certified cyber experts who will protect and defend the nation’s national security posture.”
The $2.8 Million VA Tech grant builds upon the $1.5 million grant awarded in January 2021 that aims to prepare civilians to work in the DoD cybersecurity workforce and related professional roles.
The SMC2I is aimed at equipping undergraduate students with skills and experience necessary to work in the DoD cyber workforce, simultaneously addressing the Commonwealth of Virginia’s shortage of qualified cyber professionals.
The grant will be allocated toward two efforts: supporting scholarships for undergraduate students interested in careers focused on cybersecurity and critical foreign languages and supporting experiential learning opportunities within the National Security Institute, the Ted and Karyn Hume Center for National Security and Technology, and other Virginia Tech academic departments, including computer science, electrical and computer engineering, math, statistics, and the Pamplin College of Business.
Laura Freeman, principal investigator of the grant and the director of the National Security Institute’s Intelligent Systems Division, who collaborates with co-principal investigators for the grant: Ehren Hill, Hume Center’s associate director for Education and Outreach, Joseph Simpson in the Pamplin College of Business, and Stephanie Travis, research faculty in the Intelligent Systems Division.
Brig. Gen. Robert Moreschi, deputy superintendent and dean of the faculty at VMI said, “The main goal of this effort is the creation and execution of an integrated SMC DoD Cyber Institutes program composed of individual cyber institutes and centers at each of the six senior military colleges. The vision is for the six institutions to work jointly to meet the talent and workforce needs of the DoD Cyber Mission Force,”