Center for Secure Cyberspace - Louisiana Tech University

Louisiana Tech UniversityCollege of Engineering and Science December 2007Center for Secure CyberspaceDr. Vir Phoha - Principal InvestigatorNSF Grant AwardedProducing TeachersHarvey CragonDistinguished AlumniCollege of Engineering and ScienceIndustrial Partnership ProgramA Win-Win OpportunityStudent SpotlightFrancesca LoveFaculty SpotlightDr. Despina Daviswww.coes.latech.edu

Center for Secure CyberspaceLouisiana Tech University and Louisiana State Universityhave joined forces in the fight for a more securecyberspace. Led by one of Tech’s computer scienceprofessors, Dr. Vir Phoha, the team of eight researchersin the fields of computer science and electrical engineeringis gearing up for five years of intensive research andimpressive goals.In June of this year, the Louisiana Board of Regentsawarded over $3 million in funding to Tech and LSU tosupport five years of research in this new and expandingfield of secure cyberspace. Tech is housing the Centerfor Secure Cyberspace, which will be the venue to turnresearch into foundations and relationships benefitingnot only north Louisiana, but also the nation and theworld.Universities aren’t the only ones looking toward thefuture of cyberspace. This year the U.S. Air Force hasannounced that Barksdale Air Force Base, just 70 milesfrom Tech, is the home for the newly developed AirForce Cyber Command Center (AFCyber). This Centeris focused on protecting the safety of our nation’sshare of cyberspace, from the home front to the battlelines. The CSC will play a big role in providing researchfor the Air Force, while building strategic collaborativerelationships with AFCyber and between national andinternational academic and industrial partners.“The project will achieve the next level of convergence in thetechnologies that interact directly with the physical world andwith humans in dynamic and uncertain environments, cognizantof dynamic goals and the evolving physics, seamlesslyspanning time and space to monitor change, and collaboratingwith humans to actuate purposeful distributed response.”Vir PhohaThe members of the CSC plan to change the face ofresearch in this field, developing core research foundationsin evolvable sensor hardware and software andcorresponding transformational information technologiesfor the early prediction, detection, and control of anomalousbehavior in cyberspace. All of this will be donein the world-class multi-institutional, multi-disciplinarycenter of excellence being developed at Tech.Research areas such as dynamic network formulation,secure information dissemination, data fusion and predictionof disaster precursors, and visualization and validationwill be the focus of the team over the coming years.Support for the CSC is strong, including such centersas Tech’s Center for Entrepreneurship and InformationTechnology (CEnIT), Enterprise Center, and TechnologyBusiness Development Center (TBDC) and LSU’sLouisiana Business and Technology Center.Although the field of cyberspace research and securityis ever-changing, Tech plans to be on the forefront,paving a new cyber-road toward the advancement of ournation’s security.Dr. Bruce Willson, along with Harvey Cragon, prepare toplace Harvey’s plaque on the Distinguished Alumni Board.Distinguished Alumnus HonoredThe College of Engineering and Science has namedHarvey Cragon as its distinguished alumnus. A 1950graduate of Louisiana Tech in electrical engineering,he also pursued studies at UCLA and SMU. He servedin the U.S. Army and subsequently went to work forSouthern Bell and Hughes Aircraft before joining TexasInstruments in 1958. He was principal architect of theTI Advanced Scientific Computer, developed during1966-71. At the time of its completion, it had the world’sgreatest processing capability, and is widely referencedas the landmark in high-speed computer design. Healso designed and assisted in the construction of thefirst integrated circuit computer that used semiconductormemory, another first, in addition to countless otherdesigns and innovations in microcomputers.In 1984, he left Texas Instruments to pursue a secondcareer, named to the Ernest Cocknell, Jr. CentennialEngineering Chair in the Department of Electrical andComputer Engineering at the University of Texas atAustin. His service there was completed in 1999. Today,Harvey is retired and working on a book about computersthat ran submarines during World War II.

National Science Foundation Grand awardedLouisiana Tech University has been awarded a Noycescholarship grant from the National Science Foundationto recruit Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics(STEM) graduates into K-12 teaching fields.This project, entitled STEM-Plus, reflects a collaborativepartnership between the College of Engineering andScience and the College of Education. The NationalScience Foundation has provided over $730,000 in fundingfor this project, most of which will be awarded asscholarships to participants in the program. The grantproposal team consists of Dr. Galen E. Turner (PrincipalInvestigator and Maxfield Professor of Mathematicsand Statistics), Dr. Connie LaBorde (Associate Dean ofthe College of Education), Dr. Dawn Basinger (AssistantProfessor of Curriculum, Instruction, and Leadership),Dr. James D. Nelson (Associate Dean of the College ofEngineering & Science), and Dr. Kelly B. Crittenden (AssistantProfessor of Mechanical Engineering).STEM-Plus Scholars, recruited from both undergraduatemajors and current professionals with a degreein science, technology, engineering or mathematics, willearn the Master of Arts in Teaching and will becomecertified to teach in Louisiana. Undergraduates in theCollege of Engineering and Science will integrate up to12 credit hours of graduate education courses duringthe senior year of their baccalaureate program, whereasprofessionals with a degree from one of the STEM disciplineswill earn the Master of Arts in Teaching in oneyear. The program builds on the integrated approachesthat have proven successful in the College of Engineeringand Science. Targeting key Louisiana schools withsignificant shortages in science and mathematics faculty,this program aims to strengthen the faculty supportinfrastructure so that long-term outcomes are achievedwell beyond the end of National Science Foundationfunding. In short, STEM-Plus establishes the mechanismand incentives to integrate the Master of Arts inTeaching into baccalaureate programs for the first timeat Louisiana Tech.The STEM-Plus scholarship program will help create moremath and science teachers in Louisiana.College of Engineering and ScienceIndustrial Partnership ProgramFor over 100 years the College of Engineering andScience has provided highly qualified engineering andscience graduates who possessed outstanding technicalability along with the character traits of: Integrity,Tolerance, Respect, Devotion, Honesty and Dignity.These engineers and scientists have contributed to thesuccess of the companies they went to work for and, asa result, have brought great honor and recognition toour College. A new program in the College now offers agenuine partnership between education and industry, atrue “win-win” synergy. It is the College of Engineeringand Science Industrial Partnership Program or COESIP.The market for hiring new engineers is presently tighterthan in many years and according to both hard dataand anecdotal reports this trend is expected to continue.Companies must identify, cultivate and hire the very bestcandidates to fill needed positions. COESIP will helpthem do that. COESIP helps a company identify potentialcandidates in their sophomore, junior and senioryears. We then help facilitate interaction between thesestudents and the company’s human resources staff. Wewill also give the company exposure to our students interms of professional presentations, name and logo displaysin our building, company web links on our web siteand video feature opportunities. The industry partner’sfinancial buy-in to COESIP provides us with neededannual funds to help us continue producing outstandinggraduates. These funds are used by the College toprovide the student with up-to-date laboratories, outstandingprofessors, and teaching spaces that encouragethe student to give his or her very best! If you or yourcompany would like to explore the program furtherplease contact Dr. Bruce Willson, Assistant Dean forDevelopment at 318-257-4649 or by his e-mail address:willson@latech.edu.

Student SpotlightFrancesca Love is a seniorcivil engineering major fromBivins, Texas. Fran is not onlya solid student, but also veryactive in campus life. Shecurrently serves as the vicepresident of the student chapterof the National Societyof Black Engineers (NSBE)as well as the regional secretaryof NSBE. Fran is alsosigns coordinator for the student chapter of the Societyof Women Engineers (SWE), a member of the studentchapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers(ASCE), and was recently nominated to Louisiana Tech’shomecoming court. When not actively engaged in oneof these organizations or her studies, she can be foundcheering on the Bulldogs as a member of the Tech SmallCo-Ed Cheerleader Team.From the first time she stepped on campus, Fran saysLouisiana Tech felt like home. She attributes much ofher early success as a student to the support she receivedfrom the Society of Women Engineers (SWE). SWEprovided the study groups and encouragement necessaryto get her over some of the early obstacles she facedas a young engineering student. Ms. Alicia Boudreaux,Dr. Mark Barker and Dr. Tom Straughan have beeninstrumental to Fran’s academic success as well, servingas both mentors and role models who have inspired andchallenged her.Fran aspires to design bridges and roads, and theCollege of Engineering and Science is very fortunate tohave had a role in helping her to achieve her dream.Faculty SpotlightDr. Despina Davis was bornin March 1978 in Ploiesti,Romania and came to theUnited States to attend TexasTech University, graduatingin 2002 with dual degrees inChemical Engineering andChemistry. In the fall of2002, she attended LouisianaState University to pursuegraduate work in chemicalengineering. She received her Master’s degree in ChemicalEngineering in May 2005 and her Ph.D. in Engineeringin May 2007. As a graduate student, Despina wasgiven the distinguished honor of being awarded a fellowshipwith the Integrative Graduate Education Researchand Training Program (IGERT), an interdisciplinaryprogram sponsored by the National Science Foundation.Less than one percent of engineering and science studentswho apply are accepted into the program. As a fellowin the IGERT program, she successfully participatedin many community service activities, presented researchat numerous conferences, and authored or co-authoredseveral publications.Her main area of interest and expertise lies in thedevelopment of nanowires, the eventual application ofwhich is the creation of more sensitive sensors that canread data stored in very compact hard drives. In 2004,Despina submitted a report of invention along withElizabeth J. Podlaha for “Electrodeposited MultilayeredNanotubes for Magnetic Sensing”. Here at Tech,Despina continues her research. She also works withTech’s Office of Intellectual Property and Commercializationon additional patent opportunities.Louisiana Tech University | College of Engineering and ScienceOffice of Communications600 West Arizona StreetRuston, Louisiana 71272www.coes.latech.eduPRSRT STDNON-PROFITORGANIZATIONU.S. POSTAGEPAIDRUSTON, LAPERMIT NO. 104Director of CommunicationsDr. Bruce Willson Jr.willson@latech.eduBuilding Engineers and Scientists for TomorrowPassion to be the Best