S 2 ERC @ Virginia Tech Program Overview T. Charles Clancy, PhD Co-Director, NSF Security and Software Engineering Research Center Associate Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering http://www.cyber.vt.edu/s2erc
NSF I/UCRC Program Industry/University Cooperative Research Center Program seeks to build ecosystems where industry can effectively invest in university research and easily leverage the results Began in 1976, with over 100 I/UCRCs currently in operation Key Program Tenets NSF provides grant to support center operations Industry members pay annual membership fee Pooled membership fees are allocated to university research projects by advisory board made up of the member companies All members gain access to resulting IP
S 2 ERC Founded in 1985 as the Software Engineering Research Center Rechartered in 2010 as the Security and Software Engineering Research Center to reflect the growing need to address software security challenges Virginia Tech joined in 2011 to focus specifically on the cybersecurity research area
Virginia Tech Extended Campus Program Size ECE 73 faculty 750 UG; 400 Grad $28M/yr expenditures CS 37 faculty 400 UG; 200 Grad $7M/yr expenditures Virginia Tech Extended Campus SW Virginia Blacksburg Roanoke Arlington Richmond Hampton Roads 3 NAE, 20 fellow, 30 CAREER VT Research Center @ Arlington New 144,000 sqft building University invested in 8,000 sqft in new VTRC Arlington for Cyber R&D Literally across the street from NSF and two blocks from ONR & DARPA
Research VT Cyber Security Strategy Virginia Tech goal to grow research enterprise by 25% in next few years Significant federal spending in cyber security while curbing other spending necessitates major cyber R&D efforts Education Develop academic programs that meet the needs of government and industry in cyber security Half of Virginia Tech engineering grads take jobs in DC area, majority with defense contractors Need cyber curriculum to address DIB needs
Cyber Education Strategy Curriculum Development Student Club Cyber Education Ecosystem Career Mentorship Scholarships Research Opportunities Curriculum Minor in Cyber Security Graduate Certificate in Cyber Security Four new courses at graduate and undergraduate level Online Masters of Information Technology 7,500 in WDC Area 12,500 Nation-Wide 60% of Cyber Jobs in WDC Metropolitan Area Reflects Major Federal Investment in Cyber
Faculty Expertise in Cyber Applied Individual Professor Basic Component System OS Application Network Internet 25 Faculty Working in Areas Related to Cyber Security Broad Faculty Expertise Covers Spectrum Key Application Areas Wireless Transportation Power Health IT
VT Affiliates and Projects Awarded August 2011 PI: Dr. Charles Clancy Coordinator: Dr. Ingrid Burbey Inaugural Affiliates General Dynamics AIS Northrop Grumman IS Verisign Labs L-3 STRATIS (double member) New Affiliates General Electric SAIC Centripetal Networks Secure Hardware Architectures Anonymous Computation in the Cloud Smartgrid Security Secure Spectrum Access for Public Safety Program Tomography for Malware Detection Visualization and Cyber Situational Awareness
Industry Partnership Business Model Leverage S2ERC investment for large research and development partnership between industry and university Partner Identify Topic Precompetitive IR&D S2ERC Project Federal R&D Contract Phase 1 Federal R&D Contract Phase 2 Product Development Commercial Sales VT brings credibility to industry partner s research proposals to federal sponsors Industry partner brings tech transition path so sponsors know the results will tangible Leverage each other s contract vehicles and relationships for developing additional business opportunities Win-Win
Project Selection Process Member Dues $30K/year Center Research Fund Industry Advisory Board Funded Grad Student Project Industry membership fees are pooled to establish a research fund IAB votes on university projects to fund Source of project proposals: Responses to affiliate-issued RFI Internally generated by university faculty Project funding is $35K/year ($30K from research fund; $5K/year match from VT) One-to-one relationship between membership fee, member s vote, and funded projects
Intellectual Property All members who are interested in a particular project outcome can obtain royalty-free license to resulting IP Members can negotiate for an exclusive license if necessary on a per-project basis, for a royalty
Frequently Asked Questions (1) How can I protect my IP if my competitors are also members? Each project generally has one key industry champion who is promoting the project and involved hands-on in the execution; others do not seek to interfere Typically this is precompetitive, early-stage research and therefore IPR is rarely a problem in practice; competitive IP development generally occurs in followon R&D efforts external to the I/UCRC program What prevents my membership dues from being at a S 2 ERC site other than Virginia Tech? As an IAB member, your vote decides how the collective funds are spent. If you want to fund VT research, vote for VT projects. What are my responsibilities as an affiliate? Affiliates need to attend the center showcase events which occur every six months. This is where the IAB votes on projects and funding decisions are made. You are encouraged to interact closely with the faculty executing the projects you are interested in.
Frequently Asked Questions (2) Why would I fund S 2 ERC rather than funding Virginia Tech directly? By funding projects through S 2 ERC you take advantage of significantly lower overhead rates because NSF covers the center operations. With all the cost share and subsidies, every $1 buys roughly $2.50 in research. Participating in the center gives you visibility into a large range of research that may be of interest to your company, and would be accessible through the center.