Department of Defense workers as well as Washington State University and partner university students from throughout the Pacific Northwest will come to the WSU Pullman campus May 20–29 for the VICEROY Northwest Institute for Cybersecurity Education and Research’s (CySER) summer workshop.
During the two-week event, participants will attend presentations and discussion sessions on cybersecurity and operations from a variety of CySER faculty and students and VICEROY program representatives. The sessions are open to the public.
Some of the topics covered will include digital forensics; cybersecurity education in the U.S.; ethics in cybersecurity; and applying artificial intelligence in cybersecurity. CJ Maciag, director for Cyber Science and Technology Research and Academic Outreach in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, will speak on cybersecurity careers in the U.S. Department of Defense.
The workshop will also feature field trips to Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL) in Pullman, and Fairchild Air Force Base near Spokane as well as a cybersecurity industry panel on May 28. A research showcase and certificate ceremony will be held to recognize CySER program participants.
The CySER Institute came about as a result of a $1.5 million grant from the Department of Defense’s Virtual Institutes for Cyber and Electromagnetic Spectrum Research and Employ (VICEROY) Program in 2021. The program established a cybersecurity research and teaching center at WSU, one of the first three funded in the United States.
The program trains ROTC and DOD-skilled civilian workers in computer science and other majors in cyber basics, operations, or defense, offering bachelor’s degrees as well as specialized certificates. Participating students receive training that integrates cybersecurity research and education with professional skills in teamwork, communication, leadership, and lifelong learning.
The CySER Institute is a WSU-led consortium including partners from Montana State University, the University of Idaho, and Central Washington University. The VICEROY project is managed by the Griffiss Institute in collaboration with the Air Force Research Laboratory.
