Law School, College of Engineering Awarded Cybersecurity Grant
October 5, 2012
The NSF grant will prepare students for the cybersecurity challenges they may face in the future.
Collaboration between the Texas Tech School of Law and the Texas Tech Whitacre College of Engineering has resulted in a coveted National Science Foundation (NSF) grant for cybersecurity education. The grant involves the development of joint educational activities between the two schools and is designed to provide opportunities for law and engineering students to prepare them for the cybersecurity challenges ahead in their careers after graduation.
The nearly $300,000 grant runs for two years.
The project is chaired by Victoria Sutton, Horn Professor at the School of Law, who spearheaded efforts to secure the grant with the assistance of Dean Emeritus Walter B. Huffman. The NSF grant was awarded in part due to the value of the unique partnership with the engineering college, with principal investigator Joseph Urban, Industrial Engineering; and co-PIs, Susan D. Urban, Industrial Engineering; and Vittal Rao, Electrical and Computer Engineering.
“This interdisciplinary project, in collaboration with the School of Law, will provide an opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students in engineering disciplines to pursue certificates in the growing area of cybersecurity with an emphasis on critical infrastructure,” Urban said.
“I am very pleased that NSF saw value in the collaboration between engineering and law,” Sutton said. “Working with a group of engineering faculty members who have a good understanding of the role that law can play in cybersecurity issues made it possible.”
According to the NSF website, it is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 to “promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; and to secure the national defense.” NSF grants are awarded in mathematics, computer science and the social sciences.
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