Commonwealth Cyber Initiative Southwest Virginia

The 2025 Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI) Experiential Learning Programs Call for Proposals is now open! This call seeks proposals for experiential learning projects that provide Virginia students with the essential skills and knowledge to launch successful careers in cybersecurity. 🗓️ Proposal submissions are due on April 25, 2025 by 5pm ET. The proposed program must benefit students at more than one CCI institution. Projects that provide students with workforce experience will be prioritized. We welcome applications from all CCI researchers and institutions. Learn more: 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eiJ74a_f - #Cybersecurity #cci #experientiallearning #cyberresearch #cyberworkforce #cyberstudents #cyberlearning #callforproposals 

Spotlight on Sam Harkness, a master's student in Virginia Tech Department of Mathematics at Virginia Tech. As a graduate research assistant, Sam’s research introduces a vector representation of a decreasing code which immediately gives the dual, minimum distance, and dimension of a decreasing code. 

Join us for an ACCESS seminar on Tuesday, April 1st at 11 am featuring Pascal O. Vontobel from The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Dr. Vontobel will discuss counting arrays with certain properties. To learn more: https://lnkd.in/eYB2tZSY

The Roanoke Star: Cybersecurity Competitions Grow Across Virginia "The Commonwealth Cyber Initiative has been instrumental in funding the capture the flag authors responsible for designing innovative challenges that push competitors to new levels of expertise. Their contributions ensure that these competitions provide students with realistic and engaging problem-solving experiences." https://lnkd.in/eNkybguG

Spotlight on Akshay Bansal, a Ph.D student in Virginia Tech Department of Computer Science at Virginia Tech. As a Cyber Innovation Scholar, Akshay has researched a variant of oblivious transfer known as Rabin oblivious transfer to understand the limits of its information-theoretic security.

Very grateful 🙏 to receive with my dear students Dang Khoa Le and Benjamin Davis the best paper award 🥇 at IEEE 15th Annual Computing and Communication Workshop and Conference (CCWC). In this research project we explore how large language models 🧠 (e.g., GPT-4) can work side by side with machine learning models 🤖 and natural language processing algorithms 🗣️to improve the accuracy of spam and phishing emails detection. The project is funded by the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI) Commonwealth Cyber Initiative Southwest Virginia.

“We need to think about technology as teammate, not just technology as tool.” A transdisciplinary team is tackling key challenges in AI-driven health care, data privacy, and immersive clinical training. Harnessing LiDAR, AI, and simulation, they’re revolutionizing health care delivery. Led by Sarah Parker and James D. Ivory, the team includes: Nicholas Rider, DO, Denis Gracanin, Jacob Grohs, Michael Hsiao, Laura Halcomb, Monifa Vaughn-Cooke, Andrew Gipe-Lazarou, Nate Jones To learn more: https://lnkd.in/eAwC5BJB

Spotlight on Ahissa Rice, a master's student in Virginia Tech Department of Political Science & Program in International Studies at Virginia Tech. As a graduate research assistant, Ahissa has investigated the complex interplay between public policy, invasive spyware, and government surveillance practices in the digital age. 

Wireless isn't just for your Wi-Fi anymore 📶 At the #VTInnovationCampus, Professor Walid Saad and Ph.D. Candidate Omar Hashash are pushing the boundaries of NextG technology by exploring how AI and wireless can fuel an "internet of federated digital twins." Working with the Institute of Science Tokyo (Science Tokyo), their research is driving advancements in autonomous systems, smart factories, and beyond -- all powered by resilient, intelligent networks. With cutting-edge collaborations and world-class expertise under one roof, the future of wireless innovation is unfolding right here at #TheCenterofNext. Read more 🔗 https://lnkd.in/gen8M2Un Pictured (from left): Hashash and Saad

Spotlight on Kazi Hasan Ibn Arif, a Ph.D student in Virginia Tech Department of Computer Science at Virginia Tech. As a Cyber Innovation Scholar, Kazi Hasan has researched the improvements of inference efficiency for High-Resolution Vision-Language Models with HiRED.