| NSF Org: |
CNS Division Of Computer and Network Systems |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | February 26, 2023 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | August 4, 2023 |
| Award Number: | 2244371 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Nicholas Goldsmith
nicgolds@nsf.gov (703)292-8950 CNS Division Of Computer and Network Systems CSE Direct For Computer & Info Scie & Enginr |
| Start Date: | March 1, 2023 |
| End Date: | February 28, 2026 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $349,951.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $365,951.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
801 UNIVERSITY BLVD TUSCALOOSA AL US 35401-2029 (205)348-5152 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
301 ROSE ADMIN BLDG TUSCALOOSA AL US 35487-0001 |
| Primary Place of Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): |
RSCH EXPER FOR UNDERGRAD SITES, EPSCoR Co-Funding |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.070, 47.083 |
ABSTRACT
This funding establishes a new Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Site at the University of Alabama (UA) to address the security challenges and privacy concerns of emerging networks in energy and intelligent transportation systems in smart cities. A smart city is a framework, predominantly utilizing information and communication technologies, to develop, deploy, and promote sustainable development practices to address growing urbanization challenges. With the advances in computing resources, sensing capabilities, and wireless technologies, traditional networks in different sectors in smart cities, e.g., energy and transportation, are being evolved into emerging networks to make smart cities a reality. Emerging networks will allow real-time flow of enormous amounts of data, and thus, these networks have the potential to open various vulnerabilities and threats that include unauthorized device/network access, location tracking, false data injection, impersonation, data modification, sensor attacks, jamming, spoofing, etc. Furthermore, although there is a need for a growing, qualified, and dedicated cybersecurity workforce to ensure the secure, privacy-protected, reliable, and effective operation of these emerging networks, higher education is not keeping up with the increasing demand for future cybersecurity workforce. Motivated by the security challenges and the need for cybersecurity workforce, this REU site will host a diverse group of undergraduate students at UA to offer cutting-edge research and development activities in the area of cybersecurity for energy and intelligent transportation systems to support various objectives and ensure that as a nation we are not only ahead of the adversaries, but also well-prepared to combat any cyber threat that stems from the emerging networks in smart cities.
The proposed project will introduce practical innovations and mechanisms to address the security and privacy issues in smart/micro grid communication networks, sustainable internet of things (IoT) networks, electric mobility, and vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication networks in connected vehicle environments. The intellectual merit of the projects includes (i) secure communication protocol design for emerging networks such as microgrid networks and V2V networks; (ii) achieving secure computation over encrypted data; (iii) combining applied cryptography with various machine learning and data analytics techniques to address the unique security challenges in these emerging networks; and (iv) attack modeling, detection and mitigation for different networks including smart grid communication networks, sustainable IoT networks, V2V and V2I communication networks, and electric mobility services. This REU site will provide the students the familiarity with applied cryptography and machine learning, which could build a strong foundation for early-career student researchers. This REU site will not only provide the necessary undergraduate research environment, especially for female and minority students, but also contribute to the development of a diverse and technologically skilled cybersecurity workforce.
This project is jointly funded by CISE and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
Please report errors in award information by writing to: awardsearch@nsf.gov.
