Late in the Spring 2015 semester, three Mechanical Engineering Undergraduates attended the 8th International Conference on Ethics in Biology, Engineering & Medicine, hosted by St. Francis College of Brooklyn NY on behalf of SUNY Downstate Medical Center.  Niara Comrie (right), Lailynn Reyes (left), and Emily Canapp (not shown) presented their posters and reported back to us that an ethical and informative time was had by all. The conference had a wide range of topics for attendees to debate and discuss from the ethics of bulletproof skin and dental implants to the privacy concerns surrounding personal mobile devices and drones.

The UMBC/ME students’ poster was entitled Anticipating Future Ethical Issues in Prosthetic Devices.  Ms. Comrie, Ms. Reyes, and Ms. Canapp presented their anticipatory ethical analysis using trends in advancement and application (specific to prosthetics) to look toward potential ethical conundrums. Some of the scenarios explored touched on misuse of advanced personal medical devices or prosthetics and anticipating or preventing bad acts perpetuated using these technologies: how do we keep people from using medical tech to harm others, is it possible to do so ethically?  Another ethical concern explored was toward the other end of the access spectrum: how does society make prosthetics available to those with need but not means?

Engineers affect access to every kind of medical device: their work allows devices to be created more efficiently, more cheaply, and to evolve and change with our knowledge of materials. Engineers allow medical innovation to progress with the imaginations of the medical researchers they collaborate with, it is only appropriate to allow our imaginations to explore not only the possibilities but the dangers. It is only appropriate for us to prevent and prepare for the consequences we can foresee with analyses like that done by Ms. Comrie, Ms. Reyes, and Ms. Canapp.

Computer Science and Electrical Engineering
University of Maryland, Baltimore County

MS Thesis Defense in Computer Science

Identifying Significant, Difficult and Timeless
Concepts for Cybersecurity Assessment Tools:
Results and Analysis of Two Delphi Processes

Geet Parekh

11:00am Friday, 7 August 2015, ITE 228

As part of our ongoing project to create Cybersecurity Assessment Tools (CATs), we carried out two Delphi processes to help cybersecurity experts and educators build a consensus about the core concepts and skills in the field. We present and analyze the results of these processes.

The first process identified fundamental concepts for our Cybersecurity Concept Inventory to be given to students completing any first course in cybersecurity. The second process identified skills for our Cybersecurity Curriculum Assessment, which will be given to students graduating from college headed for their first job in cybersecurity. These tests will provide infrastructure for evidence-based improvement of cybersecurity education to help universities better prepare the substantial number of cybersecurity professionals needed in America.

Thirty-six experts participated in four to five rounds of data collection. By the end of the processes, experts reached a consensus, as indicated by decreasing variations in their scoring of the importance, difficulty, and timelessness of concepts and topics that they identified. Participation by these diverse cybersecurity experts should help increase adoption of the tests.

Keywords: Cybersecurity Education, Cybersecurity Assessment Tools (CATs), Delphi Method, Concept Inventory

Committee: Drs. Alan T. Sherman (chair), Linda Oliva, Dhananjay Phatak, Chintan Patel

Remote Participation: If you wish to attend the defense remotely via Skype, please email Geet (Sorry, you need javascript to view this email address. ).

Note: The Department of Defense has funded continuation of this research under BAA-003-15 via a collaborative award to UMBC and The University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana (PIs Alan Sherman and Geoffrey Herman; CoPIs Dhananjay Phatak and Linda Oliva).

A 12-Month Graduate Research Assistant (GRA) is sought for 2015-2016 to work on a DoD-funded cybersecurity education project at UMBC.

Position Highlights

• 9-month stipend: $18,752.94; 2.5 month summer stipend: $8,000.
• Hours: 20 hours/week (September 2015-May 2016)
• Benefits: tuition and mandatory fees, health insurance
• Eligibility: MS or PhD student at UMBC in CS, CE, EE, or related field (IS, math, education, physics).
• INS Requirements: USA citizen or permanent resident
• Source of funding: Department of Defense via a grant under BAA-003-15 (PI Alan Sherman)

Skills Needed

The GRA will (1) transcribe and analyze interviews of students to uncover their misconceptions about cybersecurity, (2) suggest interview prompts and test questions, and (3) help prepare publications describing the results. This work will include some statistical analysis and use of SurveyMonkey on-line questionnaires.

The GRA should bring knowledge and passion for cybersecurity, excellent communication skills, a strong work ethic, and a willingness, ability, and eagerness to learn whatever is needed to complete the project successfully.

The GRA will work closely with the investigators, including Drs. Alan Sherman, Dhananjay Phatak, Linda Oliva, Geoffrey Herman, and a post-doc in engineering education to be hired at The University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana.

Project Summary

Professors Alan Sherman (CSEE), Dhananjay Phatak (CSEE), and Linda Oliva (Education) have been awarded a research grant from the Department of Defense to create two educational cybersecurity assessment tools, to help improve the way cybersecurity is taught. The $294,016 one-year project is joint with Geoffrey Herman at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana (UMBC portion $146,917). The research is being carried out at the UMBC Cyber Defense Lab at the UMBC Center for Information Security and Assurance and will fund a 12-month GRA in 2015-2016.

This project is creating infrastructure for a rigorous evidence-based improvement of cybersecurity education by developing the first Cybersecurity Assessment Tools (CATs) targeted at measuring the quality of instruction. The first CAT will be a Cybersecurity Concept Inventory (CCI) that measures how well students understand basic concepts in cybersecurity after a first course in the field. The second CAT will be a Cybersecurity Curriculum Assessment (CCA) that measures how well curricula prepared students graduating from college on fundamentals needed for careers in cybersecurity. Each CAT will be a multiple-choice test with approximately thirty questions.

Inspired by the highly influential Force Concept Inventory from physics, the investigators are following a three-step process: In fall 2015, with MS student Geet Parekh, they carried out two Delphi processes to identify important and difficult concepts in cybersecurity. Next, they will interview students to uncover their misconceptions about these concepts. Finally, they will draft and psychometrically evaluate questions whose incorrect answers are driven by the uncovered misconceptions. For more information, see here and here.

In 2015-2016, the project will focus on (1) interviewing students and analyzing the results, and (2) developing draft questions.

How to Apply

Interested graduate students should email Dr. Sherman (Sorry, you need javascript to view this email address. ) a resume, unofficial transcript, and statement of interest and qualifications. Include “CATs GRA” in subject header.

A 12-Month Graduate Research Assistant (GRA) is sought for 2015-2016 to work on a DoD-funded cybersecurity education project at UMBC.

Position Highlights

• 9-month stipend: $18,752.94; 2.5 month summer stipend: $8,000.
• Hours: 20 hours/week (September 2015-May 2016)
• Benefits: tuition and mandatory fees, health insurance
• Eligibility: MS or PhD student at UMBC in CS, CE, EE, or related field (IS, math, education, physics).
• INS Requirements: USA citizen or permanent resident
• Source of funding: Department of Defense via a grant under BAA-003-15 (PI Alan Sherman)

Skills Needed

The GRA will (1) transcribe and analyze interviews of students to uncover their misconceptions about cybersecurity, (2) suggest interview prompts and test questions, and (3) help prepare publications describing the results. This work will include some statistical analysis and use of SurveyMonkey on-line questionnaires.

The GRA should bring knowledge and passion for cybersecurity, excellent communication skills, a strong work ethic, and a willingness, ability, and eagerness to learn whatever is needed to complete the project successfully.

The GRA will work closely with the investigators, including Drs. Alan Sherman, Dhananjay Phatak, Linda Oliva, Geoffrey Herman, and a post-doc in engineering education to be hired at The University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana.

Project Summary

Professors Alan Sherman (CSEE), Dhananjay Phatak (CSEE), and Linda Oliva (Education) have been awarded a research grant from the Department of Defense to create two educational cybersecurity assessment tools, to help improve the way cybersecurity is taught. The $294,016 one-year project is joint with Geoffrey Herman at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana (UMBC portion $146,917). The research is being carried out at the UMBC Cyber Defense Lab at the UMBC Center for Information Security and Assurance and will fund a 12-month GRA in 2015-2016.

This project is creating infrastructure for a rigorous evidence-based improvement of cybersecurity education by developing the first Cybersecurity Assessment Tools (CATs) targeted at measuring the quality of instruction. The first CAT will be a Cybersecurity Concept Inventory (CCI) that measures how well students understand basic concepts in cybersecurity after a first course in the field. The second CAT will be a Cybersecurity Curriculum Assessment (CCA) that measures how well curricula prepared students graduating from college on fundamentals needed for careers in cybersecurity. Each CAT will be a multiple-choice test with approximately thirty questions.

Inspired by the highly influential Force Concept Inventory from physics, the investigators are following a three-step process: In fall 2015, with MS student Geet Parekh, they carried out two Delphi processes to identify important and difficult concepts in cybersecurity. Next, they will interview students to uncover their misconceptions about these concepts. Finally, they will draft and psychometrically evaluate questions whose incorrect answers are driven by the uncovered misconceptions. For more information, see here and here.

In 2015-2016, the project will focus on (1) interviewing students and analyzing the results, and (2) developing draft questions.

How to Apply

Interested graduate students should email Dr. Sherman (Sorry, you need javascript to view this email address. ) a resume, unofficial transcript, and statement of interest and qualifications. Include “CATs GRA” in subject header.

A 12-Month Graduate Research Assistant (GRA) is sought for 2015-2016 to work on a DoD-funded cybersecurity education project at UMBC.

Position Highlights

• 9-month stipend: $18,752.94; 2.5 month summer stipend: $8,000.
• Hours: 20 hours/week (September 2015-May 2016)
• Benefits: tuition and mandatory fees, health insurance
• Eligibility: MS or PhD student at UMBC in CS, CE, EE, or related field (IS, math, education, physics).
• INS Requirements: USA citizen or permanent resident
• Source of funding: Department of Defense via a grant under BAA-003-15 (PI Alan Sherman)

Skills Needed

The GRA will (1) transcribe and analyze interviews of students to uncover their misconceptions about cybersecurity, (2) suggest interview prompts and test questions, and (3) help prepare publications describing the results. This work will include some statistical analysis and use of SurveyMonkey on-line questionnaires.

The GRA should bring knowledge and passion for cybersecurity, excellent communication skills, a strong work ethic, and a willingness, ability, and eagerness to learn whatever is needed to complete the project successfully.

The GRA will work closely with the investigators, including Drs. Alan Sherman, Dhananjay Phatak, Linda Oliva, Geoffrey Herman, and a post-doc in engineering education to be hired at The University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana.

Project Summary

Professors Alan Sherman (CSEE), Dhananjay Phatak (CSEE), and Linda Oliva (Education) have been awarded a research grant from the Department of Defense to create two educational cybersecurity assessment tools, to help improve the way cybersecurity is taught. The $294,016 one-year project is joint with Geoffrey Herman at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana (UMBC portion $146,917). The research is being carried out at the UMBC Cyber Defense Lab at the UMBC Center for Information Security and Assurance and will fund a 12-month GRA in 2015-2016.

This project is creating infrastructure for a rigorous evidence-based improvement of cybersecurity education by developing the first Cybersecurity Assessment Tools (CATs) targeted at measuring the quality of instruction. The first CAT will be a Cybersecurity Concept Inventory (CCI) that measures how well students understand basic concepts in cybersecurity after a first course in the field. The second CAT will be a Cybersecurity Curriculum Assessment (CCA) that measures how well curricula prepared students graduating from college on fundamentals needed for careers in cybersecurity. Each CAT will be a multiple-choice test with approximately thirty questions.

Inspired by the highly influential Force Concept Inventory from physics, the investigators are following a three-step process: In fall 2015, with MS student Geet Parekh, they carried out two Delphi processes to identify important and difficult concepts in cybersecurity. Next, they will interview students to uncover their misconceptions about these concepts. Finally, they will draft and psychometrically evaluate questions whose incorrect answers are driven by the uncovered misconceptions. For more information, see here and here.

In 2015-2016, the project will focus on (1) interviewing students and analyzing the results, and (2) developing draft questions.

How to Apply

Interested graduate students should email Dr. Sherman (Sorry, you need javascript to view this email address. ) a resume, unofficial transcript, and statement of interest and qualifications. Include “CATs GRA” in subject header.

The Shriver Center coordinates this undergraduate scholarship program, funded by the France-Merrick Foundation. Now in it’s 20th year, this scholarship is available for students who demonstrate an exemplary commitment to service, leadership, and civic engagement on the UMBC campus and in Baltimore City.   The France-Merrick Scholarship Program seeks to combine service and reflection, build relationships, and strengthen networks to affect meaningful change.

Fellows are awarded a scholarship that goes towards tuition, mandatory fees, and room and board expenses.  This will not exceed $15,000 for Maryland students, $22,000 for out-of-state students.  In 2015-16, Fellows will engage in service connected with Baltimore City;  serve in leadership roles (which includes convening meetings for the France-Merrick Scholarship Program), support meaningful professional development, and serve as ambassadors of service at UMBC.  For 2015-16, two Fellows will be selected.

Scholars are awarded a scholarship of up to $1,500.  In 2015-16, Scholars will engage in service connected with Baltimore City, support meaningful professional development, participate in meetings, and serve as ambassadors of service at UMBC.   For 2015-16, five Scholars will be selected.

Applications for the 2015-16 cohort are NOW available on-line, and will close on Monday, August 24, 2015, at 5 pm.  Awardees will be notified in early September.

For more information, please visit The Shriver Center's website at:

Rick Forno, Graduate Program Director for Cybersecurity and Assistant Director of UMBC's Center for Cybersecurity spoke with the Baltimore Sun and Technical.ly Baltimore recently about hacktivism in the Baltimore riots and a recent ZeroFox report that analyzed social media to identify prominent activists, potential threats, and/or agitators during the riots.

ZeroFOX under fire for social media ‘Threat Actors’ report during Baltimore riots (8/5/2015)

City faced cyberattacks amid chaos and unrest on the streets (7/31/2015)

"The biggest realization that came to me during Rebuilding Manhood was the fact that I am not alone! I cannot say that I've ever fit the definition of what society has always told me what a man should look, act, or talk like... so being with other men who recognized that this is a prevalent issue in not only their lives but other men as well was so comforting and eye opening."

- Bentley Corbett-Wilson, Rebuilding Manhood Spring 2014 Cohort

For more information, visit our Q&A page. 

Apply to Rebuilding Manhood this fall by submitting your application of interest by September 6th (deadline extended)
We accept students on a rolling basis so don't wait to submit your application.

Rebuilding Manhood takes place on Fridays from 2-3:15pm starting on September 11th and ending on December 4th. 

UMBC faculty and staff are encouraged to nominate students by filling out this nomination form by no later than Friday, August 28th.

 

An article on CNN, Why women in tech came to a 'Halt', uses AMC Halt and Catch Fire television series to illustrate some of challenges in keeping more women in computing majors and careers.

The article mentions the UMBC CWIT Bits and Bytes program as one example of an effort to address this.

"Even with the number of computer science jobs increasing, the number of women pursuing careers in computer science is falling," said Jennifer Koebele, a writer who specializes in research on higher education and technology. … I found that according to Stanford University studies, women's quit rate in technology exceeds that of other science and engineering fields — with a full 56 percent leaving their organizations at midlevel points in their careers," Koebele said.

She points out that there are major efforts to try to bring these numbers up to the levels of decades ago. Programs such as Bits and Bytes, which brings a couple of dozen female high school students to the campus of University of Maryland, Baltimore County, each year to shadow women in computer science programs. At the same time, colleges are making a concerted effort to target girls in middle and high school, sparking interest in math and science.

A blog reflection written by Women’s Center intern Bree Best

For the past several months I have been trying to conceptualize what I wanted to say about white privilege and protesting, the struggle of identifying power structures, access to privileged dissent, and a whole litany of other things that I could go on about dealing with Racism = Prejudice + Power. One recent experience sticks out in my mind as indicative of just how harmful white privilege can be in spaces that are supposed to be about social justice.

Thirty-five of the 46 women who have publicly accused Bill Cosby of sexual assault are featured on the cover of New York Magazine.

At the end of March 2015, I went to protest Bill Cosby at the Lyric in Baltimore and immediately I noticed the appalling disparity between white women to women of color. As I looked for the protest organizer to discuss my concerns, I heard the protesters shame the patrons as they were walking into the Lyric – patrons who were overwhelmingly people of color. I came to protest Bill Cosby’s rape allegations and bring awareness to sexual assault, not to further marginalize already marginalized people.

When I expressed my concerns to the white woman protest leader, her response was immediately defensive: “We’re supposed to shame the patrons. They’re the ones that paid for the tickets to come see this show. That’s how a protest works.” I tried explaining my discomfort as a woman of color seeing mostly white women protesting a black man by yelling at people of color and mentioned that many of these same people being yelled at may have experienced white people yelling at them while protesting for Civil Rights, so perhaps a different strategy would be worth considering.

Peak white feminism at a Slut Walk NYC march in 2011. Using racism to combat sexism = FAIL.

Ultimately, I ended up leaving the protest after the organizer told me that I was being combative (among other unsavory things). As I drowned my intersectional feminist rage in Blue Moon and mixed drinks, I considered how much more effective the protest could have been if the white organizer and participants had used an intersectional lens to think about how systems of power influence their lives, including their approach to activism. We need more critical dialogue not just about race and racism but specifically about whiteness, which is often forgotten in these discussions because it is the invisible norm against which everything else is othered. 

Disrupting this white-centric framework is crucial for engaging in anti-racism. On a national scale, the Black Lives Matter protests are a direct interruption of that a Eurocentric worldview. Just as we need to decenter whiteness in the physical spaces like these protests, we also need for “allies” to decenter whiteness mentally so that they can engage in social justice without reproducing oppressive power structures or erasing the voices of people of color.

I’ve been in many situations like the Cosby protest when a white person got defensive when I pointed out a racial disparity or racially motivated power dynamics and I tried to push them to understand how problematic that can be, at which point they would either leave or ask me to leave by insinuating that I was being “difficult to work with.” These racial interactions are an everyday occurrence for me because I and many other black people must continually navigate “white space” while also decentering whiteness. However, in order to effectively dismantle white supremacy, black people cannot be the only ones working to disrupt white space – in our communities and our minds – but rather white people must also take on the often-uncomfortable challenge of confronting their own privilege.

Most places can be considered spaces of privilege and prejudice unless they actively work against oppression.

With white spaces being virtually everywhere, my beloved Women’s Center at UMBC is no different. Throughout my internship I’ve had many conversations with Women’s Center staff about we can continue working to decenter whiteness, including more intentionally focusing on the voices and perspectives of women of color and developing strategies to more effectively enable white people to engage in constructive dialogue around race and racism. Dismantling white supremacy is a daunting task and I am equipped with the skills and opportunities to aid in this endeavor despite how exhausting this work can be.

As with most social change work, progress in anti-racist work takes time, a humbled nature, and patience. People make mistakes and call each other out. If that is the case, use the white leadership from the Cosby protest as an example of how not to react. Instead I would suggest: Take a breath, assess your privilege, welcome the lesson, and ask engaging questions that focus on creating an effective impact in communities of color. If people want to build diverse communities, then we as a community have to acknowledge and embrace our differences through understanding the greater systems at large that privileges few and oppresses many.