UMBC’s Alan Sherman and colleagues receive over $5M in NSF support for cybersecurity education

The National Science Foundation recently awarded Alan Sherman, professor of computer science and electrical engineering (CSEE), and his colleagues, two grants totaling over five million dollars to support students and research at UMBC.

Tools to assess learning

One of the two NSF grants asks the question, what is the most effective way to teach cybersecurity—with competitions, games, hands-on experiences, or other techniques? Through this award, Sherman and colleagues will focus on developing evidence-based tools to assess the effectiveness of various approaches to teaching cybersecurity.

Sherman is working with Dhananjay Phatak, associate professor of CSEE; Linda Oliva, assistant professor of education; and collaborators at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to create two educational Cybersecurity Assessment Tools (CATS) that assesses a student’s conceptual understanding of cybersecurity. The first tool will be a concept inventory for students in any first course in cybersecurity. The second will be for students graduating from college who will be entering a career in cybersecurity.

Training future cybersecurity professionals

Sherman was awarded more than $4.9 million over five years through NSF’s CyberCorps: Scholarship for Service (SFS) program. The program is designed to increase the number of cybersecurity professionals that are trained to enter careers in government, focused on protecting the nation’s information, communications, and computer systems. Rick Forno, assistant director of UMBC’s Center for Cybersecurity, is co-PI on the new SFS program grant, as well as UMBC’s prior SFS awards.

This funding will allow Sherman to extend the work that he began with support from his previous NSF CyberCorps grant, which ends in August 2019. The Scholarship for Service program at UMBC will support 34 students who are pursuing degrees at the undergraduate and graduate levels in computer science, computer engineering, information systems, cybersecurity, and other cyber-related programs.

The grant funding will also allow Sherman to develop stronger connections with two community colleges in Maryland. Each year, one student graduating from Montgomery College and one student graduating from Prince George’s Community College will be selected to participate in the program beginning in their last year at community college, and continuing through their transfer to UMBC to complete their four-year degree. This collaboration will continue to strengthen the talent pipeline and increase the number of cybersecurity professionals who pursue public service careers.

The scholar experience

The SFS program and other cybersecurity education initiative help students develop their abilities to be prudent, thoughtful, and strategic in “managing trust and information in an adversarial cyber world.” Sherman explains, “Students must also pay careful attention to details and master relevant technical knowledge and skills, such as cryptology, network protocols, system design, and secure programming.”

Each student who receives a scholarship completes a summer internship with a government agency at the local, state, federal, or tribal level. Each recipient is also required to complete government service in a cybersecurity-related position in their field after graduation.

Based on a cohort model, the UMBC program encourages the SFS scholars to learn from each other and to engage in cybersecurity research on campus, such as through Sherman’s Cyber Defense Lab. Each January, the scholars complete a week-long collaborative research project in which they analyze a specific aspect of the security of UMBC’s computer system.

“As we enter the next five years of this grant, UMBC’s SFS program remains a unique, robust opportunity for students to explore the wide range of possibilities in the cybersecurity discipline,” explains Forno. “It allows them to fully prepare for and commit themselves to entering the federal cyber workforce, and make a difference on Day One no matter where they begin their careers in the service of our nation.”

Adapted from a UMBC News article by Megan Hanks. Banner image: Rick Forno, left, and Alan Sherman. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

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Did you know that there are new PROMISE programs that will focus on faculty diversity in engineering and the biomedical sciences? The PROMISE Academy was funded in October 2018 and bears the official title:

The AGEP Alliance State System Model to Transform the Hiring Practices and Career Success of Tenure Track Historically Underrepresented Minority Faculty in Biomedical Sciences

The PROMISE Engineering Institute is funded by NSF’s Engineering Division, and focuses on preparing diverse engineering graduate students and postdocs for the professoriate, and exploring ways to support the professional development of early-career engineering faculty.

A new landing page has been developed to capture the University System of Maryland’s NSF-funding pipeline professional development programs, based on our #ThinkBigDiversity hashtag: https://thinkbigdiversity.com/

Iron Crow Theatre is an award-winning, not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization and Baltimore’s queer theatre, having recently received Best Breakout Theatre from Baltimore Magazine in 2017. Iron Crow Theatre aims to become Baltimore's next Equity theatre and produces queer theatre for a queer city, celebrating the renegade and the unorthodox in all of us.

Seeking
Non-Equity actors for the following roles in Iron Crow Theatre's upcoming production of Bathsheba Doran’s The Mystery of Love and Sex directed by Dr. Natka Bianchini.

Just as it takes time to develop strong verbal skills and memorize every element in the periodic table, the same also applies to the writing process. People are not born to be ‘good writers’or ‘bad writers’. Learning to write well is a skill that can be mastered by anyone, regardless of their educational background or existing skillset, if they are willing to put in the time to do so.

As the title of this article proclaims, writing is an extremely useful functional skill that can be applied across many different disciplines. With that said, it is important to note that writing entails so much more than creating compelling argumentative essays, enthralling stories, and detailed propositions.

While it is true that traditional writing relies heavily on maintaining readers’ attention by eloquently reinforcing opinions with statements made by notable individuals, the same cannot be said of STEM writing. In STEM writing, the main purpose is to convey high-level technical concepts in an (1) objective, (2) comprehensive, and (3) straightforward manner so that they can be understood by a broader audience. That is not to say, however, that STEM writing requires absolute simplicity. Nearly all STEM writing uses field-specific technical terms to ensure that the main message is accurate and appropriate for its given audience.

In ‘hard science’ fields such as chemistry, biology, and physics, it is common for researchers to create lab write-ups for their experiments. During this process, researchers should make it a point to (1) list all of the equipment that was used in the experiment as well as their functions and relevance, (2) identify the overarching goal of the experiment, (3) detail the sequential process that led to the result, and (4) identify ways to improve the experiment. By documenting this information, the value of researchers’ work increases substantially because it fulfills the core tenets of the scientific method – observability, measurability, and repeatability. Without this information, the significance of the experiment’s results becomes much more difficult to determine.

In the same way, professionals in the technology and engineering fields are frequently asked to assess the strengths and weaknesses of existing systems and provide detailed mitigation solutions that can rectify those issues. Unless specific information, such as (1) the specific locations of the issues, (2) the severity of the issues, (3) the potential causes of the issues, and (4) the solutions to the issues, is documented clearly, it is nearly impossible to perform any meaningful changes. Furthermore, failing to adequately assess all aspects of the issue could hinder a decision maker’s ability to make an informed recommendation; this may ultimately lead to schedule delays, which could have a devastating effect on the business’s success and the employee’s reputation.

Here are some key takeaways on how to be successful in STEM writing:

(1) Identify the target audience. Every piece of writing is different and therefore requires a unique approach. Knowing who the document is geared towards can help the writer determine the optimal level of formality for their document. In general, it is better to use formal wording than informal wording. A technical report originally intended for a functional manager could eventually wind up in the hands of the company’s CEO. For this reason, writers should never assume their audience’s knowledge base. Some audiences have broader skill and knowledge gaps than others. Consider this in advance and make it a point to include a brief synopsis about the subject matter being discussed to prevent misunderstandings from occurring.

(2) Be specific. The purpose of writing is to communicate effectively. It is impossible for an outside viewer to discern the meaning of a statement if crucial details are missing or vague terminology has been used. Be detail-oriented and make it a point to elaborate whenever possible. Consider the what, when, how, and why of the situation and express that information to the reader in an accessible way.

(3) Be objective, but not robotic. While the primary focus of STEM writing is to communicate with intent rather than flair, it can ultimately lead to an abundance of repetitive and uninspiring verbiage appearing throughout the document. Utilizing transitional devices such as additionally, furthermore, likewise, and nevertheless, can significantly improve the readability of any paper and maintain a reader’s attention. If multiple sentences begin to sound alike, it may be a sign that transitional devices or an alternative word choice should be implemented.

(4) Remember that writing is a process. As every STEM student knows, a good idea requires multiple iterations before it is perfected. The same concept applies to the writing process. No matter what someone’s skill level is, every piece of writing requires multiple revisions before it reaches its final form. Keeping this in mind, it is crucial that enough time is allotted to revise, edit, and proofread a document before its final submission. There is no greater embarrassment than delivering an unfinished document that does not communicate the same meaning as the writer’s original intent. Make a detailed plan of what should be expressed and put it into action, one step at a time.

By applying this advice, writers should be much better equipped to overcome the challenges associated with STEM writing. While this guide certainly does not detail every component of STEM writing, the ideas that were discussed hold true for every writing scenario, even for those in other disciplines. Just as the beginning of the article states, writing, at its core, is merely another method for communicating ideas to others. Focus on achieving that indicated goal and everything will work out just fine.

Contributed by: William Kallal, Writing Center Tutor

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