ODU professors receive nearly $1M for cybersecurity research projects

Grant funding comes from ODU-led division of Commonwealth Cyber Initiative

Published February 8, 2021 by Sydney Lake

Five Old Dominion University professors have been awarded nearly $1 million in Coastal Virginia Center for Cyber Innovation (COVA CCI) funding for several cybersecurity research projects, the university announced Monday.

Hongyi Wu, Chunsheng Xin, Sachin Shetty, Rafael Diaz and Kevin Moberly are the principal investigators working on the six projects. COVA CCI is led by ODU and is part of the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative, which also includes participation from George Mason University, Virginia Commonwealth University and Virginia Tech. 

“We are pleased to receive the funds to support interdisciplinary research aimed at improving the cybersecurity infrastructure in this region,” Austin Agho, ODU provost and vice president for academic affairs, said in a statement. “This funding allows us to draw upon the expertise of faculty and students to solve problems that affect the daily lives of residents in the coastal Virginia region.”

Projects include those focused on developing a detection-and-mitigation system, 5G network use for connected vehicles, cybersecurity at the Port of Virginia, GPS data protection and video game design for cybersecurity education.

Funding was provided by CCI Cybersecurity Research Collaboration Grants and CCI Building Bridges Arts and Design Collaboration, which was split among the six projects. 

“A primary objective of Commonwealth Cyber Initiative and COVA CCI is to bring together researchers from multiple institutions to collaborate on areas of cybersecurity research critical to tomorrow’s economy and information security,” John Costanzo, COVA CCI administrative officer, said in a statement. “These projects represent the great value provided by leveraging the expertise found within our state’s research institutions.”

Established in the 2018-2020 state budget, CCI is a state initiative aimed at developing public and private partnerships around developing an ecosystem in Virginia for cybersecurity, autonomous systems and data systems research and development. With a mission of research, innovation and workforce development, CCI’s coordinating hub office is based in Arlington with regional nodes in Central, Eastern and Southwest Virginia.

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