Category Archives: Computer Science
Emerging Scholars to celebrate its 20th anniversary – Clemson News
July 18, 2022July 18, 2022
Emerging Scholars, one of Clemson Universitys most impactful outreach programs, is celebrating its 20th anniversary Saturday. Since its founding in 2002, Emerging Scholars has become a flagship program for Clemson as it fulfills its land-grant mission of serving the underserved in South Carolina.
The mission of this innovative program is to establish a desire to attend college among students in families from the states rural areas on the I-95 corridor. It operates in seven South Carolina high schools: Allendale-Fairfax, Bambeg-Ehrhadt, Denmark-Olar, Wade Hampton (Varnville), Estill, Dillon and Marlboro County.
The program brings cohorts of students to campus each summer to experience a university atmosphere while attending workshops focusing on academic enrichment, developing leadership skills and increasing college preparedness.
The results are impressive: 100 percent of the Emerging Scholars students (more than 1,000) have graduated from high school, with 82 percent going on to attend college. That more than doubles the overall college enrollment rate for 18- to 24-year-olds, which is 40 percent. That is without taking into account Emerging Scholars participants come from underserved communities.
Amber Lange, the assistant vice president of Educational Access and Engagement and executive director of College Preparation and Outreach, has been involved with the program since its first year when she was a graduate student.
There are two things that Im really proud of when it comes to the time that Ive been working with Emerging Scholars, said Lange. The first is the relationships weve built in the communities. After 20 years of working in these rural areas, we know a lot of families and a lot of community members. Im so thankful for them and that they trust us with their children and that they give us a chance to show their students what theyre capable of.
Lange said the second thing shes most proud of are the scholarships created for students who complete the Emerging Scholars program. Today, every Emerging Scholars graduate who is admitted and attends Clemson gets a full scholarship. (The first cohort of 13 scholarship recipients have all graduated.) There are also several scholarship funds students can apply for if they do not attend Clemson.
At the beginning, we were working with students, and we didnt have a lot of money to offer them to come to Clemson. So that has really changed the program and what we do. I really think thats a huge accomplishment, said Lange. Im definitely thankful for all the support we get from Clemson, but we get a ton of support from people who are not here at Clemson, and that might be a student who has given us $25 or a Board of Trustees member who has given a million.
The program was created by U.S. Navy (Ret.) Capt. Byron Wiley, who approached then-president of Clemson Jim Barker with the idea in 2001. Wiley had a distinguished 30-year career as a U.S. Naval Flight Officer andwas designated a proven specialist in human resource management and military intelligence. He spent time in service in Englands Royal Navy as part of the Military Personnel Exchange Program and was the first African American in the history of the U.S. Navy to serve as the personal aide to an admiral.
Wiley came to South Carolina after retiring from the Navy and immediately recognized the inequities in states education system. He devised the concept of the program to address the inequities he witnessed firsthand as a boy in Arkansas. With the support of President Barker, he used office funds to bring the first group of students to Clemson in the summer of 2002.
Lange gets emotional when she speaks of Wiley, who she knew and worked with during the programs early years.
This is really his legacy, she said. He is the reason Im sitting here and the reason were having this 20th year celebration. It was his vision. Like me, hes not from South Carolina, but that didnt matter to him. He just really wanted to make a difference and saw a need. And he was someone who, when they see a need, they try to fill it.
Program staff work with high school guidance counselors to identify freshmen who might be the first generation in their families to attend college and those students they believe will need extra motivation to get there. These students come to Clemson each summer for one- to three-week residential sessions and take classes in English, math, science, African-American history, public speaking and computer science. Students also attend academic workshops and visit at least 14 colleges while in the program.
Its so amazing that we have been doing this for 20 years! said program director Sara Hanks, who took over as director in 2021 after working with the program for five years. The program has hadan amazing impact on the students and communities we serve. We just had 80 students on campus for their first experience with us and I look forward to the program being able to continue that for the next 20 years.
Saturdays event will feature speeches by Lange, Hanks, President Jim Clements and the programs founders son, Alex Wiley.
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Emerging Scholars to celebrate its 20th anniversary - Clemson News
Digital transformation is coming – but we need education to be ready – TechHQ
The ways in which Industry 4.0 and digital transformation will revolutionize the world are as many and as diverse as the ways in which the computer revolution did and continues to do.
But there are difficulties in terms of the human factor when any firm let alone a whole industry prepares for an inevitable digital transformation into new ways of doing things. Either each company has to train its workforce individually in both the way that digital transformation will work within that company, driving business to in-person and increasingly online training companies to service specific transformations and technologies. Or there needs to be an increased development of Industry 4.0 awareness in schools and colleges, so that by the time pupils enter the workforce, theyre up to speed with the principles of digital transformation and Industry 4.0. Or, just possibly, both of these things need to happen at once.
This mirrors what happened with the computer revolution. While there were extremely basic, more or less computer recognition classes in US high schools as far back as the 1960s, it wasnt until the 1980s after Macs had become a thing and the price point to get your hands on one was beginning to drop from the entirely astronomical to the merely scandalous that computer science became a thing in most mainstream high schools. Meanwhile, companies that were trying to get ahead of the computer revolution would offer their own in-house training programs to help people make the shift from the analog to the digital era.
There are of course a handful of problems with trying to retrofit this example to the world of digital transformation. Chief among the issues is the idea of there being any period where the process stands still. To teach children and college students about the principles of digital transformation, it would be really useful if digital transformation would stand still for a little while, so that the information taught could still be remotely relevant by the time the pupils hit the workforce. The point about which is that the very idea is contrary to the nature of digital transformation. Its a process that moves forward, and fast.
In the normal schedules of school or college, by the time you could train teachers or professors a syllabus on digital transformation and get them to deliver it, it would be irrelevant and out of date. Not to mention the delay between any student graduating in the subject and encountering it in the real world.
That seems to leave two main options or maybe three, at a push.
If were educating young people in digital transformation within the school or college setting, one of two things needs to happen. Potentially, both the final year of a high school computer syllabus could include some philosophical underpinning in what digital transformation might look like in a whole range of environments, staying in areas that are vague enough to be proof against an ever-evolving business reality. That would arguably be useless in the real world, but it would be a start in terms of giving young people who might not have encountered it in their day-to-day lives an inkling of where Industry 4.0 has come from, and some of the ways digital transformation has been applied in some important test cases.
So far, so timeless, so teachable but arguably, so redundant.
If we want students to learn how to get involved in digital transformation in the real world, were looking at something a lot more complex in terms of infrastructure, to combat the redundancy clock of any syllabus in coding, strategic development and other aspects of digital transformation.
Wed be looking at either region-specific hothouse courses, delivered either by or in conjunction with local industries that are in the process of breaking into Industry 4.0, with a mind to filling local vacancies in particular firms or sectors, or national hothouse scholarships run by major technology businesses, allowing for the specialization of skills and learning in elements of digital transformation that would be of particular interest to those tech businesses.
In essence, wed be looking at an internship approach to Industry 4.0 and digital transformation a partnership, in essence, between the learning establishment and the potential employer.
Or, more likely, each company would need to develop a rolling program of internal training in the process of applying Industry 4.0 to its own sphere and its own processes specifically.
That has the bonus of being applicable not only to incoming or project-specific staff, but existing staff too, allowing the current workforce an initial, basic level of learning in terms of what digital transformation has been, what it is at the time of teaching, and how the next phase of the process is going to go within the company. That means companies can bring hearts and minds with them often an overlooked step in applying digital transformation to a work culture. Also, once the initial training is done, some fear-beating hands-on experience could be offered without unnecessary risk either to the staff or the project, to ensure that as the process rolls into new phases, both existing staff and newcomers feel more at ease with it part of the process, rather than left behind by an enforced upgrade.
While a change in the educational curriculum of schools and colleges would probably require governmental action, theres nothing to stop the tech community rolling out the second two ideas hothouses for new workers coming into the industry, either through outreach to colleges or through the establishment of company-specific internships, and the in-company rollout of fear-beating training to existing and new staff.
It will take investment, it will take commitment, and it will take time. The question for the tech industry is whether it would prefer to put its money where its transformation is, or wait to deal with the culture shock as staff arrive and adapt through the process of osmosis. Investment would seem to be both the responsible and the self-serving response here.
But the clock is ticking.
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Digital transformation is coming - but we need education to be ready - TechHQ
How to protect your privacy when using mental health care apps – NPR
Prospective users can take certain steps to ensure their data might be more protected when using online therapy apps, according to some experts. Jenny Kane/AP hide caption
Prospective users can take certain steps to ensure their data might be more protected when using online therapy apps, according to some experts.
Online therapy has become a booming industry in recent years, but with that growth comes questions about how well these types of companies are protecting the privacy of their patients.
Most recently, in June, Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker and Ron Wyden asked two leading online therapy companies, BetterHelp and Talkspace, to provide information about how they handle user data and their privacy practices.
The Democratic senators said they were concerned that the companies could be leaving their patients "vulnerable to exploitation from large technology platforms and other online actors."
BetterHelp markets itself as the world's largest online therapy service with nearly 2 million users, according to its website. The company operates through thousands of therapists who can communicate with patients via phone, text or video chat.
But a 2020 investigation from Jezebel found that BetterHelp information was being shared with Facebook, including metadata of messages between patients and therapists. Facebook could also see the duration, approximate location and amount of time people spent on BetterHelp, according to Jezebel. (BetterHelp is an NPR funder.)
The nonprofit Mozilla Foundation has also raised concerns about the privacy policies of both BetterHelp and Talkspace.
Talkspace told NPR that it has one of the most comprehensive privacy policies in the industry and that it's gathering information to comply with the senators' request.
Mary Potter, the company's chief privacy officer, added that communication between patients and therapists takes place in "a fully-secure, encrypted private 'room.' We believe our technology fully meets [the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act] privacy and security requirements and protocols. For absolute clarity, we do not sell user information to third parties."
BetterHelp told NPR that it is committed to privacy and security. A spokesperson said the company "has built state-of-the-art technologies, operations, and infrastructure to safeguard the information provided on our platform. Everything BetterHelp members share with their counselor is confidential, secure, and encrypted."
With online mental health services providing a convenient alternative to traditional methods of in-person therapy for many people, NPR asked digital privacy experts to weigh in on what you should know about protecting your privacy when using these types of platforms.
The privacy tips here can apply to more than just online therapy services, but experts say these steps can help with privacy related to therapy apps as well.
"Go through the privacy settings on [your] smartphone operating system. Every time you download an app, go through its privacy settings. Enable all the options that allow you to limit how apps track you," said Arvind Narayanan, an associate professor of computer science at Princeton University.
Narayanan said to pay attention any time a screen prompts you for permissions.
"Don't simply tap the default option. When you try to restrict tracking, many apps will try to convince you that you're missing out. These are generally misleading or deceptive claims," he told NPR.
John Davisson, director of litigation and senior counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said that although steps to protect your privacy mainly depend on the specific app, users can opt out of personalized ads on Google and turn off cross-app tracking.
"That prevents the data that you input to one application from being correlated or collated with data uploaded to another application," Davisson told NPR.
If you're signed into your Google account, turn the slider for "ads personalization" to "OFF" here. This opt-out will work for all of your signed-in devices when recognized as being signed in, according to Google.
And when signed out of your Google account, you can opt out of personalized ads across the web and on Google search under the options here.
You can turn off personalized ads on Apple devices, Androids and Facebook and Twitter as well by following steps here.
Users can also disable their mobile advertising ID, which limits the ways that companies can collate your data, location, search history and browsing history, according to Davisson.
For iPhone users, go to Settings > Privacy > Tracking to see if there are any apps you previously allowed access to track. Switch the slider to "off" where it says "Allow Apps to Request to Track" so the button appears gray.
For Android users, go to Settings > Privacy > Ads > and tap "delete advertising ID." An older version of Android may instead give the option to "Opt out of Ads Personalization."
Reading apps' "privacy nutrition labels" can give prospective users a clearer sense of the types of data apps are collecting and how it's being used, according to Davisson.
Apple says these labels are a way to provide a more transparent explanation of how apps handle user data.
You can find Apple's privacy nutrition labels when you scroll down on the page of an app in the App Store where you'll see an "App Privacy" section.
Google Play implemented a similar label for Android users that began appearing on some apps in April.
These labels don't always tell the whole story, however, as Apple and Google say the developers self-report this information.
Specifically with BetterHelp, the Mozilla Foundation recommends to not connect the app to any social media accounts or third-party tools and to not share medical data when connected to any of those accounts. "Click the 'Shred' button next to each message you've sent if you want it to no longer show in your account," Mozilla's privacy guide says.
With Talkspace, Mozilla recommends: "Do not give an authorization to use or disclose your medical information. If you have given it already (or if you are unsure), revoke it by sending an email to privacy@Talkspace.com. Otherwise, your medical data including psychotherapy notes may be shared for marketing."
You can also ask Talkspace to limit what's shared with your insurance by emailing request@talkspace.com.
Another option for privacy-minded people is to use a virtual private network. VPNs are used to mask the location of your computer and stop an internet service provider from seeing the websites you visit.
But Narayanan said he believes VPNs are more cumbersome and less effective than other methods at protecting your data and privacy online.
"Unfortunately, the lack of stringent regulation of apps like BetterHelp and Talkspace has forced people into a very difficult choice between obtaining mental health support on the one hand and knowing their privacy will be protected on the other," Davisson said.
Davisson stressed that people's individual digital trails are too complex to monitor and safeguard their own data in every context.
"There's a significant gap in privacy protection and regulation that allows these types of apps to fall through," he said.
Federal privacy laws vary by sector, and HIPAA is limited to health plans, health care clearinghouses, and health care providers, according to Davisson.
The federal law seeks to protect patients' personal health information from being exposed without their knowledge or consent, but Davisson said this does not typically apply to mental health apps or other health apps like period trackers.
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How to protect your privacy when using mental health care apps - NPR
Jared Amalong Selected as SynED’s July National CyberHero for Expanding Computer Science Education and New Education Technologies in Northern…
PR Newswire
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif, July 12, 2022
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today synED, a national non-profit organization that identifies emerging best practices for effective articulation between employers, job seekers, and education providers, announced that Jared Amalong, Director of Computer Science and Digital Learning at the Sacramento County Office of Education, is this month's CyberHero.
With a wide breadth of experience in education, computer science, and educational technology, Mr. Amalong has a solid footing as he works to expand computer science education offerings to students and provide new classroom tools in Sacramento County and beyond. At the Sacramento County Office of Education (SCOE), he supports computer science educators from 24 school districts in 7 counties encompassing the Greater Sacramento Region.
Mr. Amalong served on the California Department of Education Computer Science Standards Advisory Council and is the K-12 Teaching and Learning Working Group Co-Lead for CSforCA. He also oversees the California Mayors Cyber Cup competition in the Capitol Region for SCOE.
"Jared is committed to creating equitable, accessible, relevant and engaging learning opportunities that allows students to further explore computer science, and the growth and success of programs that he supports is a testament to his hard work and dedication," said Lilibeth May Mora, a Professional Learning Manager at the Computer Science Teachers Association. "He has been such an amazing colleague to work with and an even better friend."
Mr. Amalong has been at the forefront of the technology changes happening in education, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic forced major changes in the ways students and teachers interact on a daily basis. The California Mayors Cyber Cup, for example, began in 2019 as an in-person student learning experience that brought students together regionally. Canceled in 2020, the competition has been strictly virtual in 2021 and 2022.
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"I would say that we've learned a lot about how we can create meaningful professional learning and student programs in a virtual environment," said Mr. Amalong. "Three years ago, the idea of using platforms like Zoom to connect students across the state wasn't one we considered. So we've learned a lot of good things, but it has definitely come with significant costs, chief among them exhaustion. The pandemic has been taxing for students and educators alike."
A top priority of his is to bring back an in-person component of the California Mayors Cyber Cup in 2023, while keeping the beneficial aspects of a virtual competition. For the past two competitions, planners have been able to include student teams from as far away as the College of the Redwoods, a community college that is a five-hour drive from Sacramento.
"What I hope for the next Mayors Cup in Spring 2023, is that we will benefit from the things we've learned and bring about a new experience in a hybrid way," Mr. Amalong continued.
Mr. Amalong was born and raised in the Sacramento area, and attended Sacramento State University before earning a Master's degree in Educational/Instructional Technology at Boise State University. Early in his career, he worked for the California Governor's information Technology Department. While there, Mr. Amalong altered his work schedule to allow him to coach high school football. He found that he loved working with students, and pursued a teaching credential.
In 2007, he began teaching Language Arts at his alma mater, Rocklin High School, and needed a tool to make his life easier grading essays. He discovered a new online tool called Writely a platform that had been acquired that year by Google and would soon become Google Docs. This accelerated his interest in education technology and helping both students and teachers use new technologies inside and outside the classroom.
He then joined Placer County's Office of Education, where he taught career and technical education courses and began working across the County as the Information and Communication Technologies Coordinator.
"My junior year in high school, there was a single computer programming course that was offered," he recalled. "There were so many students at my high school who were unable to access that course. That's been an inspriritation for me for a long time. How do we broaden access to these types of courses?"
He also focuses on increasing diversity in cybersecurity and computer science. One example is with the California Mayors Cyber Cup, where his goal is to achieve gender parity and increase diversity.
"I think we need to build something for students that are curious, and might be trying a computer science or cybersecurity competition for the first time, that's really what drives this work," Mr. Amalong added. He regrets that many cybersecurity competitions and recruitment efforts are based around themes of military, war, or battle, which can leave large swaths of students feeling left out.
Newer programs offered by SCOE include an e-sports competition, which will debut next year, and virtual courses in computer science that students from across the Sacramento region and beyond can take for high school and college credit.
"We really have enjoyed working with students from Sacramento to the Oregon border, and that's been made possible through generous grantors and the Sacramento County Office of Education Superintendent Dave Gordon," he concluded. "The work that we do with teachers, in professional learning, is actually statewide. We do have a significant focus on the Far North counties, working with our partners in Shasta and Siskiyou counties, for example."
About SynEDCyberHero's Series
SynED'sCyberHero'sseries is a monthly column published nationally that highlights individuals who quietly go above and beyond in helping to secure our nation and communities by developing cyber talent.SynED isa national non-profit that identifies and highlights emerging best practices for effective articulation between employers, job seekers, and education providers. SynED is the proud recipient of the 2021 Association for Career & Technical Education Business-Education PartnershipAward.
Contact:Liz Fraumann866-420-4573 x801340301@email4pr.com
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Commonwealth Cyber Initiative funds nearly $1 million in experiential learning projects to benefit Virginia students – Virginia Tech Daily
The Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI) is investing about $900,000 in nine experiential learning projects, covering election security, privacy protection, and digital forensics research areas.
The newly funded experiential learning projects highlight how widespread and varied cybersecurity concerns have become, said Luiz DaSilva, CCI executive director. By giving students hands-on experiences needed for careers in this ever-growing field, we hope to make significant contributions to building a strong cybersecurity workforce for Virginia and the nation.
Along with innovation and research, workforce development is a key driver of CCIs mission. The Virginia Tech-led initiative encompasses a network of 41 Virginia higher education institutes with more than 320 researchers working at the intersection of security, autonomous systems, and intelligence.
This is the third year that CCI has funded experiential learning programs. These projects are led by researchers at:
Learn more about the funded projects:
Project: Cyber Startups: CCI 2022 Scalable Pilot Programs for Experiential Learning
Project: Digital Forensics Experiential Learning Program with Virginia State Police
Project: Disinformation as Data Poisoning
Project: Enhancing Experiential Learning via Technology Enabled Internships with Mentoring: Phase 2 Implementation
Project: Expanded Scalable Pilot Program for Experiential Learning in CCI Through the Commonwealth STEM Industry Internship Program
Project: Future Cyber Security Educators: Empowering Cadets as Educators
Project: Preparing Virginias Workforce to Secure the Nations Election Infrastructure
Project: Solving the Cyber Workforce & Skills Challenges through Experiential Learning
Project: Use & Abuse of Personal Information
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Class offerings for students will be limited with new education mandate – McCook Daily Gazette
McCOOK, Neb. A new mandate from the Nebraska Legislature requires computer science classes for public school students, but how students will be assessed on it has some local administrators scratching their heads.
LB 1112, the Computer Science and Technology Act, was approved by state senators in the 2022 session. It requires that by 2024-25, computer science be integrated into the curriculum for kindergarten through 12th grade and by 2026-27, a one-semester computer science/technology class be required for graduation. Annual status reports are to be submitted to the Nebraska Department of Education.
But what those status reports should contain is still a little fuzzy and for now, how to assess student technology skills is vague as well. Superintendent Grant Norgaard said Monday night at the McCook School Board meeting that due to the poor quality of the language contained in the bill, he expects that it may get re-written. Based on the language in the legislation, the NDE is having difficulty establishing standards for schools to follow, Norgaard said.
In addition, the new requirement will limit class selection for students. Norgaard told the Gazette that at McCook Public Schools, instead of hiring another teacher for a computer science class, teachers who teach a business apps class or an entrepreneurial class will instead teach a computer science class.
McCook High School previously had a computer science class but that was folded into a financial literacy class, another class mandated by the state legislature in 2021.
Tina Williams, McCook Public Schools technology director, said the goal of LB 1112 is to make sure students have enough skills to compete in the tech world in the 21st century. Williams presented a synopsis of what students are currently doing at each grade level related to computer science. This starts as early as first grade when students learn how to log into the school districts computers. This isnt as easy as it sounds, she said, as students are still learning the alphabet and how to keyboard.
This year, learning gaps in computer skills will be identified as a way to collect data for the required status reports and also to find out what areas can be improved, Williams said.
Computer skills are fine but more importantly, students need to have critical thinking skills, said board member Tom Bredvick. Williams said this is being addressed and gave the example of a teacher saying to a student, This window doesnt look right, what should you do?
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Class offerings for students will be limited with new education mandate - McCook Daily Gazette
Projects for Peace Grants to Fund Education Initiative in Vietnam and Tech Boot Camp in Ghana – Middlebury College News and Events
MIDDLEBURY, Vt. This summer the Davis United World College Scholars Program is funding two Projects for Peace proposals submitted by Middlebury College undergraduates, one project in Vietnam and one inGhana.
The Projects for Peace initiative, now in its 16th year, seeks to fulfill the vision of Kathryn Wasserman Davis, the late philanthropist and scholar who pledged $1 million per year to work toward lasting peace in the world. She challenged college students to bring about a mindset of preparing for peace instead of preparing for war through innovative projects that promote love, kindness, and globalunderstanding.
The students 2022 projects are
Unemployed youth can, out of sheer frustration, resort to unethical sources of income, creating chaos, said Ntoni. The few who know about computer science are bombarded with lots of myths, including that tech is for an elite few, the stability of tech jobs is very low, or that you need very sophisticated high-cost tools if you want to delve into that area. These myths eventually discourage the youth from giving it atry.
Ntonis goal is to contribute to peace and sustainable development by providing participants with digital skills in the form of training, mentorship, and information on ways to subsequently leverage their new skills for economic gains. The program includes an introduction to the programming language Python, UI/UX design, budgeting and management, and access to mentors acrossindustries.
Ntoni is working on the project with two other studentsRupert Tawiah-Quarshie, a computer science and mathematics major at Hampshire College, and Nathaniel Wullar, a computer science and electrical and computer engineering major at DukeUniversity.
Nhi Dang 23, who is majoring in computer science, is working to address educational inequality with her project, Bridging the GapRural Education in Vietnam. She is based in Cn Giuc in the countrys rural Mekong Delta region, where she is providing junior high and high school students with the resources they need to mitigate the devastating impact the pandemic has had on their education. Students have access to computer equipment and supplemental instruction in math and literature through free virtual tutoring with localteachers.
Dang is from Ho Chi Minh City but Cn Giuc is the hometown of Dangs mother. Dang said that while schools were shut due to COVID-19, students in this area had to take classes remotely by receiving materials in the mail and watching teachers on TV, since many rural schools lack the resourcesincluding Internet access, running water, and adequate fundingavailable to those in urbancenters.
As a first-gen student, I believe that education is the key to global understanding and peace, said Dang. With equal access to a quality education, students in Cn Giuc can be exposed to and challenged by a multitude of topics andviewpoints.
Middlebury students have undertaken 25 Projects for Peace since the program was launched in 2007. They have operated an English language immersion summer academy in Bulgaria, run a training camp in entrepreneurship and conflict resolution in Burundi, helped low-income women in Turkey to promote their handcrafted jewelry to international markets, and challenged racism through oral histories in North Carolina. Other projects directed by Middlebury students have taken place in Senegal, Morocco, Nepal, New Zealand, Israel, Guatemala, Thailand, Afghanistan, andUganda.
Information about submitting a proposal to Projects for Peace is available online. Middlebury College students interested in applying should contact Ben Yamron, creativity and innovation associate at the Innovation Hub, at byamron@middlebury.edu.
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Researchers To Enhance Security Of Next-Generation Wireless Systems – Texas A&M University Today
The research team is working to better secure the microstructure architecture of next-generation wireless systems and develop a new framework to transform it into a self-protecting entity.
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Guofei Gu, professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Texas A&M University, is the lead principal investigator of a research team that has received a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundations (NSF) Resilient and Intelligent Next-Generation Systems (RINGS) program to enhance the security of future wireless and mobile network systems.
The RINGS program seeks to ensure the security and resiliency of next-generation (NextG) wireless and mobile communication, sensing, computing and networking systems that will support essential services.
NextG systems are expected to connect billions of Internet of Things devices and users, and provide personalized computational and storage resources for highly critical data in real time with little delay. In order to host so many application services, NextG will use edge computing, which refers to computing services that are physically located near the user or source of the data instead of miles away at the core of a traditional cloud data system. This way, the corresponding device can provide quick responses. For example, future autonomous vehicles may require NextG to support application services to perform computations, store and process critical data from their various sensors, manage vehicle-to-vehicle communications and run their deep-learning algorithms.
To ensure that the billions of NextG-supported services remain scalable and reliable, it will feature microservice architecture, which is composed of a single application or service divided into smaller, independent processes (microservices) that each has a specific purpose. They are reusable and can be made quickly to meet demand. In addition, if a single microservice fails, it will not cause the entire application or service to crash.
However, existing microstructure architecture is not typically developed and deployed with built-in security measures. While basic security patches are available on demand to add after the fact, they are not enough to support the large volumes of critical services that NextG hosts.
To address these issues, the team has proposed to develop a new framework, NextSec, to transform the microservices into self-protecting entities that can do security enhancement protection on their own using the concept of security transformation. In addition to security transformation, NextSec also provides new primitives for supporting a software-defined way of enforcing user-to-edge-to-cloud security and offers efficient, scalable verification of complex security properties across microservices.
NextSec is an ambitious attempt to build revolutionary capabilities for securing critical services in NextG, as well as generic edge and cloud computing, said Gu. This project will provide a solid foundation and collaborative community for future system and network security research.
The co-principal investigators on the project include associate professor Jeff Huang and assistant professor Chia-Che Tsai from the computer science and engineering department and Walter Magnussen, director of the Texas A&M Internet2 Technology Evaluation Center.
For the RINGS program, the NSF partners with the U.S. Department of Defenses Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, the National Institute of Standards and Technology and several industry partners such as Apple, Ericsson, Google, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Nokia, Qualcomm and VMware.
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Researchers To Enhance Security Of Next-Generation Wireless Systems - Texas A&M University Today
IUK to partner with area schools to expand career exploration – Kokomo Tribune
Area high school students can get a jump on their future as Indiana University Kokomo is partnering with local high schools to offer more college and career opportunities.
IUK received a $1.2 million Explore, Engage and Experience (3E) grant from the Indiana Department of Education. The university partnered with four schools: Northwestern, Maconaquah, Tipton and Frankfort.
3E grants are through federal pandemic relief money and meant to expand career pathways for students.
IUKs grant will fund the development of additional pathways in business, health science, health care, computer science and possibly humanities and arts. Leah Nellis, IU senior advisor for regional campus K-12 initiatives, said these pathways were identified as needs and interests at the partnering high schools.
Pathways will be developed this year with a 2023-24 roll out. Courses through IUK are expected to be dual credit, meaning students will earn both high school and college credit.
The grant comes at a time when Northwestern is preparing to expand its career and technical courses. Its part of the districts multi-million-dollar school improvement project, expected to begin next year.
We really need to find our niche, said Superintendent Kristen Bilkey. This couldnt have come at a better time.
Pathways will be modeled after IUKs Tomorrows Teachers program, which helps high school students interested in becoming teachers earn credits toward an education degree.
Students can earn up to 12 credits that count toward a teaching degree before theyre a college freshman. IUK instructors teach courses at local high schools and students go to campus a few times.
Nellis said the model is helpful in multiple ways. Aside from being more affordable, it exposes students to the college experience. Students develop relationships with professors. Nellis said students who have gone through the Tomorrows Teachers program speak highly of their experience.
They already have relationships here (on campus), and it fosters a sense of confidence, she said. There wasnt that typical freshman experience of, Oh my gosh what am I doing?
Kokomo and Western schools participate in Tomorrows Teachers. The grant expands the program to more districts, including Tipton.
We think for us, its going to pay off in the end, said Tipton Superintendent Ryan Glaze. It really expands a great deal of opportunities for our kids.
The superintendent said the biggest draw of the grant for Tipton was that it affords for a college and career counselor position. This person will help students find available careers, stay on track to earn their diploma and/or degree and find internships and work-based learning opportunities.
Northwestern will add a similar position.
The school corporation was a partner in another 3E grant with Wabash Valley Education Center in Lafayette.
Bilkey said the education service center will assist in expanding education pathways at partner schools and help recruit teachers.
Both of these opportunities provide some funding to take chances to help our kids, Bilkey said.
IUKs transition to teaching program stands to get a boost, too. The program helps college graduates with a degree earn a teaching license, mainly for those wanting a career change.
Nellis said the grant will cover the cost for people in computer science or informatics get their license.
There are new Indiana standards for computer science, and a lack of teachers to teach them. Nellis said that although some schools have teachers who can teach the new standards, having teachers with a background in computer science will benefit students more.
We know there is a need for a computer science high school pathway, and schools dont have (the teachers), she said.
IUKs grant also includes career exploration curriculum for partnering schools. The curriculum is for grades kindergarten through eighth and meant to introduce students to possible careers.
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IUK to partner with area schools to expand career exploration - Kokomo Tribune
Meet the Mandela Washington Fellows | Northern Nevada International Center – Nevada Today
Bill Owiti
Bill Owiti has more than seven years of experience in technology and cloud-based solutions. Currently, Bill is technical projects and Salesforce lead at the Start Network, a group of more than 50 humanitarian agencies across five continents who work to transform humanitarian action through innovation, fast funding, early action, and locally led action. Bill was previously technology and Salesforce lead at the BOMA Project, a United States- and Kenya-based organization that focuses on eradicating extreme poverty in the African drylands. In addition, Bill has volunteered and set up cloud-based monitoring systems for other non-profit organizations, such as the Africa Yoga Project, Karura ACC, and the Kenya Drylands Education Fund. Bill holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and many other certifications, including ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library), Prince II, and Salesforce. Through his company, Cobitech Solutions, Bill is committed to digitizing non-profits through consultancy, voluntary, and pro bono arrangements. After completing the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders, Bill plans to expand his digitization of non-profits by using technology that will improve their visibility, impact, and program monitoring efforts.
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Meet the Mandela Washington Fellows | Northern Nevada International Center - Nevada Today