Boise State University’s College of Engineering and Division of Extended Studies have partnered to secure a grant of $833,958 from the Idaho Workforce Development Council focused on building an online cyber-physical systems security certificate with a proposed fall 2020 launch.
The grant covers 36 months of development and program start-up costs and will enable Boise State to create a high-demand, innovative online cyber-physical systems security certificate. The program is designed to be accessible to anyone interested in earning the credential, regardless of where they live in Idaho.
“A trained workforce in cybersecurity is a large, unmet national need,” said JoAnn Lighty, dean of the College of Engineering at Boise State. “Through this partnership between Extended Studies and the College of Engineering, we are hoping to close that gap.”
Sin Ming Loo, a professor of electrical and computer engineering and principal investigator for the grant, highlighted the collaborative nature of the initiative, which was developed with support from industry partners including Simplot, Idaho National Laboratory and Idaho Air National Guard. Additional technical design inputs were provided by Albertsons, Idaho Power and the Boise Chapter of Information Systems Security Association members.
“Throughout the development and implementation phase, we will continue to expand the industry network and collaborate with communities and universities across the state,” Loo said. “This is an exciting opportunity to ensure that our businesses and industry are able to meet rapidly growing cyber operational needs.”
“The partnership between the College of Engineering and Extended Studies leverages expertise from across the university to create a truly unique, highly relevant and fully accessible program for Idaho,” added Peter Risse, an associate dean for Extended Studies at Boise State and co-principal investigator for the grant.
