At an agreement signing on Tuesday, December 10, 2024, Cyber SMART officially welcomed the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) at its first international site. The ceremony took place at UTS, with Cyber SMART leadership in attendance. The agreement represents a new era of global collaboration in cybersecurity and SMART (Science, Management, Applications, Research, and Training).

Cyber SMART is a U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Industry-University Collaborative Research Center (IUCRC), established in 2019 by Georgetown University.

Representing UTS were Eryk Dutkiewicz, Associate Dean in the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology,  and Sofia Haidar-Blake, vice president for research. Sofia Haidar-Blake signed the agreement on behalf of UTS. Joining the center represents UTS’s joint commitment with Cyber SMART members Georgetown University, the University of Notre Dame, and Virginia Tech, in advancing research and innovation in secure and resilient systems.

Ophir Frieder, Cyber SMART director and professor at Georgetown University, signed on behalf of the center. Friederm, who focuses on scalable intelligent information systems, helped found the center. 

Jarek Nabrzyski, executive director of Cyber SMART and founding director of the University of Notre Dame’s Center for Research Computing, and Wenjing Lou, professor at Virginia Tech an expert in network security and applied cryptography, were also present for the signing ceremony.

“Dutkiewicz brings his decades of experience in wireless communications and the Internet of Things (IoT) to Cyber SMART, aligning with the center’s mission to tackle emerging vulnerabilities in connected systems. His work and leadership at UTS have helped establish the university as an institution for cutting-edge research in technology and its applications,” said Nabrzyski.

Asif Gill, UTS International Site Director for Cyber SMART, and head of discipline (software engineering) at UTS, attended Cyber SMART’s Spring meeting, hosted at the University of Notre Dame. Gill brings his deep knowledge in enterprise architecture, agile practices, and system interoperability to the center. His work in data governance and system resilience is critical to addressing the growing complexities of cybersecurity in modern enterprises.

By officially joining and collaborating with Cyber SMART, UTS expands the project’s reach and will help grow the center’s abilities to address pressing global challenges and foster the next generation of researchers and innovators in cybersecurity.

During the center’s visit to UTS and Australia, Cyber SMART leadership’s met with April Palmerlee, the chief executive officer of the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia and chairman of the American Chamber of the Asia Pacific. The conversation between Cyber SMART leaders and Palmerlee focused on how Cyber SMART could work with global American companies to enhance its mission and collaboration with UTS.

To learn more about Cyber SMART, please visit cybersmartcenter.org.

About Cyber SMART

Cyber SMART is a U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Industry-University Collaborative Research Center (IUCRC). Its participating research institutions include Georgetown University, the University of Notre Dame, the University of Technology Sydney, and Virginia Tech.

To learn more about Cyber SMART, please visit cybersmartcenter.org

Contact: Christina Clark, Research Communications Specialist

Cyber SMART / Notre Dame Research / University of Notre Dame

cclark26@nd.edu / 574.631.2665

Originally published by Cyber SMART Staff at cybersmartcenter.org on December 19, 2024.