Ferris State University has signed a five-year partnership with the National Security Agency, focusing on boosting science, technology, engineering and math education for students by leveraging the computer software, expertise, special equipment and information. (Mlive file photo)
BIG RAPIDS, MI – To meet the growing national demand for skilled cybersecurity workers, Ferris State University is partnering with the National Security Agency (NSA) to help prepare its students for careers in space cybersecurity, data analytics, database management and artificial intelligence.
The university has signed a five-year Education Partnership Agreement with the NSA to help boost the university’s science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programming to develop the talent and tools for protecting national security, Ferris State announced in a news release.
The partnership will allow students to utilize the expertise, technology and resources of the federal agency, said Greg Gogolin, director of the Ferris State Center for Cybersecurity and Data Science. For example, students will be able to work in space cybersecurity using satellites and commuication systems, he explained.
Ferris State is one of only two schools in the United States that are partnering with the NSA on this kind of training in space satellite cybersecurity, he said.
“It is a very unique partnership,” Gogolin told MLive/The Grand Rapids Press on Friday, Jan. 27.
Through the partnership with Ferris State, the NSA will help students and staff develop academic projects and programs in STEM-related fields, according to the release. The agency will also give students academic and career advice, and offer program and research advice to Ferris faculty and staff.
Molly Cooper, a professor in Information Security and Intelligence (ISI) and Artificial Intelligence, helped spearhead Ferris State’s partnership with the NSA, Gogolin said.
Cooper said the partnership will create vast and meaningful opportunities for students in Ferris State’s ISI program, which is recognized as one of the best in the country.
“This is an exciting development for our ISI program which specializes in preparing our students through building information security skills necessary to protect all sizes of critical systems against known and future threats,” Cooper said in a statement.
“We have great faculty who are highly respected in information security and intelligence and are working to prepare our students at earlier and earlier ages for careers in space cybersecurity, data analytics, database management, artificial intelligence, and more. This partnership helps enhance the opportunities we can deliver for our students.”
Ferris State’s ISI program is accredited by the NSA as a Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense, according to the university. That means the program is recognized for helping reduce threats to national infrastructure by promoting higher education and research in cyber defense and providing the nation with a pipeline of qualified cybersecurity professionals.
The program also works collaboratively with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, The Pentagon, and several Fortune 500 companies, the release said.
Ferris State is also one of two universities in the country with both an artificial intelligence program and an ABET accredited cybersecurity program, Gogolin told MLive.
Ferris State President Bill Pink said the NSA’s partnership with Ferris State speaks to the university’s reputation for its information security programming.
“For us to partner with a federal agency like this, it just shows the relevance of the programming we have here in information security and cybersecurity,” he said.
Now is the time for universities to start investing in cybersecurity training and encouraging students – especially women and minority students – to enter the field, Gogolin said.
There’s a huge demand for skilled workers in artificial intelligence and cyber science, and the U.S. is lagging in meeting those needs compared to other countries, he said.
“Not only do we have to have attraction to females and minorities in this field, but for our country this really is an absolute threat that we’re not developing people in this area, and several other countries are very much putting the focus on this,” he said. “That’s probably our biggest rallying cry.”
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