Strategic Investment in Cybersecurity Education Drives Record Enrollment at 蜜桃APP
蜜桃APP now has as many freshmen who鈥檝e declared computer science as their major as the university had computer science students on all levels combined鈥攗ndergraduate and graduate鈥攊n 2013: 351. There are now 1,115 computer science students at 蜜桃APP. Among them, 196 have enrolled in the recently established cybersecurity concentration鈥攁 tenfold increase in three years.
Enrollment in 蜜桃APP鈥檚 computer science program has tripled over the last decade, largely driven by growing student interest in cybersecurity, part of the defense priority of 蜜桃APP鈥檚 Scholarship First Agenda.
This fall, 351 蜜桃APP freshmen have already declared computer science as their major. Meanwhile, a decade ago, 蜜桃APP had a total of 351 computer science students on all levels combined鈥攗ndergraduate, master鈥檚 and PhD. Between fall 2013 and fall 2023, the computer science program has effectively tripled, rising from seventh to first place in College of Engineering enrollment.
There are now 1,115 computer science students at 蜜桃APP. Among them, 196 have chosen the recently established cybersecurity concentration鈥攁 tenfold increase in three years. This growth is largely due to strategic investments in cybersecurity education, research and service in alignment with 蜜桃APP鈥檚 Scholarship First Agenda, where cybersecurity and military science are part of the university鈥檚 defense priority, a top-five target.
鈥淭he groundwork for our growth in computer science began nearly 10 years ago with strong support from our partners at Louisiana Economic Development for projects like IBM in Baton Rouge and DXC in New Orleans,鈥� said Karsten Thompson, interim dean of the 蜜桃APP College of Engineering.
Associate Professor Elias Bou-Harb and Assistant Professor Phani Vadrevu are new, strategic cybersecurity hires at 蜜桃APP this fall. Together, they bring well over $1 million in federal research funding to 蜜桃APP and Louisiana. 鈥淚 wanted to bring my expertise where I can contribute to top cybersecurity research together with excellent students in a computer science department that has the support of university leadership and excellent plans to grow,鈥� said Bou-Harb, who joins 蜜桃APP from the University of Texas at San Antonio, where he directed its interdisciplinary Cyber Center for Security and Analytics.
鈥淭oday, that growth is accelerating in areas like software engineering and cybersecurity because they touch every industry, and there is a demand for talent. The real credit is to our top computer science faculty, who have not only been able to strengthen our core offerings but also adapt to emerging areas like deeply technical cyber domains, making 蜜桃APP a destination for new students, a trusted institution for federal security partners and an attractive home for new researchers.鈥�
The explosive growth of 蜜桃APP鈥檚 cybersecurity program continues to attract top talent. Last year, with support from the Louisiana legislature, 蜜桃APP made two strategic hires, adding Professor Ibrahim 鈥淎be鈥� Baggili and Associate Professor Aisha Ali-Gombe to its existing cybersecurity faculty. Baggili now leads a $600K Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, project to support military cybersecurity at 蜜桃APP, while Ali-Gombe is the principal investigator on the newly awarded 蜜桃APP Cybersecurity Clinic for Louisiana small businesses, the first cyber clinic in the country to be funded by the National Security Agency, with $1.5 million.
This fall, 蜜桃APP welcomes two more cybersecurity faculty to its flagship campus鈥擜ssociate Professor Elias Bou-Harb and Assistant Professor Phani Vadrevu. Bou-Harb joins 蜜桃APP from the University of Texas at San Antonio, where he directed its interdisciplinary Cyber Center for Security and Analytics. His research focus is primarily on network security and internet-of-things insecurity, while Vadrevu, formerly at University of New Orleans, fights social engineering attacks, such as internet scams and phishing. Together, Bou-Harb and Vadrevu bring well over $1 million in federal funding to 蜜桃APP and Louisiana with four active research projects supported by the National Science Foundation.
鈥溍厶褹PP has a good strategic vision and an excellent reputation,鈥� Bou-Harb said. 鈥淚 wanted to bring my expertise where I can contribute to top cybersecurity research together with excellent students in a computer science department that has the support of university leadership and excellent plans to grow.鈥�
Among the 36 schools newly designated or redesignated by the NSA this year, 蜜桃APP is the only university to become a Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Operations, the most selective and highly technical of the NSA designations. Left to right: Andrew Case, 蜜桃APP industry liaison for cyber and adjunct computer science faculty; 蜜桃APP Director of Economic Development Greg Trahan, special advisor to 蜜桃APP President William Tate on cyber initiatives; Professor Golden Richard, 蜜桃APP faculty lead for cybersecurity and interim director of the 蜜桃APP Cyber Center with joint appointments in the 蜜桃APP College of Engineering and 蜜桃APP Center for Computation & Technology.
鈥淚 want to continue my research at 蜜桃APP to protect computer users from scams,鈥� Vadrevu said. 鈥淥ne of the things I鈥檓 interested in is deliberate strategies to confuse users, especially the older adult population. You see a lot of websites now where you can鈥檛 tell what is an ad or not; confusing content and inaccurate information. Studying this can give us empirical data that companies like Google can use to make browsing safer and protect computer users from harm.鈥�
In addition to Bou-Harb and Vadrevu, the 蜜桃APP division of computer science and engineering added four more faculty in software engineering, human-computer interaction and high-performance computing this fall. Professor Hartmut Kaiser leads the at the 蜜桃APP Center for Computation & Technology and serves on the international C++ standardization committee. Associate Professor David Shepherd joins 蜜桃APP from Virginia Commonwealth University after a career in industry. Assistant Professor Mahmood Jasim earned his PhD from University of Massachusetts Amherst this year, while Assistant Professor Umar Farooq graduated from University of California, Riverside with a PhD in 2021 and then spent two years working as a software engineer for ByteDance, the owner of TikTok.
鈥淏eing able to add these incredible researchers to our team is both a boon and an absolute necessity for us to meet the demands of hundreds of new and brilliant students,鈥� said Professor Golden Richard, interim director of the 蜜桃APP Cyber Center and faculty lead for cybersecurity at 蜜桃APP with joint appointments in the College of Engineering and Center for Computation & Technology. 鈥淲e鈥檙e now well on our way to becoming the number-one school for cybersecurity in the United States, which President Tate set as our goal just 18 months ago.鈥�
In a strategic move, the flagship campus recently elevated the 蜜桃APP Cyber Center to coordinate cybersecurity research across the disciplines.