Funded Federal Grants

  1. DoD National Defense Education Program (NDEP) - (HQ00342220009) | 2022-2025
    • Role: PI | Amount: $4,981,879 (anticipated overall funds of about $11 M over the six-year PoP).
    • Title: “A Collaborative PA-wide Community College Consortium for Enhancing STEM and Cybersecurity Education”
    • Co-PI’s: Bennani, Butler, Caglia, Lenze, Mack, and Zuccolotto
    • Largest grant award in IUP history
  2. NCAE-C Cybersecurity Education Innovation 2023– (H98230-23-1-0078) | 2023-2025
    • Role: PI | Amount: $996,350 (anticipated overall funds of about $1.5 M over the three-year PoP).
    • Title: “An Innovative and Immersive Chinese Language Pilot Summer Program for Cybersecurity College Students.”
    • Co-PI’s: Liu
    • IUP is the only university in the nation that was awarded this grant
  3. NCAE in Cybersecurity Education Research Innovation 2022 Program (H98230-22-1-0315) | 2022-2024
    • Role: PI | Amount: $484,555 (anticipated overall funds of about $0.75 M over the three-year PoP).
    • Title: “Innovative Autonomous Risk Detection and Mitigation Powered by Collaborative Machine Learning for Zero-trust Systems.”
    • Co-PI’s: Ezekiel and Wu
  4. DoD Cyber Security Scholarship Program – CySP (H98230-23-1-0191) | 2023-2024
    • Role: PI | Amount: $585,814
    • Title: “Recruiting High Achiever Cybersecurity Students to Strengthen the Nation’s Cyber Infrastructure.”
    • Co-PI: Ezekiel
  5. NSF/NSA GenCyber Grant (H98230-23-1-0101) | 2023-2025
    • Role: PI | Amount: $147,348
    • Title: “Cultivating Cybersecurity Culture in Middle and High-School Students in Western Pennsylvania through Increased Technical Instruction.”
    • Co-PI: Ezekiel
  6. NCAE-C Ph.D. Scholarship – (H98230-22-1-0258) | 2022-2024
    • Role: PI | Amount: $203,130
    • Title: “Supporting the Development of Qualified Cybersecurity Ph.D. Candidates to Help Fulfill the Mission of the NCAE-C Community.”
    • Co-PI’s: Bharadwaj and Yerger
  7. DoD Cyber Security Scholarship Program – CySP (H98230-22-1-0278) | 2022-2023
    • Role: PI | Amount: $636,702
    • Title: “Recruiting High Achiever Cybersecurity Students to Strengthen the Nation’s Cyber Infrastructure.”
    • Co-PI: Ezekiel
  8. NSF/NSA GenCyber Grant (H98230-22-1-0116) | 2022-2024
    • Role: PI | Amount: $147,841
    • Title: “Cultivating Cybersecurity Culture in Middle and High-School Students in Western Pennsylvania through Increased Technical Instruction.”
    • Co-PI: Ezekiel
  9. DoD Cyber Security Scholarship Program – CySP (H98230-21-1-0307) | 2021-2022
    • Role: PI | Amount: $512,001
    • Title: “Recruiting High Achiever Cybersecurity Students to Strengthen the Nation’s Cyber Infrastructure.”
    • Co-PI: Ezekiel
  10. NSF/NSA GenCyber Grant (H98230-21-1-0076) | 2021-2023
    • Role: PI | Amount: $147,121
    • Title: “Strengthening Cybersecurity Culture in Middle and High-School Students in Pennsylvania through Increased Technical Instruction.”
    • Co-PI: Ezekiel
  11. NCAE-C Cyber Curriculum and Research 2020 Program (H98230-20-1-0296) | 2020-2022
    • Role: PI | Amount: $251,550
    • Title: “Investigating Effective and Efficient Anomaly Detection on IoT Systems via a Novel Fusion of Deep Learning Techniques.”
    • Co-PI’s: Ezekiel and Wu
  12. NSF/NSA GenCyber Grant (H98230-21-1-0092) | 2021-2022
    • Role: PI | Amount: $123,967
    • Title: “Fostering a Strong Cybersecurity Culture in Western PA through a Holistic Approach.”
    • Co-PI’s: Ezekiel and Wu
  13. DoD Cyber Security Scholarship Program – CySP (H98230-20-1-0305) | 2020-2021
    • Role: PI | Amount: $630,773 (including the CPB see below)
    • Title: “IUP Cyber Scholarship Program.”
    • Co-PI: Ezekiel
  14. DoD – CySP (H98230-20-1-0305), Capacity Building Project | 2020-2021
    • Role: PI | Amount: $120,495
    • Title: “A New Collaborative and Learner-Centered Pedagogy for Faculty and Student Development in Cybersecurity.”
    • Co-PI: Wu
  15. NSF/NSA GenCyber Grant (H98230-20-1-0060) | 2020-2021
    • Role: PI | Amount: $90,994
    • Title: “Strengthening Cybersecurity Culture in Middle and High-School Students in Western PA through Increased Technical Instruction.”
    • Co-PI’s: Ezekiel and Wu
  16. DoD Cyber Security Scholarship Program – CySP (H98230-19-1-0290) | 2019-2020
    • Role: PI | Amount: $357,494
    • Title: “IUP Cyber Scholarship Program.”
    • Co-PI’s: Ezekiel and Ghani
  17. DoD – CySP (H98230-19-1-0290), Capacity Building Project | 2019-2020
    • Role: PI | Amount: $80,732
    • Title: “An Innovative Pedagogical Approach Based on Agile Methodology for Faculty Development in Cybersecurity.”
    • Co-PI: Ghani
  18. NSF/NSA GenCyber Grant (H98230-19-1-0167) | 2019-2020
    • Role: PI | Amount: $76,645
    • Title: “Strengthening Cybersecurity Culture in Middle and High-School Students in Western PA through Increased Technical Instruction.”
    • Co-PI: Ezekiel
  19. DoD Cyber Security Scholarship Program – CySP (H98230-18-1-0301) | 2018-2019
    • Role: PI | Amount: $178,179
    • Title: “IUP Cyber Scholarship Program.”
    • Co-PI’s: Ezekiel and Smith
  20. NSF/NSA GenCyber Grant (H98230-18-1-0281) | 2018-2019
    • Role: PI | Amount: $74,727
    • Title: “Cultivating a Strong Cybersecurity Culture in Western PA through a Holistic Multidisciplinary Approach.”
    • Co-PI: Ezekiel
  21. NSA’s CNAP-Cybersecurity Workforce Education Grant (H98230-17-1-0325) | 2017-2018
    • Role: PI | Amount: $211,871
    • Title: “An Interdisciplinary, Multifaceted Approach to Enhance Cybersecurity Education in Rural Pennsylvania.”
    • Co-PI’s: Rafoth, Fiddner, and Machado
  22. NSF/NSA GenCyber Grant (H98230-17-1-0296) | 2017-2018
    • Role: PI | Amount: $68,134
    • Title: “Cultivating a Strong Cybersecurity Culture in Western PA through a Holistic Multidisciplinary Approach.”
    • Co-PI: Fiddner
  23. NSF/NSA GenCyber Grant (H98230-17-1-0297) | 2017-2018
    • Role: PI | Amount: $45,391
    • Title: “Strengthening Cybersecurity Culture in Middle and High-School Students in Western PA through Increased Technical Instruction.”
    • Co-PI: Fiddner
  24. NSF/NSA GenCyber Grant (H98230-16-1-0281) | 2016-2017
    • Role: PI | Amount: $49,823
    • Title: “Fostering a Strong Cybersecurity Culture in High and Middle School Students and Teachers in Western PA through a Holistic Multidisciplinary Approach.”
    • Co-PI: Fiddner
  25. State System of Higher Education (SSHE) Faculty Professional Development Council (FPDC) Collaborative Academic Grant | 2012-2013
    • Role: PI | Amount: $11,998
    • Title: “Designing and Deploying Novel Online Shared Computer Programming Modules.”
  26. State System of Higher Education (SSHE) Faculty Professional Development Council (FPDC) Collaborative Academic Grant | 2008-2009
    • Role: PI | Amount: $5,227
    • Title: “Designing and Implementing a Secure and Robust Steganographic System That Uses MPEG Video as Cover Media.”
  27. IUP Senate Fellowship Grants | 2008-2009
    • Role: PI | Amount: $3,718
    • Title: “Human-based Techniques for Measuring Video Data Similarity.”
  28. Academic Computing Policy Advisory Committee (ACPAC) Technological Exploration and Innovation Fund at IUP | 2008-2009
    • Role: PI | Amount: $1,300
    • Title: “Exploring the Applicability of Deploying Remote Proctoring Systems to Ensure the Integrity of On-line Testing.”
  29. State System of Higher Education (SSHE) Faculty Professional Development Council (FPDC) Collaborative Academic Grant | 2007-2008
    • Role: PI | Amount: $5,287
    • Title: “Assessing the Effectiveness of the MPEG-7 Standard in the Context of Video Content-based Retrieval Systems.”
  30. Department of Defense | 2002-2007
    • Role: Research Faculty 
    • Title: “Information Assurance Scholarship Program Application.”

Non-Federally Funded Grants

  1. Cyber Security Center at California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB) | 2018
    • Role: Presenter 
    • Description: Awarded funding to cover travel expenses needed to attend and present at the NSA Centers of Academic Excellence (CAE) Community Symposium held in Miami, FL.
  2. Cyber Security Center at California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB) | 2017
    • Role: Participant 
    • Description: Awarded funding to cover travel expenses needed to attend the NSA Principals Meeting held in Huntsville, AL.
  3. University Senate Research Committee Award | 2016
    • Role: PI | Amount: $800
    • Description: Awarded funding to support travel to present a paper at the IEEE 2016 Frontiers in Education (FIE) International Conference held in Erie, PA.
  4. Cyber Security Center at California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB) | 2016
    • Role: Presenter
    • Description: Awarded funding to cover travel expenses needed to attend and present at the NSA CAE Community Meeting held in Kansas City, MO.
  5. IUP C&I (IUP SGSR) | 2015
    • Role: PI | Amount: $1,000
    • Description: Awarded funding to support to attend the 19th Colloquium for Information Security Education (CISSE) Conference.
  6. Cyber Security Center at California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB) | 2015
    • Role: Presenter                            
    • Description: Awarded funding to cover travel expenses needed to attend and present at the NSA CAE Community Meeting held in San Diego, CA.
  7. University Senate Research Committee Award | 2015
    • Role: PI | Amount: $1,000
    • Description: Awarded funding to support travel to present a paper at the 11th International Conference on Technology, Knowledge, and Society held at the University of California, Berkeley, CA.
  8. Cyber Security Center at California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB) | 2014
    • Role: Presenter 
    • Description: Awarded funding to cover travel expenses needed to attend and present at the NSA CAE Community Meeting held in Columbia, MD.
  9. IUP C&I (IUP SGSR) | 2014
    • Role: PI | Amount: $1,000
    • Description: Awarded funding to support travel to attend the ACM 2014 Symposium on Access Control Models and Technologies (SACMAT) in London, ON, Canada.
  10. University Senate Research Committee Award | 2013
    • Role: PI | Amount: $750
    • Description: Awarded funding to support travel to present a paper at ACM 2013 15th International ‎Conference on Information Technology Education in Orlando, FL.
  11. School of Graduate Studies and Research at IUP (C&Is) | 2013-2014
    • Role: PI 
    • Title: Website Revitalization Assistance Grant.
  12. Cyber Security Center at California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB) | 2013
    • Role: Participant 
    • Description: Awarded funding to cover travel expenses needed to attend the NSA Principals Meeting held in Huntsville, AL.
  13. National Science Foundation | 2013
    • Role: Participant 
    • Description: Awarded funding from the National CyberWatch Center, supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation to cover 2013 NICE conference registration fee.
  14. Cyber Security Center at California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB) | 2013
    • Role: Participant
    • Description: Awarded funding to cover travel expenses needed to attend the NSA CAE Community Meeting held in Gaithersburg, MD.
  15. University Senate Research Committee Award | 2012
    • Role: PI | Amount: $2,000
    • Description: Awarded funding to support travel to present a paper at the 13th ACM SIGITE International conference held in Calgary, Canada.
  16. University Senate Research Committee Award | 2012
    • Role: PI | Amount: $2,000
    • Description: Awarded funding to support travel to present a paper at the ICGST International conference on computer science and engineering (CSE-Dubai-12) in Dubai, UAE.
  17. University Senate Research Award | 2011
    • Role: PI | Amount: $750
    • Description: Awarded funding to support travel to present a paper at IASTED 2011 15th International ‎Conference on Internet and Multimedia Systems and Applications in Washington, DC.
  18. University Senate Research Committee Award | 2008
    • Role: PI | Amount: $1,500
    • Description: Awarded funding to support international travel to present a paper at IWT 2009 third International ‎Workshop on Telecommunications held in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Grant Proposals Submitted but not Funded

  1. IUP GenCyber Advanced Camp | 2018
    • Role: PI | Title: “Cultivating a Strong Cybersecurity Culture in Western PA through a Holistic Multidisciplinary Approach.”
  2. NSA Cybersecurity Core Curriculum Development Program | 2018
    • Role: PI | Title: “Engineering Security in Internet of Things (IoT) Systems.”
  3. NSA Cybersecurity Core Curriculum Development Proposal | 2017
    • Role: PI |Title: “Preparing Cybersecurity Professionals: A Cohesive Interdisciplinary Program of Study.”
  4. NSF Scholarship for Service Program | 2017
    • Role: Co-PI | Title: “The CyberCorps Scholarship for Service (SFS).”
  5. PA State System of Higher Education Collaboration Grants | 2011
    • Role: PI | Amount: $39,000 | Title: “Perception of Virtual Realities: A Natural Synergy of Vision Science and Computer Technology.”
  6. PA State System of Higher Education Annual University Grants for Programs in Support of Diversity and Equity | 2009
    • Role: PI | Title: “Identifying the Challenges Facing Minority Computer Science Majors and Assessing the Effectiveness of Peer-Tutoring/Mentoring upon their Retention Rate.”
  7. Major Research Instrument (MRI) Program | 2008
    • Role: PI | Title: “MRI: Acquisition of a High-Performance Computing System for Scientific Research at IUP.”
  8. SSHE Faculty Professional Development Council (FPDC) | 2008
    • Role: PI | Title: “A New Integrative and Adaptive Digital Video Abstraction System for Multimedia ‎Information Retrieval.”
  9. 2009 Appropriation Review Committee at IUP | 2007
    • Role: Co-PI | Amount: $500,000 | Title: “Medieval Ideology and 21st Century Technology: Developing a Systematic Methodology to Limit Terrorist’s Use of Technology to Advance Its Radical Ideology.”
  10. NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) | 2007
    • Role: Co-PI | Amount: $518,927 | Title: “Scholarships for Recruitment and Retention of Students in Support of Diversity, Equity, and Educational Leadership.”
  11. NSF Scholarship for Services (SFS) | 2007
    • Role: PI | Amount: $254,663 | Title: “Building the New Breed of Information Assurance Professionals for Cyber Space Defense.”
  12. NSF CISE Pathways to Revitalize Undergraduate Computing Education CPATH Program | 2007
    • Role: PI | Amount: $474,632 | Title: “Integrating Interdisciplinary Computer Information Assurance Awareness and Operational Coursework into Academic Computing Programs.”
  13. Department of Defense through John Murtha Institute for Homeland Security | 2006
    • Role: Co-PI | Title: “Source Localization and Mapping of Radioactive/Bio-Hazardous Plumes.”
  14. Department of Justice | 2006
    • Role: Co-PI | Title: “Computer Forensics Toolkit- White Paper.”
  15. Academic Computing Policy Advisory Committee (ACPAC) | 2006
    • Role: PI | Title: “Exploring the Applicability of Deploying Emerging Security Technologies in IUP’s Computing Facilities.”
  16. Hewlett-Packard Technology for Teaching Grant | 2006
    • Role: Co-PI | Title: “The Impact on Teaching Performance Enhancement Using the HP Mobile Technology Cart (HPMTC).”
  17. IHEEP grants supported by the USAid program | 2004
    • Role: Co-PI | Title: “Integrated Multifunction Computer-Control Education System (IMFCCES).