Michigan Tech recently established the Institute of Computing and Cybersystems (ICC), a new research institute to promote research and learning experiences in the areas of mobile computing, cybersecurity, cyber physical systems, cyber human systems and computer systems. ICC is the research arm of the Alliance of Computing, Information and Automation (ACIA).
“The Institute of Computing and Cybersystems will be a focal point for research in computer-related areas, and fits well into the Michigan Tech model of research centers that reach across multiple academic boundaries,” says Dave Reed, Vice President for Research. “There has been some consolidation of existing research organizations on campus, and partly because of that I am optimistic that the ICC will achieve the critical mass necessary for major funding opportunities and external visibility.”
ICC is currently composed of three centers: Center of Mobile Computing and Cybersecurity (MCC), Center of Cyber Physical Systems (CPS) and Center of Cyber Human Systems (CHS). The Center for Computer Systems Research (CCSR) will be folded into ICC.
“The ICC will bring our faculty and students together to discover innovative new knowledge in the fields of computing and cybersystems, and will foster interdisciplinary collaborations and enable our faculty to develop multidisciplinary proposals which otherwise would not be possible,” says Min Song, ICC Founding Director and member of the ACIA Executive Committee. “ICC will improve ACIA external visibility and create a platform for broad sets of national and international collaborations to make valuable contributions to the field.”
Daniel Fuhrmann, chair of the ACIA Executive Committee says, “We stand at the dawn of the era of the Internet of Everything, where computers, sensors and networks play an ever-increasing role in all aspects of our lives. In order for Michigan Tech to remain a national leader as a technological university, it is critical that we have robust, visible programs in computer science and computer engineering and all engineering fields that are touched by computing. I am delighted that we have Min Song here to lead that effort and that he has pulled together the people to create this organization on campus.”
“One of the original goals of ACIA was to provide a means to leverage the research capabilities of individual faculty members and researchers in order to provide an opportunity to develop larger, interdisciplinary projects,” says James Frendewey, member of the ACIA Executive Committee. “The ICC will provide an effective structure to allow researchers within the alliance and across the university to develop competitive proposals and conduct significant research.”
ICC is authorized for five years through December 2020.