CEROC: New home, new director, new chapter at Tennessee Tech
(From Eagle Drive magazine, February 2025)
A page was turned in fall 2024, starting a new chapter for Tennessee Tech’s Cybersecurity Education, Research and Outreach Center.
At the helm is new director Muhammad Ismail, Ph.D., who, from CEROC’s new home in the just-completed Ashraf Islam Engineering Building, anticipates an exciting era of cybersecurity innovation and student success.
“Since its launch in 2015, CEROC has built strong foundations in cybersecurity education, research and outreach, earning a national reputation in the field,” Ismail said. “Now, with a new and much-needed expanded space, CEROC is well-positioned to prepare the next generation of cybersecurity professionals and empower them to shape the future of the field.”
Ismail, an associate professor of computer science, joined Tech’s Department of Computer Science in 2019, bringing extensive research and teaching experience from Texas A&M University at Qatar, where he was a research scientist and postdoctoral fellow, and University of Waterloo, Canada, where he earned his Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering and served as a postdoctoral fellow and research assistant. He also holds master’s and bachelor’s degrees in electrical engineering from Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
A leading researcher in his field, Ismail has secured more than $10M in grants for his work in artificial intelligence and quantum information science in cybersecurity. He is the recipient of multiple best paper awards at prestigious conferences and was recognized in 2024 for the second consecutive year on the “World’s Top 2% Scientists” list released by Stanford University and Elsevier.
In his new role at CEROC, Ismail is eager to build on the center’s reputation as a hub for cutting-edge workforce development technologies and ensure it continues to supply highly trained graduates to address the nation’s cybersecurity needs. He will provide leadership as CEROC continues its goals of advancing research in emerging areas of cybersecurity; increasing public awareness of information assurance; promoting and sharing cybersecurity educational and research resources within the academic community; and collaborating with partners on initiatives in cybersecurity workforce development and research.
“CEROC aims to ensure our students are equipped with a strong foundation in core cybersecurity skills, while also expanding their formal and informal learning and research opportunities in advanced areas such as AI-assisted cybersecurity and quantum-enhanced security,” Ismail said. “Our goal is to equip them with the skills to thrive in the job market while ensuring they remain at the forefront of technological advancements in this rapidly evolving field.”
Furthermore, CEROC is committed to supporting faculty affiliates in core and advanced cybersecurity areas, offering more scholarships and establishing essential infrastructure and connections for continued growth.
“Additionally, we aim to strengthen multidisciplinary collaboration, recognizing that cybersecurity plays a critical role across sectors such as nuclear facilities, power systems, water systems, smart manufacturing and beyond, benefiting from tools such as AI, HPC and quantum and intersecting with numerous fields,” Ismail said. “Through its continued efforts, CEROC will be building bridges and growth opportunities for every Tennessee Tech faculty and student interested in cybersecurity.”
CEROC’s new home within AIEB features state-of-the-art amenities:
Administrative suite: Office spaces for Ismail and his team: Eric Brown, associate director for workforce development and senior lecturer of computer science; Stacy Prowell, Ph.D., associate director of research; Megan Cooper, cyber outreach coordinator; Sara Howard, project manager; Travis Lee and Jeremy Potts, Cyber Range engineers; and Molly Risley, GenCyber on Wheels mobile classroom instructor.
Cyber training lab: Eight team workstations, conference tables and 75-inch mobile display to facilitate remote sessions, training area for competition teams and meeting space for cyber community organizations.
Cyber range: 10-node system that simulates training environments for CEROC’s education, outreach and research missions.
Cyber innovation lab: Laboratory space for cyber-physical research (including operational technology and quantum application simulations), smart manufacturing experiments and projects such as drone swarm experiments.
Undergraduate lab: Spaces for project collaboration.
Graduate lab: Cubical spaces and conference table to support advanced research and projects by master’s and Ph.D. students.
Lounge: Welcoming space for refreshments during workshops and outreach events.
Ismail noted that CEROC’s new space, which it acquired in September 2024, has been essential in accommodating its rapidly expanding activities – including several events that would have been difficult to host in its former location in Prescott Hall.
“We held a Quantum Discovery Day, welcoming 50 students who fit comfortably in our new cyber training lab, and just days later hosted the regional Collegiate Penetration Testing Competition with multiple teams, where our own team took first place, advancing to the global competition,” Ismail said of two fall 2024 events.
CEROC is also excited to host a demonstration of its newly developed AI-assisted cybersecurity competition and use its new Cyber Innovation Lab for student experiments with AI-assisted cybersecurity in drone swarms.
“While this new space has been a game-changer,” Ismail said, “I can see our needs growing further as we continue expanding our programs and infrastructure.”