Mechanical and mechatronics engineering professor Dr. Yue Hu is co-leading a project with Dr. Sebastian Fischmeister from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering that will address critical education gaps in the rapidly evolving domain of robotics cybersecurity and have been awarded $1 million in funding from the National Cybersecurity Consortium. Because robot technology moves so fast, many times, it outpaces the development of necessary cybersecurity measures.
This new project called CRAFT: Cybersecure Robotics and Future Talent will combine interdisciplinary and hands-on learning with elements of robotics, hardware, cybersecurity, electronics, and societal limitations into a program that will produce professionals who not necessarily just have the technical skills but are also aware of the broader implications of their work.
An essential part of the program is sharing knowledge of educational items. Dr. Hu says, “The objective of the program is to develop a training program that can benefit Canada-wide and not just Waterloo, as there is a national skill gap in the domain of cybersecurity for robotics. Hardware resources are costly and hard to access.” This means that all Canadian higher education institutions can use the curriculum and materials to ensure that all students are kept up-to-date on the latest trends, no matter what their educational or work background has been.
So many of the resources and expertise can be found at Waterloo to develop this project. Among those involved in this cross-collaborative initiative in our department are William Melek, Michael Mayer, and Mohammed Pirani, who will help execute the course content. Plus, the project includes many experts in management engineering, the School of Computer Science, electrical and computer engineering, the Cybersecurity and Privacy Institute, RoboHub, AVRIL, and GAIA to help provide more knowledge of this project.
Dr. Hu is grateful that Waterloo has the means needed to execute this program and continues to say, “Waterloo is very well positioned in this regard with a large variety of available hardware, a large portion of which is government-funded; therefore, by sharing our resources and educational materials, we aim at increasing the impact of the program overall.”
This project also has the backing of many companies ranging from government agencies to Waterloo Engineering-founded start-ups.
Head over to Cybersecurity and Privacy Institute Secures Funding and learn more about how this new funding will prepare engineers for the world of tomorrow.