Education

CCICADA and its partners are developing the next generation of homeland security researchers, technicians, and practitioners. This knowledge transfer is an important part of CCICADA’s mission as a Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence. CCICADA provides education and training to students, faculty, professional analysts, and first responders—involving them in research projects that focus on data acquisition, analysis, management, and decision making. Read all education stories.

Graduate students

In any given year, more than 40 graduate students affiliated with CCICADA partner organizations are engaged in such projects as stadium security, port container inspections, and The Urban Commerce and Security Study (UCASS). In undergraduate training programs, especially those serving minorities, these graduate students serve as assistant mentors, lecturers and role models. Apply for Fellowships

The Summer Research Experience for Undergraduates Program (REU)

Advanced undergraduates from around the country gather at Rutgers University every summer to join CCICADA research teams working on such problems as stadium evacuation, prevention of human trafficking, and detection of adverse disease events, to name a few. All students are paired with an individual mentor and are encouraged to present the findings of their work. Learn about REU

Courses and Materials

CCICADA develops homeland security materials and courses that are distributed to tens of thousands of students and practitioners nationwide. These modules are based on research conducted by CCICADA and other DHS Centers of Excellence. They are classroom-tested, widely used, and cover five to eight days of instruction. See examples of education modules

Instructional books resulting from CCICADA’s work include Optimal Learning by Warren Powell and Ilya Rhyzov, and The Mathematics of Encryption – an Elementary Approach by Margaret (Midge) Cozzens and Steven Miller.

RECONNECT

At week-long RECONNECT workshops, CCICADA faculty teach undergraduate faculty and professionals about mathematics and computer science topics related to homeland security. Participants take modules related to these topics back to their own classrooms. These modules are also made available for use nationwide.

Faculty and other professionals come from all over the country to participate, including many faculty from minority-serving institutions. Many new courses have resulted from these RECONNECT Workshops, and have reached more than 100,000 students directly or indirectly through participating faculty.

Previous workshop topics have included: Forensics, Privacy, Text Extraction, Water Infrastructure Contamination and Risk Analysis, Game Theory, Visual Analytics, and Biosurveillance.

Learn more about Reconnect