INI Director Dr. Dena Haritos Tsamitis Gives Keynote at CAE in Cybersecurity Community Symposium

Last month, the Information Networking Institute (INI) was the regional host for the annual Center of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity (CAE) Community Symposium. The INI partnered with the National Cryptologic University National CAE Program Management Office to host the symposium in downtown Pittsburgh from April 28 to 30. 

The three-day event brought together administration and faculty members from across the National Security Agency (NSA) CAE community for workshops, presentations and networking. Over 700 attendees gathered at the Wyndham Grand in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to “get involved” — the theme of this year’s symposium.  

On Tuesday, April 28, INI Director Dr. Dena Haritos Tsamitis gave a keynote address. "We are a network of neighbors — faculty, staff, administrators and government leaders — working together to ensure that our digital neighborhood remains safe," she said. "We are not competing against each other. We are strengthening the collective defense of our nation — and expanding our capacity to act proactively against emerging threats.” 

INI Director Dr. Dena Haritos Tsamitis giving the CAE Community Symposium Keynote

Under Dr. Haritos Tsamitis, the INI sustains Carnegie Mellon's three designations as a CAE school: Cyber Defense (CAE-CD) and Cyber Operations (CAE-CO), which certify the INI's Master of Science in Information Security, and Cyber Research (CAE-R), which certifies several Ph.D. programs across the College of Engineering and School of Computer Science and allows CMU faculty to participate in competitive NSF grant opportunities.

The INI also shared recorded remarks from Pennsylvania Senator Dave McCormick, who emphasized the importance of the CAE community's work to national security.

Pennsylvania Senator Dave McCormick sharing his recorded remarks

Across three days, attendees took part in presentations on the different CAE designations and the latest innovations in Artificial Intelligence (AI). Topics covered a wide range in subjects from the partnership of government agencies like the Department of War (DoW) and higher education help to develop a robust cybersecurity workforce at scale. Attendees also came together to compare curricular developments on how to integrate AI technologies and engineering into cybersecurity programs. The symposium concluded with presentations on education focusing on cybersecurity education and on global cybersecurity threats. 

On April 29, the INI hosted an intimate reception on the Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) campus for members of the CAE community to connect with Carnegie Mellon and INI faculty.  

 
From left to right: Hanan Hibshi, Dena Haritos Tsamitis, Michael Mattarock and Patrick Tague

To round out the week, on Friday, May 1, INI Associate Director Dr. Michael Mattarock attended the Department of War Cyber Academic Engagement Office's ASCEND Showcase. This event highlighted finalist teams who competed in the Aligned Skills Curriculum and Experiential Network Design (ASCEND) Initiative, designed to produce scalable education models for cybersecurity workforce development.

"The ASCEND showcase was not simply a competition, but a catalyst, one that begins to close the nation’s cybersecurity gap by transforming how we educate, scale and deploy talent," said Dr. Mattarock.

Since the launch of the Logic Theorist in 1956 and the CERT Coordination Center (the first federally funded emergency response team) in 1988, Carnegie Mellon has been recognized as a birthplace of AI and modern cybersecurity. That leadership has advanced over time, from early engagement with the newly formed Department of Homeland Security to the ongoing contributions of the Software Engineering Institute and faculty across disciplines.

From launching innovative graduate programs in AI engineering to producing groundbreaking research at the intersection of AI and security to partnering with the Army on AI integration CMU continues to make significant contributions to workforce development, research and practice.