Millions coming for ERAU cybersecurity program, Ponce Inlet dredging, Michael Waltz says

As cyberattacks become more commonplace, there is concern that not enough Americans are being trained to ward them off, particularly in the niche fields of aviation and aerospace.

U.S. Rep. Michael Waltz on Friday announced a nearly $3.9 million National Science Foundation grant to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach. The school has about 100 students in undergraduate and graduate programs in aviation and aerospace cybersecurity already, and the funding is aimed at helping to recruit more students.  

The congressman also said in an interview the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has committed $6 million to dredge and improve navigation in the Ponce DeLeon Inlet.

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Strengthening cybersecurity systems

The NSF award will allow Embry-Riddle to create 20 scholarships, helping it recruit diverse students and create a "supportive environment through effective mentorship, a well-developed curriculum, student involvement activities and research experiences," the grant states.

Both the Embry-Riddle campuses in Daytona Beach and Prescott, Arizona, have been designated by the National Security Agency as “centers for excellence in cyber-defense education,” said Radu Babiceanu, professor of systems engineering and interim chair of electrical engineering and computer science at Embry-Riddle.

“We believe we have unique facilities here and unique faculty and expertise to prepare the coming students in aviation and aerospace cybersecurity," Babiceanu said Saturday. 

Waltz, the ranking Republican on research and technology on the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, cited studies showing the U.S. economy will fall about 1 million workers short of the jobs that will be needed in STEM — science, technology, engineering and mathematics — over the next decade.

“We’re not producing the people out of higher education with those skill sets. Right now, the Chinese are producing … significantly more Ph.D.s in science and mathematics than we are," Waltz said. "Bottom line, we’re not producing the people that the economy in the future is going to need.” 

That House committee oversees the National Science Foundation, which supplies about 35% of all the research grants at U.S. universities.

Waltz invited ERAU President Barry Butler to testify at a subcommittee hearing on the need for more funding for artificial intelligence, quantum computing and aerospace cybersecurity last May. 

In a news release, Butler said as home to the Center for Aerospace Resilience, Embry-Riddle is "well-positioned to advance national and state goals for minimizing cybersecurity risks to aviation and commercial space enterprise by building workforce capacity.”

Babiceanu, who is program coordinator for the master's program in cybersecurity engineering, said ERAU has more than 100 students in computer science undergraduate programs, and about two-thirds are in cybersecurity. He said the grant will fund tuition and stipends for 15 or 16 of those students for their junior and senior years, while another four or five will be supported in master's and Ph.D. programs.

He predicted the scholarships will attract new students.

Tapping infrastructure bill funds

Where the NSF funding for ERAU came from the federal budget, money for the Volusia County dredging project is part of the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act.

The $6 million for Ponce Inlet, home to a U.S. Coast Guard station, was announced in a $2 billion plan by the Army Corps to upgrade the nation's waterways and infrastructure.

“This is an additional grant for operations and maintenance to keep that waterway sufficient depth and width for the Coast Guard to be able to operate. Obviously, the community and the county benefits,” Waltz said.

"The part we’re pleased with there is sometimes these Corps of Engineers projects can fall years or decades behind, and it takes continued advocacy and pushing on the part of their congressional delegations because it’s a federal issue, to make sure that your area doesn’t fall to the bottom of the pile," he said.

Waltz, who voted against the infrastructure bill in November, was critical of how he said Florida is getting shortchanged in bridges and water projects.

"We’re receiving a fraction of what we should receive, because the formula prioritizes the bridges in the most disrepair," Waltz said. "Florida at a state level maintains its bridges fairly well, so it’s kind of in the no-good-deed-goes-unpunished category, so that the states that are running themselves the most poorly are going to get the most money.” 

Florida ranks 52nd out of 54 states and territories when it comes to per capita spending on water infrastructure, he said.

“Florida and California combined received less water money than New York. That’s just nuts,” Waltz said. "Now that it's passed, I'm certainly going to fight for even the shortchanged portions of it. Florida should be getting more, but what bit we are getting, I'm going to fight for it for my congressional district."

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