The Cybersecurity Center for Secure Evolvable Energy Delivery Systems (SEEDS), a cooperative research center between the Department of Electrical Engineering and the Department of Computer Science and Computer Engineering, hosted its 2017 annual Industrial Advisory Board Meeting on Jan. 18-19 on the Florida International University campus in Miami, Florida. The meeting drew together faculty and students from six partner universities and industry leaders from 11 companies to discuss the current research projects and the goals of the center.

The gathering kicked off with a welcome and introduction from Alan Mantooth, director of SEEDS, University of Arkansas, and Arvind Agarwal, associate dean of Research in Engineering & Computing, Florida International University. Ryan Egidi, technical project officer in the Energy Delivery & Security Division of the Department of Energy, gave an overview presentation on the CEDS R&D Program.

Philip Huff with Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corp. and Michele Wright with FoxGuard Solutions presented on industry topics. The remainder of the meeting focused on the current research projects. Faculty researchers presented an overview on the status of their project allowing industry attendees to supply immediate feedback and discussion on each project.

A reception and poster session held the first evening allows students to present project posters to industry members and faculty researchers. Industry members reviewed and scored the posters participating in the poster competition on multiple categories including presentation. Leonardo Babun with Florida International University was the first Student Poster Competition award winner. Babun's project poster is titled "A Framework for Comprised Smart Grid Device Detection. His faculty adviser is professor A. Selcuk Uluagac from the Electrical & Computer Engineering Department.

SEEDS meetings are open to all industry members, invited guests, and faculty and students from partnering universities.

SEEDS is beginning its third year as part of the Cybersecurity for Energy Delivery Systems (CEDS) academic R&D program. This program focuses on providing solutions outlined by the "Roadmap to Achieve Energy Delivery Systems Cybersecurity."

At SEEDS, engineering faculty from the University of Arkansas, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Lehigh University, Florida International University, Carnegie Mellon University, MIT and engineers with Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation collaborate with members of industry to identify and carry out research projects in the area of cybersecurity technologies for energy delivery systems that are the most relevant to industry needs. SEEDS is a member-driven center, with an Industrial Advisory Board made up of interested companies working in energy sector in areas such as electric power, oil and gas, and renewable energy resources. Also participating in the center are security system providers and equipment manufacturers.

For more information on SEEDS, contact Shannon Davis, Managing Director, 479-575-6877.  For more information upcoming meetings, contact Karin Alvarado, karina@uark.edu, 479-575-4958.