The University of Detroit Mercy has received a $1.12 million grant from the Department of Defense to form a regional-based consortium that will offer education for vehicle cybersecurity engineering.
The Metro-Detroit Regional Vehicle Cybersecurity Institute will consist of various academic institutions in southeast Michigan focused on improving the U.S. cybersecurity workforce, Detroit Mercy said Wednesday.
The consortium's initial members include Detroit Mercy, the University of Arizona and Oakland and Macomb community colleges, with the University of Michigan and Henry Ford College joining in 2023.
Starting in fall, the institute will start offering in fall an applied curriculum, that includes associate, undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees; stackable graduate certificates; and hands-on laboratory training.
Kevin Tierney, the vice president of global cybersecurity at General Motors, said he expects the institute to "lead in the education of our current and future company employees, expand the competency of our workforce to design and protect secure physical cyber systems, including those in electric and autonomous vehicles."
Meanwhile, Detroit Mercy engineering director Paul Spafadora stressed the importance of expanding the cybersecurity workforce amid an increase in cyber risks.
The Department of Defense awarded Detroit Mercy the funding through Griffiss Institute's Virtual Institutes for Cyber and Electromagnetic Spectrum Research and Employ program, which aims at developing cyber operational skill development for aspiring military and civilian officials.