National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense (CAE-CD)

The Center for Cybersecurity at Michigan Tech is dedicated to developing high-quality cybersecurity research and education programs, supporting interdisciplinary security activities, assisting the development and sharing of resources, and building a strong cybersecurity workforce for government, industry, and academia.

Michigan Tech is a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense (CAE–CD) designated by the National Security Agency (NSA). The B.S. in Cybersecurity degree is the validated CAE Program of Study (PoS). The Center for Cybersecurity is the CAE cyber center. The university is also designated as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Research (CAE-R).

Michigan Tech is the only institution in Michigan to hold both the CAE-CD and CAE-R designations, underscoring its leadership and academic excellence in cybersecurity research, education, and outreach.

What is the CAE-CD Program?

The CAE-CD program is managed by the National Security Agency (NSA) to reduce vulnerability in national information infrastructure by promoting higher education and research in Information Assurance/Cyber Defense (IA/CD) and to produce a growing number of professionals with expertise in the cybersecurity discipline.

Qualifying institutions will be designated as CAE-CD for a period of five academic years, after which they must successfully re-apply in order to retain the designation. The CAE designation is an institutional designation; therefore, the benefits extend beyond the cyber defense program at a school to the entire institution.

For more information about CAE, visit the NSA CAE website.

Michigan Tech Cybersecurity Achievements

Michigan Tech has developed a national and international reputation in cybersecurity education, research, and outreach activities. The Computing College, the first and only of its kind in Michigan, elevates the visibility of Michigan Tech and better meets the market demand for computing education and research. Michigan Tech now offers both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in cybersecurity, plus a popular undergraduate minor in cybersecurity. These programs are strategically designed to build on existing curriculum guidelines and standards including:

ACM Cybersecurity Curricular Guidelines (CSEC2017),
ABET Accreditation Criteria for Cybersecurity Programs,
National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense (CAE-CD), and
National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) Framework.

Outside the classroom, Michigan Tech has a strong tradition of offering cybersecurity outreach and extracurricular activities to broad audiences. Some examples include RedTeam, GenCyber summer camps, Summer Youth Programs (SYP), and CyberHusky competition team. RedTeam is an on-campus cybersecurity student organization that promotes a security-driven mindset among the student population and provides a community and resources for those wishing to learn more about information security. RedTeam is a strong competitor that regularly participates in various cybersecurity competitions. For example, the team competes in the National Cyber League (NCL) twice annually and has consistently ranked among the top 50 teams nationwide. Notably, RedTeam achieved its best performance in Spring 2021, placing 3rd out of more than 900 teams from across the country. Since 2019, Michigan Tech's GenCyber programs and SYP programs have reached out to over six hundred K-12 teachers and students for cybersecurity and computer training. The CyberHusky competition team, composed of local middle and high school students and coached by Michigan Tech faculty and students, has achieved multiple top-ten finishes in national competitions, including the CyberPatriot Competition and the National Cyber League (NCL) high school division. As a result of its extensive outreach initiatives, Michigan Tech was selected as one of the Top Ten CAE institutions to receive the 2024 CAE-CD Community Outreach Award. This marks the second consecutive year the university has earned this prestigious recognition.

In addition, Michigan Tech faculty continually make exceptional contributions in cybersecurity scholarship and research. For example, over just the past few years our faculty have published over thirty high-quality cybersecurity research papers and secured more than $5M of external funding. Dr. Yu Cai and his colleagues received a multi-million dollar CyberCorps: Scholarship for Service Program grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to recruit and train the next generation cybersecurity professionals for U.S. government agencies. CyberCorps grants are extremely competitive and highlight our growing national reputation. Click here to view a list of active cybersecurity research grants at Michigan Tech.

Michigan Tech Cybersecurity Degrees

Michigan Tech offers the following cybersecurity degrees for individuals looking to begin or further their cybersecurity careers.

The B.S. in Cybersecurity degree is hosted at the College of Computing and jointly managed by the Applied Computing Department and the Computer Science Department. Click here to view faculty members in Applied Computing. Click here to view faculty members in Computer Science.

Additionally, Michigan Tech offers the following computing degrees which allow students to take cybersecurity credits and participate in cyber activities.

CAE-CD Point-of-Contact (PoC)

Professor Bo Chen and Professor Yu Cai
Email: bchen@mtu.edu; cai@mtu.edu
Faculty webpage: Bo Chen; Yu Cai

CAE-CD Industry Advisory Board

The CAE-CD Industry Advisory Board (IAB) is shared with the IT / Cybersecurity IAB in the Applied Computing Department.

Advisory board members come from a wide variety of industries and bring with them a diverse set of backgrounds and experiences. This wealth of knowledge is used to keep our curriculum current and help us prepare our students for the challenges of the global workplace. The board meets annually and provides valuable guidance and information related to current practices and emerging trends in the industries.