On September 19, 2023, Dr. Ahmed Ibrahim took part in a Designation Ceremony at the National Cybersecurity Education Colloquium in Palos Hills, Illinois. The ceremony honored 33 institutions of higher education that were recently designated (or redesignated) as National Centers of Academic Exellence in Cyber Defense (NCAE-CD). The University of Pittsburgh, through the Department's Laboratory of Education and Research on Security Assured Information Systems (LERSAIS), was awarded this designation in March 2023, but the ceremony was held during the annual Education Colloquium. Pictured below, Dr. Ahmed Ibrahim (second from left) represented the University of Pittsburgh and LERSAIS!
The NCAE designations
are awarded by the National Security Agency (NSA) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to regionally accredited academic institutions offering cybersecurity-related degrees. The University of Pittsburgh now continues to be one of 17 institutions in Pennsylvania designated as an NCAE-CD and graduating students ready to join the cybersecurity workforce.