US Naval Academy boosts cyber security education with new center

The U.S. Naval Academy (USNA) held a groundbreaking ceremony for its new Center for Cyber Security Studies in Maryland, on October 21.

The center is being established to allow the expansion of the Naval Academy’s cyber program, which includes a cyber operations major and required cyber curriculum for all midshipmen.

According to the Naval Academy, the multi-story academic building will have classrooms, a lecture hall, research labs, a secure compartmented intelligence facility space–required to allow midshipmen to handle classified information–and a research and testing tank to support the engineering and weapons lab.

The academy’s close relationship with U.S. Fleet Cyber Command/U.S 10th Fleet, based at Fort Meade, Maryland, will also provide midshipmen with an operational perspective through guest lectures, mentorship and summer training opportunities.

“This is a significant step in the process of streamlining our cyber education capabilities here at the Naval Academy with the needs of the fleet and Department of Defense,” said Vice Adm. Ted Carter, Naval Academy superintendent.

The $106-million building will be named after Rear Adm. Grace Hopper, known as the “mother of computing.” Hopper was an American computer scientist who worked on the first computer, the Harvard Mark 1, during World War II. She was responsible for making computers more accessible by converting mathematical code into language.

Construction of the five-story building is expected to begin this winter and to be finished in September 2019.