Penn State Altoona faculty receive IBM Faculty Awards

Dr. Jungwoo Ryoo (left), head of the Division of Business, Engineering, and Information Sciences Technology and associate professor of Information Sciences and Technology, and Dr. Syed Rizvi, assistant professor of Information Sciences and Technology, in the server room, located in the Devorris Downtown Center.
Dr. Jungwoo Ryoo (left), head of the Division of Business, Engineering, and Information Sciences Technology and associate professor of Information Sciences and Technology, and Dr. Syed Rizvi, assistant professor of Information Sciences and Technology, in the server room, located in the Devorris Downtown Center.

Penn State Altoona faculty Dr. Jungwoo Ryoo, head of the Division of Business, Engineering, and Information Sciences Technology and associate professor of Information Sciences and Technology, and Dr. Syed Rizvi, assistant professor of Information Sciences and Technology, have been selected to receive 2016 IBM Faculty Awards totaling $10,000 for their projects entitled “Internet of Everything (IoE) and You” and “Hybrid Vehicle Security System/Program”.

According to IBM’s website, the IBM Faculty Award is a competitive worldwide program intended to foster collaboration between researchers at leading universities worldwide and those in IBM research, development and services organizations, and promote curriculum innovation to stimulate growth in disciplines and geographies that are strategic to IBM. These particular awards are presented to a faculty member who will collaborate with students on making the world a better place using technology.

The Internet of Everything describes the networked connections between devices, people, processes and data. Ryoo’s project—Internet of Everything (IoE and You)—seeks to develop software tools, such as an IoE wireless scanner and an IoE network scanner, to raise more awareness on how the IoE will affect our security and privacy as end users.

Students currently involved in the IoE project are Josh Clark, Cooper Graham, and Jonathan Shuffler.  Jonathan Willett, Tyler Vasbinder, Donte Perino, and Seth Marasco are involved in Rizvi’s hybrid vehicle project.

Rizvi’s project goal is to design, develop, and implement a security architecture to protect a car’s network and modules from being compromised by hackers through manipulation of packets. Today, hybrid and electric vehicles, while much more fuel efficient, are highly susceptible to being hacked and compromised, as they are designed with much more technology.