SOUTH KINGSTOWN – Four University of Rhode Island engineering professors will receive $4.7 million from the U.S. Office of Naval Research for a research project looking at the state of cyber-infrastructure and the current and future risks posed by increased levels of automation and the use of artificial intelligence in the nation's power grids, manufacturing systems, transportation networks and health care infrastructure.
Entitled "Advancing Research on Cyber-Physical Security and Resilience: A Multifaceted Approach," the three-year project is meant “to advance the security and resilience of AI-enabled power grids, promote workforce development, and secure manufacturing environments," according to the university's Wednesday announcement.
Managed through the URI Center of Cyber-Physical Intelligence and Security, the project will be led by principal investigator and professor Yan Sun, who is the center's founder, chair of URI's Department of Electrical, Computer and Biomedical Engineering and has been researching power grid security for more than a decade.
The other team members are professors Hui Lin, Kaushallya Adhikari and Manbir Sodhi.
According to the announcement, understanding these issues is "critical for ensuring the robustness of cyber-physical infrastructure and preparing the next generation of researchers and professionals to tackle these complex challenges," with the goal of the project to provide "accurate and reliable estimations that can inform decision-making processes at scale."
The team will also be looking at the implications of the increased use of these technologies in the commercial markets.
“The better we understand how the power grid behaves, the better we can protect it,” Sun said. “There’s the big picture aspect, but under that umbrella there’s a lot of innovation in there.”
Lin said there has been a "lack of visibility of this research domain to public audiences," a challenge in the efforts to educate the public on the importance of cyber-defense without "fearing the over-exaggerated facts."
The project will also include the launch of two online graduate certificate programs scheduled to begin in spring 2025 titled Future Autonomous Systems and Industrial 4.0.
Christopher Allen is a PBN staff writer. You may contact him at Allen@PBN.com.
