By Ayushi Das
Los Angeles Valley College has been awarded a $657,538 grant from the National Science Foundation to establish a cybersecurity pathway for LAVC students.
The plan aims to put students on the path to a career in cybersecurity, and the grant will help fund new class offerings and apprenticeship opportunities.
“We’re thrilled to receive this grant,” said Barry Gribbons, president of Los Angeles Valley College (LAVC). “We appreciate the wonderful work of our principal investigators, Mario Perez and Shirin Herrington.”
Cybersecurity is an ever-evolving field of science, especially in the age of artificial intelligence. On top of developing new courses, Valley College also aims to use the grant for hands-on learning opportunities, preparing students for real-world hacking threats.
“Instead of just having lectures, we want to have programs simulating cyberattacks,” Gibbons said.
Perez and Herrington are professors of Computer Information Systems at the college. They’ve been attending grant training and conferences to develop the cybersecurity pathway.
“My other role is working for the cybersecurity task force for the State of California,” Perez said. “Through this, one of the (National Science Foundation) directors asked how I’d feel about bringing the pathway to students at LAVC, about two years ago.”
Perez and Herrington have created a detailed plan for cybersecurity education. “The primary goal is to develop non-credit programs to create a certificate to offer students,” Perez said. “We’d eventually like to build the pathway to offer degrees in cybersecurity.”
Students will also have the unique chance to be trained by professionals from local, state, and federal agencies.
“Instead of just having lectures, we want to have training simulating cyberattacks,” Gibbons said. “It’s a wonderful experience for students to work alongside local, state, and federal agencies.”
Perez and Herrington hope to combine AI technologies with the cybersecurity program, keeping students knowledgeable about long-term changes to cybersecurity. They also hope to reach beyond Valley College and use the grant to make cybersecurity education more accessible to younger students.
“The whole goal is to empower the next generation of students to be cyber defenders on the state level and for the greater L.A.,” Perez said.
Ultimately, the National Science Foundation’s grant will help Valley College become a leading local force in cybersecurity.
“To borrow on the words of Mario Perez, this is a game changer,” Gibbons said. “Not just here in Los Angeles, but really in the broader arena.”