ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. -- Dr. Ray Bateman, currently the lead for cyber-science research at the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command's Army Research Laboratory, the Army's corporate research laboratory, at its San Antonio, Texas, location, became the first federal partner lead for the University of Texas at the National Security Collaboration Center, April 25.
The center engages government, industry and academia to tackle the nation's greatest cybersecurity threats and advance San Antonio's position as a leader in national security. Its cyber-science focus is on research, education and workforce development in the areas of cybersecurity, data analytics and cloud computing.
Bateman coordinates research among several researchers within UTSA and its satellite locations in Arlington, Dallas and El Paso, ARL's Maryland locations, as well as industry and other government partners. As the federal partner lead, his current responsibilities extend to enable broader and deeper collaborations across the extensive cybersecurity and national security ecosystem in the area.
"The NSCC currently has office and laboratory space on the main campus, part of which has been equipped and operationally supported by industry donors such as Dell, IP Secure, LGS Innovations (now part of CACI) and CNF Technologies," Bateman said. "ARL South-cyber is able to leverage these efforts to share research and discoveries to better impact national objectives."
Bateman is responsible for representing the federal partners' perspectives at meetings and connecting networks of researchers and operations liaisons across the cybersecurity and national security ecosystems. The NSCC's federal partners include ARL, the National Security Agency in Texas, the Air Force, Secret Service, FBI, Sandia National Laboratories, Idaho National Laboratory and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
"The NSCC was only a concept when ARL decided to open an extended site office at UTSA -- however, ARL's arrival on campus in March of 2017 gave the university the tangible base it needed to weave together the partnerships it already had, as well as entice new organizations and partnerships to come and participate," Dr. Bateman said. "The federal partners that have chosen to participate meet regularly to share updates on projects and student internships, to discuss government obstacles and successes in working with academia and industry, and to chart a path forward for coherent research collaborations and operational implementation."
Bateman said ARL's presence has been the framework to provide growth for the collaboration center and has set an example for engaging academia at the system level that the NSA has adopted.
"Organizations such as Sandia National Laboratories have noted ARL's initiative in embedding researchers at the university," Bateman said. "As a result, Sandia has placed two researchers and a newly hired mid-level manager on the UTSA campus and plans to add more."
The center hosted a visit earlier this month for U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, 28th District of Texas, and provided an overview of the available opportunities.
"The NSCC partnership ecosystem is impressive and presents great opportunity for our country, where capabilities are being built, tested and deployed into our nation's cyber infrastructure," Cuellar said.
UTSA has incorporated federal, academic and industry requirements in the design for a completely new, 80,000-square foot facility that will be located in San Antonio and is scheduled to be operational in spring 2023.
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The CCDC Army Research Laboratory (ARL) is an element of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command. As the Army's corporate research laboratory, ARL discovers, innovates and transitions science and technology to ensure dominant strategic land power. Through collaboration across the command's core technical competencies, CCDC leads in the discovery, development and delivery of the technology-based capabilities required to make Soldiers more lethal to win our Nation's wars and come home safely. CCDC is a major subordinate command of the U.S. Army Futures Command.
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