DeapSECURE Computational Training for Cybersecurity: Third-Year Improvements and Impacts

The Data-Enabled Advanced Training Program for Cybersecurity Research and Education (DeapSECURE) was introduced in 2018 as a non-degree training consisting of six modules covering a broad range of cyberinfrastructure techniques, including high performance computing, big data, machine learning and advanced cryptography, aimed at reducing the gap between current cybersecurity curricula and requirements needed for advanced research and industrial projects. By its third year, DeapSECURE, like many other educational endeavors, experienced abrupt changes brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. The training had to be retooled to adapt to fully online delivery. Hands-on activities were reformatted to accommodate self-paced learning. In this paper, we describe and assess the third and fourth years of the project and compare them with the first half of the project, which implemented in-person instruction. We also indicate major improvements and present future opportunities for this training program to advance the cybersecurity field

Plasma-assisted fabrication and processing of biomaterials

Summary Plasma creates a highly reactive chemical environment that can be used to selectively induce specific biological responses, fabricate materials with a wide range of physico-chemical, mechanical, and biological properties, and modify surfaces in a highly controlled manner. This chapter reviews how plasma is used for sterilization and disease management. It then focuses on the use of plasma environments for surface functionalization and fabrication of carbon-based structures, from soft polymers to amorphous carbons and carbon nanotubes. The chapter also focuses on plasma-enabled processing as a highly versatile tool for selective modification of a wide range of implantable materials, including temperature-sensitive polymeric materials and living tissues. Plasmas that generate higher temperatures can be used to fabricate a broad range of carbon nanomaterials, including ordered carbons e.g., graphene sheets, nanotubes and nanoparticles, carbon quantum dots, and amorphous carbons. Carbon nanomaterials have promising drug delivery, sensing, and bioimaging applications