UMD and Future Skies Announce New Cybersecurity Partnership

University of Maryland Press Release
December 5, 2011

COLLEGE PARK, MD AND JOPPA, MD - The University of Maryland (UMD) and Future Skies, Inc. today announced a new partnership to establish collaborative activities in cybersecurity. The partnership will promote cybersecurity education, research and technology development through the recently established Maryland Cybersecurity Center (MC2). UMD and Future Skies plan to leverage each other’s resources, expertise, and unique perspectives to develop innovative cybersecurity expertise and technology solutions.

“We are delighted to establish this symbiotic and mutually beneficial relationship with Future Skies,” said Dr. Michael Hicks, Director of MC2 and an Associate Professor of Computer Science at the University of Maryland. “We look forward to working together to chart novel solutions to the cybersecurity challenges of today and tomorrow, including the development of a robust pipeline of cybersecurity talent in Maryland,” added Dr. Hicks.

MC2 is forging alliances and partnerships between academia, industry and government to deliver advanced educational programs that will prepare the cybersecurity workforce of today and tomorrow. UMD researchers are applying their expertise in a number of critical cybersecurity fields, including, secure software, supply chain risk management, wireless and network security, attacker behavioral analysis, and the economics of cybersecurity. MC2 stresses comprehensive solutions to cybersecurity education, research, and technology development by bringing together experts from computer science, engineering, social sciences, economics and public policy to establish interdisciplinary cybersecurity initiatives.

Future Skies is a dynamic, woman owned small business that is co-headquartered in Wall, NJ and Joppa, MD. Founded in 2001, Future Skies develops and provides innovative technology and advanced engineering solutions to challenges in information assurance, infrastructure services, and cloud computing. Furthermore, Future Skies specializes in professional custom software development with expertise in interoperability and information management.

“We are looking forward to working with the University of Maryland,” said Wendy Roberts, Future Skies President and CEO. “Our goal is to create a dynamic partnership, working cooperatively with the technology community at large to create advanced approaches, methodologies and software to redefine the state of the art.”

“We are looking forward to working with the University of Maryland”

Wendy Roberts, Future Skies President and CEO

About UMD:

The University of Maryland ranks among the top 20 public research universities in the nation, and is the closest in proximity to the nation’s capital. As the state’s flagship university, UMD educates the most talented students from Maryland and beyond. For more information, visit www.umd.edu, or to learn more about MC2, please visit www.cyber.umd.edu

About Future Skies:

Future Skies, Inc. is a Woman Owned Small Business (WOSB) founded in 2001. Future Skies’ mission is to provide engineering solutions for seemingly unsolvable problems using advanced technologies. Their key capabilities include interoperability, machine language translation, biometric data management, service-oriented architecture, information assurance, infrastructure services and cloud computing.

Future Skies’ current and former customers include the US Army, US Marine Corps, Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA), Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), General Dynamics, SAIC, Booz Allen Hamilton, CACI, Honeywell, Inc. and other industry partners. For more information, please visit www.future-skies.com

Media Contacts:

Eric Chapman
Associate Director, Maryland Cybersecurity Center
301 405 7136
echapman@umd.edu

Matthew Wilson
Director
Future Skies, Inc.
732 935 0095 (ext. 217)
matthew.wilson@future-skies.com