Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research

Phil Salkie

Phil Salkie is a computer scientist who has been working as an industrial controls and automation engineer since 1984. His software and hardware designs serve sectors as diverse as food packaging, broadcast television, emergency power generation, water purification, sewage processing, surgical suture manufacture, biopharmaceuticals, specialty chemicals, laundry transport, semiconductor equipment manufacture, and nuclear power plant infrastructure. He is managing partner of Jenariah Industrial Automation.

Dan Geer

Dan Geer is the CIO for In-Q-Tel and an expert in computer security and risk management. He spent ten years in clinical and research medical computing followed by five years running the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Project Athena, the first distributed computing emplacement. Author, presenter, and consultant, Geer is advisor to or board member for a number of promising startups and their funding sources, he has over 100 refereed publications, two books, three patents, and he participates in several government advisory roles for the Federal Trade Commission, the Departments of Justice and Treasury, the National Academy of Sciences, the National Science Foundation, the US Secret Service, the Department of Homeland Security, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the White House, and In-Q-Tel's counterparties.

Susan Ramsey

Susan Ramsey is a Risk Assessor and Security Engineer at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. She has over twenty years of experience building enterprise infrastructure and cloud computing. She joined NCAR in 2014 and promptly launched multiple initiatives to tackle compliance and identity management. Her latest projects include building a FISMA moderate segment and an organization wide Continuous Monitoring Plan. She has an MS in Computer Information Technology from Regis University, (thesis on Vulnerability Assessment). She is currently working towards a second Master of Science degree, in Information Security Engineering, from SANS Technical Institute.

Craig Jackson

Craig Jackson is Chief Policy Analyst at the Indiana University Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research (CACR), where his research interests include information security program development and governance, legal and regulatory regimes' impact on information security and cyber resilience, evidence-based security, and innovative defenses. He is a Co-PI of the NSF Cybersecurity Center of Excellence, and leads CACR's collaborative efforts with Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division. He is a graduate of the IU Maurer School of Law, IU School of Education, and Washington University in St. Louis. In addition to his litigation experience, Craig's research, design, project management, and psychology background includes work at the IU Center for Research on Learning and Technology and the Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine.

Drew Simshaw

Drew Simshaw is a communications and technology attorney and a teaching fellow at the Elon University School of Law. He previously practiced with the Institute for Public Representation in Washington, D.C. and taught in Georgetown Law's Communications & Technology law clinic. Prior to joining Georgetown, he served at Indiana University as a postdoctoral fellow in information security law and policy with the Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research and as an analyst with the Center for Law, Ethics, and Applied Research in Health Information. His legal research and scholarship focus on the regulation of emerging technologies, including robotics and artificial intelligence in the consumer and healthcare settings, and the effect of these technologies on the practice of law.

Susan Sons

Susan Sons serves as a Senior Systems Analyst at Indiana University's Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research, having come from a background in abuse management, software engineering, and pentesting. Susan considers herself a generalist hacker with specialties in ICS/SCADA security, secure software engineering, social engineering, and systems programming. Susan is President of the Internet Civil Engineering Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting and securing the common software infrastructure we all depend on. Her recent publications have been with O'Reilly Publishing and Linux Journal.

Scott Russell

Scott Russell is a Senior Policy Analyst with CACR, where his work focuses on the improvement of federal cybersecurity standards. A lawyer and researcher, Scott specializes in privacy, cybersecurity, and international law, and his past research has included cybersecurity due diligence norms under international law, cybersecurity self-governance, international data jurisdiction, and constitutional issues on digital surveillance. Scott received his B.A. in Computer Science and History from the University of Virginia, received his J.D. from Indiana University, interned at MITRE, and served as a postdoctoral fellow at CACR.

Sonja Streuber

Sonja Streuber is a former contractor for the US Department of Defense and for other high-risk industries, Sonja Streuber, MA MS PMP® SSBB, has spent many years in technical risk management, software engineering, and IT project management. She currently teaches in the Information and Computing Sciences program at Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana, focusing on big data management and analysis and on various topics in cybersecurity.

Michelle Gough

Following many years of experience serving as General Counsel to multiple state education agencies as well as teaching both graduate and undergraduate courses on American Public School Law, Dr. Michelle Gough possesses a uniquely authoritative understanding of federal, state, and local education laws and regulations. As lead counsel to the various agencies, she regularly provided guidance in the areas of special education, assessment, equity, and school quality.

At PLTW, Michelle currently serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Legal and Assessment Officer. She is responsible for the organization's legal affairs, including intellectual property management, commercial transactions, risk mitigation, corporate compliance, and regulatory matters. She also supervises assessment development and administration to ensure that methodologies and processes are valid, legally defensible, and valuable to students and teachers.

An active advocate and researcher in education policy, Michelle has published and made numerous national and local presentations on such topics as assessment validity and ethics, student and teacher civil rights, intellectual property, and data privacy concerns in the education sector. Due to her knowledge and expertise in quality educational practices, Michelle served as a School Quality Reviewer on behalf of the State Board of Education for schools identified as chronically underperforming. In addition, Michelle was a 2016 gubernatorial appointee to the Panel to Study Alternatives to the ISTEP Program Test, on which she helped develop a recommendation for a statewide assessment program to meet the needs of students, parents, and educators. Michelle also served as a Commissioner with the Indiana Civil Rights Commission beginning in 2014 and through 2016, and she was appointed by Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard to serve as the co-chair to the education subcommittee for the Your Life Matters Task Force, which was a bi-partisan task force designed to provide research on effective models to improve outcomes for Indianapolis youth, particularly among Black males ages 14 - 24.

Michelle holds a bachelor's degree from DePauw University, a J.D. from Indiana University – Bloomington Maurer School of Law, and Ph.D. in Education Policy and Leadership from Indiana University. At its 2014 national conference, the Education Law Association (ELA) granted Michelle the Joseph C. Beckham Dissertation of the Year Award for her prior year's research.

Eric Eliason

Eric Eliason is the Director of Information Security and Compliance for Project Lead The Way. In his role, Eric provides Information Security Leadership and guidance for the organization

Eric has an extensive history in Information Security and Compliance and has been instrumental in building Compliance and Security programs for organizations of varying sizes. Prior to joining PLTW, Eric has served as the Director of Information Security and Compliance for Interactive Intelligence (now Genesys) and as Corporate Responsibility Officer for St. Vincent Indianapolis Hospital.

Eric received his Master of Business Administration from Baker University and has received several Information Security, Compliance and Privacy designations from National Organizations including recently being named a Fellow of Information Privacy by the International Association of Privacy Professional.

Justin Stimson

Justin Stimson is the founder of Popdit LLC, the provider of a mobile app that helps you share your favorite places with your friends. Prior to Popdit, he advised numerous global Fortune 500 companies on software engineering methodology and information security. He began his career in Silicon Valley with firms like Fliqz, Currenex, and MyPlay. He is a graduate of the Indiana University School of Law, the Illinois Institute of Technology, and Indiana University.

Zachary Heck

Zachary Heck is an attorney at Faruki Ireland Cox Rhinehart & Dusing P.L.L., where he practices in the fields of cybersecurity and data privacy. Zach's practice involves all aspects of information privacy and security compliance to include policy development, risk analysis, third party agreements, incident response/data breach management, de-identification of personally identifiable information, and consumer litigation. Zach is an adjunct professor at Wright State University where he teaches a graduate course entitled "Legal Aspects of Cybersecurity." Zach is also a Certified Information Privacy Professional for United States private sector laws and regulations. He is also a co-chair for Cincinnati's KnowledgeNet Chapter of the International Association of Privacy Professionals. Zach is a 2014 Order of the Coif and Order of the Barrister graduate of the Indiana University Maurer School of Law, where he served as a member of the Indiana Law Journal Editorial Board, and the Sherman Minton Moot Court Executive Board. He received his B.A. in English and Philosophy from the University of Dayton in 2011. Zach graduated magna cum laude and with full tuition merit scholarships from both institutions. Zach has been published multiple times by the American Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, and multiple blogs. Zach also serves as the head coach and legal advisor for Centerville High School's Mock Trial team.

Bob Wichlinski

Lecturing Professor, Computing and Information Sciences,Valparaiso University

Eric Dietz

Dr. Dietz's research interests include optimization of emergency response, homeland security and defense, energy security, and engaging veterans in higher education. As a Director in Purdue's Discovery Park, Dr. Dietz is responsible for the catalysis of the Purdue's homeland security research, increasing the impact of Purdue research on society, and organizing interdisciplinary projects within the university. Prior to his current responsibilities, Eric was on loan from Purdue to Governor Mitch Daniels to serve as the founding Executive Director for The Indiana Department of Homeland Security, a new state agency of over 300 people responsible for emergency planning, training, fire and building safety, and disaster response for 6.2 million Indiana residents. During this period, Eric led Indiana's response to 7 Presidential Major Disasters and Emergency Declarations which included restoration and recovery of critical infrastructure. Eric also led the creation of the Indiana Intelligence Fusion Center and the Indiana Fire Training System both new government functions that were created with new laws and funding. Retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel from the U.S. Army in 2004, Dr. Dietz led a number of Army Acquisition and research programs throughout his career including power systems, chemical sensors and command and control systems. An Indiana native, Eric was graduated in 1984 from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology after earning a bachelor of science in chemical engineering. He also earned a master's of science from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in 1986 and a PhD in chemical engineering in 1994 from Purdue University.

Dom Caristi

Dom Caristi is an Associate Professor of Telecommunications at Ball State University. Before joining Ball State in 1998, he had served on the faculty at Iowa State University, Missouri Southern State University and Saint Mary's University of Minnesota. His main teaching and research interests are in electronic media law and policy. He is Associate Director of the Digital Policy Institute, which he helped to found in 2004.

Caristi's writing is varied. In 2011 he co-authored Communication Law: Practical Applications in the Digital Age. He has contributed chapters to books, encyclopedia entries and columns in newspapers and trade journals. His commentary is valued and he has been quoted in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and Washington Post. In addition to his own Fulbright awards, Dr. Caristi serves as the Fulbright Program Adviser for Ball State. Since 1998 BSU has had 18 student grantees. Eleven of those have come in the last four years under Caristi's tutelage. In addition to his two Fulbright experiences, he has taught American students in Italy on study abroad programs three times: twice in semester-long programs and once on a five week summer term.

Dr. Caristi is an active member of the Broadcast Education Association and served five years on its Board of Directors, including a term as Vice President. He has had fellowships with the National Association of Television Program Executives and the Radio Television Digital News Association, and received the Distinguished Service Award from the Iowa Broadcasters Association. Caristi holds a BA from the University of Miami, an MA from the University of Central Missouri and a PhD from the University of Iowa.

Nick Rosasco

Assistant Professor of Computing and Information Sciences,Valparaiso University

Von Welch

Von Welch is the director of Indiana University's Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research (CACR) and PI for the Center for Trustworthy Scientific Cyberinfrastructure, a project dedicated to tackling the cybersecurity challenge for NSF science. His expertise lies in applied research and practice of cybersecurity for distributed systems. Other roles include serving as CSO of the Software Assurance Market Place, a DHS-funded facility to foster software assurance and software assurance research, PI on a Department of Energy funded grant focused on identity management for extreme-scale scientific collaboration, and serving as a advisor for research on the InCommon Steering Committee.

Previously he has worked with a range of high-visibility projects to provide cybersecurity to the broader scientific and engineering community, including TeraGrid, Open Science Grid, Ocean Observatory Infrastructure, and GENI. His work in software and standards includes authoring two IETF RFCS and the contributing to the creation of the well-known CILogon and MyProxy projects.