Events
CSEC Connect: Securing What Matters – Inside the VCU Cybersecurity Center
- Date: Friday, November 13, 2026
- Time: 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM EST
- Location: Engineering Building, West Hall, Room 401 (401 W. Main St., Richmond, VA 23284)
- Format: Panel & Roundtable Discussion Audience: Open to VCU students, faculty, industry professionals, and government partners
Summary
Join the VCU Cybersecurity Center for CSEC Connect, an engaging panel and roundtable discussion on key challenges and innovations in digital security. Moderated by Dr. Milos Manic, this session brings together leaders and experts to explore how we protect critical services, investigate emerging digital threats, and advance privacy, resilience, and public trust.
Attendees will learn more about the Center's designation as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense (CAE-CD) and Research (CAE-R). Discover how students, faculty, and community partners can get involved through collaborative research, hands-on projects, and networking opportunities.
Panelists & Speakers
Moderator: Dr. Milos Manic
Panelists: Kemal Akkaya, Tamer Nadeem, Irfan Ahmed, Chris Whyte, Elizabeth Baker, Ahmet Sonmez, Jason Arnold, Erdem Topsakal (CVN CCI/Cyber Guardians), Dan Han (VCU CISO)
Discussion Topics
- AI & The Attacker-Defender Balance: Research priorities and evaluation metrics
- Human-AI Security & Governance: Oversight, safety, and auditability
- Evolving Datasets & AI Methods: Synthetic data, testbeds, and validation techniques
- Virginia Data Centers & Cloud Risks: Side channels, supply chain vulnerabilities, and energy considerations
Activities
- VCU Cybersecurity Club: a collaboration between the private and public sectors to create a trusted place to collectively discuss Cyber threats. While not designed to include technical sharing in the same manner as an industry ISAC, the partnership allows for the sharing of best practices and lessons learned.
- Bitcoin Meetup:The meet-up is led by Dr. Hong-Sheng Zhou. The group designed for all things Bitcoin and blockchain related. We hope for enthusiasts, entrepreneurs, economists, developers and investors to join us. The overall curious are welcome and encouraged to join the group. Our meetups are currently organized by Lab-B, an interdisciplinary laboratory led by VCU College of Engineering, focusing on blockchain technologies. All meetups are free and will be held in Richmond (VCU College of Engineering)
- Master-the-Mainframe: VCU conducts 2 all day IBM Master-the-Mainframe events every semester. These all day events allows students to earn 2 industry digital badges from IBM. VCU has mentors from industry come in and mentor the students through 3 levels each with 15 challenges.