Scholarships help students pursue vehicle cybersecurity education

Three Detroit Mercy students recently received scholarships that will help them continue their vehicle cybersecurity education at the University. 

Victor Carpenter ’22 and juniors Alan Aguire-Sullivan and Justus Lee each received the College of Engineering & Science’s first Virtual Institutes for Cyber and Electromagnetic Spectrum Research and Employ (VICEROY) awards, which are individual scholarships worth $10,000.  

“We are honored to be able to offer the VICEROY awards to deserving students to continue their education at University of Detroit Mercy in Vehicle Cyber Engineering,” said Paul Spadafora, director of professional engineering programs and industry liaison for the College of Engineering & Science. “They are the first round of winners who will continue to reinforce our nation’s cybersecurity resiliency.” 

Detroit Mercy’s new Vehicle Cyber Engineering program has been developed to meet the growing needs of automotive and military organizations. The program is currently offered to students in two options: a master’s degree or stackable graduate certificate. 

The program is part of the Metro Detroit Regional Vehicle Cybersecurity Institute, which was established with a $1.12-million grant from the United States Department of Defense’s (DoD) VICEROY program in 2021. The regional-based cybersecurity consortium was designed to increase the field’s professional workforce and reduce the cybersecurity risk to the DoD and commercial ground vehicles. 

Learn more about Detroit Mercy’s Vehicle Cyber Engineering programs.