Lockheed, Carnegie Mellon work on cyberlab

PITTSBURGH, May 10 (UPI) -- A U.S. research center for cyberoperations and security innovation has been established by Lockheed Martin and Carnegie Mellon University.

The cyberlab space, located near the university, was opened Monday and will conduct research and development into concepts and technologies.

"Government agencies need to protect their networks and infrastructure against adversaries that are getting smarter, faster, and more sophisticated every day," said Rick Ambrose, president of Lockheed Martin's Information Systems and Global Solutions -- Security division. "The advanced research we're conducting with Carnegie Mellon will help our nation's cyber defenders accelerate response times, protect smartphones and pinpoint potential vulnerabilities in their networks."

Locating the lab near the Carnegie Mellon campus helps research teams develop prototypes faster and test them in a realistic environment, Lockheed said.

The facility will be connected to Lockheed Martin's network of cyberlabs, including the NexGen Cyber Innovation and Technology Center.

Cybersecurity is a Carnegie Mellon strength, as the university's CyLab is one of the largest university-based cybersecurity education and research centers in the United States.

CyLab is multidisciplinary and university-wide, involving six colleges from Carnegie Mellon. Supported by public and private funding, Cylab's goals include building mutually beneficial public-private partnerships to develop new technologies for measurable, available, secure, trustworthy and sustainable computing and communications systems and to educate individuals at all levels.

Lockheed Martin and CMU enjoy a 25-year history, which began when Lockheed Martin worked with the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute on software process improvements and software architecture projects.

"We are thrilled that Lockheed Martin has chosen Pittsburgh as the place to foster and create innovative solutions that will help solve a growing challenge to government," said Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl. "Carnegie Mellon attracts some of the best and brightest young people in the world, and out of this collaboration, we will continue to grow our technology and innovation economy."