As the first Honors Undergraduate Program in Cybersecurity in the United States, ACES is a unique, multidisciplinary program for exceptional undergraduate honors students of all majors. ACES students are guided to become future leaders in the field of cybersecurity through experiential learning, group projects, research and internship opportunities, and a broad focus on the emerging discipline of cybersecurity.

The importance of cybersecurity cannot be overstated. National security, commerce, energy, banking, media, business operations, communications, and health care are all dependent on a secure, reliable digital information and communications infrastructure. Cybersecurity requires a workforce with a range of talents, backgrounds, and expertise to meet current and future workforce demands. Studies estimate that as many as 20,000 new cybersecurity professionals will be needed in the next five to ten years in the Washington metropolitan area alone. The multidisciplinary ACES program aims to develop future cybersecurity leaders from diverse backgrounds who understand both the technical, economic, and behavioral aspects of this important emerging discipline. The program attracts a variety of majors and reinforces the model of preparing students who are broadly aware of cybersecurity from many different perspectives.

As a living-learning program in the Honors College, ACES students are part of a supportive, diverse community inspired to collaborate and to view complex problems with an open, multidisciplinary perspective. The sense of community is strengthened, and meaningful academic, professional, and personal relationships are sparked through residential life, social events, and service opportunities.

The ACES minor offers technical grounding as well as interdisciplinary colloquia and seminars. A key requirement is experiential work on cybersecurity problems in the form of research, internships, or practical team projects supplied by business or governmental organizations.

Dr. Michel Cukier is the Director for Advanced Cybersecurity Experience for Students (ACES) and the Associate Director for Education for the Maryland Cybersecurity Center (MC2). Michel is an Associate Professor of Reliability Engineering with a joint appointment in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park. Michel received a degree in physics engineering from the Free University of Brussels, Belgium, in 1991, and a doctorate in computer science from the National Polytechnic Institute of Toulouse, France, in 1996. From 1996 to 2001, he was a researcher in the Perform research group in the Coordinated Science Laboratory at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He joined the University of Maryland in 2001 as Assistant Professor. His research covers dependability and security issues. His latest research focuses on the empirical quantification of cybersecurity. He has published over 80 papers in journals and refereed conference proceedings in those areas.