University Receives More than Half a Million Dollars in Federal Funding to Support Technology-Related Education

Bahareh Arghavani Nobar '24 M.S. has embraced research at the University of New Haven and through the University's Secure and Assured Intelligent Learning (SAIL) Lab. Recently, when the University secured funding that will create even more opportunities for her and her classmates, the press conference that followed presented her with another exciting opportunity: meeting U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal.

Nobar was among the students who welcomed Sen. Blumenthal to the University at the press conference, during which they thanked him for his efforts in securing $544,000 that will support the University.

"Attending the press conference was a significant experience for me as an international student," said Nobar, a candidate in the University's graduate program in data science who hails from Iran. "I deeply appreciated Sen. Blumenthal's patience, attentiveness, and willingness to listen to our explanations of our research projects. It was an honor to have the chance to briefly discuss my current research with him. I felt grateful for the opportunity to showcase my work and receive recognition from such a respected figure."

With Sen. Blumenthal's assistance, more than $200,000 in congressionally directed funding was initially secured, and the University purchased cutting-edge equipment for an important consumer-protection and cybersecurity project. More recently, he also helped the University secure an additional more than $300,000 in congressionally directed funding that will be used to purchase more equipment. It will also support a lab manager for two years who will assist with equipment and offer support to students.

"With Senator Blumenthal's help, the University of New Haven will purchase equipment and provide the support needed to train students on sophisticated technologies," said Ronald Harichandran, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE, dean of the Tagliatela College of Engineering and vice provost for research. "I would like to thank Senator Blumenthal for his invaluable assistance in advancing cybersecurity-related education and research programs at the University. This will help deliver a well-trained cybersecurity workforce to Connecticut and to the nation."

Bibek Upadhayay '25 Ph.D., a research assistant in the SAIL Lab and a candidate in the University's doctoral program in engineering and applied science, was excited to share his research with Senator Blumenthal. He told him about his project examining adversarial attacks on brain-computer interface (BCI) and the significant impact they can have on users and applications. He will be presenting his research on the impact of such an attack on electroencephalography (EEG) BCIs at a conference this fall.

"I believe this funding will help us get our hands on the latest state-of-the-art technology and hardware," he said. "For example, with the rise of artificial intelligence and large language models (LLMs), there is an increasing risk in society. We need to test and work with these LLMs to understand them better. To do this, we require larger-sized graphics processing units (GPUs) (a specialized processor originally designed to accelerate graphics rendering). This grant will be a great support in acquiring state-of-the-art GPUs."

For Nancirose Piazza '24 Ph.D., who is also a candidate in the University's doctoral program in engineering and applied science, meeting Senator Blumenthal was an honor. She was grateful for the chance to discuss her research, which explores deception and deception mitigation in multi-agent systems, which are made up of multiple interacting intelligent agents.

"Sufficient funding for equipment is necessary for students to develop specialization and competent skill sets," said Piazza, who is also a member of the SAIL Lab. "New equipment will give us opportunities to learn skills relevant to today's competitive labor market."

For Nobar, the data science graduate student, the funding is critical. She's grateful for all the ways it promises to support students, their research, and the exciting learning opportunities that will prepare them to excel.

"The funding provided through initiatives like this is incredibly important for students such as me," she said. "I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Senator Blumenthal for his dedication to supporting students. This funding opportunity has made a significant difference in my educational journey, and I am sincerely thankful for his efforts."