The University of the Virgin Islands, a member of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Minority Serving Institutions, hosted consortiums representing 22 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and five national labs, at the institution’s annual technical meeting this November.
UVI became a member of the MSI Cyber Security consortium after being awarded a five-year $1.3 million grant earlier this year from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) NNSA, as part of a White House initiative. The Cyber Security consortium will receive the $25 million grant award over the next five years.
The NNSA oversees four consortiums including, Cyber Security, Materials and Energy Sciences and Research of Signatures Sciences and Advanced Manufacturing. While focused in four different areas, they are all connected through STEM. Jonathan Jackson, program manager for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Minority Serving Institution, said that the annual meeting aids program officials in understanding the progress that is being made, including how they are meeting their grant objectives and helps them to learn what issues that they may be facing. “It gives them an opportunity to see what the other consortiums are doing and to see where there could be potential overlap for collaborations moving forward,” he said of the meeting. More information is available in a news release on the Media Section of the UVI website –http://www.uvi.edu - and from this direct link.