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The students – seven from UALR and one from the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville – each were assigned a portion of the complete project, which dealt with container security, monitoring, and logistics. One of the main focus areas for their research was the feasibility of the use of sensor networks using sensors such as radio frequency identification (RFID) in shipping containers.

Rouen is located on the Seine River, which is home to three individual ports, so these students’ work is particularly applicable there. However, their work has broader implications for all countries engaged in international trade.

The UALR students worked alongside with students from INSA who began creating a transportation-on-demand system that would allow individuals to call public transit to their location at any time.

UALR students stayed in a dormitory at Rouen, but they were able to spend each weekend traveling throughout France and into other European countries. Next year, the program should expand, according to Dr. Srini Ramaswamy, chair of the Department of Computer Science.

“We have three years of funding for the program from the National Science Foundation (NSF),” he said. “We hope to send more students next year, and they will have the opportunity to continue the research begun this year. Eventually, the students’ work could have broad applications for shipping throughout the world.”

The program pairs high schoolers with a UALR scientist for one-on-one mentoring in a focused research environment. The mentoring guides the academic high achieving students in selecting the high school courses needed to pursue future careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

In addition, the program provides informal peer mentoring by engaging students in faculty research projects. That allows high schoolers to establish early contact with college students and professors in specific areas of their interest, said Vernard Henley, director of education outreach and diversity in UALR’s Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Technology.

The three-week residential experience comes at no cost to the participants.

Students and their high schools are:

• Shelton Hale of Parkview High School.
• William Anthony of Huntville High School and the Arkansas Science, Math, and the Arts High School.
• Stephen Sivils, Arkadelphia High School.
• Priyanka Murali of Little Rock Central.
• Karan Batra of Bentonville High School.
• Jesse Thomason of Ouachita High School and ASMSA.
• Megan Trett of Viola High School and ASMSA.
• Andrew Seel from Parkview and ASMSA.
• Helio Liu, Little Rock Central.
• Jake Berry of Searcy High School and ASMSA.

On June 5, 2007, the Information Assurance Courseware Evaluation (IACE) Program presented UALR with certification that courses at UALR map to the national standards established by the Committee on National Security Systems (CNSS).  UALR met the mapping requirements for Information Systems Security Professionals (NSTISSI 4011) and System Administrators (CNSSI 4013E).  The goal of IACE is to increase the application of national standards in the assessment of information assurance education programs throughout the nation.  Successfully completing this systematic mapping process certifies that all the elements of the national standards are included in the courses at UALR.  The certification is valid through June 2012.

Completion of the IACE mapping is required to achieve the longer term goal of designation as a Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education (CAEIAE).  Schools with this designation receive formal recognition from the U.S. government and students attending these schools are eligible to apply for scholarships and grants through the Department of Defense Information Assurance Scholarship Program and the Federal Cyber Service Scholarship for Service Program (SFS).

Thanks to the efforts of Drs. Sean J. Geoghegan and Remzi Seker, UALR is the first university in Arkansas to successfully complete the course mappings; an important step toward the goal of designation as a CAEIAE.