The lab will be part of the new Florida Institute for Cybersecurity Research. “Cybersecurity is an emerging application field of tremendous importance,” said Michal Rabara, president and CEO of TESCAN USA. The new lab will open in August of 2016. The cybersecurity lab will house the newest equipment available for micro and nano imaging and manufacturing.
The electron microscopy equipment – both x-ray and focused ion beam – will advance UF’s research in supply chain security, physical tampering, reverse engineering, trust verification, forensics, failure analysis, and counterfeit detection. New cybersecurity solutions will be tested, and courses and curriculum will be developed for students based on expanded capabilities.
TESCAN will benefit from UF’s advancement of applications in hardware security and protocol development, as well as direct access to faculty experts and training sessions customized for their employees. The lab’s equipment will hold significant value for startup companies and businesses around the state who – through collaboration with UF’s Florida Engineering Experiment Station, or FLEXStation – can contract to use the lab without prohibitive costs of ownership.