Insights

Being a member of the CHEST Consortium enables Riverside Research to further support various initiatives of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), a program serving warfighters in cybersecurity, air, and space.

The CHEST Consortium receives funding from industry resources as well as the National Science Foundation (NSF). This independent group provides university teams with the opportunity to pitch and execute projects while using industry funding to accomplish those research goals.

"With a focus on hardware and cybersecurity, joining the CHEST Consortium was a natural alignment for Riverside Research," comments Rob Denz, Riverside Research Director of Trusted Resilient Systems and industry liaison.

"The really unique part of CHEST is that industry partners are able to bring real-world challenges in secure microelectronics to leading academic universities. Those universities can then investigate these challenges and ultimately see their solutions transition to real-world systems. Furthermore, industry partners like Riverside Research provide avenues for researchers to continue to investigate their interests through employment opportunities or separately funded efforts outside of CHEST," Denz explains.

One highlight of Denz's role as industry liaison is his attendance of the CHEST Consortium's annual event, which provides university-affiliated researchers with the ability to present research and network with government and industry interests.

The CHEST Center's 2021 research projects include topics such as on-chip security integrity monitors, benchmarks for hardware security and trust, reverse engineering FPGA firmware, and risk mapping.