{"id":28861,"date":"2025-10-29T10:51:39","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T14:51:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/?p=28861"},"modified":"2025-11-19T10:10:30","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T15:10:30","slug":"marshall-university-institute-for-cyber-security-ics-and-dronetrace-take-flight-with-next-phase-of-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/2025\/10\/marshall-university-institute-for-cyber-security-ics-and-dronetrace-take-flight-with-next-phase-of-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Marshall University Institute for Cyber Security (ICS) and DroneTrace take flight with next phase of research"},"content":{"rendered":"
Building on their partnership announced earlier this year, the Marshall University Institute for Cyber Security (ICS) and DroneTrace, LLC are advancing to the next phase of collaboration through the launch of a joint unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) forensics research effort, powered by the donation of specialized research drones from DroneTrace.<\/p>\n

The donated platforms will serve as the foundation for hands-on research into drone forensics, counter-unmanned aircraft system (UAS) technologies and secure-by-design autonomous systems. This initiative marks a significant milestone in the partnership\u2019s mission to safeguard national airspace and strengthen America\u2019s drone defense and analysis capabilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis donation moves our partnership from concept to capability,\u201d said Alexandria Donathan, executive director of the Institute for Cyber Security. \u201cThese drones represent more than research equipment. They are the starting point for innovation that will prepare our students and partners to face tomorrow\u2019s aerial threats.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ICS research team, in coordination with Marshall\u2019s aviation and engineering faculty, will use the drones to analyze telemetry data, test counter-UAS software and develop forensic workflows to extract digital evidence from compromised or recovered UAVs. The data and lessons learned will inform the development of new training modules for cybersecurity, forensics and aviation students, starting in the 2026\u20132027 academic year.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is to turn operational experience into academic innovation,\u201d said Liam Bowers, CEO of DroneTrace. \u201cBy putting these drones directly into the hands of researchers and students, we\u2019re creating a proving ground for the next generation of cyber-aviation defense.\u201d<\/p>\n

The collaboration exemplifies how industry-academic partnerships can strengthen the Appalachian innovation ecosystem, support national security objectives, and create Marshall-made, mission-ready professionals at the intersection of cyber and aviation.<\/p>\n

Future initiatives between ICS and DroneTrace include:
\n\u00b7 Establishing a dedicated Drone Forensics, Counter-UAS, and Autonomous Vehicle Lab within the new ICS facility.
\n\u00b7 Launching joint student research assistantships focused on UAV exploitation and cyber-physical resilience.
\n\u00b7 Developing cyber-safety training modules for pilots and aircraft technicians.
\n\u00b7 Hosting an annual Drone Forensics Challenge, bringing together academia, defense, and industry innovators.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach drone tells a story\u201d said Donathan. \u201cOur mission is to teach students how to read that story, how to find the threat, understand it, and build resilience against it.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information about the Institute for Cyber Security, visit www.marshall.edu\/cyber<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To learn more about DroneTrace, visit www.dronetrace.com<\/a>.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Building on their partnership announced earlier this year, the Marshall University Institute for Cyber Security (ICS) and DroneTrace, LLC are advancing to the next phase of collaboration through the launch of a joint unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) forensics research effort, powered by the donation of specialized research drones from DroneTrace. The donated platforms will serve […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":239,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37,42,82,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cecs","category-cos","category-institute-for-cyber-security","category-news-releases"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/239"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28861"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28861\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28867,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28861\/revisions\/28867"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}