The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has named Milos Manic, Ph.D., a professor of computer science in the Virginia Commonwealth University College of Engineering and director of the VCU Cybersecurity Center, an IEEE Fellow. Elevation to fellow status is the highest grade of IEEE membership. It is recognized globally as a prestigious honor and a major career achievement.

“VCU Engineering is fortunate to have Milos as a member of our faculty. He inspires his students and colleagues alike,” said Barbara D. Boyan, Ph.D., Alice T. and William H. Goodwin, Jr. Dean of the College of Engineering. “His research is innovative, and as COVID-19 has thrust us into the digital economy with a vengeance, his work will help us to navigate the many cyber challenges we will encounter, knowing that we will be safe.”

Manic received this honor for his contributions to machine-learning-based cybersecurity for critical infrastructures. He is an internationally recognized expert on data mining and machine learning applied to cybersecurity, critical infrastructure protection, energy security and resilient intelligent control. Manic’s numerous achievements in these areas include a smart power grid protection system that improves its own effectiveness as it watches (and learns from) would-be hackers.

He also spearheads VCU’s efforts in a $111 million, five-year public-private partnership led by the University of Texas at San Antonio to help the U.S. Department of Energy secure industrial infrastructure against cyber attacks.

Manic was instrumental in VCU’s designation as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Research, and as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education. National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security established the Centers of Academic Excellence program to promote higher education and research in cyber defense to reduce vulnerability in the national information infrastructure.

Manic joined VCU College of Engineering in 2014 and holds a dual appointment with the Idaho National Laboratory. He previously held tenured positions with the University of Idaho (INL) and the University of Nis in Serbia.

Manic has completed more than 40 research grants with the U.S. Department of Energy, Department of Homeland Security and Department of Defense; the Battelle Energy Alliance, INL, the National Science Foundation and industry entities. He has given more than 40 invited talks around the world and is author of more than 200 refereed articles for international journals, books and conference proceedings.

Manic holds several U.S. patents. His Autonomic Intelligent Cyber Sensor device won the 2018 R&D 100 Award, which recognizes the top 100 science and technology innovations worldwide. He is a 2019 inductee as National Academy of Inventors senior member and a 2020-22 Fellow of Virginia’ Commonwealth Cyber Initiative, as a specialist in AI and cybersecurity. He received the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society 2019 Anthony J.Hornfeck Service Award, 2017 IEM Best Paper Award and the 2012 J. David Irwin Early Career Award.

“I am humbled by this recognition,” Manic said. “IEEE requires that its fellows’ work have an exceptional impact on society. In my case, that impact area is cybersecurity, which is strategic for the nation. I am very proud of what we are accomplishing in this field. This recognition is another confirmation that VCU is on par with other leading research universities.”

IEEE is the world’s largest professional organization, with more than 419,000 members around the world. Elevation to IEEE Fellow status is by nomination only, and no more than 0.1% of IEEE’s voting membership may be nominated in a given year.

Manic is VCU’s fourth IEEE Fellow. Hadis Morkoç, Ph.D., the Founders Professor in VCU’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, was named an IEEE Fellow in 1987, prior to joining the university. In 2005, Supriyo Bandopadhyay, Ph.D., the Commonwealth Professor in VCU’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, became the first professor at VCU to be named an IEEE Fellow. Krzysztof “Krys” Cios, Ph.D., D.Sc., M.B.A., professor and chair of VCU’s Department of Computer Science, was named an IEEE Fellow earlier in 2020.