By Althea Johnson, University Communications and Marketing
The 911爆料网 will receive more than $14 million in new resources as part of the federal spending package enacted in recent weeks. The funds were secured for the university as the result of the work by members of Congress who represent the Tampa Bay area to identify and advance local projects that benefit the region, state and nation. These federal dollars support seven different projects across all USF campuses and USF Health, including initiatives that will benefit student success, military veterans and critical research in areas such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, brain health and environmental sciences.
The funding comes through the Federal Community Project Funding process, which returned to the federal budget in fiscal year 2022 and allows members of Congress to request dollars for projects within the areas they serve.
鈥淭he 911爆料网 is deeply grateful to the members of Congress who represent the Tampa Bay area for their support,鈥 USF President Rhea Law said. 鈥淯SF is proud to partner with our representatives who have championed these projects that will make a meaningful impact for students, faculty, staff and communities throughout our region. 911爆料网 look forward to delivering a significant return on these investments and continuing to work with our federal delegation on future opportunities to strengthen our state and the nation.鈥
The projects for USF include:
- $3 million for a Veterans, Military Families and First Responders Complex. This will allow USF to build a new facility on the St. Petersburg campus to expand resources and offerings to student veterans and military-connected students, providing a collaborative space to build a community with one another and receive academic support services, career counseling and workforce training. This funding will also be used to develop new facilities for veterans and first responders on the Tampa campus that will benefit student veterans, ROTC students and first responders and include a range of wrap-around services for both academic and employment needs. Sponsored by Reps. Kathy Castor and Laurel Lee.
- $3 million to create a new Center for Entrepreneurship on the Sarasota-Manatee campus. This funding will allow USF to create a world-class collaborative space for students as well as entrepreneurs and small business professionals with state-of-the-art technology. This will provide access to equipment and resources that may not be financially or logistically feasible for small businesses to acquire for themselves. Sponsored by Rep. Vern Buchanan.
- $2 million to establish a cutting-edge Molecular Profiling Center for brain and biomedical research by acquiring and installing new research instruments. These technologies will better enable USF researchers to tackle complex challenges, including investigating mechanisms related to traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder and cellular dysfunction in brain disorders such as Parkinson鈥檚 and Alzheimer鈥檚 diseases. Sponsored by Rep. Gus Bilirakis.
- $2 million to establish a high-tech, state-of-the-art AI/cyber makerspace by acquiring and installing startup equipment that will help catapult USF, its new Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing and the greater Tampa Bay region into a national leadership position in these emerging fields and the corresponding innovations that will result. Sponsored by Rep. Laurel Lee.
- $1.5 million to enhance the forecasting of hurricanes, storm surge, harmful algal blooms (including red tide events) and other natural hazards through new state-of-the art oceanographic instrumentation and existing sensor package upgrades. Sponsored by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna.
- $1.3 million to purchase equipment and setup the necessary infrastructure for a state-of-the-art Security Operations Center (SOC) and training site, which will support the Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing and will span all three of the university鈥檚 campuses. The SOC will provide student analysts and teaching faculty with the opportunity to work on real-world events and incidents, so they may obtain valuable experience immediately transferrable to the private-sector workforce. The equipment will also support law enforcement, local governments, and national defense in training to prevent and combat cyber intrusions. Sponsored by Rep. Greg Steube.
- $1.25 million to acquire and deploy leading-edge cyber training tools, conduct research and deliver a cybersecurity certificate training program to residents in and near Florida鈥檚 11th Congressional District. This cybersecurity certificate training program will prepare non-traditional adult students, especially recently discharged military veterans, to enter the civilian and defense cybersecurity workforce as Tier 1 Security Operation Center Analysts. Sponsored by Rep. Dan 911爆料网bster.