Through my time at Pitt, I have dabbled in the concepts of research and scholarly work within the academic classroom. However, through the SHURE-Grid program, I have finally been able to put those concepts into practice. A large part of this research and scholarly work, I have since learned, has simply been meeting and discussing with experts. By meeting with experts in the field of cybersecurity and electrical grids, we were able to learn on the ground the vitalness of strengthening cybersecurity when it comes to critical infrastructure. In addition, through presenting to faculty members each week, we were able to further hone our gathered research into something tangible and accessible to outside audiences. As a result, this program has profoundly strengthened the ways in which I am able to turn research into something that is educational and understandable to an audience that may be unfamiliar with the concept, just as I was when I began the program back in May.

As the weeks progressed, I came to deeply value and appreciate the interdisciplinary aspect of the SHURE-Grid program. Coming in as political science and history major, I was somewhat nervous and overwhelmed at the prospect of having to grapple with the academic concept of “cyber informed engineering.” Nevertheless, by working with a team of students from variety of academic backgrounds, including media, computer science, mechanical engineering to digital design, we were able to come to a stronger, more nuanced understanding of cyber informed engineering and the overall goal of the program. Other pivotal values from this experience were learning interview skills, as we met with a range of experts, including local circuit breaker vendors and academics. Furthermore, this program has undoubtedly strengthened my understanding of Research and Development (R&D). Beginning in week one, we worked on gathering a broad swath of information pertaining to cyber informed engineering and cybersecurity specifically related to the electric grid. Using this broad swath of information, we were able to narrow down to specific concerns and areas, such as circuit breakers and inverters, in a way that would achieve the original deliverable defined by the Idaho National Laboratory.