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2020 Year in Review

The Software Engineering Institute (SEI) is a federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense and operated by Carnegie Mellon University.

The SEI’s mission is to support the nation’s defense by advancing the science, technologies, and practices needed to acquire, develop, operate, and sustain software systems that are innovative, affordable, trustworthy, and enduring.

The 2020 SEI Year in Review highlights the work of the institute undertaken during the fiscal year spanning October 1, 2019, to September 30, 2020.

The Stories

CERT/CC’s VINCE Platform Enables Collaboration on Software Vulnerabilities

The SEI’s CERT Coordination Center (CERT/CC) debuted a web-based collaboration platform for coordinated vulnerability disclosure called the Vulnerability Information and Coordination Environment (VINCE) in June.

CMMC Model and Guides Strengthen DoD Supply Chain Cybersecurity

In early 2020, the SEI and partner Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) released the initial version of the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program.

SEI Supports Second Annual Cybersecurity Competition for Federal Workforce

The Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) selected the SEI to orchestrate the second annual President’s Cup Cybersecurity Competition.

Missile Defense Agency Appoints SEI to Technical Direction Agent

During 2020, the SEI was appointed to the Missile Defense Agency’s (MDA) Technical Direction Agent (TDA), a group composed of representatives from multiple federally funded research and development centers that provide strategic MDA mission support.

Linear Algebra Graph Algorithms Approach C++ Standardization

A project headed by the SEI’s Scott McMillan took a step in 2020 toward standardizing graph algorithm application development in C++.

SEI Research Contributes to DoD’s Software Acquisition Pathway

The SEI reached a major milestone in its multiyear engagement with the Office of Acquisition Enablers within the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

An Integrated Vision of Software Engineering

Editorial: SEI chief technology officer Tom Longstaff proposes a holistic future for software engineering.

National Initiative Forges the Path to an Engineering Discipline for AI

The Software Engineering Institute (SEI) will lead a National AI Engineering Initiative with funding and guidance from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).

Game-Based Design Improves AI Support of Human Decision Making

After observing several deployed AI decision support systems, Rotem Guttman noticed a common issue. “Humans make poor choices..."

Navigation Demonstration Flips the Script on Machine Learning in Naturalistic Scenarios

The inverse reinforcement learning (IRL) method predicts behavior and detects anomalies in open-world, naturalistic scenarios.

Network Simulations Evaluate AI-Powered Network Defense Products

The SEI’s Artificial Intelligence Defense Evaluation (AIDE) project is developing a rigorous, standardized methodology for testing AI defenses.

Wildfire Response Tests xView2 Damage Assessment Prototype

Assessing building damage is a critical first step when natural disasters strike. xView2, a machine-learning (ML) computer vision system, speeds this process by using satellite imagery to classify damage to structures.

Enabling the Advanced Battle Management System Vision through Architecture

The SEI was selected by the Department of the Air Force to help inform the ABMS architecture.

AI Collaboration Supports U.S. Army Operations

The Army selected Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) to become the hub of the U.S. Army’s Artificial Intelligence Task Force (AITF).

Improving the Security of Software Code

The Secure Coding team’s automated code repair tools find and repair specific types of common security flaws in source code, avoiding painstaking verification and repair by human analysts and developers.

Virtual Exercise Trains Air Force Mission Defense Teams for Cyber Attacks

Over the past four years, the SEI’s support of the Air Force Space Command and, later, the Air Combat Command (ACC) has prepared traditional communications squadrons for their new MDT responsibilities.

Software-Defined Hardware Helps DARPA Reinvent Microelectronics Manufacturing

The Department of Defense (DoD) faces two crises in microelectronics: lack of American manufacturing capacity and hardware limitations for data-centric AI applications.

SEI Lends Expertise to OSD Effort on Resilient Situational Awareness Systems

The SEI is engaging in two efforts to increase DoD situational awareness. The first is an artificial intelligence (AI) engineering collaboration with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA). The team produced a system called Cornerstone. The second SEI activity leverages Cornerstone’s self-monitoring capability to make situational awareness systems more resilient to failures.

DevSecOps Speeds Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Capability

Hasan Yasar, SEI technical director, Continuous Deployment of Capability, and his team provide expertise for implementation of Development Security Operations (DevSecOps) in the DoD.

TwinOps Combines Digital Twins and DevOps for Better Cyber-Physical Systems

To improve cyber-physical system analysis and testing, Hugues and his colleagues combined the SEI’s expertise in model-based engineering (MBE) and DevOps to efficiently deliver systems with increased quality.

Architecting the Future of Software Engineering

To spur a national discussion that can inform the future direction of the field, the SEI is leading an effort to redefine how software is developed.