Mark R. Blackburn, Ph. D

Mark R. Blackburn, Ph.D. is a Senior Research Scientist with Stevens Institute of Technology and serves on the System Engineering Research Center (SERC) research council. Dr. Blackburn is the Principal Investigator on SERC research tasks for both Naval Air Systems Command NAVAIR and U.S. Army ARDEC on Systems Engineering Transformation through Model-Centric Engineering.

Journal Articles

Optimizing for Mission Success Using a Stochastic Gaming Simulation

Common understanding: Using gaming software to provide a graphical understanding of the concept of operations for unmanned aerial systems.
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View and Viewpoint Based Digital Signoff using OpenMBEE as an Authoritative Source of Truth

From paper to data: transition from traditional paper-driven documentation to the use of model-centric requirements and development methods.
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The DoD Cybersecurity Policy Chart

This chart captures the tremendous breadth of applicable policies, some of which many cybersecurity professionals may not even be aware, in a helpful organizational scheme.

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Featured Subject Matter Expert (SME): Cully Patch

An internal CSIAC SME with a passion for learning, teaching, and supporting the warfighter, Mr. Cully Patch has been a member of the CSIAC staff for 5 years. Cully was instrumental in leading the development and instruction of an extensive course on DoD Cybersecurity Analysis and Reporting (DoDCAR) - a threat-based approach to addressing system cybersecurity. As a senior program manager for cybersecurity and intelligence, Mr. Patch has extensive experience in providing cybersecurity training and education to both university students and military operators. Cully is a retired US Air Force military officer with career accomplishments in the fields of research, Intelligence, cybersecurity operations, planning, and technical course instruction. CSIAC is honored to have Mr. Patch as a subject matter expert, where he leads teams of technologists through problem solving, training program development, scientific and technical information generation, and analysis of complex system requirements.

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CSIAC Report - Smart Cities, Smart Bases and Secure Cloud Architecture for Resiliency by Design

Integration of Smart City Technologies to create Smart Bases for DoD will require due diligence with respect to the security of the data produced by Internet of Things (IOT) and Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT). This will increase more so with the rollout of 5G and increased automation "at the edge". Commercially, data will be moving to the cloud first, and then stored for process improvement analysis by end-users. As such, implementation of Secure Cloud Architectures is a must. This report provides some use cases and a description of a risk based approach to cloud data security. Clear understanding, adaptation, and implementation of a secure cloud framework will provide the military the means to make progress in becoming a smart military.

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CSIAC Journal - Data-Centric Environment: Rise of Internet-Based Modern Warfare “iWar”

This journal addresses a collection of modern security concerns that range from social media attacks and internet-connected devices to a hypothetical defense strategy for private sector entities.

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CSIAC Journal M&S Special Edition - M&S Applied Across Broad Spectrum Defense and Federal Endeavors

This Special Edition of the CSIAC Journal highlights a broad array of modeling and simulation contributions – whether in training, testing, experimentation, research, engineering, or other endeavors.

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CSIAC Journal - Resilient Industrial Control Systems (ICS) & Cyber Physical Systems (CPS)

This edition of the CSIAC Journal focuses on the topic of cybersecurity of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS), particularly those that make up Critical Infrastructure (CI).

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