Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility Meet The Team | University of West Florida
Skip to main content

Dr. Eman El-Sheikh

Biography

Dr. Eman El-Sheikh is Associate Vice President at the University of West Florida. She leads the Center for Cybersecurity and is also a Professor of Computer Science at UWF. Eman has extensive expertise in cybersecurity education, research, and workforce development. She received several awards related to cybersecurity education and diversity and was recognized among the 2020 Women Leaders in Cybersecurity by Security Magazine. Dr. El-Sheikh leads several national and regional initiatives, including the National Cybersecurity Workforce Development Program and the Southeast Regional Hub for the National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity. Eman received numerous grants to enhance cybersecurity education, workforce development, and capacity building. She launched the Cybersecurity for All® Program to enhance competencies and hands-on skills for evolving cybersecurity work roles. The program was recognized among the 2020 Innovations in Cybersecurity Education. Dr. El-Sheikh teaches and conducts research related to the development and evaluation of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for cybersecurity. She has published several books, including most recently, Computer and Network Security Essentials by Springer Publishing, over 75 peer-reviewed articles and given over 100 invited talks and presentations. Eman also co-founded the Florida Women in Cybersecurity Affiliate. She holds an M.S. and Ph.D. in Computer Science from Michigan State University.

LinkedIn

Twitter

 

Education

Ph.D., Computer Science 
Michigan State University, 2002

M.Sc., Computer Science 
Michigan State University, 1995

B.Sc., Computer Science 
American University in Cairo, 1992

 

Awards and Honors

Member                                 
Florida Cybersecurity Task Force

Founder                                 
Women in Cybersecurity (WiCyS) Florida Affiliate

Principal Investigator and Director           
NSA/DHS Cybersecurity Centers of Academic Excellence (CAE) Southeast Hub

2020 and 2019 Ada Lovelace Award Nominee
Ada Lovelace Awards, New Orleans, LA.

Achievement Award for Advancing Cybersecurity Education  
SAM 2016: 15th International Conference on Security and Management

Mentor                                  
2015 Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL) Summer Leadership Institute

Friend of Diversity Award
Office of Equity, Diversity and International Affairs, University of West Florida, 2015

President’s Award for Leadership in Diversity    
University of West Florida, 2014

 

Speaking Topics

Cybersecurity Education and Workforce Development. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Leadership, Women and Diversity in Cybersecurity

 

Recent Invited Talks 

Cybersecurity Academia and Innovation Hub, 5th NATO Cyber Defence Smart Defence Projects Conference, Lisbon, Portugal, May 16, 2019.

Cybersecurity Innovation in Workforce Development, NATO Multi-National Cyber Defence Education and Training Workshop, Lisbon, Portugal, May 15, 2019.

Advancing Cybersecurity: Best Practices from Higher Education, Panel Discussion at the NSA/DHS Centers of Academic Excellence (CAE) Executive Leadership Forum, Pensacola Beach, FL, April 24 – 25, 2019.

UWF Cybersecurity Highlights, NSA/DHS Centers of Academic Excellence (CAE) Executive Leadership Forum, Pensacola Beach, FL, April 24 – 25, 2019.

CAE Perspectives on Workforce Education and Training, Panel Discussion at the Cyber Education, Research and Training (CERTS) Symposium, Augusta, GA, January 16 – 17, 2019.

Southeast CAE Regional Resource Center Highlights, CAE Showcase on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, January 10, 2019.

The Cyber Coast: at the Forefront of Innovation, ITEN Wired, Pensacola Beach, FL, October 1 – 2, 2018.

Securing Florida’s Cybersecurity Future, Future of Florida Forum, Orlando, FL, September 26 – 27, 2018.

The Next Generation, Panel Discussion at the Santa Rosa County Chamber of Commerce Excellence in Business & Leadership Conference, Milton, FL, May 22, 2018.

Cybersecurity as a Bridge Between Middle and High-Skilled Jobs, Panel Discussion at NSA/DHS Centers of Academic Excellence (CAE) Executive Leadership Forum, Bellevue, WA, April 19 – 20, 2018.

Building a Culture of Cybersecurity, Women in Cybersecurity Conference, Chicago, IL, March 23 – 24, 2018.

Evolving Role of Leading Women – in the Courtroom, Classroom, Boardroom and on the Battlefield, Panel Discussion at the Women in Leadership Conference, Pensacola, FL, March 9, 2018.

Defense Cybersecurity Priorities, Air Force Contracting Summit, Destin, FL, January 29 – 30, 2018.

UWF Cybersecurity Highlights, Centers of Academic Excellence (CAE) in Cybersecurity Community Symposium, Dayton, OH, November 9, 2017.

Building a Sustainable Tech Community in the Panhandle, A Panel at ITEN Wired, Pensacola Beach, FL, October 10 – 11, 2017.

A Panel Discussion on Cybersecurity Workforce Development, 2017 Florida International Summit, Tampa, FL, February 2, 2017.

Building Bridges & Pathways – Innovative Solutions for Expanding the Cybersecurity Workforce, Panel Discussion at the Florida Center for Cybersecurity Third Annual Conference, Tampa, FL, October 25, 2016.

Women in Cybersecurity, Panel Discussion at ITEN Wired, Pensacola Beach, FL, October 11, 2016.

Strategy for Northwest Florida’s Future – Talent Development, Panel Discussion at Gulf Power 2016 Economic Symposium, Panama City, FL, October 3, 2016.

The Future of Cybersecurity Education, Panel Discussion at SAM 2016: 15th International Conference on Security and Management, Las Vegas, NV, July 25 – 28, 2016.

Cybersecurity Education and Workforce Development, Panel Discussion at CyberThon 2016, Pensacola, FL, January 23, 2016.

Accelerating Cybersecurity Practitioner Skills Development – The Nexus of Education & Training, Panel Discussion at the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) 2015 Conference, San Diego, CA, November 4, 2015.

 

Research

Research Interests

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning development, application and evaluation for Cybersecurity and Education

 

Publications

Books

Daimi, K., Francia, G., Ertual, L., Encinas, L., and El-Sheikh, E. (2017). Computer and Network Security Essentials, Springer International Publishing, ISBN 978-3-319-58423-2, 2017.

El-Sheikh, E., Zimmermann, A., and Jain, L. (2016). Emerging Trends in the Evolution of Service-Oriented and Enterprise Architectures, Springer International Publishing ISBN 978-3-319-40562-9, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-40564-3.

 

Refereed Journal Publications and Book Chapters

Francia, III, G. A., and El-Sheikh, E. (2020). Applied Machine Learning to Vehicle Security. In Y. Maleh, M. Shojafar, M. Alazab, and Y. Baddi, Machine Intelligence and Big Data Analytics for Cybersecurity Applications. Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature. (To appear)

Francia III, G. A., Ghosh, T., Hall, G., and El-Sheikh, E. (2020). Cybersecurity Scenario Builder and Retrieval Toolkit. In K. Daimi, and G. A. Francia III, Innovation in Cybersecurity Education. Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature. (Forthcoming, September 2020)

Warren, C., Reed, A., El-Sheikh, E., and Le-Khac, N.A. (2017). Privacy Preserving Internet Browsers – Forensic Analysis. Computer and Network Security Essentials (Daimi, K., Francia, G., Ertual, L., Encinas, L., and El-Sheikh, E., Eds.). Springer International Publishing, ISBN 978-3-319-58423-2, 2017.

Wilde, N., Gonen, B., El-Sheikh, E., and Zimmermann, A. (2016). Approaches to the Evolution of SOA Systems. Trends in the Evolution of Service-Oriented and Enterprise Architectures (E. El-Sheikh, A. Zimmermann and L. Jain, Eds.). Springer International Publishing ISBN 978-3-319-40562-9, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-40564-3.

Zimmermann, A., Schmidt, R., Sandkuhl, K., El-Sheikh, E., Jugel, D., Schweda, C., Möhring, M., Wißotzki, M., Lantow, B. (2016). Leveraging Analytics for Digital Transformation of Enterprise Services and Architectures. Trends in the Evolution of Service-Oriented and Enterprise Architectures (E. El-Sheikh, A. Zimmermann and L. Jain, Eds.). Springer International Publishing ISBN 978-3-319-40562-9, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-40564-3.

 

Refereed Conference Proceedings Publications

Ghosh, T., El-Sheikh, E. and Jammal, W. (2019). A Multi-Stage Detection Technique for DNS- Tunneled Botnets. Proceedings of the 34th International Conference on Computers And Their Applications (CATA 2019). March 18 – 20, 2019, Honolulu, HI.

Timm, M. and El-Sheikh, E. (2017). An Evaluation of Machine Learning Algorithms for Prediction of Shelter Animal Outcomes. Proceedings of the 32nd International Conference on Computers And Their Applications (CATA 2017). March 20 – 22, 2017, Honolulu, HI.

Useche, O. and El-Sheikh, E. (2016). An Intelligent Web-Based System for Measuring Students’ Attention Levels. Proceedings of ICAI 2016: The 18th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence, July 25 – 28, 2016, Las Vegas, NV, CSREA Press.

Baggs, J.P., Renner, M. and El-Sheikh, E. (2016). A Faster Alternative to Traditional A* Search: Dynamically Weighted BDBOP. Proceedings of ICAI 2016: The 18th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence, July 25 – 28, 2016, Las Vegas, NV, CSREA Press.

Useche, O. and El-Sheikh, E. (2015). An Intelligent System Framework for Measuring Attention Levels of Students in Online Course Environments. Proceedings of ICAI 2015: The 17th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence, July 27 – 30, 2015, Las Vegas, NV, CSREA Press.

 

Community Leadership

Member, Cybersecurity Skills Journal, Spring 2018 – present

Member, Cyber Florida Governing Council, 2020 – present

Member, Cyber Florida State University System Cybersecurity Advisory Council, 2014 – present

Chair, Cyber Florida State University System Cybersecurity Curriculum Committee, 2015 – 2018

Volunteer/mentor, CyberThon, 2016 – present

Mentor, local area high school students, 2002 – present

Program Committee Member, SAM 2017: 16th International Conference on Security and Management, Las Vegas, NV, July 17 – 20, 2017.

Program Committee Member, SAM 2016: 15th International Conference on Security and Management, Las Vegas, NV, July 25 – 28, 2016.

Program Committee Member, IDEA 2016: 2nd International Workshop on Digital Enterprise Architecture and Engineering, Leipzig, Germany, July 6 – 8, 2016.

Program Committee Member, DEC 2016: Digital Enterprise Computing Conference, Boeblingen, Germany, June 14 – 15, 2016.

Program Committee Member, EHST 2015: 9th International Symposium on eHealth Services and Technologies, Rhodes, Greece, Sep. 17 – 18, 2015.

Program Committee Member, IDEA 2015: International Workshop on Digital Enterprise Architecture and Engineering 2015, Taormina, Italy, Sep. 15, 2015.