Congressman Hurd visits the UTSA National Security Collaboration Center

(May 24, 2019) – United States Congressman Will Hurd, representing the 23rd Texas district, came to UTSA today to visit the National Security Collaboration Center (NSCC). The NSCC is host to government, university and industry partners working together to support our nation's defense, security and intelligence ecosystems by providing state-of-the-art facilities, research capabilities and competencies where partners can collaborate to create innovative solutions for our nation's most difficult challenges; further developing a highly competent and accessible workforce for the national security enterprise.  

Hurd is the first member to serve the 23rd District of Texas in Congress for three consecutive terms in a decade. In 2017, Hurd was appointed by then Speaker Paul Ryan to serve on the House Permanent Select Intelligence Committee, where he serves as Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Intelligence Modernization and Readiness. Hurd was also selected by Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy this year to serve on the House Appropriations Committee, where he is a member of the Subcommittees on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs along with Transportation, Housing and Urban Development. Born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, Hurd is a proud product of the Texas public school system. He attended John Marshall High School and Texas A&M University, where he majored in Computer Science and served as Student Body President.

Welcomed by UTSA President Taylor Eighmy, Congressman Hurd was given a tour of the NSCC inaugural facility on the Main Campus. A roundtable discussion with NSCC partners followed and included CACI International/LGS Innovations, CNF Technologies, CyberTexas Foundation, IPSecure, MITRE Corporation, and Southwest Research Institute on the industry side; government representatives included the 24th Air Forces (Cyber), 25th Air Force (ISR), Air Force Research Labs, Army Research Laboratory, Sandia National Labs and Secretary of the Air Force Chief Data Office.

“We are truly grateful for Congressman Hurd’s leadership in our Nation’s national security space. He has been a tireless advocate for UTSA, our R&D enterprise, and for our National Security Collaboration Center. We greatly appreciate his advocacy as we further establish our national security R&D ecosystem in San Antonio,” said Eighmy.

Topics of discussion included the NSCC’s pursuit of federal funding mechanisms to grow and sustain the ecosystem and innovative ways in which partners are working to create technological solutions to issues of national security and defense. The discussion was so lively that the AI for Battlefield Situational Awareness demonstration by Paul Rad of the Open Cloud had to be postponed for another visit.

>> Learn how UTSA is building a national security powerhouse.

 “With the second largest number of cyber assets in the nation, San Antonio truly is becoming Cyber City, USA, holding a powerful ecosystem and playing a vital role in our national security,” said Hurd (TX-23). “I’m proud of the collaborative environment UTSA has created to bring together the public and private sectors to ensure our city, our state and our nation are prepared to handle threats to our digital infrastructure in the 21st century and beyond.”

— Sarah Hada

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