May 15, 2009: Computer Science student Mike Ter Louw awarded AFCEA Ph.D. Fellowship

Computer Science graduate student Mike Ter Louw has been awarded the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA) Ph.D. Fellowship in support of his thesis, "Methods for Securing the World Wide Web Against Attacks Born from User-Created Content." The annual fellowship is conferred by the AFCEA Educational Foundation.

The AFCEA Educational Foundation promotes excellence in education by presenting annual scholarships, awards, grants and prizes to students and teachers. The Foundation's focus is on those studying and teaching science, math and technology that support communications, intelligence and information systems.

The AFCEA Ph.D. Fellowship is the highest award bestowed by the AFCEA Educational Foundation and is accompanied by a $15,000 grant. The fellowship seeks to reward demonstrated excellence at the doctoral level of study. Letters of recommendation play a significant role in the selection process.

Mike Ter Louw was the top winner selected from a field of 27 candidates nation-wide to receive the fellowship. Fred H. Rainbow, Vice President and Executive Director for the AFCEA Educational Foundation, presented the award at the College of Engineering. Additionally, Ter Louw has been selected for a Bell Laboratories summer research internship in conjunction with the award.

An undergraduate alumnus of the Department of Computer Science, Ter Louw is pursuing his Ph.D. with a specialization in information assurance. He performs web security research at the Systems and Internet Security Laboratory, part of the Center for Research and Instruction in Technologies for Electronic Security (RITES) at UIC. This May, he will present contributions of his dissertation research at the IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy in Oakland, CA.