Armstrong, Julia

Biography

Julia Armstrong is the Managing Director of the Institute for Cybersecurity and Digital Trust (ICDT). She combines engineering (BS ECE), public teaching of gifted education (M.Ed. Talent Development) and industry experience (PMP, CSM) to grow the offerings and strength of the program and build rapport with both campus and industry partners. In her first year with ICDT, she has collaborated to achieve NSA program funding, start up funds for the Justice Tech program with the College of Law (funded by Good to Great), and an NSF VICEROY program with University of Kansas. Armstrong also leads Ohio State as the Regional Programing Center (RPC) for the Ohio Cyber Range Institute (OCRI), acts as a liaison to the NSA for the NCAE program, and advises the Cybersecurity Club and the Women in Cybersecurity (WiCyS) chapter at Ohio State. In 2024, she will also advise a competition team for the MITRE eCTF. 

She uses her diverse interests and skills to bridge the gap between curricular education and skills of the working professional. In 2018, Armstrong was part of a multi-disciplinary team from Ohio State to receive a 3-year NSF award for Advancing Informal STEM Learning. In 2020, Armstrong was named as one of the first KEEN Engineering Unleashed Faculty Fellows. Her grant funded the pilot of a new electronics course for CSE majors, focused on application and industry connections. 

In her first five years at Ohio State, Armstrong was the Director for the OHI/O Informal Learning Program. She designed and partnered on a wide variety of educational events for students to explore through active learning experiences. Her focus on current trends and connecting students to industry representatives, emphasizing open-ended and problem-based learning, encouraging students to continue exploration made her stand out as someone changing the educational model. Armstrong grew the OHI/O Informal Learning Program from a few events to two dozen, now serving over 1,600 students annually, including several K12 outreach events.

Current courses taught: CSE 5911, CSE 5915, CSE 4193
Previous courses: ECE 5465, ECE 2020 (pilot version)