Our vision is to be a multidisciplinary center, bringing together researchers and students in computer science, electrical and computer engineering, and mathematics to collaborate on projects involving information protection. This principally means public-key cryptography and digital watermarking. Fundamental advances in these subjects arise out of advanced mathematics, are implemented by engineers, and made practical by computer scientists.
So far we have succeeded in bringing together faculty from all three departments for seminars and grant applications. We have specific projects funded through a university CRI grant, NSF CRCD. ITR, and VIGRE grants, a UIUC-CNRS collaborative agreement, and Microsoft Research Labs and Motorola Labs.
We will seek to expand our activities, holding an annual MAGC conference, the two seminars, having industrial interaction such as at the latest CEPS meeting, and development of new courses and interdisciplinary study groups both at undergraduate and graduate levels.