Ahmet Sonmez, Ph.D.
Associate Professor VCU College of Engineering
Social
Areas of Expertise
ABET Accreditation & Program Assessment
Cybersecurity Workforce Development
User Interface Design
C Programming
Systems Programming
Cybersecurity Education
Computer Systems
Accomplishments
Dean's Teaching Excellence Award (2025)
Recognized by the VCU College of Engineering for sustained excellence in undergraduate teaching.
Education
University of Houston
M.S.
Electrical Engineering
2008
University of Houston
Ph.D.
Computer Science
2012
Affiliations
- CAE-CD Point of Contact (2024–present) — Serves as VCU's liaison to the NSA/DHS National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense program.
- Co-Founder, VCU Global STEMConverge (2025) — Co-developed and co-led VCU's multidisciplinary study-abroad program with the Universidad de Córdoba, Spain, pairing student teams with industry partners on real projects. Recognized by VCU's Global Education Office.
- Board Member, Virginia Cyber Range (2025–present) — Serves on the executive committee of the Commonwealth of Virginia initiative supporting cybersecurity education across the state's colleges and universities.
Courses
INFO 491 / EGRE 491 — Global STEM Industry Project Management & Practicum:
Scrum-based project work with industry partners in Richmond and Córdoba, Spain.
CMSC 427 — Design and Implementation of User Interfaces
User research through implementation of a working web front-end, via semester-long team projects.
CMSC 413 — Introduction to Cybersecurity
Hands-on introduction using Seed Labs, XP Cyber, and the Virginia Cyber Range.
CMSC 357 — Computer Systems
Systems-level programming in C, processes, memory, and the Unix/Linux environment.
