The University of Maryland and the Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) will launch a landmark honors program designed to educate a new generation of advanced, cybersecurity professionals.

The program, Advanced Cybersecurity Experience for Students (ACES), will immerse undergraduate students in all aspects of the field to meet growing manpower needs in the nation and the State of Maryland.

ACES will engage a group of students majoring in computer science, engineering, business, public policy and the social sciences, in an intensive living-learning environment focusing on aspects of cybersecurity.

Students enrolled in the program will have the option of interning with Northrop Grumman and preparing for security clearance. ACES goal is to produce cybersecurity leaders sought by corporate and government organizations.

The Northrop Grumman Corporation will provide a grant of $1.1 million to launch the program, which will begin in the fall of 2013, and support it for an additional two years. The University of Maryland will match that amount.

Finding employees fully prepared to take on complex cybersecurity issues is a major challenge for corporations and government agencies.

ACES will consist of an intensive curriculum, which will include general cybersecurity offerings, as well as a variety of other topics, including cybersecurity forensics, reverse engineering, secure coding, criminology, and law and public policy.

In year-long capstone courses, teams of seniors will apply their knowledge and skills in solving complex cybersecurity problems.

Summer internships will augment coursework with real-world projects and develop a pipeline of talented students. Throughout, Northrop Grumman will provide guest lecturers, participate in an industry advisory board, pose real-world problems for students to solve, and provide advisors and mentors for capstone projects.

The ACES program is slated to accept its first students at the College Park campus in fall 2013. Over time, through distance education programs, online course offerings, transfer of students, and competitions, universities across the University System of Maryland will participate in the program.