Sandone named Assistant Director at CIRI

Randall Sandone has been named the Assistant Director of the Critical Infrastructure Resilience Institute (CIRI). The Institute is a joint initiative of the Applied Research Institute and the Information Trust Institute at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Sandone has been working with the ARI as a consultant on various business development and research programs, principally the successful bid to bring CIRI to Champaign-Urbana. CIRI, funded by a $20 million grant over five years from the Department of Homeland Security, will focus on developing resilient cyber systems that run critical infrastructures as well as providing a business case for infrastructure investment in resiliency technology. A consortium of research universities and DOE national labs are partners in the CIRI program.

As Assistant Director of CIRI, Sandone will continue his work managing the launch of the Institute and serving as a primary point-of-contact with DHS and partnering organizations.  Sandone will work with research partners to ensure that projects are aligned with DHS strategic priorities; are executed on schedule and within budget; and deliver meaningful products and services to the homeland security and critical infrastructure communities.

Jeffrey Binder, CIRI Interim Director and Director of ARI said, “This work is well-suited for Randy and his experience. He knows how to get big, complicated projects off the ground and how to build an effective team. I’m excited that he’s joining us in this initiative to increase the resilience of the nation’s critical infrastructure.”

Sandone’s professional experience is in the software development sector. As part of the executive leadership for a number of globally-oriented companies, he was responsible for technology transition and licensing, commercialization, and product development. He established strategic alliances with companies such as Sun Microsystems, IBM, and Fujitsu-Siemens. Sandone also helped market information trust and assurance solutions to the Department of Defense, National Intelligence Community, and the Department of Homeland Security.