Education

Ph.D. Candidate

University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), 2019 – present

  • Department of Information Systems
  • Empirical & Applied Software Engineering Lab (EASEL)
  • Center for Cybersecurity

Dissertation (exp. 2024)

Wi-Fi and War, Protocols and Peace: Multistakeholder Conflict Analysis for Software Cyber Security

Software Engineering Research

  • Organizational Conflicts in the Adoption of Continuous Software Engineering, published in XP 2023: Agile Processes in Software Engineering and Extreme Programming
  • US Naval Academy & UMBC – Testing Formally Specified Software Requirements for Cybersecurity Regulatory Compliance

Cybersecurity Strategy & Policy

  • Global cyber warfare, law, and policy
  • US Army Cyber Command Virtual Student Federal Service – IT tower & budget analysis

M.A. Public Policy – International Conflict Resolution & Mediation

Tel Aviv University, 2014

Conducted qualitative and quantitative research on transnational dispute resolution and international law

Lecturer – Mediation (2015 – present)

  • Core course for the program, certified by the UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR)

Research Assistant Publications

  • Sommer, U., & Frishman, O. (2016). Translating Justice: The International Organization of Constitutional Courts. Law & Policy.
  • Asal V. & Sommer, U. (2016) Legal Path Dependence and the Long Arm of the Religious State: Sodomy Provisions and Gay Rights across Nations and over Time. SUNY Press.

Research Projects

  • Resources and stability in Jordan during the refugee crisis from the Syrian civil war – Supporting facilities in the Za’atari Refugee Camp to help prevent sexual and gender-based violence
  • Analysis of the outcomes of transnational violent conflicts involving state and non-state actors

B.A. Media & Communications Studies

University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), 2011

  • Minor: Sociology
  • Brunel University, London international student: sociology & media studies