PITTSBURGH, May 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The number one federal government IT provider and one of the nation's leading research universities are teaming up to tackle the rapidly-changing world of cyber security. Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) today opened a new cyber lab space near the campus of Carnegie Mellon University, where the organizations will conduct joint research and development into concepts and technologies that could shape the future of cyber operations.

"Government agencies need to protect their networks and infrastructure against adversaries that are getting smarter, faster, and more sophisticated every day," said Rick Ambrose, President of Lockheed Martin's Information Systems and Global Solutions – Security division. "The advanced research we're conducting with Carnegie Mellon will help our nation's cyber defenders accelerate response times, protect smartphones, and pinpoint potential vulnerabilities in their networks."

"The opening of this new lab builds on CMU's successful collaborations with Lockheed Martin over the years," said Carnegie Mellon President Jared L. Cohon. "It also serves as another example of how Carnegie Mellon's talented faculty and students attract leading global businesses to the Pittsburgh region, helping to drive innovation and economic growth. We are pleased to be partnering with Lockheed Martin on such an exciting initiative, one that has great potential for groundbreaking work in the important field of cyber security."

Locating the lab near the Carnegie Mellon campus helps the research teams develop prototypes faster and test them in a realistic environment. The facility will be connected to Lockheed Martin's extensive network of cyber labs, including the NexGen Cyber Innovation and Technology Center.

Cyber security is a Carnegie Mellon strength, as the university's CyLab is one of the largest university-based cyber security education and research centers in the U.S. CyLab is multi-disciplinary and university-wide, involving six colleges from Carnegie Mellon. Supported by public and private funding, Cylab's goals include building mutually beneficial public-private partnerships to develop new technologies for measurable, available, secure, trustworthy, and sustainable computing and communications systems and to educate individuals at all levels.

"Cyber security technologies are rapidly advancing, and Lockheed Martin is committed to providing innovative security solutions for our customers through industry-academia partnerships," said Dr. Ray O Johnson, Lockheed Martin's Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer. "Collaboration with best-in-class universities like Carnegie Mellon provides the latest concepts that enable tomorrow's cyber security solutions."

Lockheed Martin and CMU enjoy a 25-year history, which began when Lockheed Martin worked with the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute (SEI) on software process improvements and software architecture projects. Today, the company's research projects are spread across many areas of Carnegie Mellon, including the SEI, the Robotics Institute, the Human-Computer Interaction Institute and the Information Networking Institute. Lockheed is also one of the largest employers of Carnegie Mellon graduates, with more than 250 CMU alumni working for the company and its subsidiaries.

"We are thrilled that Lockheed Martin has chosen Pittsburgh as the place to foster and create innovative solutions that will help solve a growing challenge to government," said Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl. "Carnegie Mellon attracts some of the best and brightest young people in the world, and out of this collaboration, we will continue to grow our technology and innovation economy."

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 126,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation's 2010 sales from continuing operations were $45.8 billion.

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SOURCE Lockheed Martin