East Texas A&M University alumnus Vamshidhar Reddy Vemula is bringing his expertise in cloud security and software engineering to an international professional organization as Industry Representative for the IEEE Systems Council Technical Committee on System Security. IEEE, short for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, is an international professional organization that advances technology through research, technical standards, education and professional collaboration.

Vemula began serving in the role in December 2025 as part of the newly established committee’s initial leadership group. He provides an industry perspective on topics including cloud-native and distributed platforms, secure software engineering, system resilience and emerging artificial intelligence technologies.

“I also hope to help connect real-world engineering challenges with academic research and technical discussions, support knowledge sharing, and encourage greater participation from industry professionals, researchers, and students,” Vemula said.

Vemula earned his master’s degree in computer information science from Texas A&M University-Commerce, now East Texas A&M, in 2020. Since graduating, his career has focused on enterprise software engineering, cloud-native modernization and large-scale technology platforms in regulated financial environments. He is also an IEEE Senior Member whose research interests include cloud systems, cybersecurity, DevSecOps and AI-enabled security.

Vemula credits his graduate education with helping establish the technical and research foundation for his career.

“My education gave me the foundation to think about computing not simply as software development, but as the design of reliable systems that people and organizations depend on,” he said.

Today, East Texas A&M’s Department of Computer Science and Information Systems offers undergraduate and graduate programs designed to prepare students to solve real-world computing problems. Coursework ranges from programming fundamentals to specialized topics such as computer networks, cybersecurity and big data analytics. The Master of Science in Computer Science program allows students to develop advanced expertise in areas including cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, software engineering and cloud computing.

Vemula said he hopes his new IEEE role can also help strengthen connections among students, researchers and industry professionals and expose students to current engineering challenges.

“I would be very happy if the story helps interested East Texas A&M students and alumni become aware of these opportunities,” he said.