The Cyber Security Student Track will be held as part of Carolina Advanced Digital’s prestigious IT Hot Topic Conference. The event is free for CyberPatriot student teams and includes a full day of cyber security sessions, discussions and learning activities.

CARY, NC (February 23, 2015) — A new symposium will be held at this year’s annual IT Hot Topics Conference, hosted by Carolina Advanced Digital, Inc. The debut Cyber Security Student Track will also be hosted by Carolina Advanced Digital and is designed as a forum to support students and teams competing in the upcoming CyberPatriot Challenge. Carolina Advanced Digital also intends this event as a channel to engage the professional cyber security community directly with students and create a new point of contact to funnel young talent toward technology profession opportunities.

The Cyber Security Student Track will include a comprehensive roster of activities and features, including:

  • Keynote by Dr. Uma Gupta on leadership and the future of technology
  • Student reception with special guests and industry professionals
  • Breakout sessions on technologies, with custom content for students
  • Peer CyberPatriot roundtable sessions to discuss challenges and strategies
  • Hands-on activities and tailored learning
  • Breakfast, lunch and exclusive meet-and-greets with invited guests and speakers

Aside from teaching students the skills needed to be competitive in the CyberPatriot Challenge, the Cyber Security Student Track offers a unique opportunity to engage students who otherwise do not have access to formalized STEM and cyber security curriculums. “This is a critical matter of service to our community and industry alike,” said John Jabbusch, President and Chief Engineer at Carolina Advanced Digital. “We are acutely aware of the importance of educating and fostering youth toward science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and cyber security disciplines, and the current lack of public educational infrastructure in those areas.

“As an industry leader in this severely under-serviced industry, we embrace every opportunity and eagerly leverage every resource at our disposal to provide students opportunities to explore these fulfilling and lucrative career paths.”

Chairing the Cyber Security Student Track is Christopher Gaw of Green Hope High School in the Wake County Public Schools. A CyberPatriot Coach for the Black Falcons at GHHS, Mr. Gaw has helped his students bring home several first place awards and is active in finding resources to advance students learning in disciplines of STEM including cyber security.

The AFA CyberPatriot Challenge is open to teams of middle and high school students. The premise is students are newly hired IT professionals, and each team is tasked with managing the network of a small company. Teams are challenged in a series of rounds to maintain critical services in a six-hour period, and must simultaneously discover cyber security vulnerabilities and harden their IT systems against threats.

Tops teams selected from each state and region are accepted to the National Finals Competition held in Washington, DC where they can earn national recognition and scholarship money. The CyberPatriot Challenge is sponsored by the Air Force Association through its CyberPatriot National Youth Cyber Education Program, an organization created to inspire high school students toward careers in cyber security or other STEM disciplines.

“Our industry has a 500,000-worker gap on its horizon but we still struggle getting students engaged early to convert that talent to our pool,” said Jennifer Minella, Vice President of Engineering at Carolina Advanced Digital and a CyberPatriot Mentor. “The CyberPatriot program is a fantastic opportunity for these kids, but it’s just a starting point. It takes a village, and those of us within the community have a responsibility to help teach, connect with and engage our students.

“Our Cyber Security Student Track gives these students the same interaction and collaboration as adult professionals receive. It’s a first and big step in the right direction, and we hope our involvement encourages other organizations in the community to buy in.”

Cyber Security Student Track @ IT Hot Topic Conference 2015
Wednesday May 6, 2015
Grandover Resort and Convention Center
Greensboro, NC
[free for CyberPatriot student teams and coaches]

Organizations interested in supporting the Cyber Security Student Track should visit http://cyberpatriot.hottopicsconference.com or contact Carolina Advanced Digital.