Rose State Experiences a Record Summer of Cyber Camps Published September 8, 2017

Rose State held four different Cyber Stars camps between June 5^th and August 26^th with the goal of integrating STEM education into the classrooms and curriculum.

Rose State received a grant funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) through the Cyber Security Education Consortium. 135 students and 193 teachers at the K-12 level were in attendance for the free camps to explore cyber security first principles, online privacy and social media.

The program mixed lectures with hands-on and interactive activities. Members of the College’s Information Technology staff provided a “behind the scenes” look at security and live functioning large scale network.

“Having the opportunity to teach young minds how to maneuver through complex computer systems is a way of safeguarding our future,” explained Rose State’s Cyber Security Program Director Ken Dewey. “We focus on teaching students how and why things happen and engage with them on a level that they’re interested in such as drones.”

Other camp topics covered included digital forensics concepts, malware identification, basic programming, basic design principles using 3D design software, basic encryption and decryption and drone programming.

In the fourteen years since the program’s inception, Rose State’s Cyber Security Department has graduated more than 347 students. Both the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security recognize Rose State as a Center of Excellence in Cyber Security.

The cyber security field is growing exponentially with a 75-percent growth in jobs in the field.