Over 70 Future Leaders Participate in Youth Cyber Competition

Midwest Cyber Center of Excellence Hosts CyberPatriot Recruitment Event

Scott AFB, Ill – Sept 21, 2016 –In preparation for the upcoming National CyberPatriot IX Competition, Midwest Cyber Center of Excellence (MWCCOE) hosted a MWCCOE HackSpace Competition for high school and middle school students Sept 10 at Maryville University in St. Louis, MO and Sept 17 at Southwestern Illinois College in Belleville, IL.

During this event, over 70 high school and middle school students competed against one another in an effort to test and expand cybersecurity skills and awareness. Students learned about Cryptography, Network Exploitation, Packet Analysis, Programming, Reverse Engineering, and Steganography. St. Louis, MO first place winners were Malaya Hemphill, Jada Williams, LaQuanda Anderson, and Maliyah Gray from University City Senior High School. Belleville, IL first place winners were Zach Locke, Columbia High School, Jostin Hicks, Alton High School, Eric Upson, O’Fallon Township High School, and Antoine Watson, O’Fallon Township High School. Both teams won Raspberry Pi kits.

Maryville University and SWIC team up with MWCCOE to lead the way for cybersecurity youth initiatives. 

“Programs such as CyberPatriot are essential in exposing students to the STEM cyber security field. At Maryville University, we have partnered with the Midwest Cyber Center of Excellence to help expose students to the cyber field which has an incredible runway for growth,” said Associate Professor of Cyber Security at Maryville University, Dustin Loeffler, JD. “By investing in our youth to become next generation cyber professionals, this will allow our country to meet 21st century issues head on.”

“The success of the Hackspace competition at Southwestern Illinois College (and Maryville University) underscores both the tremendous interest among young people in this discipline and the need to educate future generations of IT security professionals for this growing career field," said SWIC Dean of the Business Division Dr. Janet Fontenot. “We welcome the opportunity to host other cybersecurity events that will introduce students and the community to this vital occupation."

The Air Force Association (AFA) established CyberPatriot in 2009 to inspire students toward careers in cybersecurity or other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines critical to our nation's future. 

Midwest Cyber Center of Excellence (MWCCOE) is dedicated to inspiring the St. Louis Region’s youth towards cybersecurity and other STEM programs to help generate a future workforce. 

About Midwest Cyber Center of Excellence

Midwest Cyber Center of Excellence (MWCCOE) was founded in 2015 after regional leaders identified a lack of qualified workforce to meet the growing demand for cybersecurity professionals. To lean more visit www.mwccoe.org, or call us at 618-722-5117.

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