Clark State Community College will hold their annual Summer Intern Showcase on Thursday, August 4, in Room 125 of the Applied Science Center at the Leffel Lane Campus in Springfield beginning at 8:30 a.m.
The 2016 student internships and faculty externships were sponsored through an Advanced Technological Education grant from the National Science Foundation awarded to Clark State and are designed to provide faculty and students with advanced training and hands-on experiences in the field of cybersecurity.
This summer thirteen students and six high school and college faculty members have engaged in research and hands-on cybersecurity work projects for AT&T Governments Services; the Champaign County YMCA; Clark State Community College; the Clark County Literacy Center; Mark Slinskey; the United Way of Clark, Champaign and Madison Counties; and the Champaign County VALE. The interns also participated in a nine-week Ethical Hacking seminar. Interns and externs will showcase their newly honed skills at the two-day Hack-A-Thon event on August 1 and 2.
“They will be doing hacking exercises designed to perfect their ability to defend computer systems from hackers,” said Cathy Balas, co-principal investigator of the Cyber-Pro project.
The Hack-A-Thon is underwritten by Batec, a National Science Foundation Center for Computing Excellence. Mike Qaissaunee, chair and professor of Engineering and Technology at Brookdale Community College in Lincroft, New Jersey, will conduct the event.
Balas said Hack-A-Thon prepares participants to defend computer systems and teaches the skills used by hackers so they can counter those skills. The winners will be recognized at the Showcase on August 4.
“We are doing this because of the significant need for cybersecurity workers in our region and nationwide,” said Balas. “It is a very rapidly growing occupation, and those entering it have outstanding career opportunities assisting government, companies and individuals to protect their computing systems.”
2016 Interns and Externs
David Herier - High School Student (Springfield High School)
Carley Raney - Intern
Tina Hamilton - Intern
Jonathan Becker - Intern
Navneel Dutt - Intern
Conner Cox - High School Student (Shawnee High School)
Jacob Woosley - High School Student (Springfield-Clark CTC)
James Foster - Intern
Teri Claytor - Intern
Shayne Kiser - Intern
Jordan Koehler - Intern
Mark Myers - Extern (Shawnee High School)
Rosie Matthies - Extern (Shawnee High School)
Sean Fadden - Extern (Springfield-Clark CTC)
Jerome Murray - Extern
Richard Storrick - Extern (Springfield High School)
Marques Greene - Intern
Moriah Eck - Intern (Wittenberg University)
Cathy Balas - Co-PI
Dan Heighton - PI
Greg Teets - Extern (Clark State Community College)
Dale Rude - Co-PI