Category Archives: Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity, Publicity, STEM Awards

(ISC)² Award for NOVA Cybersecurity Faculty

NOVA Cybersecurity faculty member Marouane Balmakhtar, is a 2021 (ISC)² Global Achievement Award Recipient!

This Senior Professional Award is given in recognition of the 5G Cybersecurity and Security Awareness project. This is the highest global award an individual can receive in the cybersecurity field!

Prof. Balmakthar said “I am so humbled and excited to have received this. As a representative of the NOVA /NVCC family, this is a testament for us and for the work that we do as part of our designation as a Center of Academic Excellence and for our unmatched Cybersecurity leadership.”

Global Achievement Award recipients will be celebrated during (ISC)²’s premier global event, Security Congress, which will be held both virtually and in-person on October 18-20, 2021. More info about the event at https://www.isc2.org/Congress#

Prof. Balmakhtar can be reached at mbalmakhtar@nvcc.edu

#WeDoSTEM

 

Cloud Computing, Cybersecurity, Engineering Technology, Information Technology, STEM Grants

$1.1M Grant to Build Regional Tech Talent

NOVA’s Go Virginia Grant will Support a Dual Enrollment Expansion Project for Information and Engineering Technology

Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA), was recently awarded a Go Virginia grant of $1.11 million, following Governor Northam’s announcement allocating over $11 million to help advance economic recovery efforts across the commonwealth. NOVA will apply the funds to implement the Dual Enrollment Expansion Program for Information and Engineering Technology (DEEP-IET) with a goal to develop regional workforce capacity in IET careers.

In broadening the conversation for technology opportunities and partnerships across the state, NOVA will collaborate with the Northern Virginia Economic Alliance (NOVA EDA), the Loudoun County Economic Development Authority (LCEDA) and local school districts, particularly to improve the regional capacity for producing IET talent by investing in faculty development and student support structures.

The grant allows for expanded programming to raise awareness and access for underrepresented student populations in IET fields, supporting them with mentoring services, career readiness activities, and internship opportunities with the goal of driving up graduation rates for students.

GO Virginia’s Region 7 Council has identified cybersecurity, data center operations (DCO), and cloud computing as some of the fields where the talent shortage is most acute. NOVA currently has one-year career study certificates (CSC) and two-year applied associate degree programs in these fields, which were co-developed with regional industry partners. Additionally, NOVA has CSC and two-year programs in engineering technology leading to high-demand jobs in manufacturing and critical infrastructure support services.

The DEEP-IET pilot program is structured as a block-scheduling model that combines class time, wrap-around services, and support for incoming students. Furthermore, this model will help ensure regional capacity-building for IET by developing secondary teachers into credentialed adjunct faculty who can provide dual enrollment opportunities at regional high schools. The DEEP-IET program is planned to create 288 additional graduates, 96 new internships, and expand the number of certified dual enrollment teachers in the region by summer 2024.

The program roll-out will include:

  • Two summer bridge programs designed to recruit underrepresented students into NOVA’s IET division, serving a total of 48 students per year. Bridge programs provide college credit and will help orient graduating high school students to career pathways in IET and student services on campus.
  • A structured block-schedule for first semester IET students in cybersecurity, cloud computing, or engineering technology. Block-scheduling places students in cohorts with the same sequence and schedule of classes during their first year at NOVA. Up to 48 students will be placed in cohorts each year, which will allow mentoring, career preparation, and advising to be structured in the same way as coursework, increasing student access to these services.
  • An internship and career readiness program for IET students between their first and second year of coursework in collaboration with local employers. This program will also work to further NOVA’s goal to integrate academic coursework and work experience.
  • A credentialing program to prepare regional high school teachers to teach credit-bearing dual enrollment courses in information and engineering technology. Increasing the pool of credentialed dual enrollment instructors will strengthen regional capacity for introductory education in these fields.
  • A veterans outreach program to transition NOVA veterans and military-connected students to IET programs. NOVA currently enrolls 734 military-connected students as General Studies majors. This program will coordinate veteran career workshops showcasing IET educational pathways and careers.

#WeDoSTEM

See NOVA IET website for more info about programs

Read article in Technical.ly
See News Story from WDVM

 

Computer Science, Cybersecurity, Publicity, SkillsUSA

NOVA Computer Science Students are SkillsUSA Winners!

Two of our NOVA Computer Science Students – Sesol Han (not pictured) and Arienbelle Aguila (with Skills USA Executive Director Chelle Travis) – finished 1st and 2nd in the SkillsUSA VA Leadership Conference in the post-secondary computer science competition!

(See Twitter and Facebook posts about the event).

Sesol Han was named State Champion and will compete virtually in the computer science division at SkillsUSA National Leadership Conference at the end of June.

In addition, NOVA student Da Nguyen Ngo participated in the SkillsUSA “Connect to My Future” Conference. These conferences allow NOVA students to showcase their skills in computer science, meet other students, and develop further skills that will help them succeed in the job market.

During the 2020-21 school year NOVA started a chapter of SkillsUSA thanks to the InNOVAtion Grant provided by the NOVA Foundation.  During this pilot year, three faculty members: Ryan Ammons (computer science), Kwabena “KK” Konadu (cybersecurity), and Babur Kohy (cybersecurity) were recruited as advisors.  These faculty members recruited 30 students (seven in computer science and 23 in cybersecurity) for the club.

NOVA SySTEMic plans to expand the SkillsUSA club at NOVA for the 2021-22 school year, including adding additive manufacturing program.

#CompSci #WeDoSTEM #BoldlyNOVA

 

Cybersecurity, IET Events

NOVA Cybersecurity Team Finalists at Mid-Atlantic CCDC

Congratulations to the NOVA Cybersecurity team that placed 7th in qualifying for the Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (MACCDC). Under the leadership of NOVA Cyber Faculty Kwabena Konadu and William McLaughlin, NOVA students Marijane Dicello (captain), Ardian Peach (co-captain), Ho Lee, Kiran Sameem (pictured above) and Tharwat Ghet, Jonathan Kim, and Obaid Rahman Sabori (not pictured) will advance to the MACCDC regional championship on April 2nd and 3rd.

Click Here for our Cybersecurity promo video featuring NOVA students.

Click Here for more info on NOVA’s Cybersecurity Program

The MACCDC is presented by Raytheon Intelligence & Space and run by the National CyberWatch Center.  It provides a unique experience for higher education students to test their knowledge and skills in a competitive environment.  The competition focuses on the operational aspects of managing and protecting an existing network infrastructure. The NOVA team prepared for the competition the entire semester by working through challenging problems in the areas of computer and network design, forensics, system configuration, and infrastructure protection.

The competition focuses more on operational task of assuming administrative and protective duties for an existing commercial infrastructure.  Groups of students from different universities and colleges in the Mid-Atlantic Region were assessed based on their ability to detect and respond to outside threats, maintain availability of existing services such as mail servers, database servers, web server, respond to business requests such as the addition or removal of additional services, and balance security needs against business operational requirements.

This year (2021), NOVA is among the 8 Qualifying MACCDC Round Finalists which includes the following 4 year colleges and universities: George Mason University, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Liberty University, University of Pittsburgh, Old Dominion University, Millersville University, and Capitol Technology University.

NOVA placed 7th out of the 23 colleges and universities below.

Qualifying Round Teams 

  1. Bowie State University, MD
  2. Capitol Technology University, MD
  3. Christopher Newport University, VA
  4. Community College of Baltimore County, MD
  5. East Carolina University, NC
  6. George Mason University, VA
  7. James Madison University, VA
  8. Liberty University, VA
  9. Marshall University, WV
  10. Millersville University, PA
  11. Northern Virginia Community College, VA
  12. Old Dominion University, VA
  13. Rutgers University, NJ
  14. Saint Vincent College, PA
  15. The Penn State University, PA
  16. The University of Virginia’s College at Wise, VA
  17. Towson University, MD
  18. University of Maryland Baltimore County, MD (2 teams)
  19. University of Maryland College Park, MD
  20. University of Maryland Global Campus, MD
  21. University of Pittsburgh, PA
  22. University of Virginia, VA (2 teams)
  23. West Virginia University, WV

NVCC Students/Team Members

Marijane Dicello: Captain
Ardian Peach: Co-Captain
Romaric Agondohoui
Tharwat Ghet
Jonathan Kim
Ho Lee
Obaid Rahman Sabori
Kiran Sameem

Team Judge, Coaches, and Management

Evelyn Adu-Gyamfi: CCDC Judge (Volunteer)
Michael Hancock:  Coach/Executive Director, AllCyber.org/Professor (Volunteer)
Tyrone Guiden:  Coach/Deputy Executive Director, AllCyber.org (Volunteer)
Kwabena Konadu (KK):   Coach/Management/NOVA Professor
William McLaughlin (Mac):  Coach/Management/NOVA Professor

Team Trainers

Bishnu Karki:  Director of Training, AllCyber.org (Volunteer)
Tyler Quigley:  Red Team Captain/Director of Engineering, AllCyber.org (Volunteer)
Jessica Lee:  Blue Team Trainer (Volunteer)

Sources/Links: https://maccdc.org/competition/