MVCC, USF host National Final, establish cybersecurity games
Mohawk Valley Community College, along with its partners at the University of South Florida (USF), recently held the National Final for the Cyber Games.
The games are a unique national collegiate cybersecurity competition for first-time participants that recognizes the full spectrum of skills needed in the field, according to MVCC.
The National Final was held for the first time Saturday, April 9, and capped off the inaugural year of the games.
The two colleges were selected to lead the project in late 2020. The selection was made following MVCC developing the CNY Hackathon, and USF’s CyberHub allowing for national scalability.
“It’s been a couple of years of really hard — and also fun — work to get to this point,” said Jake Mihevc, dean of MVCC’s School of STEM – Transfer programs, in a statement. “We’ve had about 500 students from across the country compete from 55 different colleges, so to arrive at the National Finals, it’s a lot of fun for the team, and it’s fun for us to all be in one place working together.”
About 500 students from 55 colleges from across the country participated in the program.
Regional events were held Saturdays throughout February and March, with winners advancing to the National Final.
Locally, Syracuse University was among the national finalists.
The Illinois Institute of Technology, earning 5,154 points, was named the national champion.
A livestream, featuring video feeds from student and staff areas, interviews and commentary by MVCC Assistant Professor of Cybersecurity James Rice and USF eSports Program Assistant and Caster John Turbessi, was produced by MVCC and USF’s eSports program.
It is viewable at this link: twitch.tv/videos/1451369049.
Ed Harris is the Oneida County reporter for the Observer-Dispatch. Email Ed Harris at EHarris1@gannett.com.
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