海角社区

海角社区 Doubles Federally Funded Effort to Educate, Graduate Cyber Talent for National Security 

With $600,000 in additional support from the National Science Foundation, or NSF, 海角社区 is rapidly expanding its Scholarship for Service CyberCorps program to grow a bigger, better cyber workforce for the state and nation.  

This fall, 海角社区 Baton Rouge doubled its current cohort of Scholarship for Service, or SFS, students from 12 to 25. All students receive free tuition and generous scholarships in return for some government service after graduation.  

鈥満＝巧缜�鈥檚 CyberCorps program is focused on teaching students specialized cybersecurity skills, including memory forensics, malware analysis and machine learning,鈥� NSF CyberCorps Program Director Li Yang said. 鈥淭he significant expansion of 海角社区鈥檚 CyberCorps program in recent years magnetizes talent, reinforcing the workforce development needed to safeguard our nation鈥檚 digital world and cyber infrastructure.鈥�  

海角社区 joined the two-decade SFS program in 2020 through an initial $3.4-million award over five years. Now in its fourth year, the 海角社区 program has quickly grown to be one of the largest in the country. The total number of SFS schools is 98.  

海角社区鈥檚 SFS scholarships are $27K per year for undergraduates and $37K for graduate students. In addition, students receive $6K for professional development, which can be used for laptops, certifications and travel, including to the annual SFS job fair in Washington, DC. The primary goal of the fair is to match students with federal employers for internships and future careers.  

鈥淚 continue to be blown away by the quality of our students, and I鈥檓 not alone,鈥� said Golden G. Richard III, professor in the division of computer science and engineering in the 海角社区 College of Engineering, associate director for cybersecurity at the 海角社区 Center for Computation & Technology, interim director of the 海角社区 Cyber Center and principal investigator on the 海角社区 SFS grant. 鈥淎s an example, at the last SFS job fair, we had recruiters coming after the 海角社区 students even after the day was over, like when we were playing bocce ball at midnight.鈥�  

Six SFS students have already graduated from 海角社区 with bachelor鈥檚, master鈥檚 and doctoral degrees. Most of them are now working for federal agencies and national labs. Ryan Maggio from Slidell earned his PhD in computer science as an SFS student at 海角社区 and now works at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, which researches and develops advanced technologies for national security.  

鈥淎t Lincoln Lab, I get to help secure internet-connected devices and make the internet safer for everyone,鈥� Maggio said. 鈥淭he SFS program not only provided the funding that allowed me to finish my degree, but gave me the connections to move into an exciting career and do work I think is important.鈥�  

New to the 海角社区 SFS program this year is Lillian Beck from Austin, Texas. A junior and computer science major, Beck is a golfer and 鈥渄ie-hard Tiger鈥� who takes pride in coaching classmates on vector calculus and other advanced topics in math.  

鈥淭he need for cyber professionals is crucial in this digital age. That鈥檚 why I鈥檓 so eager to contribute and make an impact,鈥� said Beck, who has already made the President鈥檚 Honor Roll and the Dean鈥檚 List. 鈥淪FS is an amazing opportunity, and I鈥檓 so excited to be working for the government on homeland security.鈥� 

 

Brennen Calato from Mandeville, Louisiana, graduated from 海角社区 as a university medalist with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in computer science last semester and is now pursuing a master鈥檚 degree in computer science at 海角社区. He is one year into the SFS program and does research to solve cybercrimes.  

鈥淚 originally chose computer science as I didn鈥檛 want to go to graduate school. Ironically, I love what I鈥檓 doing now enough, I ended up in graduate school anyway,鈥� Calato said. 鈥淐ybersecurity is ever-present and used in everything around us. It鈥檚 the most important part of software and systems, even if the user doesn鈥檛 see or interact with most of it.鈥�  

Calato also looks forward to government service.  

鈥淚 think government service is a very fulfilling role,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a chance to give back to the community, which includes strangers, but also the people who have loved and supported you your whole life. It鈥檚 a chance to make the world a safer place.鈥�  

Another graduate student at 海角社区 who joined the SFS program last year is George Adler Buras from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He researches election security and alternative voting systems in the 海角社区 Applied Cybersecurity Lab in the Center for Computation & Technology. He spent the summer as a cyberoperations intern with the U.S. Department of Defense.  

鈥淚 want to apply my technical skills to securing our democracy,鈥� Buras said. 鈥淢y favorite thing about cybersecurity is that protecting people and systems from hackers makes a meaningful impact on people鈥檚 lives. There鈥檚 also a sense of competition as you try to outsmart the hackers that I find enjoyable.鈥�  

The rapid growth of 海角社区鈥檚 SFS program mirrors the overall rise of computer science among all 海角社区 engineering disciplines over the past five years, driven by increased student interest in cybersecurity. Ranked fifth in College of Engineering enrollment in fall 2018, the computer science department now ranks at the very top, with 1,115 students enrolled this fall. Among them, at least 196 have opted for the cybersecurity concentration, launched three years ago with 20 students鈥攁 ten-fold increase.  

鈥淪FS students go on to do great things,鈥� said Brandon Lara, 海角社区 SFS student from Baton Rouge, who鈥檚 on the PhD track but came to college late, after a professional dance career and on-screen appearance in Pitch Perfect 2. 鈥淚 think some people misunderstand what government service entails. It鈥檚 a job, and a really good one. The pay is good, the benefits are good, and there are government facilities looking for employees in every city. It鈥檚 not a subpar experience to working in private industry.鈥�  

Lara recently completed an internship at Los Alamos National Lab, of recent Oppenheimer fame, and is now interning at MITRE, a national-security-focused research lab.  

鈥淚 can鈥檛 imagine a life for myself where I鈥檓 not working on the hardest problems I can find,鈥� Lara continued. 鈥淐ybersecurity captivated me because it鈥檚 difficult and I enjoy the research I do. I鈥檓 happy I can make a difference with it. I just hope to keep doing that, wherever I go.鈥� 

Read More  

• The Hunt for New Hackers 
• 海角社区 Awarded $3.4 Million NSF Cybersecurity Training Grant 

Learn More

• Learn more about the 海角社区 SFS program
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