Mount St. Mary’s University had the chance to show off both the new wing of the Coad Science Building and its stellar Cyber Defense Club (CDC) when the Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges (CCSC) held its Eastern Regional Conference on campus in October.
The annual CCSC Eastern Regional Conference began 40 years ago as an opportunity for college and K-12 educators to meet and share ideas and hopes for computer education in their respective classrooms. Assistant Professor of Computer Science Ruth Lamprecht, Ph.D., and Assistant Professor of Computer Science Scott Weiss, M.S., served as conference chairs.
The two-day event featured speakers, panels, presentations of scholarly papers and workshops. For students, the highlight of the conference was the three-hour Capture the Flag competition, hosted by the Virginia Cyber Range.
The weekend “provided our students with valuable hands-on experience in cybersecurity challenges, networking opportunities with industry professionals, and a chance to represent our university on a regional stage, exemplifying the Cyber Defense Club's commitment to fostering both technical skills and a collaborative learning environment,” shared Malika Dosso, C’25, vice president of the CDC.
Participating students were broken into teams, competing against each other and the clock to solve various intensive computing and cybersecurity problems.
“I was able to grow in my coding skills and participate in a competitive team environment, and having the chance to show my coding skills against others was super fun. If anyone is thinking about participating next year or in a similar event, my advice would be to be confident no matter how successful you are. While it is competitive, it is more of a learning experience,” shared Shawn Harriet, C’25, who was on team Mount 1 alongside Brett Haugh, C’25, and Kalina Chang, C’27.
To learn more about the Mount’s cybersecurity program, including the Cyber Defense Club, visit the major’s webpage.