Computer Networking & Information Security Club - Champlain College, Burlignton VT

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Northeast Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition 2009

Left to Right - Jim Hoag (Coach), Ben Actis ’10, Thahir Basha ’09, Andrew Dunham ’09 (Team Captain), Ryan Donnelly ’10, Trevor Bryant ’09, Brendan Miles ’09, Charles Nolan ’10, Colin Socha ’09, Christopher Parker ’09.
Courtesy of Michael Tortora, RIT

From February 27 to March 1, Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in New York hosted the second annual Northeast Regional Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (http://neccdc09.nssa.rit.edu/). Nine of our Computer Networking & Information Security (CNIS) students spent the first weekend of their spring break in Rochester participating in this regional competition. Other student teams included: University of Buffalo, University of Maine, Northeastern University, and RIT.

The group of students represented Champlain College and the CNIS program very well. The Champlain College team placed in the middle ranking of the five school teams and received many compliments on their ability to work together as a team. The students stated that they learned a great deal and reflected on the real-life experience they gained through the three-day competition.

Champlain College team members who participated in the NECCDC were: Ben Actis ’10, Thahir Basha ’09, Andrew Dunham ’09 (Team Captain), Ryan Donnelly ’10, Trevor Bryant ’09, Brendan Miles ’09, Charles Nolan ’10, Colin Socha ’09, and Christopher Parker ’09. Jim Hoag, Program Director of CNIS and Zachariah Tanko, CNIS Assistant Professor accompanied the students on the trip and provided mentorship, as well as the chauffeurs, during the competition.

This event was co-sponsored by Champlain College’s Computer Networking & Information Security Club and the CNIS Program. We anticipate participating in this competition in upcoming years and are discussing other competitions in the information security and computer forensics space.

Champlain students participate in cyber-security competition at RIT

From February 29 - March 2, Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in New York hosted the 2008 Northeast Regional Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (NECCDC, http://www.nssa.rit.edu/neccdc/). Seven of our Computer Networking & Information Security (CN&IS) students spent the last weekend of their spring break in Rochester participating -- along with teams from Northeastern University, Norwich University, Polytechnic University, RIT, and Syracuse University -- in this first northeast regional competition, in what we hope becomes an annual event.

The group represented Champlain College and the CN&IS program very well. Despite the fact that none of our students had participated in any similar type of competition before and that most of the other teams were larger, they placed in the middle rankings of the six school teams and received many compliments on their ability to work together as a team. The Champlain students report learning a great deal and reflect on what a good experience it was. As many in the group are juniors and sophomores, they will be able to participate again next year. The student travel was funded through the CN&IS student club.

The Champlain College NECCDC team members were: Ryan Davis '08 (team captain), Thahir Basha '08, Trevor Bryant '09, Zachery Gauthier '08, Christopher Parker '09, Ryan Donnelly '10, and Charles Nolan '10. Gary Kessler accompanied the students on the trip and provided mentorship (and was the chauffeur) during the competition. Jim Hoag and Cristian Balan provided advice and mentorship prior to the event.

We anticipate participating in this competition in upcoming years and are discussing other competitions in the information security and computer forensics space.