CCI Students Capture the Big Prize
CHARLOTTE, NC – March 12, 2012 - For the third time in seven years a team of students from UNC Charlotte’s Department of Software and Information Systems is headed to the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Championships. The 49th Security Division Team qualified for the nationals after winning the Southeast Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition. The team also received “Best Defense” and “Best Uptime” awards.
“I was honored to serve as co-captain of this team as every team-member played an indispensable role, which we could not have won without.,” said Zack Mayo. “I am proud to be a part of UNC Charlotte, the College of Computing and Informatics, and our team. I believe we have the potential to go all the way to the top and I couldn't pick a better group of students to represent our University at a competitive, national level. We've decided that our number one priority as a team, is to make UNC Charlotte proud, and to show everyone that we're capable of being the best of the best. I can't reiterate enough to my fellow teammates they should be exceptionally proud of their efforts, because it is truly paying off.”
The objective of the competition is for the teams to essentially run and fix an IT company, while at the same time, being hacked by some of the best hackers in the country over the course of three days. Scoring is based on uptime, defense, and how well the team performs and responds to business functions and tasks being asked to be completed during the competition.
Other teams competing were: Auburn University/Montgomery; Clemson University; Kennesaw Sate University; Mercer University; Northern Kentucky University; Southern Polytechnic & State University; University of Louisville; and University of North Carolina at Wilmington.
The 49th Security Division Team will receive an all-expenses paid trip to the nationals, April 20-22, in San Antonio, TX, $12,000 in training and certification vouchers, and a spot competing in the Cyberlympics, the world’s first team ethical hacking championships.
Team Roster: Joshua Schroeder, Zack Mayo, Ben Van Pelt, Michael Rosa, Luke Snyder, Daniel Colson, Doug Lilley, and Max Rogers.
About The College of Computing and Informatics
The College of Computing and Informatics provides academic programs in computer science, software and information systems, information technology, and bioinformatics. It is also the home to leading research centers and institutes, including the Cyber Defense and Network Assurability (CyberDNA) Center, the Bioinformatics Research Center, the Charlotte Visualization Center, the Complex Systems Institute, the Diversity in Information Technology Institute, and the Software Solutions Lab. Active research awards currently total $35 Million. www.cci.uncc.edu
About the University of North Carolina at Charlotte
UNC Charlotte is North Carolina’s urban research university. It is the fourth largest campus among the 17 institutions of The University of North Carolina system and the largest institution of higher education in the Charlotte region. Fall 2011 enrollment exceeded 25,300 students, including 5,000 graduate students. Find UNC Charlotte on the Web at UNCC Home, Twitter, Facebook and follow the UNC CLT_News blog at unccltnews.blogspot.com.
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Media Contact: Clark G. Curtis, 704-687-7983, clarkcurtis@uncc.edu
