Dakota State University students excel in all types of cyber competitions, whether they be regional, national, or international. They also benefit from on-campus events.

The annual Beacom College Dean’s Cup competition was created in 2020 as a way to keep students engaged over the winter break. It continues to encourage students to dive deeper into topics that interest them.

This December, students enrolled in any of the programs of The Beacom College of Computer & Cyber Sciences were invited to take part in the competition. Individual students or groups of students, whether online or on-campus, created a technology-based project to work on from December through January 15.

“It was a pleasure and an honor to see all of the cool things our students are working on! I was impressed by every single submission. Projects and activities like these really stand out on resumes and in job interviews, so it’s great to see students leaning into it,” said Andrew Kramer, Assistant Professor in The Beacom College.

Santiago Colla, a Cyber Operations major from Argentina, worked on a team with Will Campbell and Andrew Flora. Their software engineering project won second place. Colla said he put his project on his resume right away. “Now I can add ‘award-winning,’” he said. Campbell is a Computer Science master’s degree student from Aberdeen, S.D., and Flora is a Computer Science major from Conway, Arkansas.

Other students discovered the project was a way to learn and polish skills.

“I’m not great at soldering,” said Brett VanOort, but he needed to do about 10 hours of soldering for his Raspberry Pi project. Van Oort is a Cyber Operations major from Brandon, S.D.

Student submissions were judged by several faculty members using three criteria: originality, creativity, and problem-solving potential.

Winners are:

1st Place ($500) – John Brumels, “Wireless Device Security.” Brumels is a Cyber Defense master’s degree student from Sioux Falls, S.D.

2nd Place ($300) – Will Campbell, Andrew Flora, and Santiago Colla, OSINT dashboard software engineering project

3rd Place ($150) – Brett VanOrt’s project using his Raspberry Pi received in a summer GenCyber Camp at DSU

“Thanks for Playing” ($50) – Samuel Johnson, a freshman Cyber Operations major from Frazee, Minn., said he’d definitely try the competition again next time.

“I want to express my sincere appreciation to all the students who participated in the competition for their outstanding effort. You shall all be proud of your accomplishments,” said Jihene Kaabi, Assistant Professor in The Beacom College.

Dakota State University (DSU) is located in Madison, S.D. Founded in 1881, DSU offers undergraduate,
master’s, and doctoral programs through its colleges of arts and sciences, business and information systems, computer and cyber sciences, and education. DSU has a special focus on the development, application, implications, and impacts of computing, information technologies and cyber security in all areas of human endeavor. DSU has received multiple Center of Academic Excellence designations in education, research and regional resource development from the U.S. National Security Agency and U.S. Department of Homeland Security. DSU is home to the Madison Cyber Labs (MadLabs®), a cyber R&D hub with labs and institutes that explore and advance technology application, workforce development, business expansion, economic growth, and policy improvement across multiple disciplines and fields. For more information, contact mediarelations@dsu.edu, 605-270-3816, or visit the DSU website at dsu.edu.