Local and Regional Information Assurance and Cybersecurity Events

Mark your calendars for a couple of upcoming events if you have an interest in computer and information security. The first is coordinated and produced by and the second is being participated in by the Grey Hat Group, a student organization at the University of Washington, Tacoma dedicated to promoting awareness, education, and research into computer security. The event the group is presenting, now in its second year, is the Northwest Security Symposium. Knows as NWSec, the event features student, academic, and professional presentations on topics ranging from cryptography to computer forensics.

The conference is scheduled for May 7th and 8th, 2008 and will provide a broad perspective and in-depth technical sessions based on leading information assurance and cyber security topics. This event invites local businesses, military personnel, and Fortune 500 corporations to interact with each other, increase awareness of critical issues, and view important academic and industry presentations.

Presentations will be given in the Carwein Auditorium of the Keystone building on the UWT Campus and has a great array of speakers from Dickie George to Kirk Bailey. Check it out on their web site.

The Grey Hats are also competing in the upcoming 1st Pacific Rim Regional Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition on April 26 – 27, 2008 in conjunction with the Center for Information Assurance & Cybersecurity, University of Washington. The event will happen on the Microsoft Campus in Redmond and is similar to the great event that the group held with West Point and Fort Lewis last year.

Hello

Hi all!! My name is Joe Contris and I am the new Program Administrator with the Institute of Technology. My background is in management and behavioral health. I am guitarist that plays around Tacoma in a band called Near the Beat. Check out our Myspace if you would like:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=247186172

It is great to be a memeber of the UW family!

Joe

UPE at UWTECH

Nearly two dozen students, alumni and faculty at the Institute of Technology were recently inducted into the new UW Tacoma chapter of Upsilon Pi Epsilon (UPE), the international honor society for computing science, engineering and technology.

“Joining UPE is an honor,” said Associate Professor George Mobus, a longtime member of the organization. “Having UPE here at UW Tacoma is a recognition of the quality of our program and of our students.”

UPE’s mission is to recognize academic excellence at both the undergraduate and graduate levels in the computing and information disciplines. A member of the Association of College Honor Societies, UPE is the only international honor society in the computing and information field.

The charter’s first initiates are: Students Amelia Annest, Alan Boulet, Craig Deitering, Alan Fowler, Pat Kuhlman, Randy McCoy, Michael Munsey, Craig Niyama, Kyle Shanafelt, Erik Sherbon, Ruslan Slobodyanik, Michael Spiz and Jonathan Veilleux. Also initiated were alumni Iyad Alaqrabawi, Daniel Blair, Robert Bunge and Kristen Shinohara, Assistant Professor Dan Zimmerman and Institute of Technology Director Orlando Baiocchi.

The Institute of Technology was launched in 2001 to cultivate a highly educated and knowledgeable workforce to support the state's high-tech sector and spur economic development in the South Sound region. The Institute offers bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Computer Engineering and Systems and Computing and Software Systems. To learn more about the Institute of Technology, visit www.insttech.washington.edu.

Security Workshop Tomorrow

This Saturday, February 2, at 11:00 in CP105, The Grey Hat Group is putting on a workshop entitled

"Passwords and Bump Keys--How Safe Are You, Really?"

There will be some demos of password auditing/recovery tools (I didn't say
cracking!), as well as a demo of the strength of a physical security device.

All interested people are welcome.

The GreyHat Group at UWT is a student organization at the University of Washington, Tacoma, organized by Computing and Software Systems students, whose mission is to research all aspects of computer security, including network security and information assurance and share that information with the regional community.

Membership is open to any UWT Student who has an interest in computer security regardless of major. Prior knowledge of computers is NOT required for membership. Knowledge is gained through attending meetings and events, talking to other members, and trying things out for yourself.

Cyber Defense Workshop at the UWT

A Cyber Defense workshop will be held at UWT on Saturday, November 17, from 10:00 to 1:00. Anyone is welcome to attend--students, faculty, staff, friends, relatives, anyone interested in the technical aspects of network security. This workshop will be a Network Mapping Challenge.

The group will start in the Embedded lab, Cherry Parks 206D.

Linux experience helpful, but not required. Participants who already have network mapping software on their laptops, will be able to use their own machine.

For more information contact Don McLane (dmclane@u.washington.edu)

A New Acronym to Learn: STEM

This is for all you "back to schoolers" in all grades, or those considering a return to academia. In particular a salute to the 20 or so students who will be entering into the first full academic year of the Computer Engineering and Systems program at the Institute of Technology at the University of Washington, Tacoma.

I want to mention a new acronym I ran across on the Bureau of Labor Statistics site today. STEM.

It stands for Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics, and if you are considering pursuit of an occupation or an occupational change, this is an area to explore.

Schools are paying attention to this information. In Minnesota, The Mankato School District took note of the fact that according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 10 of the 15 fastest growing occupations requiring at least a bachelor’s degree are computer, science or technology related. In response the district has created a handful of progressive programs that integrate classroom education with real-world business applications. St. Peter built an entirely new science lab at North Elementary to engage kids earlier in math, science and technology. Le Sueur-Henderson spent a goodly portion of its $18.5 million bond referendum on upgrading middle and high school labs and technological equipment.

Bold moves that will pay off in the future for the students who accept the challenges of the field.

The government BLS site has more about STEM for download as a report here. Here is a snippet from it to spark your interest.

Faster aircraft, bolder video games, better medicines—technology moves forward every day. And tech-savvy workers make those advances happen. Without the work of scientists, technicians, engineers, mathematicians, and other skilled workers, most new products and discoveries would never be developed.
Technical occupations are often defined as those related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Workers in STEM occupations use science and math to solve problems.

This article describes the occupations that most clearly concentrate on STEM. You’ll find information about STEM occupations, earnings, educational requirements, and job prospects. There are also suggestions on how to prepare for a STEM career and where to find more information.

In the early part of this decade, there was a difficult spate of job losses in certain sectors, yet Computer Science and Engineering remains one of the 25 fastest growing industries with strong career opportunities in the Nation.

Wage-and-salary employment is expected to grow 40 percent by the year 2014, compared with only 14 percent growth projected for the entire economy.

Welcome back, students.

MSL and Origami

For four weeks in August, selected students from around the South Sound participate in a four week summer camp with an important focus. The Math, Science & Leadership (MSL) program at the Institute of Technology is a multi-year program that begins with a summer camp for students who will be entering 7th - 11th grades here in the South Sound.

The goals of the program are to help students recognize and develop their potential to excel in math and science, ease the transition from middle school to high school and high school to college, encourage the pursuit of math and science electives at the high school level and to pursue postsecondary degrees in these fields.

Believe me, we need more scientists and engineers.



I spoke to a class of eighth graders in during the second week and enjoyed myself greatly. They were outgoing, respectful and interested in the discussion. My focus was on origami and its relation to mathematics. In particular I highlighted Robert Lang, a noted physicist and engineer, who has authored or co-authored over 80 technical publications and 40 patents on semiconductor lasers, optics, and integrated optoelectronics.


He has also presented several refereed technical papers on origami-math at mathematical and computer science professional meetings. His profile on CBS 60 minutes was shown during the discussion via the web in a smart classroom, and the feature noted the applications of origami to engineering problems ranging from air-bag design to expandable space telescopes.

And then of course we made cranes.