麻豆映画传媒

Step inside the L3Harris Engineering Center and you鈥檙e greeted by 12 black and gold championship banners hanging in the atrium. A trophy case, five shelves high, houses glimmering gold cups and team photographs. Another displays more than 40 crystal awards and plaques.

鈥淲e are somewhat out of display space,鈥� says Senior Instructor Tom Nedorost 鈥�02MS, coach for the 麻豆映画传媒 Collegiate Cybersecurity Competition Team and advisor for the university鈥檚 Collegiate Cyber Defense Club, better known as Hack@麻豆映画传媒. 鈥淚 have three more trophies in my office that still need a place to go.鈥�

Perhaps it鈥檚 time to invest in a larger trophy case. If history is known to repeat itself, Hack@麻豆映画传媒 has a lot more success in store.

The club is arguably the best in the nation at what it does. No other university has won more National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competitions (NCCDC). At last count in early April, Hack@麻豆映画传媒 had earned 105 first-place awards 鈥� 35 second-place and 30 third-place finishes at regional and national competitions.

Its students and alumni are regularly employed for paid internships and full-time positions fresh out of college at some of the world鈥檚 biggest companies 鈥� including Amazon, Apple, Google, IBM, Lockheed Martin, Meta and Microsoft, to name just a few. In a world that is increasingly online 鈥� even refrigerators and washing machines are 鈥渟mart鈥� these days 鈥� the evolution of the Internet of Things has expanded our vulnerability with more backdoor access points. On a micro level from our bank accounts and personal health data, to the macro level of national security, if it鈥檚 connected to the internet, it can be hacked.

鈥淐yber touches everything, and that鈥檚 why you鈥檙e seeing a lot more companies investing in security,鈥� Nedorost says. 鈥淲e are nowhere near close to saturating the number of opportunities that are out there for our students.鈥�

Joining the Force

Nedorost has been with the club since its inception in Fall 2012, when a senior information technology student, Jonathan Singer 鈥�13, approached him with the idea to form a cybersecurity team to participate in a competition the following spring.

Singer emailed fellow students with a link to the prospective competition, requesting their attendance at an exploratory meeting a few days later.

鈥淚 was hoping we鈥檇 have at least 12 students there so we could field a full team, and the room ended up packed,鈥� Nedorost recalls. 鈥淲e decided to form a cybersecurity club for interested students, and it鈥檚 just been ongoing and growing ever since.鈥�

The club now boasts more than 450 student members, whom Nedorost describes as highly motivated self-starters committed to upholding Hack@麻豆映画传媒鈥檚 legacy of achievement and contributing to the industry even before they graduate. It鈥檚 proving to be an industry with a lot of lucrative shoes to fill.

According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projections, jobs for information security analysts, with a median salary of $120,360, are expected to grow 32% from 2022 to 2032.

鈥淚鈥檝e seen peers who were in the same classes with me 鈥� we have the same degree, but I was in the club and they weren鈥檛 鈥� and it took them a few years to even get started,鈥� says Christian Campana-Emard 鈥�20, who worked paid summer internships at Northrop Grumman and Microsoft before becoming a cloud security engineer at medical device and healthcare company Abbott Laboratories.

Full STEM Ahead

These Knights鈥� enthusiasm and interest in the field, combined with their sustained success, have led to some major milestones not just for the club, but the university as a whole.

In 2016 麻豆映画传媒 was named a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyberdefense Education by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the National Security Agency. In 2019 Lockheed Martin donated $1.5 million for a cyber innovation lab to serve as a practice hub and continuing education space for the team.

In 2021 麻豆映画传媒 added a master鈥檚 degree in cyber security and privacy, a huge win for the more than 6,000 computer science, information technology and computer engineering undergraduate students enrolled as of Spring 2025. 麻豆映画传媒 produces one in four engineering and computer science graduates in Florida, according to the State University System.

By day, they鈥檙e gaining a solid base of knowledge in how computers work in the classroom. By night, they鈥檙e gaining practical experience in the club. It鈥檚 a winning combination.

鈥淚 think 麻豆映画传媒 does a good job of teaching core principles, but it鈥檚 hard to teach the deeper concepts, and that鈥檚 where Hack@麻豆映画传媒 comes in,鈥� says Matthew McKeever 鈥�24, a full-time cyber engineer at intelligence solutions company Nightwing and master鈥檚 student who was part of the 2024 NCCDC championship squad and selected to the U.S. Cyber Team in 2023. 鈥淭hat experience you get from competing is so valuable. Winning national CCDC is like a year鈥檚 worth of work experience on your resume.鈥�

It鈥檚 hard to argue with the results.

Encouraged by the university鈥檚 trajectory and investment in its foundational STEM and technical programs, Nedorost says he鈥檚 confident about the future of Hack@麻豆映画传媒.

And now, with an ever-growing alumni base, he鈥檚 got reinforcements to help ensure the next generation of Hack@麻豆映画传媒 members are ready to tackle whatever cyber innovations are thrown their way.

鈥淲e鈥檙e all so thirsty for knowledge about cybersecurity and have a genuine excitement for it,鈥� says Kevin Colley 鈥�18, a staff product security engineer at Tesla. 鈥淲hen one of us figured something out, we鈥檇 present it to the rest of the members, so we were always collectively learning together. That doesn鈥檛 end with graduation. Alumni come back to teach workshops or provide mentorship to further enrich the new students. It鈥檚 a beautiful cycle.鈥�

The following Hack@麻豆映画传媒 alumni are a mere sampling of the many Knights impacting the cybersecurity industry today:

Kevin Colley 鈥�18

Staff Product Security Engineer at Tesla
Seattle
B.S. in Computer Science

Colley can only say so much about the work he does every day to help secure Tesla鈥檚 electric vehicles and products.

That鈥檚 why he was so excited when he received clearance to present at a professional conference last May on one of his most significant Tesla projects to date.

Over the course of six months, Colley developed XPin 鈥� a security feature for Linux, software that is part of Tesla鈥檚 in-vehicle operating system 鈥� which requires any code to be securely verified.

鈥淚t enforces that all running code is cryptographically verified by Tesla, blocking an exploitation pattern used in sophisticated cyberattacks,鈥� he says.

麻豆映画传媒 played a significant role in Colley鈥檚 career success and origin story.

He says the only computer class his small-town high school offered was typing. He craved more and would regularly scour the aisles of Books-A-Million and Barnes & Noble for programming books. Then he found Junior Knights. The months-long initiative 鈥� managed by 麻豆映画传媒 computer science faculty members Niels Lobo and Arup Guha 鈥� offered complimentary programming classes on Saturdays on the main campus.

The catch was that 麻豆映画传媒 was about a 2.5-hour drive from Colley鈥檚 house.

鈥淚 somehow convinced my dad to wake up early every Saturday and drive me,鈥� he says. 鈥淎fter doing the whole course, I convinced him to let me do it a second time.鈥�

Guha oversaw 麻豆映画传媒鈥檚 highly successful programming team, so when Colley enrolled as a 麻豆映画传媒 student in 2013, he encouraged Colley to get involved. Colley immediately jumped into both the programming team and Hack@麻豆映画传媒.

He thrived in Hack@麻豆映画传媒 as a member of two of the squads that brought home three consecutive NCCDC championships from 2014 through 2016. He also won considerable prizes from other competitions, including a MacBook Pro, thousands of dollars and the opportunity to attend DEF CON, the largest annual hacking and security convention featuring the who鈥檚 who of the industry.

He says he still draws from his experience with both clubs in navigating his professional career.

鈥淎ny time I encounter some programming challenge in my work, it鈥檚 oftentimes that I鈥檓 able to at least use the thought process that I picked up from the programming team to help me solve the problem,鈥� he says. 鈥淗ack@麻豆映画传媒 has been a fantastic resource for me for improving my own cybersecurity skills, and provided me a lot of experience and networking opportunities. But I also gained a skill that others may not expect: public speaking proficiency. Since Hack@麻豆映画传媒 is a club that gives weekly technical presentations to hundreds of students, I received really good practice in public speaking.鈥�

And he knows he鈥檚 got his dad to thank, too.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a [wild] ask to drive a five-hour round trip on a Saturday for 12 weeks鈥� time, but he鈥檚 [since] told me [that] when I asked him to take me to Junior Knights, he realized that I never really asked him for pretty much anything,鈥� Colley says. 鈥淪o he thought about it and decided it would be hard to say no to something that would be very enriching.鈥�

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Jeffrey DiVincent 鈥�23

Security Engineer at Amazon
Seattle
B.S. in Computer Science
M.S. in Cyber Security and Privacy

Jeffrey DiVincent 鈥�23 rejects the adage, 鈥淚f it ain鈥檛 broke, don鈥檛 fix it.鈥�

As a high schooler, DiVincent was known as the techy kid who was good with phones 鈥� specifically jailbreaking them, which is removing restrictions on a device鈥檚 operating system to gain full access.

鈥淚 liked playing with it and figuring out, 鈥楬ow can I make this thing do something it鈥檚 not supposed to do?鈥� 鈥� says DiVincent, who is now a Seattle-based security engineer for Amazon. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what makes cybersecurity so interesting to me. The best way to protect a device or system is thinking about all the ways you can break it.鈥�

He committed to attending Hack@麻豆映画传媒鈥檚 weekly meetings every Friday as soon as he arrived on campus in 2019. Once the pandemic hit in 2020, those meetings moved online. DiVincent saw a decline in attendance, but he says he instead chose to double down on participating as an active member.

鈥淭hat decision ended up paying off exponentially,鈥� he says.

He grew from 鈥渉aving a lot to learn鈥� to holding multiple leadership roles within the club, including serving as president his senior year. He also landed internships as an undergrad with Amazon, which ultimately led to the full-time job he scored with the company in 2024.

In his role, he鈥檚 responsible for ensuring the security of some of Amazon鈥檚 most sensitive applications.

鈥淚t鈥檚 rewarding to see people impacted by the work I do every day,鈥� he says. 鈥淢y family, my friends 鈥� it鈥檚 stuff they use.鈥�

Thanks to 麻豆映画传媒鈥檚 online courses, he鈥檚 simultaneously working toward finishing his master鈥檚 degree in cyber security and privacy. And he鈥檚 still as committed as ever to Hack@麻豆映画传媒, flying across the country a few times a year to participate in competitions 鈥� both as a member of 麻豆映画传媒鈥檚 Collegiate Cybersecurity Competition team and to help organize Hack@麻豆映画传媒鈥檚 own competitions.

鈥淗ack@麻豆映画传媒 has shaped the trajectory of my career 鈥� one that I鈥檓 really passionate about,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been so integral to my life and many others. We are a professional development club first and foremost. We want to develop a skilled computer security workforce and get these people jobs in the industry, and that鈥檚 what I have been most proud to be part of.鈥�

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Sydney Munro 鈥�19

Software Engineer at Google
San Francisco
B.S. in Computer Science

At one point in her life, Sydney Munro 鈥�19 says the prospect of working for a company like Amazon or Google was completely foreign to her. She achieved both before the age of 28.

Munro didn鈥檛 have a clear direction in mind when she started on a mathematics path at Broward College in her hometown. But she had a conversation with a friend who was studying computer engineering at 麻豆映画传媒 at the time, and that got her thinking. When that same friend landed an internship at Microsoft within the next year, Munro was sold.

鈥淚f she could do it, I could do it, too. It made it attainable. I thought, 鈥楲et鈥檚 give this a go,鈥� and pretty much the rest is history,鈥� says Munro, who joined Google in 2021 and recently took a position with the company in San Francisco as a site reliability engineer, working with its cloud system.

Munro transferred to 麻豆映画传媒 and joined Hack@麻豆映画传媒 in 2017. During her time with the club, she competed on 麻豆映画传媒鈥檚 cybersecurity competition team that placed third at the 2019 Wicked6 Cyber Games in Las Vegas. She also got involved as a mentor for Junior Knights.

She says an internship at Amazon helped open her world and was a game-changer for her schooling and future career.

鈥淢y internship at Amazon really prepared me for when I came back to school and took courses like Senior Design,鈥� she says. 鈥淎ll of a sudden, my team is like, 鈥楬ey, we need to build this app, and we need to host it somewhere.鈥� Well, I just came from a company that has AWS (Amazon Web Services) as their cloud provider. I know these tools pretty well, so I [knew I could] probably do this. I learned so much, and Amazon was really big [on] informing [me of ] what the rest of my career 鈥� so far, at least 鈥� would look like.鈥�

As soon as she graduated, she was hired full time as a software development engineer and left for Seattle. She didn鈥檛 have any jitters about moving away from the only home she had known to a new city across the country because of the community Hack@麻豆映画传媒 had, and continues to provide, today, she says.

鈥淚 moved to Seattle with six of my best friends after college because I was in Hack@麻豆映画传媒, and we all got jobs at Amazon and Microsoft,鈥� Munro says. 鈥淚t was a space where I met people [who] would become coworkers and friends. So while there is that technical and learning aspect of Hack@麻豆映画传媒, I think at its core, it is people 鈥� people that you get to do life with.鈥�

Imagine a 5-year-old managing her Type I diabetes by wearing a glucose monitoring sensor. Her parents have peace of mind because they can check on the sensor鈥檚 data syncing to their phones in real time. But one day the system crashes, or a hacker messes with the levels and breaks the sensor. Now that very important, potentially life-saving data is compromised.

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Christian Campana-Emard 鈥�20

Cloud Security Engineer at Abbott
Orlando
B.S. in Information Technology

That is what Christian Campana-Emard 鈥�20 works to prevent every day in his role as a cloud security engineer at Abbott Laboratories.

鈥淥ur core mission is to protect that data, make sure it鈥檚 confidential and also make sure that the infrastructure is working,鈥� he says.

He couldn鈥檛 have predicted as a freshman at Winter Springs High School that his decision to join JROTC would eventually land him in the career he鈥檚 in today.

In his first year with the program, the group joined a new initiative through the Air and Space Forces Association to sponsor a cyber defense competition team. In his sophomore, junior and senior years, his team advanced to the national finals in Washington, D.C.

He enjoyed the experience so much that he wanted to continue competing in college at an elite level. So he looked up the results of the CCDC, essentially the Super Bowl of these events. 麻豆映画传媒, the university practically in his backyard, had won three years in a row.

鈥淪o I thought, 鈥極K, this is the place,鈥� 鈥� Campana-Emard says. 鈥淚 was so inspired.鈥�

He didn鈥檛 wait until enrolling to get involved with Hack@麻豆映画传媒, choosing to attend meetings while still in high school. He eventually competed as a member of the club鈥檚 CCDC team, winning the southeast regional competition and claiming runner-up nationally in 2018. He also scored three paid internships with Northrop Grumman and Microsoft in consecutive summers.

鈥淲orking at Microsoft inspired me to dream big,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 walked away with the mentality of, 鈥業f I can do this, then I can do anything.鈥� 鈥�

He joined Abbott Laboratories in 2021 after spending a year as a software engineer at Capital One, and has been fulfilled by the tangible role he plays in the lives around him.

鈥淭here are so many different elements to cybersecurity, and there are jobs where you could build things that you will never see the true benefit of,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 love what I do because I don鈥檛 have to imagine the possibility of the impact. I can see it every time I see someone wearing a Libre [glucose monitoring] sensor.”

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The following alums also gained valuable experience through Hack@麻豆映画传媒 before working for these major companies:

Carolyn 鈥淐arrie鈥� Chenicek 鈥�05 鈥�16MS
Principal Security Engineer at Starbucks

Jason Cooper 鈥�15
Senior Security
Engineer at Amazon Web Services

Alex Cote 鈥�21
Senior Cloud Security Engineer at Abbott

Kevin DiClemente 鈥�15
Principal Architect at Microsoft

Peyton Duncan 鈥�21
Tech Lead, Senior Software Engineer – Risk and Response at TikTok

Kai Garcia 鈥�21
Senior Staff Security Engineer at Abbott

Milo Gilad 鈥�24
Associate Analyst, Falcon Complete at Crowdstrike

Harrison Keating 鈥�24
Senior Cybersecurity Engineer at Abbott

Colton Knight 鈥�24
Penetration Tester at IBM

Odell Moreno 鈥�19
Senior Manager, Cybersecurity at Abbott

Oliver Moreno 鈥�23
Cybersecurity Specialist at Abbott

David Maria 鈥�20
Senior Consultant at Crowdstrike

Cody McMahon 鈥�15
Security Software Engineer at Microsoft

Lawton Pittenger 鈥�23
Security Specialist Solutions Architect at Amazon Web Services

Martin Roberts 鈥�20 鈥�22MS
Staff Security Engineer at Fountain

Michael Roberts 鈥�19 鈥�21MS
Senior Manager, Product Security at Abbott

Austin Sturm 鈥�18 鈥�21MS
Security Engineer at Amazon

Nelson Torres 鈥�20
Software Engineer at Abbott

Ditmar Wendt 鈥�16
Senior Game Security Engineer at Amazon