I think I am passionate. I consider myself at least a medium-term visionary. I think I’ve worked hard to help create a program that will improve the lives of students, help maintain more resilient infrastructures, and serve as a pattern (or at least learning experiment) for future programs across the country.
Fortunately, I’m not in this alone. This year I gained a profound appreciation for the sincere and enthusiastic participation and support of people with boots-on the ground experience and horse-in-the-race enthusiasm. I want to call out three of them:
First, the Idaho National Laboratory provided financial support which we used to create 8 flow control trainer stations. Several INL subject matter experts serve on Industrial Cybersecurity program advisory committee. Two top-notch analysts came to brief students on the Consequence-driven Cyber-informed Engineering (CCE) methodology. Several students ended up INL summer internships!
Second, Blackmere Consulting visited to provide focused job seeking and resume building guidance. Blackmere’s personal touch and cyber focus really sets them apart. Students found the talent acquisition perspective invaluable.
Third, Rockwell Automation’s Eastern Washington team provided insightful program advice, referred employers to us, and provided PLCs to upgrade ESTEC’s instrumentation engineering technology laboratory!
An enormous Thank You! to these organizations and their passionate personnel!