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Baker College of Flint Information Technology students took first place in the 2010 Michigan Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition—and a solid step toward defending their title as the reigning national champions of the competition. Three of the eight students are new to the team. The annual event, hosted by Baker College of Flint, was held last weekend.

The Baker College of Flint students competed against teams from colleges and universities throughout Michigan. Speakers at the event included a member of the U.S. Secret Service, cyber-warfare expert Paul De Sousa from Chicago, and three information assurance specialists from the Defense Logistics Agency, including Brandon Hladysh, the Baker College of Flint team captain from last year’s competition. The students will now move on to the Midwest region competition, to be held March 12–14 in Minneapolis, Minn.

The eight competitors from Baker College of Flint included:

• James Olson, team captain, of Flint
• Rory Gallagher, of San Francisco, California
• Larry Hubbard, of Flint
• Eric Ignash, of Elkton
• John Neiling, of Fremont, Ohio
• Joey Tiell, of Findlay, Ohio
• Matt Wheatley, of Birch Run
• Joseph Woughter of Fremont, Ohio

“We are incredibly proud of the students who represented Baker College of Flint in this nationally recognized competition,” said Julianne T. Princinsky, Ed.D., Baker College of Flint president. “They earned this win with hard work and determination. We also appreciate the time, effort and energy all of the event coordinators and volunteers, including site coordinator Connie Hopper, associate dean Morris Fulcher, and team advisors Van Scott and Brian Bridson, put into making this event a success.”

Baker College of Flint has taken first place at the state competition for the past three years and won first place twice at the national competition. In 2009, Baker College of Flint successfully defended its position as the reigning national champion against heavyweights like Texas A&M and six other prestigious colleges and universities from around the country at the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition, which concluded in San Antonio, Texas.

A five-member team representing Baker College of Clinton Township competed for the first year in the 2010 Michigan Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition, finishing in fourth place. They were recognized for their competence, particularly because the team was assembled as recently as December 2009.

The Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition allows institutions of higher education offering an information assurance or computer security curriculum to assess students’ depth of understanding and operational competency in managing the challenges inherent in protecting an enterprise network infrastructure and business information systems. The winner from the Midwest competition will be invited to participate in the national competition, held in April in San Antonio, Texas.

Pictured Above — Left to right bottom row: John Neiling, James Olson, Matthew Wheatley, Joseph Woughter. Left to right top row: Joseph Tiell, Eric Ignash, Larry Hubbard, Rory Gallagher.