The Quilt, a consortium of regional Research and Education (R&E) Networks throughout the United States, is pleased to announce a joint effort with Merit Network in Michigan to help develop the next generation of cybersecurity talent through the National High School Cyber Challenge.

By the year 2020 there will be an estimated 3.5 million unfilled cybersecurity jobs in the United States. According to National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE), one of the reasons students don’t pursue cybersecurity as a career field is simply a lack of exposure.

The Quilt has joined with member, Merit Network, to offer an opportunity to all members of The Quilt to engage their connected high school communities in a cybersecurity challenge.

The National High School Cyber Challenge is a multi-round competition that tests students’ skills in networking, programming, and operating system security. The competition is developed by Merit and the Michigan Cyber Range. Every round is offered at no cost to schools or students, who compete in teams of 1-3.

“Cultivating next-generation cybersecurity talent is essential for the future for R&E Networks,” said Jen Leasure, president and CEO of The Quilt. “This is fantastic exposure for students and institutions, and we are well-positioned to coordinate and deliver an event that encourages the development of high-level cybersecurity talent throughout the country.”

Teams are invited to participate in a round of challenges designed to test their knowledge of cybersecurity, computer science and information technology.

Here’s what can be expected with each round of competition:

Round ZERO (April-July 2019)
An online resource that can be utilized by parents, instructors and administrators as warm-up activities, supplements to curriculum and more. It is an unscored challenge, open to unlimited participants.

Round ONE (October 2019)
A four-day, online challenge that will focus on networks, programming, operating systems, and hacking skills. This round is open to 10-30 teams from each participating state.

Round TWO (November 2019)
The National Championship features a virtual exercise designed to test teams’ skills with an intensive, timed series of security challenges. The top 10 teams from Round One will participate in Round Two.

Certifications

Cybersecurity Boot Camp courses and examination vouchers will be awarded to students of the winning team. These certifications will qualify the students for entry level jobs in the industry.

Sponsors and Participants

Current participating states include: Michigan, Missouri, Illinois, West Virginia, Maryland and Oklahoma. State recruiting is still in process. Support from industry partners is critical to the success of this event, to ensure that any student, regardless of geographic location or economic ability, can participate.

Learn more about how your organization can support this opportunity.

Questions?

For any comments, questions or thoughts, please email HSCYBERCHALLENGE@MERIT.EDU.

Today, January 4th, The Quilt releases its second public Request for Proposal (RFP) to select a distribution partner to provide VMware and Related Offerings to our Quilt community using a consortium-based purchasing mechanism.

The Quilt has a long and successful history of leveraging the collective purchasing power of its membership and authorized member institutions to purchase advanced networking technologies and services at a lower cost. This RFP recognizes the variety of opportunities that exist through constructive partnerships with The Quilt and the research and education networking community.

VMware is a global leader in cloud infrastructure and business mobility. The goal of this RFP effort is to identify a distribution partner, who will provide world-class customer support and is willing and able to partner in the delivery of VMware and its related offerings for the publicly-missioned institutions that are supported by our community of research and education networks throughout the United States.

Instructions and documentation for the 2019 RFP can be found HERE.

High School teams from across Michigan came to the 2018 North American International Cyber Summit (NAICS) at Cobo Center in Detroit last month for the finals of the High School Cyber Challenge, a cybersecurity competition created by Gov. Rick Snyder.

The Governor’s High School Cyber Challenge is run and facilitated by Merit Network and the Michigan Cyber Range, in partnership with the State of Michigan. Event sponsors included AmeriNet, Juniper Networks and ADVA Optical Networking.

The 10 finalist teams, comprised of three students each, completed challenges designed to test their knowledge of information technology and cybersecurity. The competition scores were based on the number of completed virtual challenges and highest demonstrated mastery of essential cybersecurity skills. The winning teams received trophies during lunch at the NAICS on Oct. 29.

Winning Teams:

• 1st Place: Cadillac High School – Cyber Vikings
• 2nd Place: Marquette Senior High School – Trsm MSHS
• 3rd Place: Okemos High School – Chiefs

To earn a spot in the finals of the Cyber Challenge, the teams competed online in the first round, which was held Oct. 1-4. Each day focused on a different topic, such as networking, programming, hacking and operating systems, and the challenges consisted of story driven multiple-choice questions. Round 1 was open-book style, in which students were encouraged to scour the internet to answer the questions. Approximately 223 teams comprised of 650 students participated in the challenge from schools located across the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan.

Merit Network, Inc. is a non-profit corporation owned and governed by Michigan’s public universities. Merit owns and operates America’s longest-running regional research and education network. In 1966, Michigan’s public universities created Merit as a shared resource to help meet their common need for networking assistance. Since its formation, Merit Network has remained on the forefront of research and education networking expertise and services. Merit provides high-performance networking and IT solutions to Michigan’s public universities, colleges, K-12 organizations, libraries, state government, health care, and other non-profit organizations.