Southeast was edged out by DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois, which now will represent the Midwest and advance to the National CCDC April 22-24 in San Antonio, Texas.
Dr. Vijay Anand director of Southeasts cybersecurity program, faculty advisor to Southeasts cybersecurity team and assistant professor of polytechnic studies, said, “We had a team led by a woman, the youngest among all competitors. We were the only team with freshmen and no graduate students. I think we did really well. The team that beat us was a team of majority graduate students. I am proud of what they accomplished in a short period of time.”
On behalf of the entire University, I extend my sincere congratulations to the team, said Dr. Carlos Vargas, president of Southeast Missouri State University. We are proud of their performance. This is a wonderful accomplishment.
St. Cloud University of Minnesota took third place. Other teams that competed at the regional were: Baker College Flint; Baldwin Wallace University; Indiana Tech; Madison Area Technical College; Milwaukee School of Engineering; North Iowa Area Community College; and the University of Louisville.
Southeast advanced to the Midwest Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition after taking first place in March at the 2016 Midwest Collegiate Cyber Defense Qualification Competition.
“I am extremely proud of our team,” said Dr. Chris McGowan, dean of the College of Science, Technology and Agriculture. “They continue to do well in this competition year after year.”
Southeast students competing were Alex Clinton of Sidney, Ohio; James Eilers of OFallon, Missouri; Jonathan Snow of Florissant, Missouri; Lucas Kossack of Grantsburg, Illinois; JoLynn Hallmark of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Zachary Peek of Aviston, Illinois; Thomas DePriest of St. Louis, Missouri; and Tusita Gunaratne of Negombo, Sri Lanka. Alternates were Jonathan Fulling of Bloomington, Illinois;Jasmeet Singh Kukreja of Delhi, India;and William Reed of Festus, Missouri.