Students gain cyber immersion in summer

Two University of North Georgia (UNG) students further enhanced their skills this summer at Cyber Summer Immersion events funded by the Department of War.

Oliver Carrillo, a junior from Gainesville, Georgia, pursuing a degree in cybersecurity, attended a five-day Cyber Summer Immersion at Texas A&M, followed by a July 20-24 event at UNG. Neal Hall, a senior from Dawsonville, Georgia, pursuing degrees in cybersecurity and modern languages with a Russian language and literature concentration, attended the UNG Cyber Summer Immersion.

Hall was grateful for what he experienced at UNG's Dahlonega Campus during the summer program.

"I not only refreshed what I knew, but it helped me learn even more about every aspect of cybersecurity," Hall said.

Hall previously attended a Cyber Summer Immersion at Virginia Tech in 2024.

UNG's Cyber Summer Immersion, dubbed Cyber GoldMINE, hosted 14 students from the nation's six senior military colleges. Topics included reverse engineering, car hacking, quantum computing, critical infrastructure, and memory and network forensics. Three UNG faculty members and one from The Citadel led students in hands-on exercises and labs, capped by a half-day capture-the-flag competition on the final day.

Students at Cyber GoldMINE also took part in tubing on the Chestatee River, gold-panning and touring an underground gold mine.

"It was really nice how we were able to have hands-on practice instead of just learning in a classroom," Carrillo said. "I was able to see that everything I'm learning here at UNG is giving me real-world skills."

It marked a helpful extension of the experiences he has gained while learning from his UNG faculty during the academic year.

"They take their time to make sure you're really absorbing the information," Carrillo said.

Dr. Bryson Payne, director of UNG's Institute for Cyber Operations, said Cyber GoldMINE was successful in training cyber warriors thanks to the efforts of Caitlin Conneely, Institute for Cyber Operations deputy director for operations and outreach, and Daniel Baker, instructional technology support specialist.

The Institute is funded by the Department of War.