Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley Recognizes Winners of U.S. Cyber Challenge National Cyber Foundations Competition

Top Winner Receives General Dynamics Cyber Scholarship

East Greenbush, N.Y. (PRWEB) July 26, 2011

Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley and the U.S. Cyber Challenge announced today the state's winners of the 2011 Spring Cyber Foundations National Competition. The competition, coordinated by the U.S. Cyber Challenge, is a national online contest to identify talented high school students with the skills to pursue advanced education and job opportunities in the cyber security field, one of the most in-demand career fields.

The Governor recognized the winners during a ceremony this morning at the State House. “On behalf of all Marylanders, I'd like to congratulate the winners of the 2011 U.S. Cyber Challenge National Cyber Foundations Competition,” said Governor O'Malley. “In Maryland, we are working hard to establish our State as a national leader in cyber security. We are so proud of their accomplishments today, and the skills our winners are learning are critical to preparing our children for the jobs of tomorrow.”

Jake Bartkowiak of Eastern Technical High School was the state's first place winner. Brendan Rowan of Poolesville High School and Paulo Alcantara of Damascus High School were the state's second and third place winners respectively. All three received trophies and Jake received a $100 gift certificate, Brendan received a $75 gift certificate and Paulo received a $50 gift certificate.

Additionally, as the state's first place winner, Jake received the General Dynamics Cyber Scholarship in the amount of $1,000. Kathy Garrison, manager of business development for Federal Systems and Cyber Solutions with General Dynamics C4 Systems made the presentation.

“The Cyber Foundations competition encourages the development of young talent in a field that is critical to our nation's future,” said Bill Ross, vice president of Federal Systems and Cyber Solutions for General Dynamics C4 Systems. ”Programs like this highlight the importance of science, technology, engineering and math education in the United States.”

Nearly 1,000 students across 26 states, 1 U.S. Territory and 135 high schools took part in the Spring 2011 Cyber Foundations competition. The contest featured a series of timed quizzes to test aptitude in the three most important foundational skills of effective cyber security: networking, operating systems, and system administration.

Maryland had 13 top scoring students in addition to the top three winners; each top scoring student received an award:

Husam                     Rizvi,                             Atholton High School
Brian                         Zhang,                            Centennial High School
Zechariah                 Weaver,                         Dr. James A. Forrest Career & Technology Center
Justin                         Smith,                             Glenelg High School
John                         Myers,                            Long Reach High School
Pisitchai                     Wichainaraphong,         Marriotts Ridge High School
Alexander                 Perepechko,                    North County High School
Julien                         Kerr,                             Oakland Mills High School
Tyler                         Eckstein,                        Quince Orchard High School
Kevin                         Kim,                             Reservoir High School
Sam                            Cheng,                         Thomas Wootton High School
Isara                         Adikarige,                     Wheaton High School
Lemuel                     Sun,                                Wilde Lake High School

“This competition is intended to be a fun and challenging way for students to improve their skills…or discover skills they didn't know they had. We want to open the doors for a new generation who will be the future stewards of our nation's cyber assets,” said Karen S. Evans, USCC National Director, who provided opening remarks at today's ceremony. “The collaboration between the public and private sectors and the education community is an important part of our efforts and we are grateful to all of the organizations that made competition possible.”

Cyber Foundations is conducted through partnerships with the SANS Institute, which develops the curriculum and competition, and the Common Knowledge Scholarship Foundation, which hosts the quizzes.

Registration is now open for the 2011 Fall Cyber Foundations.

Cyber Foundations is one of several initiatives underway through USCC, a national public-private partnership focused on identifying and developing cyber security talent to meet the country's critical cyber security workforce needs.

About U.S. Cyber Challenge
The mission of the USCC, a division of the non-profit Center for Internet Security, is to significantly reduce the shortage in the cyber workforce by serving as the premier program to identify, recruit and place the next generation of cybersecurity professionals. USCC's goal is to find 10,000 of America's best and brightest to fill the ranks of cybersecurity professionals where their skills can be of the greatest value to the nation.

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For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2011/7/prweb8669621.htm