South Florida Tech HubSouth Florida Tech Hub
19
Mar, 2024

By Nikki Cabus

Miami Dade College Becomes the First Florida College with Two Cybersecurity Programs Validated by the NSA

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Miami Dade College announced it has become the first institute in Florida to offer both associate and bachelor’s degree programs in cybersecurity after receiving its second validation from the NSA.

The National Security Agency (NSA) is a U.S. Department of Defense combat support agency and member of the U.S. Intelligence Community leading the U.S. Government in cryptology that encompasses both signals intelligence (SIGINT) insights and cybersecurity products and services, and enables computer network operations to gain a decisive advantage for the nation and allies.

At the 2nd annual South Florida Tech Hub Higher Education Conference held at MDC Wolfson Campus, College officials announced the NSA validation for the Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity through 2029, the highest standard of quality for a cybersecurity degree in the nation. MDC received NSA validation in 2022 for the Associate of Science in Cybersecurity.

“We are honored to receive this prestigious recognition from the National Security Agency,” said MDC President Madeline Pumariega.

“It underscores our commitment to expanding our cybersecurity program, solidifying the College’s position as a leader in talent development for the future workforce. We couldn’t do this without the unwavering support of our world-class faculty, esteemed partners, and industry-leading advisors.”

The distinction acknowledges MDC’s rigorous cybersecurity curriculum standards and academic delivery excellence from faculty to equip students with expert knowledge and skills to protect and defend against the cyber threat landscape. According to a letter from the NSA, the college’s ability to meet the increasing demands of the program criteria will serve the nation well in contributing to the protection of the National Information Infrastructure. The NSA’s National Cyber Strategy addresses the critical shortage of professionals with cybersecurity skills and highlights the importance of higher education as a solution to defending America’s cyberspace.

This news is a welcome addition to MDC’s prestigious designation as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense by NSA for its impressive cybersecurity curriculum. With this recent validation, students who complete MDC’s bachelor’s in cybersecurity receive explicit recognition in their transcripts. They are also eligible to apply for grants, training and scholarships from NSA and other federal partners.

With Miami Dade College (MDC) being the most diverse institution in the nation, with 167 nations and 63 languages represented in its student body, the College changes lives through accessible, high-quality teaching and learning experiences. MDC’s eight campuses and outreach centers offer over 300 distinct degree pathways, including associate and baccalaureate degrees, certifications and apprenticeships. MDC has admitted more than 2.5 million students and counting, since it opened its doors in 1960 and approximately 120,000 students are currently enrolled.

“This achievement underscores our commitment to excellence in cybersecurity education and solidifies our leadership in talent development for the future workforce,” shared Antonio Delgado, MDC’s VP of Innovation & Technology Partnerships.

“With this validation, our students gain explicit recognition on their transcripts and are eligible for internships, training and scholarships from NSA and other federal partners.”

For more information about MDC’s ‘Cybersecurity Center of the Americas’ programs, visit www.mdc.edu/cybersecurity.

 

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03
Mar, 2024

By Nikki Cabus

Miami Dade College’s Cybersecurity Program and Faculty Recognized Among the Top in the Nation by EC-Council

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Miami Dade College’s (MDC) acclaimed Cybersecurity program and Professor Dr. Diego Tibaquirá were recently recognized by the EC-Council Academia for making a lasting impact on cybersecurity education and student success. 

EC-Council is the leading IT and e-Business certification awarding body and the creator of the world famous Certified Ethical Hacker (#CEH), Computer Hacking Forensics Investigator (CHFI) and Certified Penetration Testing Professional (CPENT)/ Licensed Penetration Tester (Master). The organization has trained over 80,000 individuals and certified more than 30,000 security professionals from such fine organizations as the US Army, the FBI, Microsoft, IBM and the United Nations.

EC-Council’s certifications are recognized worldwide and have received endorsements from various government agencies including the US Federal Government via the GI Bill, National Security Agency (NSA) and the Committee on National Security Systems (CNSS). The United States Department of Defense has included the CEH program into its Directive 8570, making it as one of the mandatory standards to be achieved by Computer Network Defenders Service Providers (CND-SP).

The EC-Council Academia division supports K-12, community college and university programs by providing state-of-the-art cybersecurity technologies and opportunities to obtain globally respected industry certifications. Students graduate from these programs with the necessary skills to protect digital assets, helping to address the workforce gap, estimated to be 3.5 million unfilled cybersecurity positions in 2025.

Miami Dade College was among only five colleges and universities chosen for the 2023 Academia Circle of Excellence Award from nearly 2,000 higher education institutions across North America. 

The Cybersecurity Center of the Americas at Miami Dade College is transforming cybersecurity education by integrating the advanced hands-on training needed to be a cybersecurity professional. MDC’s comprehensive cybersecurity curriculum includes an Associate in Science, a Bachelor of Science and certifications.

MDC has been designated a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense (CAE-CD) by the National Security Agency (NSA) for Academic Years 2022-2027. These programs are offered through MDC’s School of Engineering and Technology (EnTec).

Dr. Diego Tibaquira, former United States Marine Corps and Professor of Computer Science at MDC’s Padrón Campus has been instrumental in building the cybersecurity and cloud computing curriculum at MDC. He was one of only four recipients of the Academia Instructor Circle of Excellence Award by EC-Council Academia. Dr. Tibaquira was selected from approximately 1,000 EC-Council-partnered institutions in North America. Award recipients are selected based on their impact on teaching, assessment of their instruction, student experiences, leadership and engagement with the cybersecurity community.

“What a great Honor to be selected for the “2023 Academic Instructor Circle of Excellence,” Dr. Tibaquira wrote in a social media post.

“Thank you to all my colleagues at Miami Dade College for their support and EC-Council for this Honor. To my mentors and role models Malou C. Harrison, PhD and Antonio Delgado Fornaguera for continuing to show me how to keep striving to do more for our students and community. To President Madeline Pumariega for her vision and allowing Innovation and ideas to take shape to help our College move forward. To my Deans who provide me with the support (100%) to go and do my job in the best ways possible: Niurka “Niki” Goenaga and Manny Perez.”

He concluded, “To my students who keep taking advantage of each and every opportunity the college brings to keep advancing, growing, progressing, and building our Miami Dade College Community and Community at large.”

MDC is the recipient of many top national awards, including the prestigious Aspen Prize. MDC has been recognized among the nation’s “Great Colleges to Work For” since the program’s inception. The College serves as an economic, cultural and civic leader for the advancement of our diverse global community. MDC alumni and employees contribute more than $3 billion annually to the local economy, and graduates occupy top leadership positions in every major industry. MDC has admitted more than 2.5 million students and counting, since it opened its doors in 1960. Approximately 120,000 students are currently enrolled. For more information, visit www.mdc.edu.

Learn more about MDC’s Cybersecurity programs, visit www.mdc.edu/cybersecurity/degree-programs.

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09
May, 2023

By Nikki Cabus

For the second year in a row, South Florida will once again welcome the Mark Cuban AI Bootcamp for high schoolers

Read Time 6 Minutes

For the second year in a row, South Florida will once again welcome the Mark Cuban AI Bootcamp for high schoolers to our region in the Fall. BUT, this year will be even better!

South Florida Tech Hub was able to connect the Mark Cuban Foundation with the wonderful folks at Florida Power & Light and with offices in both Palm Beach and Miami, FPL immediately saw potential to bring this program to the entire region.  Having a great relationship with Miami Dade College, FPL reached out to the MDC team who quickly hopped on board to be the first Miami location. The program launched in October 2022 in both Miami and Palm Beach counties.

We are proud to announce that this year, not two, but four Tech Hub member organizations have committed to bringing this program to South Florida ensuring that students all across all three counties (Miami, Broward and Palm Beach) can apply!

The AI Bootcamp will be targeted at underserved high school students (9th -12th grade) especially those from underrepresented groups and will introduce these high school students to basic AI concepts and skills.

“The future global competitiveness of our country depends on having as many AI literate people as possible. I think there is an untapped wealth of knowledge and innovation in underserved communities,” stated Mark Cuban, entrepreneur and founder, Mark Cuban Foundation.

The Bootcamp sessions will be held over four consecutive Saturdays starting on Oct. 14 and ending on Nov. 4. The bootcamp will run each Saturday from 2-6 PM and if accepted, high school students must commit to attending all four sessions. Aimed to increase AI literacy and understanding in students from underserved communities, the high schools students don’t need any prior experience with computer science, programming, or robotics to apply and attend. Students interested should apply by Friday, Sept. 8. (Apply at bottom of article.)

With AI being a relevant topic on many news sources, students will learn what artificial intelligence is and is not, where they already interact with AI in their own lives, and the ethical implications of AI systems—including but not limited to TikTok recommendations, smart home assistants, facial recognition, and self-driving cars, to name a few. Participants will also learn how Large Language Models like ChatGPT are changing life as we know it by answering questions, telling original stories, and even writing computer code.   

Students will benefit from volunteer corporate mentor instructors who are knowledgeable about AI, ML and data science and able to help students quickly understand material normally taught at a collegiate level. As part of the 4-hour curriculum, students will work with open source tools each day to build their own AI applications related to Computer Vision, Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing and Generative AI.  

In 2022, Grace Kurian, Executive Director of Information Technology-Nuclear at NextEra Energy Inc, led the launch of the AI Bootcamp in Palm Beach County. She told South Florida Tech Hub that months of planning, hundreds of hours, and over 22 volunteers brought the program to life. From entry-level developers to tech executives such as Grace and Michael Fowler, VP of IT and Business Unit CIO at FPL the students got to interact with tech professionals of all levels.

In it’s fifth year, the Mark Cuban AI Bootcamp is still a fairly new initiative that was founded in 2019 by the Mark Cuban Foundation. With just about 30 locations across the entire United States chosen for this program, we are so proud to have three of them right here in our backyard. The Mark Cuban Foundation has impacted 900+ students to date and has a goal to increase that number year over year.

“FPL is pleased to be the host company for Mark Cuban’s AI Boot Camp (Palm Beach) for the second consecutive year. As a company, we believe success begins with people, and this program helps introduce STEM and computer science to students that grew up with limited technology exposure,” said Jason Price, Agile Leader – EP Technologies & Innovation @ NextEra Energy Inc. (FPL parent company). “We are excited to help inspire bright young talent right in our backyard about how technology can elevate the world around them.”

Normally taught at the collegiate level, students had the opportunity to interact in hands-on workshops about chatbots, AI, Machine learning and Natural Language processing – topics many had never encountered before.

FPL is excited to welcome this year’s students into the new PGA Office Center.

 

“Office Depot is excited to support such a wonderful program this year. Exposing our students and future talent to new technologies will help the talent pool down the road by sparking their interest in AI and showcasing how it’s being used in the real world,” said Andy Parry, VP of Application Development & Support at Office Depot.

Being able to add Broward county to the programming this year and support students in the underserved community fits right in line with Office Depot’s giving efforts.

Office Depot will be sponsoring the Broward bootcamp and partnering with Nova Southeastern University’s  Levan Center of Innovation as the host venue.

“We believe that this program will help to cultivate the next generation of AI leaders, who will shape the future of technology and create a more equitable world,” said John Wensveen, Ph.D., NSU’s Chief Innovation Officer and Executive Director of the Levan Center of Innovation.

 

“Miami Dade College‘s Mark Cuban Foundation AI Bootcamp was a huge success. After only 4 weeks the high school students that attended created impressive projects around AI in Music, AI in Healthcare and AI in Safety and Security,” wrote Antonio Delgado, VP of Innovation and Technology Partnerships at Miami Dade College, in a social media post.

“Kudos to everyone involved to bring this opportunity for free to Miami students. They represent a diversity that it’s not widely seen in tech companies today. They are the next generation that will be creating meaningful AI products and applications.”

Antonio told South Florida Tech Hub that this year Miami-Dade College will be sponsoring the Miami bootcamp and hosting two camps in Miami, one at each of their AI Centers (North Campus and Downtown Wolfson) allowing them to impact even more student within the county.

The Mark Cuban Foundation is a 501(c)(3) private non-profit led by Dallas Mavericks proprietor Mark Cuban. The AI Bootcamps Program at MCF seeks to inspire young people with emerging technology so that they can create more equitable futures for themselves and their communities. The Mark Cuban Foundation provides the Bootcamp’s curriculum materials, trains corporate volunteer mentors, and recruits and scores applications for local student selected to attend camp. In addition, the corporate sponsors, work to provide food, transportation, and access to laptops for students at no cost throughout the duration of Bootcamp.

Over the course of the four four-hour-long sessions, students will:

  • identify AI in the real world
  • build their own application
  • discuss AI ethics and bias in data
  • meet and learn from AI experts

The AI Bootcamp is open to students who:

  • live and attend high school (9th–12th grade) in Miami, Broward or Palm Beach county
  • have an interest in technology and machine learning
  • can attend in-person at one of the locations outlined below

Application deadline: Friday, September 8, 2023. For answers to some of your questions, please visit markcubanai.org/faq

👉🏽 Click here to apply today!

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12
Apr, 2022

By Nikki Cabus

FPL Pledges nearly $1 Million to Support Black Students in Tech with Degree Completion

Read Time 3 Minutes

Florida Power & Light (FPL) announced an $800,000 investment in scholarships for black students to facilitate the completion of baccalaureate degrees at Miami Dade College (MDC) in the technology field. The funds from FPL will be used to cover tuition, fees, books and transportation costs for eligible black students facing a financial need over the next 4 years. This support will allow students to focus on their education, accelerating completion and entry into the tech workforce in South Florida.

FPL has had a long standing relationship with MDC. “We recognize the value in the contemporary programs, degrees and curriculum that they have developed. In some cases, we’ve partnered with them to ensure that the students are getting skills that will enable them to be competitive in technology careers,” said Michael Fowler, VP of IT and Business Unit CIO for FPL and Co-Chair of the South Florida Tech Hub Board of Directors. “I’ve personally been impressed with the nimbleness of the college to stay ahead of the technology curve.”

“It is extremely satisfying to have partners such as FPL who are raising the bar of good corporate citizenship, investing in our students and, in turn, in our community,” said MDC President Madeline Pumariega. “We must be intentional and strategic in our efforts to bridge the opportunity divide. I am especially grateful with this initiative because it is in line with and expands many things we are already doing with our groundbreaking Rising Black Scholars Program, our MOSAIC Initiative, Data Science 4 All and others.”

Last year, NextEra Energy was again named to Forbes magazine’s list of “America’s Best Employers for Diversity. “We highly value diversity of thought, style, technical and functional abilities, and leadership. Our company identified specific actions our company could take to make transformational impact in race equity,” said Grace Kurian, Senior Director, Information Technology- Nuclear. “Our focus for Black Girls Code (BGC) falls in three main areas: 1) BGC alumni engagement to strengthen the pipeline of BGC alumni, 2) upscaling BGC curriculum for students 7-17 years old interested in robotics, coding, artificial intelligence, & data analysis, and 3) scholarship endowment funds to ensure current & future BGC students have scholarships to fund for college.”

According to research, low-income working college students are less likely than their higher-income peers to get good grades or obtain bachelor’s degrees. These working learners are disproportionately black. These grant funds from FPL will potentially enable students who work full-time or part-time to work fewer hours or to stop working to concentrate on their studies without the burden of financial distractions.

“At FPL, we believe in breaking down barriers to opportunity for underserved communities, and we are always looking for ways to help empower our next generation of leaders,” said Pamela Rauch, Vice President of External Affairs and Economic Development for FPL. “FPL has long supported Miami Dade College’s technology programs and students, and we are honored to be able to expand opportunities for eligible black students to help them build an even stronger foundation for in demand technology jobs.”

As part of the Black Students in Tech grant, the School of Engineering and Technology (EnTec) lead by Manny Perez, Dean of Engineering, Technology and Design, will lead the recruitment, selection and retention of 30 students per academic year on a pathway to baccalaureate degree programs such as in Information Systems Technology, Cybersecurity, or Data Analytics. Eligible students will begin qualifying for the grants this summer term. For more information and to apply to the scholarship visit here.

MDC and FPL will host an event with students accepted into the program this coming August and ahead of the fall term to provide an update on progress and celebrate student achievement.

 

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Miami Dade College Becomes the First Florida College with Two Cybersecurity Programs Validated by the NSA
Miami Dade College’s Cybersecurity Program and Faculty Recognized Among the Top in the Nation by EC-Council
For the second year in a row, South Florida will once again welcome the Mark Cuban AI Bootcamp for high schoolers
FPL Pledges nearly $1 Million to Support Black Students in Tech with Degree Completion