MTU Offering New Certificate to Address Cybersecurity Talent Gap

by Michigan Tech Global Campus

In the last decade, cyberattacks have grown in sophistication, frequency and size — and according to USA Today, data breaches and ID theft are still hitting records. On July 4, Cybernews reported that a file containing nearly 10 billion plain text passwords was posted on a hacker forum.

At the same time, many organizations are struggling to fill critical positions. The global cybersecurity employment gap reached 4 million workers in 2023 according to a cybersecurity workforce study by ISC2, the International Information System Security Certification Consortium. In a white paper released in April, the World Economic Forum estimated that the gap could expand to 85 million by 2030.

To help train more cybersecurity professionals, Michigan Tech’s College of Computing is offering a certificate in the Foundations of Cybersecurity, available both in person and online. In nine credits, students will identify and describe the foundational principles of securing both a computer system and a computer network. They’ll also study the fundamentals of secure software development and learn to apply them effectively.

Learn more at the Michigan Tech Global Campus News blog.

Financial Consulting with TIAA

by Benefits Services

Making decisions about your money can feel difficult, especially when it comes to retirement. But you don’t have to go it alone — especially since access to financial consulting is included as part of your retirement plan. They will help you determine whether you’re saving enough, invested appropriately and on track.

Matthew Bunch and Ryan Hallowell from the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA) will be available on Michigan Tech's campus for one-on-one sessions starting next Monday, July 29, through Aug. 8, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.

  • Matthew Bunch — Monday, July 29, to Thursday, Aug. 1
  • Ryan Hallowell — Monday, Aug. 5, to Thursday, Aug. 8

RSVP today, as space is limited. You can register for sessions with TIAA directly by logging in to your TIAA or guest account, then searching for "Michigan Tech" in the Institution field. When asked how you would like to meet, select "In Person at My Employer."

You can also register for a meeting by calling TIAA at 800-732-8353 on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET.

PhD Defense: Casey Majhor, ECE

by Electrical and Computer Engineering

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering candidate Casey Majhor will defend his doctoral dissertation on Friday, July 26, at 1 p.m. in person in EERC 122 and virtually via Zoom.

The title of the dissertation is "Performance Characterization and Optimization of a Point-Cloud-Based Path Planner in Off-Road Terrains."

Majhor is advised by Jeremy Bos.

New Funding

Timothy Havens (CS/GLRC/ICC) is the principal investigator on a project that has received a $200,000 research applied grant from the U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The project is titled "Capacitating machine vision research at FWS Green Bay Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office."

Phillipe Wernette (GLRC/ICC) and Evan Lucas (CC/GLRC/ICC) are co-PIs on this potential one-year project.

In the News

Kiko de Melo e Silva (CEGE) was a guest on the July 19 episode of Interlochen Public Radio's Points North podcast, titled “Pedaling to the Beat of His Own Drum.” The episode discusses de Melo e Silva’s reputation as a local legend among Upper Peninsula mountain bike race competitors. Most compete with expensive gear and bikes, but de Melo e Silva rides a $150 BMX bike named Glamour Girl.

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Jung Yun Bae (ME-EM) was quoted by Michigan Ag Connection and Kalamazoo’s WWMT News Channel 3 in more stories about Michigan Tech engineering students’ partnership with Lucky Clover Farm in Otsego County to create a robot to harvest lavender plants.

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Beth Fitzpatrick (ADM) was quoted by Thrillist in a travel story providing tips to keep suits “looking sharp” when packing them for trips.

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David Kamrad (TRIO) was quoted and Michigan Tech chefs Erik Copeland, Luis Delgado, Abbie Linden and Michael Porter were mentioned by The Daily Mining Gazette in a story about the culinary cook-off held July 17 as part of TRIO Upward Bound’s summer program at MTU. Husky Eats partnered with TRIO to hold the event, which had 23 local high school students participate.

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WLUC TV6 and WZMQ 19 News ran stories about the “final exam” of Michigan Tech Summer Youth Programs’ 2024 Aviation course, which ran last week from July 14-19. On the last day, participants had a chance to pilot a real aircraft through the skies of Houghton County. Aviation students Liisa Ylitalo, Patrick Heckel and Madeline Chopp were quoted in the stories.

Reminders

Print Server Maintenance Tonight

Michigan Tech IT will be upgrading print servers tonight, July 22, from 6-7 p.m. This will affect husky-bw, husky-color and departmental printers.

During this time, some print jobs may be canceled if sent while a change occurs. In this case, customers should resend their job to the print queue.

If you have any questions, we can help. Contact IT at it-help@mtu.edu or call 906-487-1111.

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Lunch and Learn: Student Hiring Process Updates

Human Resources will be hosting a Lunch and Learn for staff members who handle student hiring for their departments to learn about recent updates to the process. Please join us from noon to 1:30 p.m. tomorrow, July 23, in the Alumni Lounge of the MUB.

Today, July 22, is the last day to RSVP for the event. Light lunch items will be available for those who attend.

If you have any questions, please contact us at hr-help@mtu.edu or 906-487-2280.