NEW: UAH student wins U.S. Department of Energy competition

The U.S. Department of Energy recently held a national competition designed to hone cybersecurity skills and visibility by challenging students to face off in simulated cyber-focused scenarios centered on securing operational energy technology from adversarial forces.

UAH student Hunter Wittenborn came away as the winner. Here’s more:

Hunter Wittenborn wins Department of Energy contest

Hunter Wittenborn, a computer science major heading into his sophomore year this fall at UAH, topped 149 students from 77 universities and colleges across the country to emerge victorious. in the U.S. Department of Energy CyberForce competition.

The event was hosted by the DOE’s Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER) and the Argonne National Laboratory.

“The competition had a focus on cybersecurity, delving into things such as network inspection and server administration topics. There were moments that had me stumped, and even some things I hadn’t looked into before. I stayed motivated throughout the entire competition, though, and it proved to be well worth my time.”

Hunter Wittenborn, UAH student

CyberForce works to increase hands-on cyber education to college students and professionals, as well as awareness of the connection between critical infrastructure and cybersecurity and basic understanding of cybersecurity within a real-world scenario.

Each participant entered a virtual escape room with a goal to help their character, nicknamed “DUDE,” conquer five levels of varying technical skills and challenges in order to escape.

The students had to use cybersecurity, computer science, mathematics and critical-thinking skills to traverse from one level to the next. Wittenborn helped DUDE escape all five levels in the fastest time — six hours, 42 minutes and 11 seconds — and was declared the Reign Edition champion.

Cybersecurity in the workforce

The need for workers with sophisticated cyber skills is increasing. From January 2023-2024, there were only 82 workers available for every 100 cybersecurity job openings in the United States, according to 2023 CyberSeek data from the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

“Reign provides a unique and fun educational opportunity for students to absorb complex topics in a relatable way. Ideally, these students can take what they learned and use that experience to build confidence within this field.”

Amanda Theel, national laboratory lead of the CyberForce Program

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