Wichita State University
Outreach Initiatives
The Hub for Cyber Security Education and Awareness (HCEA) within the School of Computing and College of Engineering at WSU facilitates collaboration and connections that provide cybersecurity learning opportunities for children.
Current and Ongoing Initiatives
Capture the Wu
Capture the Wu (CTW), our 48-hour, Jeopardy-style Capture the Flag (CTF), began in 2023. The purpose of the event is to help high school and two-year or junior college students experience a CTF tournament before going to a national competition. Participating in CTF events, including this one, are fantastic on a resume, which can also be used later for grant proposals, salary raise requests and more. Also, future employers, graduate schools and scholarship committees are impressed. We look forward for the next CTW and hope to see more students there!
Cybersecurity Bootcamps
The School of Computing and the Hub regularly host cybersecurity boot camps that focus on open source intelligence. Students from various local middle and high schools attend and participate in the camp sessions, learning the basics of cybersecurity, how to identify information theft and misuse, the ways hackers and predators gain access to information, and open sources such as the media that can be used against an individual or entity. Sometimes, the camps culiminate in a Capture The Flag (CTF) exercise in which teams of campers compete against each other, testing their knowledge and skills they have learned and practiced during the previous days.
Past Initiatives
Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland
When the Girl Scouts of the Kansas Heartland asked the WSU College of Engineering for help rolling out a new cybersecurity badge, we connected the Girl Scouts with the 18th Intelligence Wing of the Kansas Air National Guard based at Wichita's McConnell Air Force Base. Intelligence personnel developed a program for the Girl Scouts to earn the new badge.
Envision Camp
Envision is a non-profit organization that offers services and employment to those with vision impairments. In recent years, Envision reached out to the Hub to give their students the opportunity to learn about cybersecurity. The lessons, such as how to use Linux, analyzing different file types, and discussing various firewall types, were adapted to the students' abilities in order to optimize their education in the camp.