logo
STEMfest 2025: How the Georgia Cyber Center helps to further the education of STEM and Cyber

STEMfest 2025: How the Georgia Cyber Center helps to further the education of STEM and Cyber

Yahoo17-04-2025

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF)- The 2025 Cyber Georgia STEMfest hosting several middle school students, Wednesday morning.
100 students from throughout the CSRA spending time here at the Georgia Cyber Center experiencing all things STEM and Cyber Security for the annual event.
'I just want to be a nuclear engineer like my dad,' 6th grader Branson Pisarskiy said.
For students like Branson Pisarskiy, STEMfest is a dream.
'My dad is a nuclear engineer, and I've been really interested in tech and engineer since then…' Pisarskiy said. 'I mean, CTF– when I learned that it was ethical hacking– that kind of made me get some interest in this.'
Pisarskiy is just one who sees themselves having a future in STEM and Cyber.
'I want to be, maybe something related to cyber security, maybe something like an engineer or something…' 6th grader Rhea Parayil said.
Students had the chance to experience engaging STEM and Cyber activities like 'To The Sky' Design Challenge, Ethical Hacking Escape Room, and a vendor fair to learn more about careers in the industry.
'The first thing they say to me when I get feedback is 'you can't get this in the classroom…'' Georgia Cyber Center Director of Outreach and Engagement Todd Gay said.
'In class, we kind of have to sit down and it's more of like a controlled environment. Here it's like you get more, actual experience,' Parayil said.
The event included students from both Georgia and South Carolina and is presented by the Georgia Cyber Center and the Cyber Fusion Innovation Center.
'We're the only place in the country that has government, state and federal, academia, Augusta University School of Computer and Cyber Sciences and Augusta Technical College and private industry under one roof,' Gay said.
The Cyber center hosts the event twice a year– the next one being for high school students in the CSRA. For information on how to sign up, visit.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Lucinity Appoints Payoneer CCO and Goldman Sachs MD as Strategic Advisors
Lucinity Appoints Payoneer CCO and Goldman Sachs MD as Strategic Advisors

Yahoo

time2 days ago

  • Yahoo

Lucinity Appoints Payoneer CCO and Goldman Sachs MD as Strategic Advisors

REYKJAVIK, Iceland, June 06, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lucinity has expanded its Advisory Council with the appointment of industry leaders Micheal Sheehy, Chief Compliance Officer at Payoneer, and Konstantinos Rizakos, Managing Director of Compliance Engineering at Goldman Sachs. Both bring deep expertise to Lucinity from their experience in managing large compliance and technology programs across global financial institutions. Lucinity helps financial institutions detect and investigate financial crime faster and smarter using AI-powered tools. Its Advisory Council brings together industry leaders to guide the company's international expansion, go-to-market strategy, and customer-driven product innovation. Micheal brings over a decade of leadership across AML/CTF, payments compliance, and regulatory risk management. He has extensive experience leading global FCC/compliance operations in the U.S., Europe, and APAC. At Payoneer and throughout his career, he has built and scaled compliance programs, managed regulatory obligations across highly regulated markets, and implemented advanced RegTech solutions. His hands-on expertise with the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act, various EU AML directives, and multiple APAC regulatory frameworks will be instrumental in guiding Lucinity's strategy to serve clients operating globally. Konstantinos has been a leading figure in compliance technology for over twenty years, having run the Compliance application portfolios at Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and Morgan Stanley. He has been an advocate of machine learning, workflow automation, and large-scale data platforms, and has driven their adoption in the industry as a whole. In the (new) age of AI, he plays an active role in AI product governance and in steering enterprise platforms, both through committee memberships and by launching an AI product management course at NYU Stern School of Business. Micheal and Konstantinos both bring a rare combination of regulatory expertise and technical depth that will help shape Lucinity's global strategy and platform evolution. Their expertise will help Lucinity deepen its impact: improving investigation efficiency, enhancing team productivity, and reducing the cost and complexity of compliance for financial institutions. "We brought in Micheal and Konstantinos because they've built and run compliance programs at the highest levels. They know what works, what breaks, and what it takes to scale. They understand where compliance is headed, and with their guidance, our product will be moving faster, getting better, and raising the bar for the industry," said Guðmundur Kristjánsson (GK), CEO and Founder of Lucinity. Lucinity's Advisory Council now includes: Ed Wilson - Former Partner at Venable LLP with legal expertise in cross-border financial law Tanya Ziv - Former CCO at Visa Cross-Border Solutions and Former COO at Yapily Frank Lawrence - VP and Head of Global Operations, Legal and Chief Compliance Officer at Facebook Payments John McCarthy - Former AML/Sanctions Officer at Airbnb with law enforcement expertise Micheal Sheehy - Chief Compliance Officer at Payoneer Konstantinos Rizakos - Managing Director of Compliance Engineering at Goldman Sachs As Lucinity continues to scale globally, the addition of Micheal and Konstantinos brings vital real-world insight to further align Lucinity's platform with the goals of global compliance leaders. Contact: Celina Pablo celina@ +354 792 4321

Col. Co. leaders start plans for new data center and technology park in Appling
Col. Co. leaders start plans for new data center and technology park in Appling

Yahoo

time2 days ago

  • Yahoo

Col. Co. leaders start plans for new data center and technology park in Appling

APPLING, Ga. (WJBF) – With a rise in cyber technology, Columbia County leaders are starting to work on plans to bring a data center to Appling. After recent discussions about ways to improve the county, Economic Development Authority Director Cheney Eldridge says they saw the need for a data center. 'Anything you do on the internet runs through a data center, so they're very important to have—not just for the country, but here in this community,' said Eldridge. County leaders have sent a rezoning application for almost 2000 acres near Morris Callaway Road. They're working with Trammel Crow, a commercial real estate firm out of Atlanta. 'They came to us when we were looking at this piece of property, and have really been with us the whole time working together through a public-private partnership. They're simply an intermediary between us and whoever would come in and locate within this park,' said Eldridge. She says they strategically picked that location, as nearby White Oak Business Park hosts operations for Club Car and Amazon's fulfillment center. 'I think it's important to keep all of these together, because the last thing we want is a splattered amount of projects all over. Industrial, a data center, or even an office park. You want to keep things together just like you want residential together,' Eldridge said. They are not planning on the data center to be an extension of White Oak Business Park, but workers will use that area to access the building. 'Access will come through the business park, and they'll access the property that way,' the director added. 'They'll come off of the highway as opposed to coming off of Morris Callaway.' The idea is to hire network engineers to operate at the center—what the authority hopes is a golden opportunity to create more jobs for those coming from Augusta University and Fort Eisenhower. 'Right now, a lot of the folks that are coming out of Fort Eisenhower are not able to find the right job that meets their skills. What we will have with this data center park is plenty of jobs that are exactly what we have coming out of Fort Eisenhower, and through the pipeline that we're building,' Eldridge said. The county is still working on costs and timelines with Trammel Crow. But with more jobs and generated tax revenue expected, they see it as a win-win. 'Any time you go on Facebook to look at pictures of your grandchildren, or you want to send a photo of your dog to a friend—you need a data center. It's integral for this country to have this type of infrastructure in place. I see it as an opportunity for this community to benefit from a necessary infrastructure that's going to have to go in any way,' said Eldridge. The county is now waiting on next steps with the developer. The construction timeline will take place over the next several years. 'I think you might see things start in the next few years. But for this size of a piece of property, for it to be fully built out will probably take 20 to 30 years,' Eldridge said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Detroit schools will celebrate a serious commitment to STEM and the community is invited
Detroit schools will celebrate a serious commitment to STEM and the community is invited

Yahoo

time3 days ago

  • Yahoo

Detroit schools will celebrate a serious commitment to STEM and the community is invited

The ability to 'write their own ticket' is a superpower that is often applied to bright, up-and-coming, future professionals that have acquired in-demand STEM skills that make today's employers take notice. In Detroit, at schools across the Detroit Public School Community District (DPSCD), there are dedicated teachers, administrators and other community stakeholders that talk about a 'STEM Movement,' which continues to pick up steam. The importance of STEM education to the district will be on full display Thursday evening, June 5, during the sixth annual DPSCD STEM Awards gala that will take place within the Martin Luther King Jr. Senior High School auditorium. The community is invited to attend the festivities where more than300 honorees connected to K-12 schools will be celebrated for their high achievements in a variety of STEM-related activities, including the Science & Engineering Fair of Metro Detroit, Academic Games, Math Bee, robotics and chess. And no ticket is needed for admission to the free event, which is scheduled to begin at 5:30 pm. 'You don't have to be a parent or a relative of one of the honorees to attend, if you're a part of the village and care about young people in Detroit, we hope you will show up at King High School's beautiful auditorium and cheer our young people on,' DPSCD School Board Member Angelique Peterson-Mayberry, who chairs the board's Curriculum/Academic committee and also will serve as master of ceremonies during the STEM Awards gala, stated as final preparation was being completed for Thursday's event. Many of the students — representing more than 50 schools — that will be receiving customized trophies and medals, created with special care by Livonia-based A.J. Bros. LLC, have already had an opportunity to compete with and against other top students from outside of Detroit. For example, Detroit students and teams that participate in robotics, chess and Academic Games — a unique collection of games including math contests (Equations and On-Sets) — have regularly participated in competitions on the state and national levels. 'Often public education doesn't get its due, but we want our parents and community to know that this is what public education looks like in its most holistic form,' said Peterson-Mayberry, who will be making another happy return to King High School, where she graduated in 1992 out of the MSAT (Mathematics, Science and Applied Technology) program. 'There is a prize at the end for all the students that will be recognized because they are gaining tools that they will use in life.' In addition to the awards presented to the students, special awards will be given to STEM coaches — representing DPSCD educators and community volunteers — that have gone above and beyond the call of duty. And then there are the Principal 3 for 3 Awards that will be awarded to principals that have made a special effort to promote STEM by providing robotics, Academic Games and chess programs at their schools. 'For our coaches and school principals that make our STEM programs successful, we just want to say thank you for dedicating their time and talent to our young people outside of the classroom,' said Peterson-Mayberry, who will be joined on the King auditorium stage throughout the program by her fellow Class of 1992 King classmate Carl Hollier, musically known as DJ Invisible, who is expected to supply doses of pulsating music and witty banter as he has done at previous DPSCD STEM Awards galas, where students make a red carpet entrance as they file into the auditorium. Another hat that Peterson-Mayberry wears in the community includes being a Global Diversity Equity Inclusion Manager for manufacturing employees at Ford Motor Company. And as it turns out, she also will be joined on Thursday evening by others from the automotive community that have taken a special interest in STEM education at DPSCD schools, including representatives from General Motors, the sponsor of this year's STEM Awards gala, through a generous contribution made to the Detroit Public Schools Community District Foundation. "Innovation is the heart of the automotive industry, and STEM education fuels that creativity,' General Motors' Rhonda Fields, Portfolio Lead for STEAM Education, said. 'By supporting the DPSCD STEM Awards, we're strengthening a culture of problem-solving, investing in the future workforce, and inspiring students to see the possibilities within STEM careers. 'We want young minds to know that their talents can lead to groundbreaking advancements — not just in automotive, but across many industries that shape our world." This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Special evening planned for shining STEM stars in Detroit

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store