A Different Spin on Collaboration

The chapter co-sponsored a regional STEM and cyber collaboration competition called innovateAFITC in August with TechMGM, CoWerx46, HackMGM and the U.S. Air Force Chief Information Officer's office. The competition enables students, CyberPatriot participants, information technology professionals and airmen with related career backgrounds in network communications, cybersecurity, software development and STEM to quickly collaborate, share skills and experience, and bond. Students paired up with service members and industry professionals on nine teams. The diverse, multiskilled teams worked through a series of information technology and cyber-based challenges, including lines of code troubleshooting; website attack; network communications; server hardening; and mobile application pitch and build. Overall, the event encourages a community culture of cyber awareness and collaboration between government, industry and academia.