Seated, from left,
Trevor Taylor and Ben Davis. Standing, left, Joe Wilson, Matt Virus and Randy
Bosetti. Photo by Tim Fitzgerald / University Affairs
Building Bridges
NUCIA connecting laboratories, UNO
Matt Virus was 16 years old when his parents
bought him a graphing calculator. After he hooked the calculator up to a
computer, "I decided the computer was a whole lot more interesting." • Joe
Wilson worked for the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation,
conducting computer research for agents investigating outlaw motorcycle gangs.
His duties put him undercover at the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, where he
assisted agents by retrieving and preserving evidence gleaned from their
computers and cameras. • A product of home-schooling, Trevor Taylor got his
first computer tech support job when he was 17 and soon afterward helped set up
and launch the help desk for a large local information corporation. • Ben Davis
became impressed with the power of computers while watching his father work and
began contracting his services out while attending classes at Skutt Catholic
High School in Omaha. • Randy Bosetti taught himself the computer programming
language C++ when he was 9 years old and started asking some pretty grown-up
questions. "I looked around our house and saw that our toaster, our microwave,
our TV, everything worked but our computer," Bosetti recalls. "Our computer
kept crashing. I wanted to know why."
Five unique young men, each drawn like steel
to a magnet by the UNO College of Information Science & Technology. The
common attraction, they say, is the Nebraska University Consortium on
Information Assurance (NUCIA).
"I did considerable research online," says
Wilson, 25, of Pierre, S.D. "When I checked into the college and NUCIA, from
its certification to the courses in information assurance, I saw it had
everything I wanted."
Information assurance (IA) is the design,
implementation and support of secure information systems.
NUCIA (pronounced "new-sha") teaches and
trains IA students and professionals, conducts applied research and forms partnerships
with government entities, corporations and organizations to collaborate on the
theory and practice of information assurance. It is a designated National
Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance by the U.S. Department
of Homeland Security and the National Security Agency.
Virus, 25, of Hebron, Neb., is working to
obtain his master's degree in management information systems (MIS) with a
concentration in IA. He credits NUCIA with cultivating his interest in network
security.
That interest led him and fellow MIS student
Wilson to fill temporary positions at U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) at
Offutt Air Force Base. As part of their work they developed and demonstrated
open source secure thin client solutions to personnel at USSTRATCOM and
Northrop Grumman Corp. in Bellevue.
So pleased are USSTRATCOM officials with the
two graduate students' performance that permanent employment contracts are "in
the works."
Undergrad students Bosetti, Davis and Taylor
served summer internships the past two years at the Pacific Northwest National
Laboratory (PNNL) in Richland, Wash. PNNL is one of the U.S. Department of
Energy's (DOE) 10 national laboratories and is managed by the DOE Office of
Science. The lab performs research for other DOE offices, government agencies,
universities and private industry.
Once again, officials were so impressed with
their individual performances that Davis, 20, and Bosetti, 23, have been
granted limited-term employment contracts to continue their PNNL projects at
UNO, while Taylor, 25, has "a standing job offer" to work at the laboratory.
Each credits his success to the opportunities
they've received at UNO, both through the Scott Scholar and National Science
Foundation Cybercorp scholarship programs and through the leadership of NUCIA
Director Dr. Blaine Burnham.
"In our case at PNNL, Dr. Burnham was
incredibly instrumental in getting us pulled up there," Taylor says. "The lab
only takes a limited number of students for internships each year through all
aspects of the work they do, so for the three of us to be able to go was a very
unique opportunity."
Wilson says the same is true for the chance to
work at STRATCOM. "Dr. Burnham is a huge resource for the college and the
students."
Burnham is a veteran of work with the NSA and
information assurance duties at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and Sandia
Laboratory in New Mexico. Before coming to UNO he served as director of the
Georgia Tech Information Security Center.
It was
the second summer for the NUCIA interns to be selected for work at PNNL,
Burnham says.
"The first year they performed really well,"
he says. "They were good, solid contributors. The second year, they were able
to get much more deeply engaged in the work, and because of that contributed
greatly to the success of the project.
"That's unheard of, having your interns become
that valuable in that short a period of time."
Burnham hopes to expand the collaboration
between PNNL, NUCIA and the college.
"We're looking at future opportunities to
establish a rotational relationship with the lab, not just for our students but
also for a working exchange between lab personnel and our faculty," he says.
"We're building a laboratory-university bridge that I hope will be a
partnership with synergy that benefits both participants."
Other universities provide interns to PNNL,
"but we're the only university that has ever stepped up to build a more viable,
valuable relationship," Burnham says.
He says the success of relationships with
USSTRATCOM and PNNL have more to do with the quality of students at the college
and The Peter Kiewit Institute (PKI) than any connections he has made.
"These kids all come from the pool of bright
minds that benefits tremendously from the Walter Scott scholarship program and
the other opportunities here at PKI," Burnham says. "They are making a
difference in the work they do and in the lives they live."
Bosetti says NUCIA attracts many talented
students — and that each benefits from the dedication and personal interest
shown by Burnham, Associate Director Alex Nicoll, and senior research fellows
Matt Myers, Steve Nugen, Matt Payne and Tim Vidas.
"It's not just us five students who have done
this well," Bosetti says. "Everybody Dr. Burnham talks to ends up at a national
lab or some prestigious facility. He's good at finding the right fit for the
right people."
Virus agrees. "Dr. Burnham has a way of
recognizing talent and ability and then putting that person in the best
position to succeed."
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From left, students Ryan Barber,
John Stockwell, Lacey Jacobson and Sarah Asher, instructors Judy Kelsey and Dr.
Donna Dufner, students Jeffrey Cosgrove, Devotha Mahai, Amanda Nelson, Cheyanne
Swarthout, Fajr Cooperwood and Ashley Hayden.
Serving time
Honors students tutor corrections
center inmates through service-learning course
When computer
science major Andy Behne enrolled in a service-learning course to teach inmates
at the Douglas County Corrections Center computer basics, he figured he might
meet a burglar or two. Instead, he met a biology major. Behne was assigned to
tutor a young man who not only wanted to get out from behind bars but who also
knows where he wants to go in life afterward.
"He knew computer
basics, so instead we began working on his objectives," says Behne, a Scott
Scholar and senior from Brainard, Neb. "We worked up a resume, and because he's
so focused on graduating, we mapped out what he needs to do to get to that
point and beyond."
Directed by Donna
Dufner, associate professor at the College of Information Science and
Technology, the course debuted in the fall of 2006. Thirteen honors students
teach basic computer skills to inmates at the jail one day a week. There is one
class for men and another for women. The course is part of UNO's Service Learning
Academy. Five computers were provided by a grant from Metropolitan Community
College.
Dufner says she got
the idea during a tour of the jail facility while part of a Leadership Omaha
class.
"The inmates all
looked so bored, I wanted to see what I could do to help them," she recalls.
"They aren't all hardened criminals. These are people who have made mistakes.
And while they can't erase what they've done, they want to improve their lives
and their chances for success."
For many, she says,
that comes down to having a plan. Using a computer to put it all on paper can
help.
"It's important for
people to have objectives, and I believe if those objectives are written down
it improves your chances of reaching those objectives," she says. "It's nice to
know where you want to go, but you have to know how you plan to get there."
The inmates, whose
criminal histories are not shared with Dufner or the student tutors, are
courteous and eager to learn. The atmosphere is more classroom than jailhouse.
The UNO students and
instructors undergo background checks and wear identification badges and
business casual clothes while at the jail. Dufner carries a protective "slap
pack" that would instantly summon jail guards if needed, but says she has never
felt threatened.
"It isn't a fearful
situation at all," she says. "The only noticeable difference between the people
in the room is that some are wearing orange jumpsuits."
The class is limited
to low-risk inmates. They use the computers only during the class and do not
have access to the Internet. They do not earn college credit for the course but
do receive certificates showing that they have received training in Microsoft
Windows and Office.
With the help of
their tutors, the inmates learn how to write letters to their families or to
respond to employment advertisements in the newspaper. Some simply want to
improve their grammar or their English skills.
"We try to provide
them some self-esteem and give a little mental release through the work,"
Dufner says. "We want them to relax, enjoy and learn."
The course will
continue in the fall, and Dufner hopes it becomes a source for research into
criminal justice, computer science and learning-experience projects.
A presentation about
the course was well received by the Douglas County Board.
Friendships between
the inmates and their teachers indicate the program's success. "The end of last
semester," Dufner says, "there wasn't a dry eye in the room."
She tells the story
of an inmate who needed to write a letter for a court appearance that day. When
asked why she had waited until the last minute, the woman told Dufner she
wasn't sure anyone would be willing to help.
"So I went in on my
own outside of class time to help her with that letter," Dufner says.
"When we were done,
she fell into my arms and burst into tears, all because someone showed her they
cared."
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Big dreams, microenterprises
IS&T students provide IT assistance to north Omaha
entrepreneurs
Eight north Omaha microenterprises benefited
during the fall semester from a service-learning course taught by Professors
Peter Wolcott and Sajda Qureshi of the College of Information Science and
Technology.
The course, IT for Development, partnered nine
students with the microenterprises to solve issues relating to the use of
information technology as a tool to help grow their businesses.
The microenterprises were recipients of
Techquity technology mini-grants from the eBay Foundation and the Association
for Economic Opportunity, administered by the New Community Development
Corporation. Wolcott attended a workshop sponsored by UNO's Service Learning
Academy in January 2006 that sparked the idea of UNO students partnering with
grant recipients to help them apply technology for development.
The eight microenterprises ranged from Lola's
Deli to the Dorothy B. Halfway House.
Abdelnasser Abdelaal and Jerry England
assisted the Halfway House by installing WiFi LAN for its guests. Abdelaal says
the project was a valuable experience.
"I learned that schools can serve as an anchor
partner for community development, particularly in underserved or rural areas,"
he says. "It's a win-win situation for the schools, students, local businesses
and the community. Students gained expertise and schools got engaged with the community.
"I'll do it again."
Wolcott says teamwork was a big part of the
course.
"Students worked as individuals and in pairs
with the entrepreneurs, and the class served as a sounding board for issues and
proposed solutions," he says. "The whole class offered advice or relevant
information and constructive criticism."
Wolcott says the students gained knowledge
beyond the work entailed in the projects.
"They learned to be sensitive to the
entrepreneurs' needs, attitudes, schedules and businesses," he says.
"They also learned firsthand to appreciate the
need for technology solutions that can be easily maintained over time and are
compatible with technology skills, comfort levels and economic circumstances.
"I think they all grew in their admiration for
microenterprise owners, people who have the determination and courage to start
their own businesses in the face of many challenges."
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