Author: Heike Brueckner

The Sustainable Clean Energy Summit

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Registration is now open for The Sustainable Clean Energy Summit: Decarbonizing Society and the Grid on October 4, 2023.

Co-hosted by the University of Connecticut and Eversource, the summit will take place at UConn, Storrs and will bring together academic, utility, industry, municipal and legislative experts to discuss the shifting energy landscape and will feature final presentations from six student-led research teams as part of the Eversource-sponsored Clean Energy and Sustainability Innovation Program (CESIP). As part of this program, students are researching possible solutions (technical, social, and political) to address different aspects of the grand challenge of decarbonization at the local (UConn campuses), state and regional (New England) levels.

The student teams will be presenting their work at the summit. Based on their presentations and the future potential of their work, a winning team will be selected for funding. It is our hope that highlighting the important work of these students on real challenges will open the door for engaging conversations throughout the summit. We anticipate many students will attend.

The summit will open with the keynote speaker Gina McCarthy, White House National Climate Advisor and Former Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and include two panels with leaders from industry, government (state and national), and community organizations: one on the decarbonization of the grid and the second on the technologies of geothermal and hydrogen. The closing Clean Energy Engagement Fair will begin with a brief student panel representing groups from across the University, sharing their motivation and approach to involvement. Afterwards, there will be booths and resources providing information about how to get involved in the clean energy space at UConn and in the industry. We are proud of the work that every UConn student undertakes during their education to increase their citizenship and their interest in the social, economic, cultural, and natural environments of the state and beyond.

We hope you can participate. Learn more and register here!

UConn School of Engineering announces the new Engineering Center for Advanced Engineering Education

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The center allows engineering students of all backgrounds to improve their skills in cutting-edge subject areas and develop in-depth knowledge tailored to their specific professional goals. Offered through the UConn School of Engineering, the Center for Advanced Engineering Education (CAEE) offers top-tier teaching that’s relevant, accessible, interactive, convenient, and affordable.

For more information on the Center, contact Center Director Nora Sutton at nora.sutton@uconn.edu or visit advancededucation.engineering.uconn.edu. The Center can also be reached at engrcaee@uconn.edu.

Six UConn Teams Innovating Decarbonization this Summer through Unique Eversource Partnership Program

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image or house with solar cell panel and electricity battery
Image credit: Vecteezy.com

Congratulations to the six finalists selected for The Clean Energy & Sustainability Innovation Program, a summer initiative backed by a UConn-Eversource partnership. These multidisciplinary student teams receive funding and support from faculty mentors and Eversource personnel to develop their proposed innovative strategies for achieving a sustainable future on local, state, and regional levels. We are excited to see their progress showcased at the Sustainable Clean Energy Fall 2023 Summit at UConn!

Read the full article in UConn Today: https://today.uconn.edu/2023/06/six-uconn-teams-innovating-decarbonization-this-summer-through-unique-eversource-partnership-program/

 

 

UConn Team Wins National Cybersecurity Competition

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photo of The Distinguished Gentlemen of UConn Cybersecurity (l to r): Ankith Nagabandi (Comp Sci ’25), Agron Gemajli (Comp Sci ’23), Cameron Stawarz (Comp Sci ’25), Ronak Sahu (Comp Sci & Engr, Applied Math '23, returning for PhD), Nicolas Michel (Comp Sci ‘23 returning for MS). Top: Anthony Crisci (Comp Sci ‘26). Not shown: Michael Rentz (Comp Sci & Engr ’26)
The Distinguished Gentlemen of UConn Cybersecurity (l to r): Ankith Nagabandi (Comp Sci ’25), Agron Gemajli (Comp Sci ’23), Cameron Stawarz (Comp Sci ’25), Ronak Sahu (Comp Sci & Engr, Applied Math ’23, returning for PhD), Nicolas Michel (Comp Sci ‘23 returning for MS). Top: Anthony Crisci (Comp Sci ‘26). Not shown: Michael Rentz (Comp Sci & Engr ’26)

The Distinguished Gentlemen of UConn Cybersecurity emerged as champions in the standard bracket of the 2023 National Cyber League’s Spring Team Game. Employing tactics that identify vulnerabilities in computer systems and thwart cybercriminals, they achieved an outstanding victory. The team of seven was formed from the 40+ member strong UConn Cyber student club and led by club president Ronak Sahu (CSE & Applied Math ’23, returning for graduate school). Competing against university teams across the nation, the team tackled a series of simulated cybersecurity problems.

The competition served as a valuable opportunity for the club members to refine their cybersecurity skills and gain practical experience in addressing real-world cybersecurity challenges. It is a field many students aspire to work in as software engineers, responsible for safeguarding company machines and networks, which necessitates a deep understanding of computer systems that many people use without comprehending their inner workings.

While no team managed to solve all the problems, the UConn group solved 98 percent of them outright and made commendable progress on the remaining 2 percent.

One notable challenge required the team to breach a server belonging to Cyber Skyline, the competition’s sponsor. By reverse-engineering the Cyber Skyline website and exploiting a code weakness, they successfully gained access to the server and retrieved a specific file. Another task required analyzing a photograph to pinpoint its exact location. Utilizing open-source intelligence techniques and image analysis, they successfully identified the location as Shibuya City, Japan.

They also excelled in decrypting and reverse-engineering malicious software concealed within an image, discovering its intent to mine cryptocurrency. Only 15 teams out of 3,000 solved this particular challenge, and the Distinguished Gentlemen of UConn Cybersecurity were among them.

Participating in the competition additionally grants team members points towards certification from CompTIA, allowing them to showcase their practical cybersecurity skills and experience to potential employers.

For full article, see UConn Today here.