Arkansas Tech opens cybersecurity lab
RUSSELLVILLE — Arkansas Tech University is home to a new cybersecurity lab designed to help prepare the online security experts of the future. Located on the first floor of Corley Hall on the ATU campus in Russellville, the cybersecurity lab was built in pods that enable team-based activities such as hackathons and programming contests.
The renovated space includes a server room dedicated specifically to the cybersecurity lab, an upgrade that allows students to engage in more project-based learning in a secure environment. In addition, the lab provides students with real-time data about online threats that exist around the globe.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who facilitated funding for the ATU cybersecurity lab, toured the facility during a visit to campus this summer. He spoke about the importance of producing graduates in cybersecurity and related fields.
“The demand is extraordinary across the country,” Hutchinson said. “Arkansas has as great a demand as anyone because of Walmart and the industry that is here. They must have those information-technology and cybersecurity professionals. You are in a good field, and you should have great opportunities right here [in Arkansas].
“This is so critical, what you are doing at Arkansas Tech, for our state. We have to produce professionals in cybersecurity, information technology, computer science, software engineering and electrical engineering. We must have these graduates, because otherwise, we are going to lose companies and be unable to attract companies. It is so beneficial to us.”
Hutchinson met with two junior ATU cybersecurity students during his tour of the lab. Spencer Massengale of Dover and Zachary Spadoni of White Hall serve as co-presidents of the ATU Cybersecurity Club. They are on pace to be among the first ATU students to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in cybersecurity.
Spadoni explained that the previous classrooms utilized by ATU cybersecurity students did not have the capacity or security necessary to engage in full-scale projects.
“Now, since we have this awesome lab, we can keep everything right here and not have to leave,” Spadoni said.
“With this lab, we’ve become probably the most sophisticated and growing cybersecurity program in the state. We can put our feet on the ground and start sprinting with that,” he said.
“The curriculum in all of our programs is designed to help students be better prepared for the workplace,” said Luay Wahsheh, head of the ATU Department of Computer and Information Science. “The curriculum is always evolving to bridge the gap between what we offer at the university and what industry and government agencies need.”
Visit www.atu.edu/cis to learn more about the ATU Department of Computer and Information Science.