CCRI Cybersecurity Advisory Board Meeting - March 11, 2026

March 11, 2026 | 2:00 p.m.

Attendees

  • Mike Kelly, Cybersecurity Program Director
  • Mike Steinmetz
  • Frank Tweedie
  • Aaron Bouchard
  • Anthony Hanos
  • Karen Allen
  • Patrick Colantino (Virtually)
  • Christine Turenius-Bell (Virtually)

Absent

  • Dean Grammas
  • Liz DelSesto
  • Chelsea Levesque

Note: Several Advisory Board members were unable to attend due to participation in the Rhode Island
College CMMC Conference

1. Welcome and Member Updates

Mike Kelly welcomed attendees and provided several member and college updates.

  • Frank Tweedy shared that he has retired but has to Johnson & Wales University in a new
    role as Executive Director of Cybersecurity and Coreturned mputer Science Education
  • Chelsea Levesque was not able to attend but succeeds in Molly McGee’s role as our
    newest Advisory Board member representing SENEDIA.
  • The department has officially been renamed from Computer Studies to the Department
    of Computer Science and Cybersecurity, reflecting the growth of the cybersecurity
    program.
  • Mike announced that Marianne Rainmondo has joined CCRI as Vice President for
    Academic Affairs. She previously served as Dean of the School of Business at Rhode
    Island College.

2. Academic Program Updates

Curriculum Changes

The Advisory Board received updates on several curriculum initiatives.

  • Cisco NetAcad has been removed from the curriculum beginning this semester due to
    ongoing challenges in recruiting Cisco-certified faculty. Networking instruction will now
    utilize vendor-neutral curriculum, providing greater flexibility in staffing courses. As a
    result, networking courses can now be offered at the Newport campus and taught by a
    broader group of qualified instructors.
  • Faculty continue to discuss restructuring of the existing networking courses.
  • Computer Ethics has been approved as a General Education course, creating space within
    the cybersecurity curriculum for future coursework, including a possible cloud computing
    component.
  • We now have a 2 + 2 with RIC. Additionally, a Joint Admission Agreement (JAA) for
    Cybersecurity with Rhode Island College will become effective April 6, 2026.

Student Recruitment and Diversity

Mike Kelly discussed continued efforts to increase participation by women in cybersecurity
through the development of a Women in Cyber student chapter. While participation has been
limited thus far, the program remains committed to expanding the initiative.

3. Student Engagement and Co-Curricular Activities

Cyber Club

The Cyber Club continues to experience significant growth.

  • Club meetings are scheduled for Mondays and a variety of Wednesdays
    • Monday meetings regularly attract approximately 15-20 students.
    • Wednesday sessions focus on projects, technical activities, and professional
      development.
  • Recent activities have included:
    • Guest speakers from MIKEL
    • Student technical presentations
    • Python presentations
    • Career Services resume workshops
  • Students are increasingly leading club activities and presentations.

Student Competitions

Students continue to perform well in a large variety of competitions.

Recent results included:

  • National Cyber League Spring 2025 — 27th of 510 teams
  • National Cyber League Fall 2025 — 29th of 4,900 teams
  • Mountain West Cyber Challenge — 19th of 77 teams
  • Hack The Box “Tinsel Trouble” — 418th of more than 7,000 participants (International – Top 3 (France, Canada, France)

Joint club event with Johnson & Wales University included collaborative student teams working
together on cybersecurity projects. Future friendly competitions between the two institutions are
being explored.

Upcoming competitions include:

  • NCAE Regional Cyber Games (March 14)

Note: The Rhode Island College Hackathon has been postponed and will be rescheduled.

4. Cyber Saturdays

Mike Kelly reported that Cyber Saturdays has evolved into one of the program’s most successful
outreach initiatives.

Attendance has grown steadily through word-of-mouth and now includes:

  • CCRI students
  • Cyber Club competition teams
  • Fab Newport participants
  • High school students
  • Community members

Approximately 30 participants now attend regularly.

A published Cyber Saturday syllabus now allows participants to preview upcoming topics and
select sessions based on their interests.

Mike noted that CCRI students have been impressed by the ability and preparation demonstrated
by many participating high school students, creating an environment of mutual learning and
collaboration.

5. Cyber Range and Laboratory Development

Significant progress continues to be made in expanding the Cyber Range.

Highlights include:

  • A new Networking Lab adjacent to the Cyber Range.
  • Boson software being installed for exam prep
  • Deployment of the Learning Management System (LMS) on the Cyber Range.
  • Development of multiple virtual machine environments that can be quickly provisioned.
  • Plans to deploy a CyberPatriot environment on the range.
  • Exploration of competitive environments allowing student organizations to compete
    using the Cyber Range.

A cyber student-developed Capture the Flag (CTF) exercise was:

  • validated by NUWC and Joe Bransfield’s team,
  • utilized during Fall STEM Day,
  • incorporated into High School Days,
  • made available during Cyber Saturdays.

6. Grants and Program Development

Several grants continue to support the expansion of the program.

CCRI Foundation Grant

Supported:

  • Raspberry Pi kits for STEM Days

Perkins Grant

  • Summer Camp
  • STEM Day programming
  • Cyber Saturdays

Supported:

  • Cyber Range development
  • Capture the Flag activities
  • STEM Days
  • High School Cybersecurity Exploration Day- May 2025
  • Development of exercises etc on the Cyber Range

Perkins Grant and Van Buren Grant

Funding supports continued Cyber Range development, including:

  • A one-day Cyber Range exercise planned for early June.
  • A two-day training exercise for financial institutions later in June.

The proposed scenario will simulate an ATM cyberattack, with ByLight leading the exercise.

7. Outreach and Community Events

Pathways and Practices

The first “Pathways and Practices “event was held in October 2025.

The workforce-focused event featured and panel of speakers, a tour of the cyber range,
networking with CCRI services and the Cyber Security faculty, workshop to learn more about
the PTECH program and club led hands on activities.

The panel of 5 included

  • Two CCRI alumni
  • Recent graduates from 4-year background
  • one experienced cybersecurity professional

Panelists answered prepared questions and then several real-time audience questions regarding
cybersecurity careers.

Attendance was approximately 85 participants.

Food service was provided by CCRI’s Culinary Arts program.

The event was considered successful and is expected to continue.

Cybersecurity Night

Cybersecurity Night will be held on April 15, 2026.

Highlights include:

  • Eventbrite registration management.
  • Demonstration area opening at 5:30 p.m.
  • Formal program will begin at 6:00 p.m.

Interactive exhibits will feature:

  • Rhode Island Computer Museum
  • CCRI Cyber Club
  • Rogers High School students

Cyber Security Night continues to evolve. Attendees include a wide variety of participants
throughout the academic and RI community including:

  • CCRI CyberSecurity alumni
  • CCRI Cybersecurity faculty
  • CCRI Computer Science and Cybersecurity academic department
  • Department of Defense Industry
  • Banking Industry
  • Community members,
  • Cybersecurity Defense Certificate recipients.

High School Cybersecurity Exploration Day

CCRI will host approximately 80 Rhode Island high school students at the Newport campus in
May.

The event is being promoted by RIDE with coordination from Sandy Nolan.

Students will rotate through:

  • Capture the Flag activities
  • Cyber Range exercises
  • Raspberry Pi or University of Rhode Island activities

Perkins funding supports this initiative.

Summer Camp

CCRI will host a 3-week camp on the Newport campus in July. The first 2 weeks of the camp will be a mirror image using the same curriculum engaging the attendees with robots, VR Headsets, and lock picking labs. The third week of camp will be a brand-new robotics camp. Anthony Hanos manages these camps using CYBER PATRIOTS curriculum in conjunction with the hands-on labs. The camp is free and capped at 15 students each week.

8. Advisory Board Discussion

Board members discussed future workforce needs and curriculum opportunities.

Mike Steinmetz recommended increased exposure to:

  • Industrial Control Systems (ICS)
  • Operational Technology (OT)
  • Robotics

Aaron Bouchard reinforced the importance of these technical skill areas, noting their growing
demand within the cybersecurity workforce.

Summary

Mike updated the board and reviewed significant progress made during the past year, including
continued growth of the Cyber Club, Cyber Saturdays, and student competition teams; expansion
of the Cyber Range and networking facilities; successful implementation of new outreach events;
and multiple grant-funded initiatives supporting hands-on cybersecurity education. Curriculum
updates, including the transition away from Cisco NetAcad, expansion of networking instruction
to the Newport campus, and development of new training environments, demonstrate the
program’s continued evolution. Board members also discussed future opportunities to strengthen
instruction in Industrial Control Systems, operational technology, robotics, and other emerging
workforce skills while continuing to expand outreach to K–12 students, industry partners, and
underrepresented populations. Overall, the Board recognized the program’s continued
momentum in advancing cybersecurity education, workforce development, and community
engagement.

Meeting adjourned 3:30pm

Minutes submitted by Karen Allen

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