Editor’s Note: This is the second of three stories focused on GCU’s high school STEM internship program.Part 3 on the biomedical engineering portion of the program will be published next week.
The danger of hacking is only part of the picture as high school students scroll through their social media accounts.
That’s why the Artificial Intelligence/Cybersecurity Focused High School STEM Internship Program at Grand Canyon University offers a comprehensive perspective to future college students interested in broadening their knowledge and potentially pursuing this career. To do.
High school juniors and seniors are entering their final week of internships not just in AI/cyber, but in anatomy/physiology, biomedical engineering, and more. The program is hosted by Honors College in collaboration with the K-12 Educational Development Department and the Faculty of Science and Technology. The idea is not only to help high school students interested in STEM develop their academic skills, but also to showcase her STEM lab, research design program, faculty and students at GCU.
“Especially in a university environment, they can learn a lot,” he said. Alexandra Urbaweski, majoring in Forensic Psychology, assisting internships in a 5-week course. “A lot of students don’t know much about cyber, especially the technology side.
“They listen to technology and say, ‘Okay, it’s just a phone and a computer,’ but they don’t know everything about technology. You can learn directly, I know some of the other programs of internships work with faculty, but they work with us hands-on with students. can learn about.”
One eye-opening project was programming a LEGO MINDSTORMS car. Yes, it’s a self-driving robotic car made primarily out of LEGO bricks.
“It has two different coding levels: block coding and Python, a programming language that is popular in the cyber space,” Urbaweski said.
The AI/cybersecurity program includes industry experts who provide insight, but the knowledge gained by interns extends beyond the fundamentals of artificial intelligence and cybersecurity.
“It’s more diverse than I originally thought, because it doesn’t just include hacking and typical cybersecurity stuff,” he said. Aryan Rauniyar, Third year student at BASIS Peoria Charter School. “We are also learning how networks, how computers work, and how to build things to make them more secure.
“So you look at both sides of what you can have and what you need to protect[from hackers]. Everything is super-connected, and that’s what surprised me the most, because they thought they would separate things from the beginning (of course).”
Kira DesaiAs a senior at Paradise Valley High School, he knew about high-profile hacking incidents at companies like Google, Netflix, and Amazon even before he learned about GCU’s AI cybersecurity internship.
I’m learning a lot of basic skills that I can use literally anywhere. It’s not limited to one type of company or one type of event.
Aryan Rauniyar, Third Grade, BASIS Peoria Charter School
Thanks to the course and guest speakers, Desai learned how hackers target individuals and businesses, and how individuals and businesses use them to protect themselves. Students work in small groups or individually on projects such as his cybersecurity training course, tryhackme.com, which features the simulation of hacking into other computers and servers, giving students their skills and knowledge. used to force it into the system. Access the server and extract information to complete the test.
“The presentations, demonstrations and exhibits were very good,” said Desai, who said he was considering focusing on AI/cybersecurity at the university.
This internship program is the result of K12 STEM Outreach’s relationship with high-level STEM high schools. Ultimately, a partnership was forged between GCU’s high school STEM internship program and Honors College to support lab interns. Cori ArazaK12 Project Senior Director.
Life experience plays an important role in the course. Students are taught to be careful with their passwords, especially if they are considering using a personal touch. For example, students learned that a hacker could exploit a victim simply by associating his pet’s name with his graduation date through social posts on his media. According to Urbausweski, a former GCU student turned private investigator and social engineer recently spoke about these warnings.
Students also collaborated with FBI agents who shared their cybersecurity experiences.
And that’s what Launiar is perfect for.
“We are learning a lot of basic skills that we can use literally anywhere,” says Rauniyar. “This is not limited to one type of company or his one type of event. These are basic knowledge skills, whether it is cybersecurity or anything remotely related to the internet. , you need it literally everywhere to do something.”
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relevant content:
GCUnews: GCU Helps Teachers Improve Cybersecurity Skills
GCUnews: Breaking down cyber barriers by coding with My Girls
GCUnews: Technology is a popular end-of-show event
