The Cal Poly California Cybersecurity Institute (CCI), in alignment with the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE), hosted an inaugural Cybersecurity Career Week at Cal Poly between October 16 to 21, 2023. In celebration of the week, the CCI hosted a sandbox of the Space Grand Challenge, a Cal Poly student-built cyberskills capture the flag space themed game. During the course of the week, 316 players from across the country logged in to play and learn more about cybersecurity and space.

Cybersecurity Career Week is coordinated by NICE and supported by a community of government, academic, non-profit, and private industry stakeholders. Programs across the nation were promoted during this week, including the Space Grand Challenge. This was Cal Poly’s first-time hosting events aligned with the week.

“The CCI is proud to host this landmark event in coordination with NICE. We hope activities like this will amplify and recruit student interest in cybersecurity—something desperately needed by industry and government,” said Dustin DeBrum, Operations Director, California Cybersecurity Institute, New Programs, Digital Transformation Hub.

In addition to making the sandbox available during Cybersecurity Career Week, the CCI team also promoted programs like JourneysMap, thought leadership events from over the year, as well a special edition CYBER/SPACE newsletter focusing on Cybersecurity Career Week. Futhermore, CCI was able to promote the sandbox and Cybersecurity Career Week in the Cal Poly student portal—giving visibility to the week to the university’s almost 22,000 students.

The sandbox is part of a greater series of programs available at the CCI through the Space Grand Challenge (SGC). In its seventh year, the 2023 season included two sandboxes in March and October, as well as a competition in May. In total, the Space Grand Challenge 2023 season yielded just over 700 players from across the country—a high water mark for the competition.

“We believe that the tone that we set with 2023 puts us in a strong position for an even stronger 2024 season. The CCI student staff have already begun development of next season’s game, which we’re calling Luna—and we’re expecting a new storyline with new Unity rooms with a Moon based theme” said Henry Danielson, Technical Curriculum Developer at the CCI.

The 2023 SGC season was made possible by the generous support of the National Space Security Association (NSSA), LMNTRIX, and SPLUNK. Their support enables the CCI to pay student-developers and keep the game free and accessible to all.

The next program planned for SGC is the competition scheduled for April 26-27, 2024. Sign up to stay informed on future announcements about the Space Grand Challenge.

About the Space Grand Challenge Program

The Space Grand Challenge (SGC) Program is a free virtual game-based cybersecurity competition for middle and high school students built by Cal Poly students. The SGC helps prepare the next generation of the cyber workforce by expanding the pipeline of talent earlier, promoting STEM, and developing cyber/IT skills. SGC accomplishes this through a unique use of gamification and e-sports to promote STEM, space themes, and cybersecurity skills.

About the California Cybersecurity Institute

The California Cybersecurity Institute (CCI) at California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) in San Luis Obispo, California, leads a state and national initiative to address cybersecurity challenges. By bringing together the tech community, government agencies, and educational institutions, the CCI is enhancing cybersecurity defense capabilities at Cal Poly, for the state of California, and across the nation.