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S-STEM Student Pedro Peralta Ranks Second in Cyber Security Competition
Peralta with his mentor, Professor Li
Pedro Peralta, a 23-year-old New York City College of Technology (City Tech)/CUNY junior majoring in computer systems technology (CST), has won second prize in the Cyber Security Awareness Week (CSAW) competition recently held at Polytechnic Institute of NYU, marking the first time a City Tech student has won a CSAW prize.
The student-run competition consisted of seven challenges that require competitors to battle cyber threats and also enable them to work with others -- mostly graduate students -- from several universities. Peralta, a chess player with a good grasp of strategy, was paired with a Polytech student. The team took second place in the security quiz, besting competitors from NYU, SUNY Stony Brook, the University of Idaho, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, SUNY Binghamton, the Naval Postgraduate School and several other CUNY senior colleges.
Peralta, a Harlem resident, is a participant in both the NSF-funded STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Scholarship Program (S-STEM) and the New York City Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (NYC-LSAMP), a coalition of 17 CUNY colleges. The programs aim to substantially increase the number of underrepresented minority students who pursue and graduate with baccalaureate degrees in science, technology, engineering or mathematics.
City Tech’s S-STEM program director, CST Associate Professor Xiangdong Li, recruited Peralta into both programs and is now his mentor. “Initially, I helped him do research in programming security; later, I encouraged him to apply for the LSAMP program and to participate in network security research and CSAW,” says Dr. Li. “Pedro has a very wide interest in security, from operating systems to network, and a very keen intelligence.”
Peralta transferred in fall 2007 to City Tech from LaGuardia Community College, where he had taken an advanced Linux course that captured his imagination. “While I was researching online about Linux [a revolutionary computer operating system rapidly becoming an alternative to Microsoft], I found various ‘hacking’ tools native to Linux,” he explains. “I started playing with them and became very interested in information security. Then I found out that I actually can have a rewarding career in that field.”
He spends much of his time in City Tech’s Information Security Laboratory, which was funded by grants from the National Science Foundation and the Department of Defense. The Laboratory, which opened in 2006, is equipped with advanced security technology. It is linked to the first virtual information security lab in the nation, which is located at Polytech, and offers students the ability to perform research and hands-on assignments in information assurance, not only on-site, but also by remote access. The lab and its Information Security course module have become a CUNY model for an experimental environment that provides hands-on experience.
Although Pedro’s parents, who moved from the Dominican Republic to the U.S. in the 1980s, hadn’t attended college, they encouraged their two children to pursue higher education. Both are high achievers; Peralta’s sister is a pre-med student at Stony Brook, while his far-ranging curiosity led him to enroll not only in City Tech’s technology courses, but also in a variety of electives, including the Philosophy of Law, a writing course, and Industrial Organization Psychology, a favorite of his.
Next semester, in addition to a course load that includes special topics in information technology (IT), Pedro will seek an internship at an IT company. He intends to return to the CSAW competition next October, and hopes more CUNY students will participate. A year from now, he expects to receive his bachelor in technology degree, and continue on to obtain various computer certifications and a graduate degree in information security or business administration.
“I will probably work part-time teaching and in the private sector,” he says. “By teaching at City Tech, I would give back to the students.” He would also like to help develop further information security programs and courses at CUNY. “Ultimately,” says Pedro, “one of my goals is to become a high-level corporate information security officer.”
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