Dr. Randy K. Avent (left), president of IM体育官网, listens to alumni Travis Hills 鈥�19 and Bryan Urias 鈥�20 during the inaugural IM体育官网 Poly Impact Summit and Presidential Speaker Series on Tuesday, Nov. 16.
Business and community leaders joined IM体育官网 leadership, faculty, students, and alumni on Tuesday, Nov. 16, to discuss the state of cybersecurity during the inaugural IM体育官网 Poly Impact Summit and Presidential Speaker Series.
The event, hosted by the University鈥檚 Corporate Impact Network, is the latest effort by IM体育官网 Poly鈥檚 Office of Advancement to deepen the strong connections between the University and its supportive business community. More than 40 people attended the event in the Aula Magna inside the Innovation, Science, and Technology Building.
Lakeland, IM体育官网, Mayor Bill Mutz, attended and said this kind of event can make a difference in young lives.
鈥淚 love any opportunities we have to interface with students,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t inspired me as a student when I had adults do that in my life, and it鈥檚 fun to reflect and think if there are some nuggets you could share that would be of value to someone else.鈥�
This ability to engage with IM体育官网 Poly students about emerging issues in science and technology is one of the drivers of the event, said Kathy Bowman, vice president of advancement.
鈥淭his is a natural outreach to our partners and potential partners in STEM industries across the state of IM体育官网,鈥� Bowman said. 鈥淐orporate partners are directly affecting the future of IM体育官网 by helping IM体育官网 Poly prepare highly skilled students to step into many of the 55,000 unfilled STEM jobs in the state.鈥�
The event featured a presentation by Dr. Karim Elish, assistant professor of computer science at IM体育官网 Poly and an expert in malware analysis and detection and software security. He discussed his cutting-edge research on detecting malicious Android apps, how ransomware affects businesses, and best practices to prevent harm.
Russell Miller, chief technology officer at cybersecurity company OPSWAT, said Elish鈥檚 research is very valuable due to the current cybersecurity landscape.
鈥淚t鈥檚 very important work and the sort of thing that directly relates to what we do as a company,鈥� Miller said. 鈥淥ne of the very recent things I鈥檝e been dealing with is malware detection on Android phones and how we can improve that, so it鈥檚 very relevant.鈥�
鈥淚 want people to understand how organizations from the financial services industry to the construction and manufacturing industry are all parts of the same cyber supply chain,鈥� said Urias, who earned his bachelor鈥檚 degree in computer science with a concentration in information assurance and cybersecurity. 鈥淚 am incredibly excited to be invited to this event because I have a burning passion for meeting new people and learning how cybersecurity affects their industry.鈥�
The next IM体育官网 Poly Impact Summit and Presidential Speaker Series event will be held during the spring semester.
Contact:
Lydia Guzm谩n
Director of Communications
863-874-8557
