A team of nine UNLV students – seven competitors, one coach and one assistant coach – competed in the National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity (NCAE) Cyber Games in March, taking first place out of a field of 12 in their day’s competition. This high placement led to the team being asked to compete at the in-person national Invitational event taking place in April at the University of South Florida.

Original team members and coaches included: Austin Choi, team captain; Gabe Berrios, coach; Luke Rasmusson, assistant coach; and competitors Thien Nguyen, Santiago Montenegro, Humza Moten, Alex Mari Quinto, Nefeli Georgilas, and Nicholaus Bloom. For the national event, Kaylee Melendez and Bobby Ching will be joining the ranks, replacing two competitors who are unable to make the trip.

NCAE Cyber Games is dedicated to inspiring college students to enter the realm of cyber competitions which helps build new skills in an environment focused on teamwork. All competing students must be from an NCAE-C school, which UNLV is. The College of Engineering’s Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, Information Assurance Concentration, recently received redesignated valid through academic year 2030.