Three students from the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Department of Computer Science took home first place in the cybersecurity category at a recent Innovate Hackathon. Winning the competition showcased the technical expertise and collaborative skills of these students in a real-world challenge.
The team was composed of Hunter Forsythe of Hoover, McKinley Morris of Columbiana and Williams Beaumont of Homewood, who are all students in UAB’s nationally top-ranked Master of Science in Cybersecurity program and members of the National Science Foundation’s CyberCorps: Scholarship for Service program.
“The award won by McKinley, Hunter and Williams highlights their academic excellence and the quality of our graduate program in cybersecurity,” said Yuliang Zheng, Ph.D., chair of the UAB College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Computer Science. “Our program equips students with essential skills in digital forensics, network security, cryptography and more. I commend them for their outstanding achievements.”
Tackling real-world cybersecurity challenges
The competition’s prompt, “Secure Healthcare Data Management Challenge,” tasked participants with developing a system or application that secures the storage and retrieval of sensitive patient health information while maintaining interoperability across platforms, which is a complex and highly relevant issue in modern health care.
The UAB team rose to the challenge by developing a privacy-preserving application that addressed both data security and usability. Despite initial challenges and a steep learning curve, the students adapted quickly, delivering a polished and functional product.
“The experience was a rollercoaster,” Beaumont said. “We were expecting a red team vs. blue team challenge but instead faced full-stack development. It was tough, but we pulled through. Winning first place made it all worth it.”
Applying classroom knowledge
The students credited their coursework and collaborative experiences at UAB for preparing them to succeed. They extracted knowledge from classes like Modern Cryptography, Computer Security and Software Engineering, applying concepts such as secure authentication, encryption and cryptographic protocols to their project.
Be different. Be a blazer. Find your degree at UAB.
“It was exciting to turn a prompt into a working solution in such a short amount of time,” Morris said. “Being able to apply what I’ve learned in class to a real-world problem was a full-circle moment.”
Students say winning this competition will make them more competitive for the job market.
“This win is just a reminder to keep working hard, and will open doors for future opportunities,” Forsythe said. “I’m grateful for my teammates, professors and the leaders of the SFS program.”
Beyond technical skills, the hackathon taught the students valuable lessons in teamwork, adaptability and perseverance.
“I learned that you should never give up when things get tough,” Beaumont said. “We almost walked away at midnight with no working project. But by sticking with it, we came out on top.”
Ragib Hasan, Ph.D., professor of computer science and director of the UAB Center for Cybersecurity, leads the UAB SFS fellows and says students are taught theoretical and practical aspects of cybersecurity. They receive hands-on training to design secure systems, protect critical infrastructure, and identify and investigate cybersecurity breaches.
“At UAB, we train the fellows with knowledge that is essential to protect our country from malicious attacks,” Hasan said. “Like our SFS program alumni who went on to join top federal organizations such as the FBI, DHS, Army, Navy, etc., our current SFS fellows have demonstrated their mastery of cybersecurity concepts and showed their ability to work as a team to solve a complex problem. I am delighted to see them succeed and get recognition.”
UAB is designated as a Center for Academic Excellence in Research by the National Security Agency. UAB Cyber Corps SFS program is part of a broader strategy to promote cybersecurity education and research in Alabama. The Innovate Hackathon was held in Tuscaloosa at the University of Alabama.