Student in Natchitoches wins first place in national competition

NATCHITOCHES, La. (KTAL/KMSS) — A student from Northwestern State University has won first place in a national competition.

Brandon Jordan, a senior computer information systems major, won first place at the U.S. Information Technology Collegiate Conference in Springfield, Missouri. For the competition, Jordan was tasked with troubleshooting a virtual computer. This was not Jordan’s first time competing, but he claims this year’s competition was more complicated and that the event had several changes. “The competition required active application of hacking and security skills to find flags hidden through various means,” said Jordan. “The competitions were a great opportunity to test my knowledge, especially the network design competition. I got a chance to see where my strengths and weaknesses lie.”  

Jordan did not formally prepare before competing but relied on the knowledge he gained while working in the information technology (IT) field. This marks his second year winning the PC Troubleshooting competition. He attributes his success to his professors and the skills he developed in security-oriented classes at Northwestern. “The coursework makes you adapt to and think beyond what the average technologically inclined person may be used to. If you can use the instruction at NSU as a backboard to propel additional studies, the results are going to be fantastic.”  Jordan was also a runner-up at a regional conference held in Shreveport.

 Justin Dysarz, a senior computer information systems major at NSU, won seventh place in the qualifying round of Cyber Security a day after earning his Security certification. Dysarz’s project for the competition was an anonymous chatting application with privacy and security first. Dysarz said he’s never taken a cybersecurity course and that most of his knowledge came from an outdated Amazon textbook and YouTube videos.

Since 2000, Northwestern State students have won 19 national championships in various information technology competitions. For more information on NSU’s computer information systems program, visit nsula.edu/cis.