MIAMI DADE FILLING HIGH-TECH WORKFORCE NEEDS NSA Recognizes Miami Dade College as a Top Cybersecurity Institution COLLEGE f orum June 2022 • Volume 26 • Number 2 honor, which greatly enhances the College’s reputation and makes it the first choice for cybersecurity students throughout the region. Delgado said the designation is a testament of MDC’s track record of equipping students with the expert knowledge and skills needed to protect and defend the nation against cyber threats. The impressive validation also bolsters con-fidence in MDC among industry leaders scrambling to fill as many as 3.5 million cybersecurity jobs by 2025. “The prestige it brings to the program is amazing,” said Santiago Martinez, vice president and information security officer at Helm Bank USA and a member of MDC’s Cybersecurity Advisory Committee. “Hopefully, those of us hiring are going to recognize that the applicant from MDC gradu-ated from a phenomenal program, so they’re going to have the skill set we want.” The College’s cybersecurity curriculum, which faculty and the advisory committee help design, ensures that MDC students meet and exceed in-dustry needs, MDC President Madeline Pumariega said. Continued on page 14 Microsoft’s Ernie Fernandez; V.P. of Innovation and Tech Partnerships Antonio Delgado; Interim CIO Robert Parrondo; alum Alberto Niebla; student Isaac Alexander; tech pioneer Manny Medina; Professor Diego Tibaquirá; students Nipaporn Pomsupan and Jhon Ayvar; President Madeline Pumariega; Exec. V.P. Dr. Malou Harrison; and county CIO Margaret Brisbane In 2017, Miami Dade College offered one class in cybersecurity. Today, just five years later, MDC is the top-of-class South Florida insti-tution for training in the growing field. The College’s remarkable trajectory has been recognized by the federal government, which recently designated MDC as a prestigious National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense (CAE-CD) . The coveted designation, awarded by the National Security Agency (NSA) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security , re-flects MDC’s robust curriculum and degree programs, and its invaluable hands-on instruction at the College’s state-of-the-art Cybersecurity Center of the Americas. “Today, we have a full pathway built from the beginning, with faculty, in-dustry leaders and international companies helping us make sure that we have the best Associate in Science degree possible,” said Antonio Delgado, MDC’s vice president of Innovation and Technology Partnerships. MDC is the first two-year college in South Florida to receive the Commencement 2022 Graduates Celebrate Their Field of Dreams T It was smiles all around at the ceremony for North, Padrón and West campuses. he thunderous roar of a crowd at loanDepot park , home to the Miami Marlins , usu-ally follows a home run flying past the long stretch of green and in-to the stands. But at Miami Dade College’s 2022 Commencement, what brought the crowd to its feet were the College’s best and bright-est as they rounded the bases of their academic careers and officially became MDC alumni. “We are cheering you on not only for your accomplishments of today, but for what we know you will do to make our world brighter and our future better,” President Madeline Pumariega told the graduates. Holding commencement on a baseball field might not have been envisioned by MDC’s founders, she added. “But we are here and proud, after a year marked by uncertainty, unrest and loss.” Returning to the spacious baseball stadium for the second year in a row, MDC conferred over 14,000 degrees and certificates on gradu-ates of its eight campuses during three graduation ceremonies held in April. Students in robes and decorated caps waited in anticipation to cross the stage in center field, surround-ed by loved ones watching from the stands and virtually via an MDC livestream. MDC’s graduating class of 2022 represented 117 nations and speakers of 63 languages. “Whether you’re the first person in your family to graduate from col-lege, a returning student, or a stu-dent who has recently arrived in this country, Miami Dade College has brought all of us together and has prepared us for great academ-ic and personal success,” said Luis Lopez, president of the Student Government Association (SGA) at Padrón Campus. Continued on pages 12-13
College Forum Volume 26 • Number 2: Page 1
