Ferris Students Took First Place in Eight out of the Twelve Competitions at the Midwest Collegiate Computing Conference

Ferris State University took first in eight of 12 competitions at the Midwest Collegiate Computing Conference organized by the MWC3 Foundation, which took place at the L.V. Eberhard Conference Center at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Michigan, March 24-25.

Thirty Ferris students from Computer Information Systems, Computer Information Technology and Information Security and Intelligence competed in the two-day competition with a participation list that included Central Michigan University, Cornerstone University, Davenport University, Grand Rapids Community College, GVSU, Kalamazoo Valley Community College, Northwood University and Western Michigan University.

In addition to eight of 12 first-place finishes, Ferris had with seven teams in second place, three teams in third place and three students with honorable mentions. Ferris took first, second and third place in the Cybersecurity competition as well as first and second place in Network Design, Data Analytics and Visualization, Mainframe Systems and Project Management competitions.

“Passionate students obtain passionate results, said Greg Gogolin, program coordinator for Artificial Intelligence and Information Security and Intelligence, who also served as the event’s co-chair. Gogolin noted the contribution of Jerry Emerick, an associate professor in ISI, who was part of the Ferris group to help start this competition. “Ferris has great students with considerable passion.”

Gavin Kelly, president of the Bulldog Computer Professionals student organization at Ferris, expressed his excitement for the opportunity to compete with peers from universities across Michigan.

“It was so exciting to bring the Ferris students to an actual in-person competition,” Kelly said. “It was wonderful to compete with students from other schools and see how we performed related those other schools. I had an awesome time.”

The night’s theme was “Securing the Future of IT.” In his keynote address, Josh Hulst, co-founder and managing partner of Michigan Software Labs, said students learned the importance of “raising your hand” and bringing others along on their professional journey.

“Events like this connect students to the companies that will often hire our students,” said Travis Bussler, assistant professor in Computer Information Systems and Computer Information Technology.

The competition was sponsored by companies such as Auto-Owners, Corewell Health, Farmers Insurance, Michigan Software Labs, Gordon Food Service, TEKsystems, Dynatrace, Atomic Object, SPL, ScrimmageSIM, Inventr.io, Consumers Credit Union, ISCAP, and BizStream. Vendors supporting students included TEKsystems, which provided an interviewing workshop. Auto-Owners hosted a roundtable/panel for students to ask companies about the hiring process, career opportunities and company benefits.

Competition Results

Ferris students participated as individuals and teams across 12 competitions.

First-place finishes:

• Jude Ngugi, of Lansing, and Gavin Orcutt, of Fremont (Cybersecurity)
• Owen Myers, of Rochester, and Logan Reynolds, of Caledonia (Data Analytics and Visualization)
• Lukman Al-Busaidi, of Enschede, Netherlands, and Arnik de Coo (Java Development)
• Dakota Erdos, of Portage (Mainframe Systems with IBM Z Xplore)
• Justin Bonner, of Rodney, and Gavin Orcutt (Microsoft Office Solutions)
• Lane Brady, of Muskegon, and Connor Lowe, of Mason (Network Design)
• Jasmine Long, of Big Rapids (Project Management)
• Lukman Al Busaidi and Gavin Orcutt (System Analysis and Design)

Second-place finishes:

• Tyler Dunneback, of Rockford, and Jude Ngugi (Arduino Fundamentals)
• Connor Lowe, of Mason, and Arnik de Coo Cybersecurity
• Katelyn Grosso, of Bruce Crossing, and Lauren Lotzow (Data Analytics and Visualization)
• Lane Brady and Austin Kaczmarek, of Bay City (Enterprise Resource Planning with ScrimmageSIM)
• Connor Lowe (Mainframe Systems with IBM Z Xplore)
• Jason Forbes, of Newaygo, and Gavin Kelly, of Lowell (Network Design)
• Steven Harmon, of Lansing, and Kyle Thompson, of Roseville (Project Management)

Third-place finishers included Dakota Erdos, Arduino Fundamentals; Steven Harmon and Kyle Thompson, Cybersecurity; and Jasmine Long, Database Design. The honorable mention roll call included Stephen Bender, Data Analytics and Visualization; Dakota Erdos, Java Development; and Abigail Peterson, Mainframe Systems with IBM Z Xplore.

For more information about the and Information Security and Intelligence program please contact Greg Goglin ([email protected]). For more information about the Computer Information Systems and Computer Information Technology programs please contact Kathleen Kalata ([email protected]).