"Fayetteville State University Students Place Third in Nationwide Cybersecurity Hackathon"
A team of five student researchers from the Intelligent Systems Laboratory (ISL) at Fayetteville State University (FSU) recently placed third in a nationwide cybersecurity hackathon event held at FSU's Center for Defense and Homeland Security (CDHS). The hackathon, coordinated by Arizona State University (ASU) under a grant from the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), invited 23 teams of four to six students from 11 colleges and universities across the country. A panel of judges selected nine winning teams in total. The event included a student design challenge called Designing Actionable Solutions for a Secure Homeland (DASH) and provided students with several real-world scenarios impacting homeland security. The topic "Protecting America's Public Access Places" required each team to select one of three designable solutions. Team Broncos, composed of some of FSU's brightest students, designed a comprehensive system using Artificial Intelligence (AI) for real-time object detection and anti-drone drones in order to combat unauthorized drone activities. Their approach would mitigate drone attacks, increase response time, and improve law enforcement communication. This article continues to discuss the nationwide cybersecurity hackathon event held at FSU's CDHS and the solution demonstrated by FSU's team of student researchers that won them third place.