Stevens GenCyber Summer Camp

The application to the summer 2024 GenCyber camp is closed.

Stevens Institute of Technology (Stevens) will host the 2024 GenCyber Summer Camp for Teachers on August 5 to August 9, 2024.

This teacher camp is supported by the National Security Agency (NSA) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). It is part of the GenCyber Program. The general goals of the program are: (1) Ignite, sustain, and increase awareness of K12 cybersecurity content and cybersecurity postsecondary and career opportunities for participants through year-round engagement; (2) Increase student diversity in cybersecurity college and career readiness pathways at the K-12 level; and (3) Facilitate teacher readiness within a teacher learning community to learn, develop, and deliver cybersecurity content for the K-12 classroom in collaboration with other nationwide initiatives. 

The camp will be open to all teachers of the 6-12 grades (middle schools and high schools). We are planning to form a cohort of 25 teachers from schools from the states of New Jersey (NJ), New York (NY), and Pennsylvania (PA). The camp will be a non-residential program. The goal of our camp is to enhance cybersecurity awareness in K-12 education and assist the professional development of K-12 teachers through (1) learning the GenCyber Cybersecurity Concepts and First Principles; (2) developing cybersecurity activities for curriculum use in participants' schools; and (3) learning together as cybersecurity educators and establishing an ongoing collaborative effort to create lesson plans that will be available to other schools in the country. 

The 2024 Camp

• Dates: August 5 to August 9, 2024

• Schedule: 9:00 am - 5:00 pm every day for the 5 days (detailed schedule TBD)

• Location: Stevens Institute of Technology, 1 Castle Point Terrace, Hoboken, NJ 07030

• Cost: Free

• How to apply: Register Here

• Camp flyer (Click Here)

Features of the 2024 Camp

• Lectures by cybersecurity professors in the ECE and CS Departments of Stevens Institute of Technology

• Hands-on labs and programming experience with Python and Raspberry Pi

• Cybersecurity education panel and discussion sessions with academic, government, and industrial practitioners

• Curriculum and lesson plan design

• Each participant will receive a 30-hour professional development certificate endorsed by NSA and NSF

• Each participant will receive a stipend (details given below) to compensate their time and costs participating in the camp.

• Free lunch and parking at Stevens during the 5-day (August 5-9, 2024) summer camp.

Eligibility and Logistics

All camp participants must reside in the United States and be K-12 teachers at a school in the United States. Space is limited and when the camp is full, you will be placed on a waiting list and notified when a spot becomes available.

Lunches and snacks will be provided during the camp. The stipend is to compensate the time and travel costs of the participants for attending the camp: (1) Local participants (home addresses are within 50 miles from Stevens) will receive a $1400 stipend; (2) Participants whose homes are between 50 miles and 100 miles will receive a $1500 stipend; (3) Participants whose homes are above 100 miles from Stevens will receive a $1600 stipend; (4) A small number of Participants from other states (who need to fly in) will receive a $2000 stipend.

If you have any questions about the 2024 Camp, please contact the camp director Prof. James Du.

The Five-Day Program

Day 1 Foundations of Cybersecurity – Cryptography  

Opening remarks by Dean of School of Engineering and Science

Lecture 1 & Lab 1:    Elementary Cryptography 

Lecture 2 & Lab 2:    Advance Cryptography 

Lesson Plan 1:         Introduction to Cryptography

Discussion 1:           Student clubs and competitions

Day 2 Computer Network and Internet Security

Lecture 3 & Lab 3: Foundations of Computer Networks 

Lecture 4 & Lab 4: Computer Network Security 

Lesson Plan 2: Computer Network and Internet Security

Industry Panel 1: Cybersecurity and industry practices

Day 3 Security and Privacy of AI / Machine Learning (ML)    

Lecture 5 & Lab 5: Introduction to AI/ML 

Lecture 6 & Lab 6: Security and Privacy of AI/ML 

Lesson Plan 3: How to securely use AI/ML

Discussion 2: Cybersecurity curriculum at K-12

Day 4   Securing the Wireless World   

Lecture 7 & Lab 7: Wireless Security

Lecture 8 & Lab 8: Mobile Security 

Lesson Plan 4: Wireless and Mobile Security

Discussion 3: Cybersecurity career opportunities and K-12 Education

Day 5  Defending the Internet of Every Thing    

Lecture 9 & Lab 9: Introduction to IoT 

Lecture 10 & Lab 10: IoT Security 

Lesson Plan 4: IoT Security

Discussion 3: Camp outcomes and future camps

Closing remarks