Ribbon Cutting Ceremony August 16th - Capitol Technology University (Since 1927 Located Near Washington D.C.)

Direct Link: https://www.captechu.edu/blog/ribbon-cutting-ceremony-august-16th
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It’s official! As promised and right on schedule, Capitol’s most recent construction project will be complete this August. And we’re inviting you to come out and see it!
               
On August 16^th at 10:00 a.m. we will officially open Innovator’s Hall, our stunning new residential housing facility with apartment style room blocks. Join us for a ribbon cutting ceremony, tour the new building, and enjoy light refreshments as we show you around the place that many of our students will come to call home.

Innovator’s Hall features a laundry room for every floor and beautiful views of the campus and surrounding forest. With dedicated study rooms on each floor, a central gaming center, mailboxes right downstairs, and plenty of space in each apartment for students to hang out, we want to move in ourselves!

Construction on Innovator’s Hall began last July as part of Capitol’s master campus plan to provide more and greater opportunities to our students. The new residential hall will house 220 students, allowing Capitol to expand and grow to meet rising enrollment.

Expanding the residential facilities on campus is part of a broad strategic plan that also includes renovated labs and classroom facilities, enhanced online learning platforms, continued partnerships with industry, federal agencies and other educational institutions, and a higher international profile.

Brandi McKee, director of student life and residential services, said she can’t wait for students to start moving in, in the fall. “To have everyone under one roof is going to provide us with some amazing new opportunities to bring our students together. The RA’s and I are already talking about having more on-campus events and even doing floor by floor activities. It’s going to be the place to be.”

“We are so excited to declare Innovator’s Hall officially open,” said Melinda Bunnell-Rhyne, vice president of student engagement and university development. “We hope you can join us on August 16^th to come and see it for yourself!”

Cyber Analytics Careers: Who’s Hiring? - Capitol Technology University (Since 1927 Located Near Washington D.C.)

Direct Link: https://www.captechu.edu/blog/cyber-analytics-careers-whos-hiring
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Cyber Analytics: it’s a swiftly growing field that melds cybersecurity with sophisticated data analysis tools and skills, allowing threats to a company’s digital assets to be sealed off with greater precision and effectiveness. It brings a crucial new dimension to the fight against hackers and other information-age adversaries.

But who is hiring Cyber Analysts? With a degree in this area, where should you be sending your resume and looking for available openings?

The Big Players
Major defense contractors with divisions spanning multiple industries have been ramping up their cyber analytical edge. Boeing Intelligence and Analytics, a division of the aerospace giant, primarily serves the U.S. intelligence community, helping its customers “understand the strengths and vulnerabilities of potential adversaries.” BI&A is located in Annapolis Junction, Maryland, near the Baltimore-Washington International (BWI) airport.

Lockheed Martin recently established a new Cyber Works Centre in the United Kingdom, with a mission of fighting cyber crime and supporting the British government’s National Cyber Security Strategy. But you don’t need to move to the U.K. to be part of Lockheed’s cyber operations: the contracting giant has made cyber operations a mainstay at home as well, with cyber analyst positions offered nationwide. Desired skills vary by position, and can include proficiency in data modeling, familiarity with cybersecurity principles, understanding of computer hardware and software, and experience with encryption, malware analysis, and computer forensics.

Based in Linthicum, MD, Northrop Grumman Mission Systems (NGMS) boasts nearly 30,000 employees, with offices in 50 states and more than 20 countries. Its activities cover everything from “creating a citywide wireless network for our first responders, to protecting our nation from cyber threats, to building software-defined radios that change how our military communicates.” One of four Northrop Grumman business sectors, NGMS has a Cyber Analytics Division that is pioneering new ways to strengthen the company’s mandate of helping to defend the United States and its global allies.

Other major companies that hire cyber analysts include Booz Allen Hamilton, General Dynamics Information Technology/CSRA, and SAIC.

Local Subcontractors
Landing a job at one of the big contractors can be a challenge for new cyber analytics graduates, as these companies are often looking for candidates with significant professional experience. So how does a new entrant in the field looking to build a career get that expertise?

According to Sarah Alspaw, Director of Career Development and Student Success at Capitol Technology University, the big players are supported by hundreds of smaller subcontractors, and many of these provide an excellent way to get a foot in the door.

“You don’t hear their names so often, compared to the primary contractors, but a lot of the best opportunities are with these smaller organizations.  Many of them are based in Howard County, Maryland, not far from our campus here at Capitol Technology University,” Alspaw said. “These subcontractors will often seek out a candidate who has one very specific set of skills – for example, systems analyst skills. That’s because the subcontractors need to show the primary contractor that they are able to meet specific requirements in the contract.”

How to connect with these smaller companies? “The local chamber of commerce is a good place to start,” Alspaw said. “Also, tech councils – such as the Chesapeake Tech Council and Howard Tech Council  -- can be especially valuable in linking you up with local companies that aren’t household names.”

Interested in building a cyber analytics career, or adding analytics to your existing computer science or cybersecurity skill sets? Capitol offers a bachelor’s degree in cyber analytics, as well as an online master’s program tailored for working professionals. Contact admissions@captechu.edu to learn more!

Purple Heart Day Commemorates Oldest US Military Decoration - Capitol Technology University (Since 1927 Located Near Washington D.C.)

Direct Link: https://www.captechu.edu/blog/purple-heart-day-commemorates-oldest-us-military-decoration
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It is an occasion to reflect on service and sacrifice, and to honor those who have given their lives or sustained injuries while defending the United States. Each year, on August 7, Purple Heart Day is commemorated.

On this day in 1782, General George Washington issued a historic order from his headquarters in Newburgh, New York.

“The General…directs that whenever any singularly meritorious action is performed, the author of it shall be permitted to wear on his facings over the left breast, the figure of a heart in purple cloth, or silk, edged with narrow lace or binding,” Washington commanded.

“Not only instances of unusual gallantry, but also of extraordinary fidelity and essential service in any way shall meet with a due reward,” he wrote.

Today, the Badge of Military Merit established by Washington is known as the Purple Heart. Revived in 1931, on the 200^th anniversary of Washington’s birth, the decoration is awarded to those who have died or been wounded while serving.

“Most Americans know what the Purple Heart is, but not everyone is familiar with the history of this decoration,” said Dr. Bradford L. Sims, president of Capitol Technology University. “This is a tradition that goes all the way back to the founding of our country.”

Gratitude to the nation’s servicemen and women is keenly felt at Capitol, Sims said. “One of the things I am proudest of is our repeat designation as a military-friendly university,” he said. “Supporting our soldiers and veterans and providing them with avenues of opportunity in higher education is very much what we’re about.”

An estimated 1.8 million people have been awarded the Purple Heart since its re-establishment. The youngest recipient in history was 12-year-old Calvin Graham, who died in the Pearl Harbor attack.

As for the original Badge of Military Merit, one of the three known cloth-and-silk decorations bestowed by Washington can be seen at the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor, in New Windsor, N.Y.

The branches of the armed services each took to social media to issue statements commemorating Purple Heart Day and commenting on its significance.

“Today is Purple Heart Day, which recognizes not only the merit but more importantly the men and women killed and wounded in combat who have earned the badge of honor,” the US Army wrote.

Privacy as Limits - Capitol Technology University (Since 1927 Located Near Washington D.C.)

Direct Link: https://www.captechu.edu/blog/privacy-limits
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By Jason M. Pittman, Sc. D.

So far we have explored two constructs that help us understand what privacy is: non-intrusion and seclusion. That is, we want information to be free from intrusion and thus have privacy. Further, we seclude information to keep such information private. Privacy is not always a binary mechanism, however, and neither seclusion nor non-intrusion seem to operate within a continuum or range of privacy. Perhaps the concept of limits, as a form of privacy, is better suited to aiding us in developing such understanding.

To some, privacy is a limit or set of limits. Such limits are characteristics of information insofar as the limits exist as qualities or properties. Limitation does not exist independently of information, although information can be free from limitation (e.g., open and equal access). Yes, in this manner limitation is binary -- there is a limit or there is not a limit. Yet, in the affirmative case there appears to be an infinite scale across which limitations can exist.

Moreover, as far as I can reason, privacy does not have a minimal limit. In other words, there is no minimum limit that must be reached to have privacy. Whereas the maximal limit feels like the very definition of limitation as a construct of privacy because it defines the boundary past which privacy is intruded upon, and thus rendered non-private.

A circle of friends serves well as an example for this explanation of what privacy is. For any given group of friends, some of these friends will be best, some will be close, and some will be acquaintances. While these may not be the most appropriate labels, or even the appropriate number of labels, they are sufficient to illustrate the analogy I am making. I think that we universally recognize that best friends can access information that acquaintances should not. Close friends enjoy a level of access that is somewhere between the other two groups. Facebook, as a practical implementation of privacy as limitations, is entirely built upon such a model.

There is a flaw with privacy as limitation, though. As individuals move between these friend groups, the limitations themselves do not change relative to our information. There is a tight coupling between maximal limit, the information holding this limit, and the external entity associated with the limit and information. That being so, the flaw is apparent when we attempt to downgrade the external entity or upgrade the limit characteristic of specific information.

Thus, if we have a limit whereby only an individual in the best friend group can access our home address, and after accessing such we downgrade the individual to close, we have no mechanism to remove the information from the individual. Likewise, if we once permitted acquiaintances to access our phone number but now wish to upgrade the information to a close limitation, we cannot cause acquaintances to suddenly not know our phone number.

This flaw points to what I feel is important facet of limitation to note: the construct is not self-enforcing. In other words, a limit does not itself prevent an external entity from exceeding the limit. Limitation requires an overarching governor to detect, prevent, or otherwise act if a limit is exceeded. Could privacy as a control serve such as purpose?

Samantha Van Sant: What I Love About Capitol - Capitol Technology University (Since 1927 Located Near Washington D.C.)

Direct Link: https://www.captechu.edu/blog/samantha-van-sant-what-i-love-about-capitol
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As part of a regular series, we’re talking with students, faculty, and staff about the things that make Capitol a great place to learn, build, and succeed. Today, we spoke with Samantha Van Sant, associate director of admissions. Samantha has been with Capitol since 2015, working with prospective students, managing open houses, and traveling across the country – and even across the globe -- to get the word out about the university and its programs. Outside of her professional life, Sam is active in improv theater and performs around the area with her indie group, Topiary.

I like the fact that Capitol embraces its identity and its geek culture so unapologetically. That makes our students feel empowered to do the same. At the end of the day, they can make a successful living, doing what they love to do. I think that’s amazing, and it’s also rare among higher education institutions. I particularly appreciate the fact that we seek out and admit students from traditionally underserved communities.

Geek culture is a culture of innovation. Our students tend to share a lot of the same interests. They love to tinker with robots, machines, or any sort of technology. They want to take things apart, learn how how they work, and put them back together. They all love gaming – both video and tabletop. Capitol appeals to students because we embrace that culture. It’s who we are.

At Capitol summer camp, high schoolers harness the power of coding - Capitol Technology University (Since 1927 Located Near Washington D.C.)

Direct Link: https://www.captechu.edu/blog/capitol-summer-camp-high-schoolers-harness-power-of-coding
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You can see the level of concentration in their expressions. It’s intense

Danny Ortiz-Neira (left) and Dr. Sandy Antunes troubleshoot a program.

At Capitol’s summer coding camp, which kicked off on July 30^th, aspiring programmers are unlocking tools they can use for anything from programming a game to managing their expenses.

These are serious programming skills – and the participants are clearly intent on mastering them. Lights are dimmed. Voices are kept low. The mentors, Capitol professor Alexander “Sandy” Antunes and teaching assistants Chris Finch and Jonathan Liao, work one on one with these young coders, assisting then with the inevitable conundrums – a syntax glitch here, an undefined variable there.

“It’s essentially a one-week boot camp,” Antunes says. “Last year, when we ran this camp for the first time, we had great students. This year, they’re double-awesome. They keep asking for more – we burned through three days of material in the first two days. In fact, I had to prepare additional material in order to keep up with them!”

“The general principle behind the camp is for high school students with an interest in coding to come in and do hands-on,” he said.

Over the course of five days, the participants went from learning about variables and loops to designing their own games and animations, complete with real-time controls and multiplayer capabilities.

Participants have also been experimenting with other applications, such as writing a budget-tracking program to help manage monthly expenses, Antunes said. And more than a few have shown a keen interest in cybersecurity.

“This group is really intent on diving in, and we’re giving them the environment to do that,” he said.
The advanced coding camp is one of several programs Capitol has offered this summer. Two cyber camps – basic and advanced – took place earlier in the summer, and a gaming camp will be held from August 6 through 13.

Mark Your Calendars for Capitol’s Scholarship Golf Tournament on October 15 - Capitol Technology University (Since 1927 Located Near Washington D.C.)

Direct Link: https://www.captechu.edu/blog/mark-your-calendars-capitols-scholarship-golf-tournament-october-15
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The rolling hills and forest scenery of central Maryland are at their most spectacular in October – and what better time to enjoy a golf outing with friends or colleagues?

Continuing a much-loved tradition now in its 11^th year, Capitol Technology University is again inviting golf enthusiasts at any skill level to enjoy a day on the links in support of a great cause. The annual Scholarship Golf Tournament will be held on October 15 at The Woodlands, and registration is now open!

Each year, the tournament brings together alumni, benefactors, and other members of the wider Capitol community in an enjoyable day of golf and camaraderie, with proceeds going towards supporting students financially as they strive to realize their academic goals.

“The intention is to draw together alumni and friends of the college for a fun day of golf while also raising funds for scholarship support,” says Vice President for Student Engagement and University Development Melinda Bunnell-Rhyne, whose office is organizing the event.

 “The fund has supported two to four students each year since the tournament started, and allows students who have merit to receive additional support as sophomores, juniors or seniors.”

Bunnell-Rhyne said the annual tournament is always a memorable occasion – not only because of the opportunity golfers have to test their skills, but because of the friendships that are built and the connections that are made.

“It’s a lot of fun for the players, and also for the non-players that come out and have lunch with us. The tournament sponsors really enjoy seeing people out on the course and supporting scholarships. It’s a great opportunity to meet fellow alumni or to meet organizations that support Capitol and talk about how your interests align with their interests,” she said.

This year’s tournament location, The Woodlands, has been hailed by Washington Golf Monthly as “the best public course in the Baltimore suburbs.”  Lindsay Ervin, a leading golf course architect, designed the course, which opened in 1998. According to Ervin, The Woodlands “truly ranks as my best design.”

The scholarship funds raised by the tournament help students with academic merit realize their full potential while being less constrained by the financial burden of higher education, Bunnell-Rhyne said.

“Scholarships are vital to students,” she said. “They help students to control the cost and lower their debt leaving college. That enables them to be on a stronger financial footing when they go out and start their careers and raise families.”

Registration costs cover not only the greens fees and equipment, but also a continental breakfast, lunch, and beverages on course. Each participant will receive a golf shirt marking the occasion, along with a sleeve of golf balls bearing the name of the university. An awards ceremony will be held after play is concluded. Follow this link for a printable registration form. To become a tournament sponsor, click here. For more information about the event, send an e-mail to golf@CapTechU.edu.

Capitol Technology University is the only independent college in Maryland dedicated to engineering, computer science, information technology and business. Founded in 1927, Capitol is an accredited institution offering associate, bachelor’s and master’s degrees, a doctorate in information assurance, as well as professional development training and certificates, and partnerships with government and industry.

Capitol is designated as a National Center of Academic Excellence by the National Security Agency and Department of Homeland Security. The college is located in Laurel, MD, a suburban setting midway between Washington, DC and Baltimore. Capitol is committed to providing a quality education that is technology-driven, accessible, affordable and practical.

Astronautical Engineering Course Spotlight – Ground Systems Engineering - Capitol Technology University (Since 1927 Located Near Washington D.C.)

Direct Link: https://www.captechu.edu/blog/ground-systems-engineering-for-astronautical-bachelors-students
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Flight Ops Engineer: Ground Station, we are ready for acquisition of signal.

Ground Station: Copy! We see the bird and a sweep is under way.

Flight Ops Engineer: Roger!

Ground station: The sweep is complete. You are go for command!

Flight OPS Engineer: Copy! We have acquisition of data. We’re receiving telemetry, Wait! What is that? Two reaction wheels just failed and the spacecraft has started to tumble.  The spacecraft has initiated an RTS for entry to safe-mode. Start the investigation and prepare a recovery procedure.

As an astronautical engineering bachelor’s student at Capitol Technology University, this could be a scenario you encounter when you command and control a simulated satellite in real time in Capitol’s Space Flight Operations Training Center (SFOTC).

Made possible by technology developed and donated to Capitol Technology University by the Hammers Company, the SFOTC is a mission control center-like environment equipped with a spacecraft ground system (known as the Galaxy Telemetry and Commanding System) that is used on various NASA and commercial missions. It also houses spacecraft simulators, a spacecraft station contact clock, and software for orbit determination and analysis. Together, these resources enable students to experience what it’s really like to run a mission.

Unique to Capitol’s program, working and learning in the SFOTC is a part of the required coursework for all astronautical engineering majors, so no student misses the opportunity to experience applying their education to the center’s real-life inspired scenarios.

Although there are plans to expand the offered courses in the SFOTC, bachelor’s students can currently take up to a total of four courses being taught in the center: AE-150 Introduction Into Space, AE-250 Ground Systems Engineering, AE-350 Autonomous Ground Systems (or as students call it "advance spacecraft operations training") and AE-454 Spacecraft Dynamics and Control.
Professor Marcel Mabson and Professor Rishabh Maharaja, who founded the center along with Professor and Astronautical Engineering Chair Angela Walters, are excited about the opportunities available to students through the center. “Capitol has a unique program with the SFOTC,” says Mabson. “There aren’t a whole lot of schools that have this. Unless you have a real control center with a real spacecraft mission, your students are just reading out of books. And you can teach it out of a book, but you don’t really see it and you don’t experience it.”

“By the time you become a senior student, you not only have a subsystems level of experience, but you also have operations and anomaly related experience,” adds Maharaja. “It’s like a flight school. From day 1 you have to understand what happens when anything goes wrong as well as all of the systems in that aircraft. Satellites are very similar to that when it comes to operations.”

Wanting to know more about just what we could learn in the Space Flight Operations Training Center, we asked the professors to tell us about one of the classes they teach, AE 250: Ground Systems Engineering.

Professor Maharaja explains, “The class has four major learning goals: Real time command and control, mission planning, flight dynamics, and telemetry trending analysis. AE 250 provides a good overview of ground systems that are within what is called a mission operations center or a MOC. The MOC is analogous to what we have at the SFOTC in the McGowan building, but it also extends into a little bit of the ground systems side of things, like the antenna centers that actually receive a lot of this satellite data. We’re talking about what is going on in the space network as well as the ground network side of the various different segments.”

Students can expect to learn how telemetry, or data, comes down to a satellite, how to read and interpret that data to predict what the satellite will do, and how to send commands to the satellite. “AE 250 provides a great intro to the situational awareness of various different satellite systems,” says Maharaja.

“There’s the mission planning aspect,” he continues, “where we are able to show students how to, in a very generic way, build these mission sequences and upload them to the spacecraft. And then viewing the telemetry to make sure that you know your spacecraft did that action.”

These mission sequences are like instructions that you send to the satellite. Professor Maharaja encourages students to, “think of a satellite as a big fancy robot that we threw up in space. So it’s no different from a Roomba, it’s just a lot more complex.  A Roomba has to be told which room to go to and where to vacuum clean, similarly a satellite has a set of mission sequences that it needs to do something.”

“For the 250 final they actually do what we call a week in the life” says Mabson. “Rishabh and I present the students with a schedule we call passes. - Passes is when the satellite is in view of a ground station. - For 7 days we say here’s a contact for all your spacecrafts and each team - teams of 2 - has to schedule when they are going to be on console, and they have to upload the commands, download data, and make sure everything is okay. So they are getting those hours.”

It’s a class built around inspiring confidence in our students. The professors explain that many of the students who come into 250 have never done anything like this before and are often nervous to command a satellite.

“Think of AE 150 as getting your feet wet, and one thing I like about 250 is that initially you bombard them with a lot of theory, and then when students start doing the live it’s almost like pushing them into the water. Lightbulbs start going off – oh I remember this from class! So initially there’s a bombardment of information and then when they get into the lab it’s like OH!” says Maharaja.

“My favorite thing is the end of the semester,” adds Mabson. “They’re at their final week, they are doing their day in the life and it all starts to click in their minds. Oh, this is what telemetry looks like, oh I understand how to transmit a command to the spacecraft, oh the spacecraft did A, B, C, D, oh I can check on my checklist. To see them all start to work together and have it all become familiar and second nature. The whole point of this is that they can get on a console and it’s second nature and they know what they’re doing.”

Capitol alumni working in the field are encouraged to reach out to the SFOTC. If you have any great anomaly experience that you would like to share with us, our professors love using your content to build scenarios for Capitol classes. To reach out to us, please email SFOTC@captechu.edu.
Interested in learning more? Additional information about the center can be found here.