Competition wins translate to workforce success

January 16, 2025

At Dakota State University, student success is the #1 priority.

DSU students took that to heart and made a clean sweep at the Cybersports LTD Capture the Flag (CTF) Summit in Minneapolis last fall. The DSU Trojan Horse squad from CybHER® took first place in the October event’s cybersecurity competition; additional DSU teams took 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. 

The first-place squad was the only all-female team in the competition, led by team captain Gwen Vongkasemsiri. Her teammates were Diksha Raman, Bella Maxwell, Lucia Garcia, and Jasmine Mortland.

The women on the team were surprised with the result. Janaki said watching the scoreboard at the end of the competition was a little unreal as it became clear that they were going to take first place. So was listening to the competition organizers comment about how well they had done.

For several, this was their first CTF competition experience. Maxwell said she enjoyed seeing how competitions work, and having participated in an event like this shows that they should not be intimidated in competitive situations, said Mortland. Garcia looks forward to future competitions, such as the CTFs at conferences like the Women in Cybersecurity (WiCyS) meeting in Dallas this spring. 

The students also discovered that competition experience is a way to stand out in the cybersecurity job field. Because of this, Vongkasemsiri created a CTF Club as part of the Computer Club at DSU.

“I primarily created the CTF Club to help train members to win cybersecurity competitions, but the concepts we talk about also apply to on-the-job skills, and are qualities employers are looking for,” she stated.

“When I was applying for summer internships, almost every interviewer I had mentioned how the CTFs on my resume stood out to them. I've seen CTFs added to a lot of job descriptions, too!”

The team members also noted the guidance of club advisor Dr. Tom Halverson, as well as their faculty coaches, Drs. Cody Welu, Andrew Kramer, and Shawn Zwach. Additionally, they had support from the Dakota State University Google Cybersecurity Clinic and DSU’s vice president for Research & Economic Development, Dr. Ashley Podhradsky. They also thanked the competition sponsors, Roman Bohuk + MetaCTF, for hosting the CTF challenges.