Dean’s Cup winners honored
May 2, 2025
Each year, The Beacom College of Computer & Cyber Sciences Dean’s Cup highlights the talents of Dakota State University students.
This year was no exception, but in addition to the talents of the contestants, the competition showcased the abilities of last year’s winner, too.
John Brumels, a cyber defense master’s degree student from Sioux Falls, took first place last year, and jumped in to help organize this year’s event. He decided that instead of just a standard hackathon, the competition should be a build-a-thon.
Over one week, students in all majors were given the opportunity to build something using technology, and create a five-minute video explaining their project. A panel of judges critiqued the projects on four categories:
- Innovation and creativity
- Technical execution
- Impact and expression
- Presentation clarity
“The students really stepped up to the challenge,” said Dr. Mary Bell, dean of The Beacom College. “All demonstrated what they can accomplish when technology meets with imagination,” she stated.
Three students were honored with cash awards for their projects, funds which are generated from the annual DakotaCon cybersecurity conference.
- Ethan Clarke, computer science and cyber operations double major from Groton, S.D., 1st place for creating a hardware-based VPN client using a Raspberry Pi
- Hunter Wade –a cyber defense master’s degree student from Flandreau, S.D., 2nd place for his powersheel-based automation tool
- Rayn Light, cyber operations major from Brandon, S.D., 3rd place for building a QUIC-over-HTTP/3 command and control infrastructure
Two students were awarded prizes as part of a raffle, Brooks Robison and Oluwajuwon Adedowole.