News and Events

The event, organized by the Minnesota State IT Center of Excellence, featured eight teams from higher education institutions competing in a challenging simulation where students assumed administrative and protective duties for a commercial network environment. Throughout the day-long competition, teams defended against live threats from a volunteer Red Team of ethical hackers while maintaining critical services and responding to business requests.

The competition saw strong performances across all participating teams. St. Cloud State University took first place and will advance to the Regional CCDC hosted by Purdue University Northwest, with a potential path to the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition in San Antonio, Texas, this April. Dunwoody College of Technology and Metro State University claimed second and third place respectively, earning wildcard advancement opportunities.

ATCC's own team competed alongside institutions including Century College, Lake Superior College, Minneapolis College, Minnesota State Community and Technical College, and Dakota State University as an exhibition team.

The success of this event was made possible through generous support from our sponsors: Abbott, Inc., CliftonLarsonAllen (CLA), WiSP Services, LLC, and Gardonville Cooperative Telephone Associates. Special recognition goes to our faculty members Jeremy Scribner and Miquel Gonzalez, who served as Super Site Judges, and Steve Richards for his leadership in coordinating the event.

A special thank you to our Alexandria Technical and Community College students who participated in this year's competition. Your dedication to developing your cybersecurity skills and representing our college demonstrates the caliber of talent we're proud to nurture. Events like these provide critical real-world experience, and with an estimated 95% job placement rate among CCDC participants, you're positioning yourselves for strong careers in this vital field.

For more information about ATCC's IT and cybersecurity programs, visit our program webpage.