KSU Student of the Year Awards

Each year, the Cyber Institute likes to recognize students who have won local, regional, or international awards in various topics relating to cybersecurity.

Check out students from past years who have won the KSU Student of the Year Award from the Cyber Institute!

Master of Science in Cybersecurity

2021-2022

The 2021-2022 Masters of Cybersecurity Student of the Year is Jake Bulim.

Jake Bulim is a Cyber Triage and Forensic Analyst at EY. He works as a part of the cyber defense team. His career started at KSU of where he worked for Coles College of Business while in the Information Security and Assurance Bachelor Degree program. Jake was also president of Beta Alpha Psi at Coles College and volunteered with the Information Systems Department. While in graduate school, he worked as a Graduate Research Assistant for the Graduate School.  He also has and continues to assist the ICWD and yje Information Systems and Security department in developing and testing new curriculum. 

In May, Jake will be three-time alumni having earned the BBA-ISA, the MS-IS, and the MS-CYBR from Kennesaw State University. 

ksu student Jake Bulim

 

Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity

2021-2022

The 2021-2022 Student of the Year is Cynthia Watson.

Cynthia Watson graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity from Kennesaw State University on May 11th, 2022. She was on the president's list every semester since beginning her journey at KSU. During her time at KSU, she have learned that she enjoyed the policy and governance areas of Cybersecurity. 

Cynthia completed a 9-month legislative IT auditor position for the Office of the State Auditor in Colorado. I was also selected for a Cyber Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) internship-to-hire position with MassMutual.

Cynthia Watson

Cynthia has always enjoyed learning how things work, and the Cybersecurity program was a perfect fit to pursue her curiosity in the technology field. Her experience at KSU has led to lifelong friendships and created many positive opportunities. She is thankful to all of her peers and the Professors that have led to her success.

Cynthia's future goals include paying it forward to help other Cybersecurity students in their academic and career pursuits.

 

  • The 2020-2021 Student of the Year is Madison Loewe.  

    Madison Loewe graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity from Kennesaw State University. She has been on the Dean’s or President’s list every semester of her four years at KSU. 

    Her interest in tech began in high school when she joined the Robotics Club where she competed in VEX. In her first semester at KSU, she found Cybersecurity and made the decision to pursue the degree. She has also been pursuing acting and competing in Disc Golf during her free time, coming from a long life of theater and sports.

    In her down time, Madison can be found hanging out with her family, reading a book, or learning about something new. She has enjoyed the journey that college has allowed her to partake in and is thankful for her wonderful professors for their efforts in helping her learn. 

    ksu student Madison Loewe

  • The 2019-2020 Student of the Year is Michelle Aninye.

    Michelle Aninye is a Privacy Engineer at Google. She designs technologies that are as privacy-respectful to users as they are beneficial.

    Her career in privacy started at Cisco where she developed frameworks for new privacy regulations. She continued this work at the University of Chicago through her research on usable security and privacy for marginalized communities. Before this, Michelle worked on cybersecurity teams in various industries at Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and CNN.

    In addition to her industry work, Michelle teaches cybersecurity and coding classes to grade-school students and offers individual privacy consultations.

    Michelle holds a BS in cybersecurity from Kennesaw State University.

    ksu student Michelle Aninye

  • The 2018-2019 Student of the Year is Ruben Mocuta.

    Ruben Mocuta began his interest in all things tech at an early age. Fortunately for him, Kennesaw State University created a new cybersecurity program, and he was first in line for it since it is one of his passions. After 2 years of diligent effort at KSU, he finally earned a bachelor's degree in Cybersecurity as the first major to be awarded that degree.

    Ruben is currently a security engineer for a Fortune 50 company. He loves cybersecurity so much that he decided to go back to school at the Georgia Institute of Technology to pursue a Master's Degree in Cybersecurity that is focused on security policy. In his free time, he is with his family or reading the Word of God. He is very thankful for the journey and grants all glory to God for letting him make it this far.

    He can't wait to see what lies ahead!

    ksu student Ruben Mocuta