Bates Technical College, serving nearly 3,000 career training students and 10,000 community members on three campuses, has been helping students reach their education goals and nurturing talent since the 1940’s. As a leader in hands-on learning, Bates Tech mirrors the workplace, and provides students with opportunities to develop and practice the skills they need to be successful in job roles.

The community creates a space for students to achieve their personal and professional goals while focusing on the mission of enriching diverse communities by inspiring student learning, challenging greater achievement, and educating for employment.

Professor Joseph Kauer joined the Bates Tech team in 2019 to build a comprehensive and engaging cybersecurity program that was different from other programs in the region and would set the school apart. He started at the very beginning, setting up computers and creating a computer lab.

The cybersecurity program at Bates Tech has grown each year as more and more students see the many opportunities for skilled cybersecurity professionals in the workforce. As a Project Management oriented cybersecurity professional, Professor Kauer wants students to dive into the world of managing risks. The team at Bates Tech is focused on the expansion into subjects like forensic examination and cloud networking security. Students can actively pursue a two-year Associates of Science (AS) degree or take classes to earn transferable credits for a 4-year institution during their time at Bates Tech.

“The Cybersecurity program at Bates Tech champions diversity. I always tell my students that when you start surrounding yourself with ‘yes men,’ you will get no new ideas. You don’t find new ways to think about things inside of an echo chamber, so having a diverse field allows for critical thinking and creative thinking that encourages individual contributions.”

Joseph Kauer, Cybersecurity Professor, Bates Technical College

The Bates Technical College instructors envision success from a student perspective. Professor Kauer leans on his experiences as a student to help him create policies that are student-friendly and drive results. For example, they don’t use a hard stop when it comes to due dates for classwork; it’s accepted until the end of the quarter because Professor Kauer and his team believe that the work is important and want their students to take time to gain that valuable experience. The goal of this program is to create a relaxed environment that facilitates learning and collaboration.

The Bates Tech team takes pride in not just teaching hands-on technical skills needed to take on the jobs of the future but also in making sure that their graduates have the confidence to be influencers and leaders in their fields. There is a strong focus on professional networking, writing, and presentation skills because everyone is highly likely to work as part of a team in the cybersecurity field and needs to be effective communicators. When graduates from the Bates Tech program identify cyber risks or defensive solutions, they will also be ready to convincingly share ideas with their peers and leaders as truly effective cybersecurity professionals. Bates Technical College works to make sure that the program develops well-rounded future professionals who can navigate their careers and become leaders.

Professor Kauer and his team chose Project Ares as the platform for their labs to provide students with hands-on practice that reinforces the cybersecurity curriculum. Project Ares works on various machines from PCs to simple Chromebooks. This was key for easy access to learning tools for Bates Tech students and it enabled the instructors to push forward on their educational goals without worrying about equipment compatibility issues. Project Ares creates a common learning environment by launching virtual machines through a browser, thereby ensuring that all students are working in the same type of environment while enabling students to work at their own pace to complete labs.

Professor Kauer has seen his students benefit a great deal from the program as they see and experience the lessons that he’s teaching in a participatory manner. He can demonstrate how to execute Linux commands like ping and Nmap and then they go into Project Ares and continue to practice in an environment that emulates real computer systems. Students can execute commands and visualize how they’re executed in real time. The memorable, interactive experience of practicing with virtual machines is game changing.

Professor Kauer finds that students involved in immersive labs progress much more quickly. Students work together and collaborate on their assignments whether in a classroom or working from a remote location and easily use the chat function built into Project Ares. They enjoy themselves while using internal resources to solve problems. They learn how to accomplish their objectives, or they find any pieces of the lessons that they may have missed and then jump right back into their lab exercises.

“The virtual machine environment offered by Project Ares is excellent. This easily solves for the problem of not every student having the same hardware or software modules. We are able to place all of our students on an equal starting ground.”

Joseph Kauer, Cybersecurity Professor, Bates Technical College

Project Ares labs have equipped the instructors at Bates Technical College with cybersecurity learning tools that deploy easily for their student cohorts and don’t need to be manually setup by educators. This allows them to be free from the administration time needed to manage a homemade cyber range environment and they can reinvest that time into their student interactions.

Additionally, Bates Tech students are empowered by virtual lab environments since they don’t have to be afraid of failure in these scenarios. They have multiple chances to make corrections and adjust their work as they pursue their learning objectives. Bates Tech emphasizes that this is a learning experience and that Project Ares virtual environments give students the freedom to make mistakes in a safe environment.

“Our program aims to challenge students to start thinking outside of the box. In the beginning, we like to challenge students to think critically about new types of security exploits.”

Joseph Kauer, Cybersecurity Professor, Bates Technical College

From a philosophy of not only teaching skills but also preparing students for future careers, Professor Kauer and his team are successfully integrating hands-on learning through Project Ares into the cybersecurity program at Bates Technical College.

A Cybersecurity Success Story from an Urban City Codes Student

I had an excellent conversation with Benny Walker – an alum of the Urban City Codes program. We discussed his cybersecurity learning journey and how his long time love for technology drove him to pursue new skills.

Giuseppe Scalamogna from Project Ares and Benny Walker talk about pursuing cybersecurity education.

How did you find out about Urban City codes?

I was talking to a family member who works in IT about an incident that happened at work, and they mentioned the program at Urban City Codes. Initially, I thought I wasn’t computer savvy enough to go through a program like that. I’m from the old school of technology and coded in Pascal. I thought maybe new technology had passed me up, but she encouraged me to think about it.

I just needed that little push! I signed up for the class right away and ever since then I’ve been all in on my studies. I really like the cybersecurity industry.

Can you tell me a little bit more about your career in government service?

I’ve worked at the Veterans Administration in their Finance & Payroll Department for 13 years and I enjoy being in the service. Being a Marine was a very fulfilling job and I especially enjoy being able to help my comrades now because when you’re in the service there are three main things you need to make sure you have: food, your pay, and good supplies!

I love being able to help veterans get their pay together. Seeing how grateful people are in this community is very fulfilling.

What got you interested in cybersecurity?

I was working with the Ohio Inspector General to research an incident where a veteran called in to say they had not received their pay. I noticed that there was a potential for agents to manipulate the system by adding an alternate address or bank account. I started to review accounts and discovered that an employee had diverted funds to their own account, and I knew that we needed to setup safety protocols to prevent this from happening again. As a result, security around these account systems tightened and secure passwords went into effect.

I’m very curious and I analyze systems to discover the ins and outs of how they work. I often wonder, ‘What if somebody did this? How can we protect that?’ I’m always trying to figure things out and looking for new challenges.

What made you want to use Project Ares after finishing your Urban City Codes program?

When I first started with Urban City Codes, I didn’t know a lot about cybersecurity but as I started to go deeper into the course and learned about ports and protocols using Portflow in Project Ares, things started to click for me. Also, I really enjoyed learning about number system conversions and work roles using Project Ares learning games like Cyqual and CyberVault. As our bootcamp was ending, I wanted to review the materials again and continue my training once I felt more comfortable with the materials.

What’s up next for your cybersecurity learning journey?

I’m reviewing materials now to sharpen my skills and I’m planning to pursue certifications in CompTIA Security+, eJPT, Burp Suite, SPLUNK, Azure, and AWS starting in June.

Do you have advice on how to start in cybersecurity for non-traditional students?

My best advice for someone like me who is coming “late to the game” would be to have a plan and then, just do it even though it’s going to be hard. Once you put in the time, you will see the benefits. I always say that you’ve got to have plan on how you’re going to reach your goal and work at that with consistency. Once you have a plan and approach it with consistency everything else will take care of itself.

You must continue the work at learning cybersecurity because if not you will get rusty. This is an ever-changing career, there’s always going to be something new: a new malware, a new virus, new techniques, so you must stay aware of what’s happening in the industry.

The Project Ares team appreciates all we learn from our students.

We’re excited by their passion, drive, and desire to be successful! Thank you Benny, and best of success in your cybersecurity career journey.

Check out other success stories (opens new window) where we continue to explore what inspires and motivates Project Ares (opens new window) students and why cybersecurity is important to them.