“CyberproAI and Cympire had a relationship with two other Ivy Tech campuses, but the South Bend-Elkhart team first met with their team and sampled their program last spring at Ivy Tech’s annual IT summit. We were immediately impressed with the product,” said Kevin O’Neill, department chair, School of IT and program chair, Supply Chain Management.
O’Neill has spent over 40 years in the industry, working in IT or operations. He’s been an adjunct professor or professor for 13 years now. He said the impact that this program will make for the students that currently and will participate in the cybersecurity curriculum is substantial.
“The Cympire platform will allow our students to apply what they learn in the classroom to real-life cybersecurity scenarios,” he said. “We have always been able to translate theory to practice, but this platform provides a quantity and variety of situations that we can incorporate into class after class in our curriculum. Ultimately, we want our cybersecurity students to be ready to hit the ground running as they move from their academic careers to their professional careers.”
O’Neill said that the opportunity that Ivy Tech is offering will not only impact students that attend the school, but will impact the community as well.
“We also envision the Cympire system as an opportunity to serve the local business community by offering cybersecurity boot camps. These camps would be opportunities for IT professionals to sharpen their skills with hands-on activities working with the endless variety of security challenges,” O’Neill said.
O’Neill said the program is another way Ivy Tech positively impacts their students.
“The best part about working for Ivy Tech is how we change our students’ lives,” he said. “This is one more opportunity to prepare students for interesting, rewarding careers that pay well. Adding these new capabilities goes beyond standard preparation to provide a level of learning that can make our students more successful than most as they move from school to work.”
The program is not limited to cybersecurity students, but is open to other IT students who are interested in the program.
“Cybersecurity learning does not have to be limited to cybersecurity students,” O’Neill said. “We are exploring ways to incorporate some of Cympire’s basic modules and scenarios into courses for other IT disciplines as well as into the relevant lessons in non-IT disciplines.”
Ivy Tech offers a variety of academic credentials for cybersecurity students ranging from certificates (22 credit hours) to Associate Degrees (60 credit hours). Most courses span three credit hours. To get started with enrollment, interested students should submit an application, at no cost. From there, an enrollment specialist will guide an applicant through the process.
© 2025 the Goshen News (Goshen, Ind.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
