Argonne has a long history of organizing and supporting successful university competitions to help seed the industry with the best and brightest. Most recently, the laboratory helped host the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) third annual Cyber Defense Competition alongside Pacific Northwest and Oak Ridge National Laboratories.
In the event, student teams built a complex network infrastructure similar to one used by any organization, business or service, and defended their networks from pseudo attacks launched by industry professionals. At the end of this year’s competition, Lewis University bested 24 other university teams to take home the number one spot.
“You are this nation’s next generation of innovators, defenders and cyber warriors,” said Energy Secretary Rick Perry as he kicked off the contest in a video message to the crowd. “There is perhaps nothing more essential to America’s national and economic security than its energy supply. The Department of Energy plays a vital role in protecting that supply, and as Secretary, it is my number one priority.”
Continuing its support of next-generation scientific achievers, Argonne has managed collegiate vehicle technology competitions for DOE for more than a decade. The latest of these, EcoCAR 3, an Advanced Vehicle Technology Competition, will celebrate its final year this month.
At the Year 4 finale, 16 university teams will gather to compete at General Motor’s Desert Proving Grounds in Yuma, AZ, and in California. EcoCAR 3 challenges these teams to redesign a 2016 Chevrolet Camaro by demonstrating emerging automotive technologies, while still maintaining the performance expected from this iconic American car. Follow the daily progress of the competition at https://avtcseries.org/competitions/ecocar3-2/.