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Updated: December 4, 2024 @ 6:06 am
Representatives of SteelGate LLC pose with USCA faculty, staff, and students to commemorate gifts totaling $75,000 in support of scholarships for students studying computer science.
Reporter
Carl Dawson covers education for the Aiken Standard. An Aiken County resident since 1990, his work has appeared in the Charleston News & Courier, the Tampa Tribune, the Atlanta Constitution and the Augusta Chronicle. He holds a B.A. in English from the University of South Carolina.
Representatives of SteelGate LLC pose with USCA faculty, staff, and students to commemorate gifts totaling $75,000 in support of scholarships for students studying computer science.
International cybersecurity firm SteelGate LLC has donated $75,000 to USC Aiken this year to fund scholarships for students seeking careers in cybersecurity and computer science.
The gifts, $25,000 in May and $50,000 in November, will support degree-seeking students majoring in computer science who have at least a 3.0 grade point average. USCA offers concentrations in cybersecurity and data science as part of its computer science degree.
USCA hopes to award funds in 2025 to as many as 25 students from 18 local high schools who are seeking a career in cybersecurity and computer science, said Dr. Scott McKay, dean of the College of Sciences and Engineering at USCA.
“The SteelGate Cyber Scholarship addresses a critical and significant demand for motivated and qualified cyber personnel who have the awareness and skills to defend local, state, national and even international networks from growing threats,” McKay said.
“USCA continues to make it one of its highest priorities to work with cybersecurity firms and organizations to meet the ever-increasing need for graduates who are ready to combat the nation and world’s cyber threats, and we are grateful for SteelGate for leading this charge.”
Increased demand for IT, cyber and computer science professionals is being felt on the USCA campus, McKay said. There are 200 students in the cyber program.
McKay said the demand is expected to increase by 15% to 30% each year through 2030.
In addition to establishing a scholarship, SteelGate will work with USCA’s Office of Career Services to offer internships to university students as part of the new partnership.
“We’re in the beginning phases of it,” said Corey Feraldi, USC Aiken’s director of career services. “They’ve already been meeting with students.”
USC Aiken will soon be home to the $60 million U.S. Department of Energy/Savannah River National Laboratory’s Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative.
In 2025, the South Carolina National Guard plans to break ground on a new $30 million Cyber Integration Center, which will serve as the new home of its Cyber Battalion. USCA is a National Security Agency Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense.
Both facilities will provide USCA students with real-world opportunities to work on cybersecurity and computer science projects.
The university has opened a Regional Security Operations Center on campus to provide students with hands-on learning opportunities in monitoring and securing USCA’s network and those of local organizations, municipalities, and school districts.
Established in 2019, SteelGate LLC offers services and solutions in cyber operations, distributed command and control, data science, and information operations. They have customers worldwide and have recently relocated their Georgia office to the Georgia Cyber Center in Augusta to facilitate solving cyber-related challenges with federal and state organizations.
Reporter
Carl Dawson covers education for the Aiken Standard. An Aiken County resident since 1990, his work has appeared in the Charleston News & Courier, the Tampa Tribune, the Atlanta Constitution and the Augusta Chronicle. He holds a B.A. in English from the University of South Carolina.
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