7 NJIT Students Awarded Through NSF's CyberCorps® Scholarship for Service

The NJIT Secure Computing Initiative (SCI), funded through the National Science Foundation (NSF), has selected seven high-caliber students to join the fall 2024 cohort of the elite CyberCorps® Scholarship for Service Program (SFS).

The competitive scholarship is awarded following a rigorous application and interview process where faculty evaluate candidates based upon a unique combination of their academic standing, strong social skills, self-motivation, excellence in teamwork, passion and commitment to embracing and comprehending the initiative, and dedication to serving the country. Prior exposure to cybersecurity is favored but not required, and several members of the new cohort had no previous experience.

The scholarship “removes all financial burdens,” according to Prof. Cristian Borcea, who co-directs the program along with Profs. Reza Curtmola, Ali Mili and Vincent Oria. In return, participants are expected to maintain a level of excellence that extends beyond the classroom to include full immersion in myriad extracurricular cybersecurity initiatives.

In return for an award that includes full tuition and fees, an annual stipend of $27,000 for undergraduates and $37,000 for graduate students, and allowance of up to $6,000 for professional development, recipients must maintain high academic standing, complete summer internships and work full-time in a cybersecurity-related role in the U.S. Government for every year they have been part of the program.

Qualifying students may apply to the program once per year in March as a junior, senior or first year master’s student, and have a choice of earning a master’s degree in either Cybersecurity and Privacy or IT Administration and Security.

The purpose of the program responds to the critical need for developing the next generation of highly skilled cybersecurity innovators, which grows exponentially as cyberthreats and breaches continue to compromise the safety and security of the country.

YWCC proudly announces the 2024 cohort, selected from an impressive applicant pool of over fifty students.

Maciej Gajda ’25 (Information Technology), Janish Suneja ’25 (Computer Science), Andre Henry ’26 (Information Technology) and Nicholas Zubrzycki ’25 (Computer Science) will pursue the MS in Cybersecurity and Privacy; Noah Jacobson ’26 (Information Technology), Andrew Gomez ’26 (Computer Science) and Trent Gwathney ’25 (Information Technology) have chosen the MS in IT Administration and Security.

Interest in cybersecurity has grown at the secondary level, and many high school seniors are inquiring more about pursuing its many areas. Although NJIT does not currently offer an undergraduate cybersecurity major, some members of cohort ’24 came to the university with prior knowledge of CyberCorps® and the intention of applying when the time was appropriate. NJIT is the only university in New Jersey to appear in Fortune Education's Best Master’s in Cybersecurity 2025 ranking.

Most of this year’s scholarship recipients, however, cite NICC (NJIT Information & Cybersecurity Club) and one of its creators, former president and current CyberCorps® member, Al Simpson, with inspiring their interest in cybersecurity and desire to pursue a place within the competitive program.

Gwathney was reasonably confident about admission to the program based not only on his prior IT and cybersecurity experience, but his relationship with Simpson as a mentor, who provided guidance on preparing for the nomination and assisting him in teaching cybersecurity to middle school students. Gwathney subsequently adapted the course for high school students and was handpicked by Simpson to assume leadership of NICC as its next president.

Suneja initially had what he considered a narrow view of computer science and wanted software engineering as his major. NJIT’s reputation for math is what brought him to the university, but its use in cryptography, in which he had an interest, was when he saw cybersecurity as the bridge between computer science and information technology. “CS means a lot more to me now!” he remarked.

Conversely, Jacobson was drawn to the practical side of IT. He left an existing job in the field to concentrate full-time on his studies and place among the elite team of new and existing student scholars.

He developed an interest in cybersecurity once he discovered that it was centered around “making things work together in ways they weren’t meant to.”

“You break things to fix them,” he continued.

Learning more by breaking when trying to cheat on Steam Deck, a portable gaming PC, was the foray that led Gwathney to realize that “skills that could get you arrested in civilian life can get you hired by the FBI!”

Zubrzycki had personal reasons for wanting to transform cybersecurity after he experienced a breach of his own data privacy. He also credits Senior University Lecturer Asad Raza’s Introduction to Cybersecurity class with bringing his interest forward.

Gajda may have the most interesting background of all his teammates. He immigrated with his parents as a child to the U.S. and experienced firsthand how hard work could have big rewards. “That gave me a very deep appreciation for this country and all it has to offer. It would mean a lot to be able to contribute to securing that and keeping it safe.”

He thinks, however idealistically, that hopes and dreams should not be too heavily grounded in reality – at least for long. It was the reality of COVID that caused him to leave a 12-year career as a chef in New York City and return to school in his 30’s to realize his true calling. “I was usually the one to fix technical issues at the restaurant,” he observed.

Gajda, like most of his fellow students apart from Gwathney and Henry, did not think he would actually be awarded an SFS scholarship and kept his expectations in check.

According to him and a few others, the interview day had challenges. He remarked with a grin, “I had the classic extremely good morning. I missed my train, got stuck in traffic and struggled to find parking, making me five minutes late and very frazzled!”

Suneja recalled the ease with which he was welcomed by Prof. Vincent Oria, the chair of the department of Computer Science, who let out a laugh when told about Suneja’s nervousness. “Then I walked into the room to find the other professor appeared much more serious. I shook hands with confidence… Until I realized I had forgotten his name!”

“See? You should have known that before coming in! This is Dr. Curtmola,” Oria responded. Curtmola, being one of the four principal co-directors of the program.

Suneja felt he recovered when he spoke about his involvement with NICC and the NCAE Cybergames. He also had an interest in pursuing his Ph.D. – the program for which Curtmola is also program director.

Gomez likewise thought he had three strikes against him. “I neglected to bring a copy of my CV – strike one. Most of the interview revolved around ways to improve my resume – strike two – or at least so I thought. And I was told that it would have been better to get letters of recommendation from CS professors who could speak to my technical skills – strike three.”

But his ability to answer questions honestly, thoroughly, and with confidence in attestation to technical skill as well as character was what won him the invitation to join a program that is life changing.

Henry, who is of Jamaican descent and on the NJIT track and field team, enlisted his athletic advisor to help him meticulously prepare a top tier application and interview. He wasn’t new to the interview process, nor the expectations placed on achieving goals from his experience as an athlete. He was already on cloud nine post-interview because he had just been offered an internship from a Fortune 30 company, so this was, according to him, “the final hurdle to seal the deal.”

His main goal, as with his fellow SFS scholars, is to make the most of the opportunity and show the program directors that they made the right choice.

“I am an investment. I am honored to be in an environment where I will contribute to something greater than myself. I want to be a beacon of hope back in Jamaica,” he said with pride.

Benefiting from its designation as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education by the NSA/DHS, the Ying Wu College of Computing has received a grant of $4.6 million from the NSF to support the second edition of this program at NJIT.