On August 5, 2024, PC4A hosted the second annual Partner Conference at Montgomery County Community College. PC4A is a consortium of community colleges, led by IUP and funded by the Department of Defense, working together to strengthen the cybersecurity workforce in our country.
For the second time since the start of the PC4A Project, all PC4A community college partners, faculty, and students, along with representatives from IUP and the IUP Research Institute, met in person to discuss project progress and goals and to identify opportunities for collaboration.
The day-long event, held in Montgomery County Community College’s Advanced Technology Center, featured presentations from PC4A Program Director Waleed Farag, community college partners, guest speaker Craig Russon from CompTIA/TestOut, and Tim McCroskey and Charlie Gambino of the IUP Research Institute.
Each partner presented an overview of their progress, activities, and lessons learned during the second year of the project, and guest speaker Craig Russon provided details on CompTIA certification changes, new products, and answered partner questions. The conference concluded with a group discussion on how to better collaborate in the future and preparations for the third year of the project. For conference details, including the event agenda, see the PC4A Conference website.
Farag said “Our annual conference was a highly enjoyable experience, and meeting in person really solidified the collaborations we’ve spent the last two years working to build. I am extremely proud of the accomplishments we’ve achieved since the start of the project, and I look forward to year three.”
In 2022, IUP received almost $5 million to form PC4A, the largest single award ever granted in the university’s history. The project will last until August 2025, with a possible extension through August 2028. Complete details of the PC4A Project can be found on the project website. Contact pc4a-stem@iup.edu to learn more.