Upcoming Events
Empowering Michigan's next generation of cyber defenders
The Michigan High School Cyber Summit introduces students to the real-world challenges and exciting career opportunities in cybersecurity. With cyber threats on the rise, this event brings together public and private sector experts to share how we defend digital systems and protect critical infrastructure. Through engaging discussions, hands-on experiences, and career exploration, students gain a deeper understanding of the skills and paths that lead to a future in this fast-growing field.
The Upper Peninsula Cybersecurity Institute will be leading a hands-on cybersecurity activity during the event.
Date: October 14th, 2026
Cost: $35.00 (financial scholarships are available for those who qualify)
Location: Vibe Credit Union Showplace - Novi, Michigan
Registration: Register Now!
Michigan Healthcare Cybersecurity Council - U.P. Summit
Cybersecurity practitioners in the healthcare sector will meet for a 1-day symposium on emerging trends in cybersecurity, professional development, and networking.
Date: October 27th, 2026
Cost: TBD
Location: Campus of Northern Michigan University (NMU Campus Map)
The SCA Leadership team is recruiting a team to compete in the 2027 NCAE Cyber Games. Please email the Student Cybersecurity Association to express interest in being on the team.
2026 Past Events
NMU Information Assurance / Cyber Defense students will participate in the Northern Strike 2026 Military Exercise. Students will be embedded with troops from the 172nd Cyber Protection Team, along with troops from the United Kingdom and Latvia, for this year's exercise. Background checks will be required for access to the DoD Persistent Cyber Training Environment.
Dates: Monday, August 10, 2026 - Friday, August 14, 2026
Time: 9:00 am - 2:00 pm EST
Cost: Trip costs will be covered by funds from the MI-LEO Marshall Plan for Talent Grant and the NMU College of Business.
Location: Camp Grayling, Grayling, MI
Please contact Michael Sauer if you are interested in attending the exercise.
Blue-Team Photo
NMU Team Photo
Red-Team / Blue-Team Post Exercise Debrief
Imagine a week where you're not just learning about technology -- you're controlling it.
At our residential summer camp, you'll hack (legally!), code, and connect everyday objects to the internet in ways that will genuinely surprise you. Want to build a smart device from scratch? Lock and unlock a door with code you wrote yourself? Discover the hidden vulnerabilities in the networks around us — and learn how to defend them? This is the place. Surrounded by students who geek out over the same things you do, guided by instructors who work in the real world of cybersecurity and tech, you'll spend five days diving into the skills that are shaping the future — artificial intelligence, IoT, ethical hacking, and beyond. No experience required. Just curiosity, ambition, and the willingness to break things (on purpose) and build them back better. The only question is: are you in?
Dates: June 21st - 27th, 2026
Cost: $200.00 (financial Scholarships are available for those who qualify)
Location: NMU Campus
Registration: Apply Now!
Capstone Project Work
Camp Bowling Night
Camp Photo
CypherCON is a cybersecurity and hacker conference held in Milwaukee, WI. NMU will send a group of Information Assurance/Cyber Defense students for 3 days of training, professional development, and networking.
Date: April 1st - 3rd, 2026
Location: Baird Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Information: CypherCON
Please contact Michael Sauer if you are interested in attending.
NMU Attendees at CypherCON
YooperCON 2026 is being rescheduled to November 2026 because a winter storm hit on the original event day in March. Stay tuned!
High school students and teachers can now explore exciting cybersecurity career opportunities with multiple hands on activities and career information sessions throughout the day.
Activities include:
- Ask AI Right - Students will learn about prompt engineering and how to ask AI questions that provide the most accurate and useful information. This hands-on class will have worksheets for students to fill out and follow along with.
- Career Q&A - A panel of industry experts will share their career experiences in cybersecurity and the factors that drew them to the field, and what career paths they took. Moderators will have prepared questions, and students will have an opportunity to ask panelists questions as well.
- Cyber Bingo - Every group will receive a bingo card with cybersecurity and networking terminology. Once a group connects five words in a row, they have a chance to receive a prize after correctly defining each term.
- Digital Vapor Trails - Students are introduced to Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) and how to use the internet and other tools to find information about a target. They will search themselves to see how big their digital footprints are.
- Gamers Challenge - Groups work together to solve puzzles and problems, unlocking the prizes within. Math, riddles, and hidden messages are the keys to success in this activity.
- Hack a House - Students will break up into Red teams and Blue teams. The Blue team will take a floor plan of a house and identify what they want to protect and how they want to protect those items. The Red team will analyze the same floor plan and develop methods to steal the items from the house. This will allow students to adopt the attacker and defender mindsets needed in the cybersecurity field.
- KC-7 - Students get to step into the role of a Security Operations Center (SOC) Analyst and play a game designed to replicate a Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) system as they work to identify and resolve data breaches targeting individuals and companies
- Metadata Mayhem - Participants will learn the secrets hiding in plain sight with metadata and how we can protect ourselves while sharing our experiences online.
- Network Topo - Teams work together to form different network topologies and pass packets around to understand how data moves through these networks and the roles of different equipment, such as routers, switches, and hubs, play.
- Teachable Machines - Participants learn how we train AI models so that computers can identify items in their environment using cameras and microphones via Google’s Teachable Machine website.
Date: Wednesday, March 11th, 2026
Time: 9:00 am - 2:00 pm EST
Cost: Free (Lunch included)
Location: Northern Center, NMU Main Campus (NMU Campus Map)
2025 Past Events
Peter White Public Library is partnering with NMU's Upper Peninsula Cybersecurity Institute to bring the Marquette community authoritative and up-to-date information about computer and internet safety through our program series, Cyber Clinic. Learn how to protect yourself from online scams, fake emails and unwanted messages. We will cover the warning signs to watch for, how to keep your accounts secure, and what to do if something seems suspicious. Not technical background needed, just real-world tips you can use right away.
Date: October 20th, 2025 - 5:00 - 6:00 PM
Cost: No Admission Charge
Location: Peter White Public Library Heritage Room.
Information: For more information and to check the status of this program, call 906-226-4311 or email refdesk@pwpl.info.
Peter White Public Library is partnering with NMU's Upper Peninsula Cybersecurity Institute to bring the Marquette community authoritative and up-to-date information about computer and internet safety through our program series, Cyber Clinic. Learn simple privacy steps to keep your phone, tablet, or computer safe. We’ll walk through common settings and explain what they mean so you can use your devices with confidence. Feel free to bring your device for optional hand-on help during the session, NMU Information Assurance and Cyber Defense students will be on-hand to help assist patrons along with UPCI staff.
NMU Information Assurance / Cyber Defense Students are volunteering their time and will be present to assist community members.
Date: November 3rd, 2025 - 5:00 - 6:00 PM
Cost: No Admission Charge
Location: Peter White Public Library Heritage Room.
Information: For more information and to check the status of this program, call 906-226-4311 or email refdesk@pwpl.info.
Peter White Public Library is partnering with NMU's Upper Peninsula Cybersecurity Institute to bring the Marquette community authoritative and up-to-date information about computer and internet safety through our program series, Cyber Clinic. Find out how AI tools can help with everyday things like writing emails, keeping organized, or getting quick answers. We’ll also talk about easy ways to protect your privacy while using these tools. You’ll leave feeling more confident and ready to give AI a try.
Date: December 1st, 2025 - 5:00 - 6:00 PM
Cost: No Admission Charge
Location: Peter White Public Library Heritage Room.
Information: For more information and to check the status of this program, call 906-226-4311 or email refdesk@pwpl.info.
NMU Information Assurance / Cyber Defense students will participate in the Northern Strike 2025 Military Exercise. Students will be embedded with troops from the 172nd Cyber Protection Team. Background checks will be required for access to the DoD Persistent Cyber Training Environment.
Dates: Monday, August 11th, 2025 - Wednesday, August 13th, 2025
Cost: Trip costs will be covered by funds from the MI-LEO Marshall Plan for Talent Grant and the NMU College of Business.
Location: Camp Grayling, Grayling, MI
Please contact Michael Sauer if you are interested in attending the exercise.
Mission Briefing
NMU Blue Teams
Team Photo
Imagine a week when you're not just learning about technology — you're controlling it.
At our residential summer camp, you'll hack (legally!), code, and connect everyday objects to the internet in ways that will genuinely surprise you. Want to build a smart device from scratch? Lock and unlock a door with code you wrote yourself? Discover the hidden vulnerabilities in the networks around us — and learn how to defend them? This is the place. Surrounded by students who geek out over the same things you do, guided by instructors who work in the real world of cybersecurity and tech, you'll spend five days diving into the skills that are shaping the future — artificial intelligence, IoT, ethical hacking, and beyond. No experience required. Just curiosity, ambition, and the willingness to break things (on purpose) and build them back better. The only question is: are you in?
Dates: July 13-18th, 2025
Cost: Free for selected students. Funding is being provided through the MI-LEO Marshall Plan for Talent grant
Location: NMU Campus
Registration: Apply Now!
Camp Photo
NCAE Cyber Games is a cyber security competition for college students who have never participated in a competition or hackathon before. Cyber competitions are a great way to build your skills and learn about the industry, but they can be intimidating if you’ve never tried one before. This program aims to make it easy (and fun) for students to see how competitions work and learn with others who are also new. NMU will be forming a team of students to compete in the 2025 Competition.
Date: March 1st, 2025
Location: NMU Cyber Lab
Please contact Dr. Jim Marquardson if you are interested in joining the NMU NCAE Team
2025 NMU NCAE Competition Team Photos
Final Scoreboard
High school students and teachers can now explore exciting cybersecurity career opportunities with multiple hands on activities and career information sessions throughout the day.
Activities include:
- Lock Pickers
- Capture the Flag
- Ask an Analyst
- Command the Crypt
- SQL Injection
- Hack with Micro:Bits
- Seeking Signals
- IoT feat. Flipper Zero
- Scam Defense
Date: Wednesday, March 10th, 2025
Time: 9:00 am - 2:00 pm EST
Cost: Free (Lunch included). Funding provided by the MI-LE) Marshall Plan for Talent grant.
Location: Northern Center, NMU Main Campus (NMU Campus Map)