MVSU shines during national minority computer science/engineering symposium

June 5, 2018

ITTA BENA, Miss.— Mississippi Valley State University students outshined STEM students from across the nation during the 2018 Association of Computer and Information Science/Engineering Departments at Minority Institutions (ADMI) symposium hosted recently in New Orleans. 

Themed “CompUtainment: Gaming, Graphics, Music, Visualization and Animation,” the symposium highlighted undergraduate and graduate research with particular interest on innovations in the computing field.  

During the event, MVSU students won first place in the Cybersecurity Bowl Competition and second place in the hardening challenge using Raspberry Pi. 

The winning team included MVSU Computer science majors Henry Akaeze of Nigeria; Shaniqwa Barber of Greenville, Miss.; Kyanie Waters of Heidelberg, Miss; and LaAndrea Gates of Greenville, Miss. They were led by Christopher Lanclos, MVSU assistant professor of Computer Science. 

The team competed in the highly competitive event against students from several schools, including: Hampton University, North Carolina A & T, University of Alabama, Morehouse College, and Winston-Salem State University. 

In addition, MVSU placed second in the Computer Science Quiz Bowl competition. Team members included Kizito Nwaka of Nigeria; Mubarak Ibrahim of Nigeria; Arian Williams of Mound Bayou, Miss.; and Koran Wright of Clarksdale, Miss.   

Dr. Constance G. Bland, MVSU vice president of academic affairs, was invited to serve as the keynote speaker for the symposium. 

Bland captivated the audience with her profound speech entitled “My Story," during which she told those in attendance that they have the ability to become whatever they desire in life if they work and study hard. 

One key factor that she emphasized to students was that while on their journey to success, they must “learn how to lose but never quit.” 

ADMI was founded in August 1989 and established as a national organization dedicated to exploring and providing remedies to the educational issues in computer/information science and computer engineering that confront minority institutions of higher education.

To learn more about ADMI, visit www.admiusa.org.

For more information about programs offered in MVSU’s Mathematics, Computer and Information Sciences (MCIS) department, call (662) 254-3422 or visit www.mvsu.edu