The UNLV College of Engineering Department of Computer Science was thrilled to be asked to host Google’s init.g(vegas) event, bringing together some of the top cybersecurity experts and Google-employed hackers in the industry on the campus of UNLV. init.g is Google’s young talent outreach and development program aimed at showing how exciting the field of cybersecurity can be, and helping with the rising demand for cybersecurity professionals. Only a handful of events are held across the world each year and UNLV was proud to be one of them.

Adding to the collaborative atmosphere of the day’s events was participation by students and faculty from the University of Texas at San Antonio, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, and Savannah State University, all fellow Minority Serving Institutions (MSI) and in town for the premier hacker conference, DEFCON.

Students had the opportunity to hear directly from Google Vice President and Cybersecurity Officer, Heather Adkins, in addition to other Google leaders who held a panel discussion providing insights into career pathways in cybersecurity and taking questions from the audience. 

Students then broke out into smaller teams to compete in a Capture the Flag competition where UNLV’s Team Layer Zero won the top spot. Everyone who participated in the day’s activities received a certificate they can share with potential employers, and the top three CTF teams walked away with incredible Google technology including the Google Pixel Fold phone! 

The event was an amazing opportunity for students to learn, connect and collaborate.

UNLV is also an honored recipient of the Google Cybersecurity Clinics Fund supporting the work of the UNLV Cyber Clinic.