In the days surrounding the landfall of Hurricane Florence, which pummeled the Carolinas in September, a team of Penn State researchers was called upon to turn their knowledge into action. The team had previously partnered with Charleston County Consolidated 911 Center in South Carolina to develop a tool that would integrate social media posts into its emergency response operations.

Thirteen years after joining the Air Force, and after a military law enforcement career conducting federal criminal investigations, Jasyn Burby is building upon the foundation he developed and has enrolled as a first-year student in the cybersecurity analytics and operations program in the College of Information Sciences and Technology on the University Park campus.

“Women are the future of technology, and I do not need to change myself to fit into the tech industry.” That was Kathyleen O’Leary’s main takeaway after spending three days at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing. O’Leary was one of 12 College of Information Sciences and Technology students who attended the conference in Houston from Sept. 26-28.

Home to global companies like Samsung and LG, South Korea has come a long way technologically since the mid-1980s. Today, it boasts the world’s highest internet speeds and most cellphone users, and is therefore often thought of as one of the most innovative countries on the planet. Now, thanks to an exchange program between the College of Information Sciences and Technology and Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul, South Korea, Penn State students are finding innovative opportunities 7,000 miles across the globe.

During the day, many faculty and staff work together to help shape the future of students in the College of Information Sciences and Technology. Once the work day ends, a number of them head off to pursue their passions through which they are impacting the community and the world. This is the second in a series of stories that highlights the work of these individuals.

At the start of the fall 2018 semester, researchers in the College of Information Sciences and Technology have been awarded more than $1.6 million in funding to support new research projects.