A team of Red Bank Regional High School (RBR) students took first place honors in the 8th annual NYU Poly Cyber Forensic Challenge held at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University (NYU Poly) in Brooklyn.
Team Zettabytes, composed of juniors Alec Janovsky from Neptune City and Michael Terpak and Emily Wicki, both from Union Beach, were among thirteen teams from around the country who competed in the final competition. The preliminary rounds began in September with 150 students participating. Half of the finalists were from New Jersey including two teams from RBR and two teams from High Tech High School in Lincroft. RBR Academy of Information Technology (AOIT) teachers Mandy Galante and Jeremiah Milonas advised the RBR teams.
The winning team took home a large trophy and $2,500 cash prize for their school’s security program. Additionally, each student would receive a $14,000 per year scholarship to NYU Poly ($56,000 total) should they elect to attend.
The purpose of the competition is to encourage young people to study and seek careers in the cyber forensic field.
This is the second national competition RBR technology students have won in two years. Last year, RBR’s Team Mantrap won the prestigious Air Force Association’s Cyber Patriot Competition held in Washington D.C.
