Miami, Jan. 25, 2021 – Miami Dade College (MDC) Hialeah Campus student Wendy Rodriguez has been selected for a prestigious summer internship with Johnson & Johnson, one of the world’s largest healthcare companies. She will intern with the company’s security risk management team, where she will work with policies and conduct tests. Rodriguez will graduate from MDC this spring with a bachelor’s degree in cybersecurity.
“This internship gives me a remarkable edge, since research is an important part of my program,” Rodriguez said. “I feel like my research skills are sharper because of my program of study. I hope this internship helps me find my niche.”
Rodriguez chose to study cybersecurity because she enjoys challenges and solving problems. She also observed that it offers many routes to different career opportunities. In addition to becoming a cybersecurity professional, she would like to teach.
She is a member of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) and Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) at the Hialeah Campus.
This spring, MDC’s School of Engineering and Technology (EnTec) launched its highly-anticipated Bachelor of Science in cybersecurity program. The curriculum for the cybersecurity program was created following the guidelines of the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education framework, and the Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education knowledge units from the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security. The program also combines input from experts in cybersecurity, industry certification like Certified Ethical Hacker, and hands-on training at the College’s state-of-the-art Cybersecurity Center of the Americas.
In addition, EnTec was awarded three grants from the National Security Agency and National Science Foundation worth more than $500,000 to strengthen MDC’s cybersecurity programs and the cybersecurity pathway from high school to college. As part of these grants, EnTec will offer summer training programs for Miami-Dade County Public Schools high school students interested in exploring the field of cybersecurity, and public high school teachers. Additionally, cybersecurity students at MDC will receive extra support to become certified and find employment upon completion of the degree.
For more information about MDC’s Bachelor of Science in cybersecurity, visit www.mdc.edu/cybersecuritybs.