U Minnesota Collaborates with Target for Cybersecurity Education

A three-year partnership between the University of Minnesota's College of Science and Engineering and Target will fund programs to educate the next generation of cybersecurity experts.

The University of Minnesota is giving students the opportunity to prepare for careers in cybersecurity through a three-year collaboration with Target. The university announced a plan for its College of Science and Engineering to work with the company at a university-hosted Target's Cyber Security Day on Oct. 8.

The cornerstone to the partnership is a year-long capstone project that will give students "hands-on technical experience" by working with a university instructor to "solve a real-world industry problem and develop innovative solution considerations" with leaders at Target.

Target is also donating $25,000 to fund seven undergraduate student partnerships for the fall 2019 semester. In addition, the company will provide funds for computer science-related student groups to run events such as conferences, workshops and hackathons.

"We're grateful to Target for supporting the university in our efforts to build the pipeline of high-tech workers in this state and around the world," said Mostafa Kaveh, dean of the University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering. "When industry and academia work together to solve problems, great things can happen. We look forward to collaborating with Target for many years."

More information about the University of Minnesota's College of Science and Engineering can be found here.

About the Author

Sara Friedman is a reporter/producer for Campus Technology, THE Journal and STEAM Universe covering education policy and a wide range of other public-sector IT topics.

Friedman is a graduate of Ithaca College, where she studied journalism, politics and international communications.

Friedman can be contacted at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @SaraEFriedman.

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