AACC Cyber Facility Set To Open in August

is on track to open its new center for cybersecurity studies this August near Arundel Mills.

The new 30,000-square-foot CyberCenter on Teague Road will feature 13 teaching labs to giving students hands-on experience in computer security and even hacking.

CyberCenter director Kip Kunsman said , and will serve as a headquarters for the college’s growing cyber programs.

“It’s very unique and will have a corporate feel to it,” Kunsman said. “It won’t be a traditional classroom setting. It will feel very upscale.”

Kunsman spoke Tuesday at a breakfast hosted by the at in Gambrills. He spent time outlining the college’s recent expansion of cyber offerings, which are designed to leverage the proximity to the U.S. Cyber Command, National Security Agency and other agencies.

“Our students are going to be able to work in any industry,” he said. “They have opportunities all over the place.”

The school reported 1,525 students in computer classes in 2011, up from 1,007 in 2008. The number of full-time equivalent students earning certificates in computer disciplines rose from 47 to 107 during the same period.  

The college received a $19.7 million federal grant to be part of the National STEM Consortium and was selected to lead its efforts to develop and share a curriculum on cybersecurity.

AACC also received a $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor to train 1,000 people in cybersecurity by 2013. The grants included money for tuition, books and job placement assistance, and the college accepted its 1,000th student last week, Kunsman said.

Last year, a team of students from AACC finished first in their division at the Digital Forensics Challenge, a competition featuring 1,147 colleges.