{"id":86496,"date":"2026-01-15T18:36:01","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T18:36:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/?post_type=stories&p=86496"},"modified":"2026-01-15T18:36:01","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T18:36:01","slug":"new-degrees-more-security","status":"publish","type":"stories","link":"https:\/\/www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/news\/new-degrees-more-security\/","title":{"rendered":"New Degrees, More Security"},"content":{"rendered":"
Newly established programs will allow Eagle cybersecurity students to fly even higher.<\/h6>\n

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Even as it celebrates its 20th year on the EWU campus, Eastern\u2019s cybersecurity program continues pushing forward to better equip its graduates for the challenges of the future.<\/p>\n

Its latest move? This spring, cybersecurity faculty members conferred degrees on 10 students from two new programs, both of which will help bolster our region\u2019s digital defenses: the Bachelor of Science in Cyber Operations and Master of Science in Cyber Defense.<\/p>\n

\"An
An undated image of Steve Simmons, mathematics professor and founder of EWU\u2019s computer science program.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThese students have an incredible skill set that has really developed through our program,\u201d said Stu Steiner, an associate professor of computer science and director of EWU\u2019s Cybersecurity Institute. \u201cWatching them from when they came in as freshmen to graduating as seniors, they have grown so much. They have had so much hands-on learning.\u201d<\/p>\n

The recent graduates are not only strong on the technical side of cybersecurity, Steiner added, but also possess outstanding \u201csoft skills,\u201d such as communication and collaboration. \u201cThey are all going to be incredible assets to whatever businesses they are going to,\u201d he says. Each of the 10 grads have already been hired in the cybersecurity field, or have gone on to graduate studies.<\/p>\n

Two of those new alumni, Lilly Carlascio, 23, from Yakima, and Alex Moomaw, 27, of Omak, Washington, were the first to receive the new master\u2019s degree in cyber defense during Eastern\u2019s College of STEM commencement ceremony in June.<\/p>\n

After three summers of interning at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington, Carlascio was recently offered a permanent position. \u201cI\u2019m really excited to get there and start full time,\u201d she says. Carlascio credits her success to a supportive faculty, hands-on learning, cyber competitions and a great cohort of students. \u201cI think it\u2019s an amazing program,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Moomaw, a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, was the first person in his family to earn a college degree. \u201cIt feels great that everything I\u2019ve worked hard for the last six or seven years now is finally coming to fruition,\u201d Moomaw says. He is currently a finalist for a U.S. Department of Defense cyber operations position.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Newly established programs will allow Eagle cybersecurity students to fly even higher.   Even as it celebrates its 20th year on the EWU campus, Eastern\u2019s cybersecurity program continues pushing forward to better equip its graduates for the challenges of the future. Its latest move? This spring, cybersecurity faculty members conferred degrees on 10 students from…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":484,"featured_media":86498,"menu_order":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-86496","stories","type-stories","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","stories_categories-science","stories_tags-fall-winter-2025-26"],"acf":{"subheading":"","featured_image_format":"cover","display_byline":false,"display_featured_image":false,"display_date_published":false,"featured_video":"","Links":false,"Resources":false,"page_override_title":"","page_hide_sidebar":false,"page_enable_page_nav":false,"page_persona_bar_default_tab":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/stories\/86496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/stories"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/stories"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/484"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/stories\/86496\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86502,"href":"https:\/\/www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/stories\/86496\/revisions\/86502"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}