Success Stories

The Koerner Family Foundation has generously awarded stipends to two FIU College of Engineering and Computing (CEC) graduate students in support of their doctoral studies in biomedical and electrical and computer engineering, including SFS scholar Luis C. Puche Rondon.

It’s rare for anyone to receive a behind-the-scenes education of how the country’s cyber operations work. But for some Panthers interning at MITRE this summer, this is their reality. A total of eight FIU students have internships with MITRE, developing their skills in cyber, computer engineering and software.

Luis C. Puche Rondon is a PhD student at Florida International University and a member of the Cyber-Physical Systems Security Lab (CSL). He received his Bachelors in Computer Science in 2016, and a Masters in Cybersecurity in 2017. Luis has ten years of work experience in Smart home integration and solutions. His research interests include the security of high-end smart systems such as smart homes and offices. This summer he interned for the John Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland where he had the opportunity to work on cybersecurity and analytics projects.

A Masters Student in Computer Engineering with a focus on cybersecurity and a Scholarship For Service (SFS) Cybercorps Fellow. With a research focus on the development of blockchain applications and the use of zero-knowledge proofs. David has spent his last two summers interning at The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and The Aerospace Corporation working on cybersecurity-related tasks.

Kyle Denney is pursuing his master’s degree in computer engineering as a member of the Cyber-Physical Systems Security Lab at FIU. He interned at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Lincoln Lab where he worked as a summer research intern in the cybersecurity division.

Leonardo is working toward his doctoral degree in electrical and computer engineering under the supervision of Selcuk Uluagac, an assistant professor for FIU’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. This summer he interned for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in Arlington, Virginia where he had the opportunity to work on cybersecurity and big data analytics projects.