Last week, we saw more than 100 cyber students gather for our 2024 Student Chapter event at Manchester Technology Centre - and also remotely. Our Student Chapter Events are designed to bring the cyber student community together for a series of talks about careers in cyber security, with networking over drinks and pizza afterwards. 

We had a really strong lineup of speakers at the event, who all talked about their varied career paths, which provided really useful insights to the students. 

Nadia Rashad, is a senior software engineer at Northrop Grumman, and talked about her route into cyber as a career changer.  After a career as an analyst in the finance industry, learned to code at Northcoders, and then developed a career in software engineering and cyber security. We loved hearing Nadia speak about her brilliant career pathway and she’s a truly inspirational role model. 

Sam Attwood is a researcher at Manchester Metropolitan University and gave a fascinating talk about his research project, which aims to provide a tool for academics and students to shape better degrees and give students clearer cyber career paths. He's working with the UK Cyber Security Council and CyBOK. Sam's work addresses critical skills gaps and shortages that impact growth and productivity, while also confronting the increasing threat of cyber-attacks. This was a fascinating talk and is so interesting to hear about this project. 

Tom Zebedee was a chief technical officer for OFSTED and worked for the organisation for more than 20 years. He is now a cyber advisor and spoke about cyber leadership and lessons from his extensive career and experience, which was a really insightful talk. He also explained how a diverse range of career experiences can equip future leaders with the resilience, adaptability, and strategic thinking necessary to address emerging threats and drive innovation.

Hollie Bowker and Saad Mahmood (pictured above) both work in the cyber team at Greater Manchester Police. They spoke extensively about the cyber team and the different roles within it. They also spoke about the four policing Ps, which are prevent, prepare, pursue and protect, as well as the Computer Misuse Act. It’s always really interesting to hear from the cyber teams within the police force as their roles are so varied and very interesting. 

Haad Hassan, cyber student at MMU, said: 

“Hearing directly from experts about real-world applications, such as simulated phishing exercises and network vulnerability assessments, reminded me how critical it is for businesses to stay ahead in the constantly evolving cybersecurity landscape. The networking session was invaluable, allowing for knowledge-sharing across sectors. I’m looking forward to continuing the conversation on how we can all contribute to building a more cyber-resilient community!”

Amir Dirow, also a cyber student at MMU, said:

“This session highlighted key strategies for managing cyber threats and building resilience. Thanks to the NWCRC and all the speakers for the valuable insights. I'm eager to apply what I learned to promote stronger cyber security practices.”

We’d like to thank our event sponsor Bruntwood SciTech, who provided the pizza, drinks and the excellent venue as well.  

We are also running Student Chapter Events for students at Edge Hill University on October 24 and University of Central Lancashire on October 30.