UCEN Manchester host international coding competition
‘Hackers’ from across the globe descended on the Etihad Stadium when UCEN Manchester hosted the first internationally-held Palo Alto Networks Academy Day and ‘Capture the Flag’ competition event, on Tuesday 2 April.
The day was organised to test the hacking skills of computing students from international institutions, and explored topics including web security, cryptography, forensics and steganography, reverse engineering, binary exploitation and mobile apps.
UCEN Manchester’s computing students entered the team challenges throughout the day as well as helping to facilitate the event, which was officially opened by Vice Principal and Dean, Michael Walsh.
He said: “Thank you to Palo Alto Networks for choosing UCEN Manchester to host this event. I’m pleased to see so many of you here today, from both UK and international institutions.
“In an ever changing technological landscape, integrating industry qualifications and training, as in the Palo Alto Network Academy programme, into the curriculum gives you not only academic skills but real hands-on experience and, ultimately, an edge in today’s competitive jobs market.
We’re proud to host this event and be an active member of the Palo Alto Networks Academy. Many of our students leave us at the end of their studies and secure positions in organisations such as the BBC, BAE Systems, Capita and Amazon.
Adam Connell, Head of Department for Computing at UCEN Manchester, said: “It was a brilliant day and fantastic opportunity for our students. They got to hear from renowned industry experts and network with other like-minded people from all over the world.
“In our computing department, we pride ourselves on our links with key industry providers. In addition to Palo Alto, we hold academy status with Cisco, Oracle, Juniper and VMWare.
“Our links with these leading providers shape our curriculum offer, so you get to experience industry standard equipment and software.”
To learn more about the computing qualifications available, view our courses.
