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January 2026 Newsletter

Indiana Tech Cyber Warriors

🎉 Happy New Year 2026! 🎉

Newsletter • January 2026

Here’s to Another Year of Cyber Excellence!

Hello Cyber Warriors Family,

🎊 Happy New Year! Welcome to 2026 and our first newsletter of the year! As we kick off another exciting year, we’re thrilled to share updates about our team’s achievements, upcoming competitions, and the incredible journey ahead. Let’s make 2026 our best year yet!

Cyber Warriors Gear Up for an Action Packed Semester

Featured News

Cyber Warriors Team

As the spring 2026 semester begins, our team is hitting the ground running. Our first practice back from break consisted of setting up a practice environment. We are preparing for our most busy time of year, CCDC. See our upcoming competition dates below!

Recent News & Updates

CPTC Team

Cyber Warriors Place 4th in the Collegiate Penetration Testing Competition

October 18, 2025

The Cyber Warriors competed in the Midwest Regional CPTC hosted at Baldwin Wallace in Berea, Ohio. This competition, with an almost all brand new roster tested communication, collaboration, and ethical hacking skills.

The 2024-25 CPTC team, from left to right we have Felipe Alviso, Luca Caramihai, Logan Zoll, Makail Ruth, Aiden Hutchins, Maggie Trowbridge, Martin Topp, and Avery Hughes

Upcoming Events & Competitions

18 JAN

SEMO CCDC Invitational

Another invitational for our non-active CCDC roster, where they will compete against other teams at Southeast Missouri State to protect and manage a mock company’s network. Two of our members are also a part of the red team for this event.

31 JAN

Indiana State Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition

The team will return hoping for their 15th straight victory in the state round of CCDC, a competition where college teams compete to protect and manage a mock company’s network from real-time cyberattacks.

21 FEB

Iowa State ISEAGE

The team will be competing in a brand new competition hosted by Iowa State. In this cyberforce like competition, team members receive Windows and Unix machines and work to complete cryptography challenges, survive red team attacks, and write incident reports.

Team Spotlight

Martin Topp

Martin Topp

Windows Specialist | Web Dev | Sophomore | 2nd Year Cyber Warrior

Congratulations to our Windows lead Martin Topp for his new internship with Google! We’re wishing you luck!

Meet the Team

Indiana Tech Cyber Warriors Team

The 2025/2026 Indiana Tech Cyber Warriors team.

Hall of Fame Spotlight

Celebrating the Warriors who built this team into what it is today

Matt Hansen Hall of Fame

Matt Hansen

2010-2025 • Team Coach, Mentor, and Friend

For 15 years, Matt Hansen served as the Cyber Warriors’ coach, mentor, and friend. His dedication and guidance helped shape countless team members and build the program into the championship powerhouse it is today. With advanced degrees in Network Engineering, Engineering Management, and Information Systems Security, plus over 50 industry certifications, Matt’s expertise and commitment to excellence left an indelible mark on every Cyber Warrior he mentored.

Current Position

Principal Cloud Technologist

Microsoft – Cloud & AI, Health and Life Sciences

View Full Hall of Fame →

Current Tech Happenings

Recent Project Updates

Several members have stepped up to do grant work through the Talwar College of Engineering and Computer Science. This includes Digital Literacy for Seniors, a project focused on community outreach to assist seniors in the Fort Wayne area with technology they may not understand. Many members are also a part of IUSE, a project focused on identifying ethics gaps in AI usage across many fields, to teach Tech’s AI bachelor’s students how to be ethical with AI.

Big kudos to coaches David Li and Changhao Chenli for making these grant projects happen and bringing them to member’s attention.

Thank You to Our Sponsors

We’d like to extend a heartfelt thank you to our sponsors. To Zak King, Avery Hughes, and David Li, thank you for your generous support and encouragement. Your contributions have made a real difference for our team; helping us learn, grow, and take on new challenges with confidence.

Stay Connected

Have a story to share? Want to support the team? We’d love to hear from you and keep you involved with the Cyber Warriors community!

Share Your Story Visit Our Site

Indiana Tech Cyber Warriors
1600 E. Washington Blvd.
Fort Wayne, IN 46803

cyberwarriors@indianatech.edu

Indiana Tech Cybersecurity Program | Visit Our Website

Written by Maggie Trowbridge, Director of Communications
Designed by Martin Topp

© 2025 Indiana Tech Cyber Warriors. All rights reserved.

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