GenCyber Camps | Michigan Tech

What's New?

Last updated on April 21, 2025:

There will be no GenCyber camps in the summer of 2025. However, you may explore other Summer Youth Program (SYP) opportunities, including: Build A Computer; Advanced Building - Gaming Computer; Autonomous Navigation; Coding Video Games; Cybersecurity; Mechatronics - Robot, and many others.
If you are a local middle or high school student and interested in cybersecurity and AI, consider joining the CyberHusky team. Students learn AI knowledge and participate in cyber competitions such as National Cyber League (NCL) and CyberPatriot.
You may explore photos and videos from the previous GenCyber camps.
If you have any questions or comments, please contact us at: gencyber@mtu.edu.

What is GenCyber?

The GenCyber program provides summer cybersecurity camp experiences for students and teachers at the K-12 level. The goals of the program are to help students understand safe on-line behavior, learn fundamental cybersecurity knowledge, increase interest in cybersecurity careers, and improve pedagogical methods for delivering cybersecurity content in K-12 curricula.

The GenCyber camps at Michigan Tech are live-in / commuting programs jointly managed by Michigan Tech’s Summer Youth Program (SYP) and faculty from the College of Computing. The GenCyber camps are offered at no cost to all participants. All selected participants will receive a scholarship which covers all tuition, classroom supplies, and room and board. Funding of the GenCyber camps will be provided jointly by the National Security Agency (NSA) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) through awards received by Michigan Tech. The GenCyber camps are contingent on funding availability.

What topics are covered in GenCyber Camps

The GenCyber camps will cover various aspects of Cyber Hygiene and fundamental cybersecurity knowledge including security, privacy, cyber ethics, email phishing, social engineering, password management, coding, Linux, networking, common security vulnerabilities and attacks. Camp activities include hands-on exercises, interactive lectures, games, career exploration, and campus tours. Camp participants will not only learn cybersecurity knowledge during the camp, but also serve as Cyber Ambassadors to preach cybersecurity to others after the camp.

GenCyber with SYP

The GenCyber camp is co-managed by the Summer Youth Program (SYP) office at Michigan Tech. Want to explore other exciting SYP opportunities? please visit https://www.mtu.edu/syp/.

Summer Youth Program

Student Camp

Previous camps: GenCyber student camps with a theme of "Cybersecurity + AI"
There is no plan to host a GenCyber student camp in 2025.

Teacher Camp

Previous camps: GenCyber teacher camps with a theme of "Cybersecurity Ambassador"
There is no plan to host a GenCyber teacher camp in 2025.

Resources

Past GenCyber camps:

Additional Resources:

View resources for K-12 cybersecurity/computing education

Contact

The project PI is Prof. Yu Cai from the College of Computing at Michigan Tech. The lead instructor is Mr. Tim Van Wagner who is also from the College of Computing at Michigan Tech.

Steve Kass and Emily Gochis from the Copper Country Intermediate School District (CCISD) provide K-12 pedagogical expertise in curriculum development. The Summer Youth Program (SYP) Office at Michigan Tech offers tremendous help on registration and camp management. Other project personnel include undergraduate students, camp helpers, and SYP staff.

If you have questions or comments, please contact us at: gencyber@mtu.edu