“Electric Minds: Empowering Students with Future-Ready Skills”

Release Date
Left, Marrci Conner with student, right, Olivia Cato. Both dressed in black.
HFC cybersecurity instructor Marrci Conner and HFC cybersecurity student Olivia Cato. 

HFC joined forces with DTE Energy and the Infosys Foundation at the “Electric Minds: Empowering Students with Future-Ready Skills” conference on April 15.

This unique collaboration provided an extraordinary learning and mentorship experience for 12 HFC cybersecurity students. With guidance from cybersecurity professionals, they gained insights to help them transition from academia to careers in IT and cybersecurity.

Through the Infosys Foundation, the students accessed the Springboard platform, which comprises more than 11,000 courses spanning topics such as AI, machine learning, cybersecurity fundamentals, data science, Bitcoin, entrepreneurship, and more.

Students got a taste of industry expectations

“Electric Minds” featured a guest speaker event at HFC’s campus, including:

  • Infosys Principal Consultant Gopinath P
  • Infosys Principal Consultant Vijayaraghavan Iyengar
  • DTE Strategic Cybersecurity Leader Jason J. Pittman

This discussion gave students a realistic perspective on industry challenges and opportunities.

“We were excited to welcome cybersecurity leaders from Infosys and DTE. We explored the world of cybersecurity, focusing on the importance of protecting our networks and data systems from cyber threats,” said HFC cybersecurity instructor Marrci Conner.

The students also toured DTE's state-of-the-art Cyber Security Defense Center (CSDC) at its Detroit headquarters, experiencing firsthand the behind-the-scenes processes at a utility company. Following the tour, they presented recommendations for a real-world cybersecurity scenario to an expert panel, receiving feedback on their strategies.

“They got taste of real-world industry expectations,” said Conner. “This partnership between HFC, DTE, and Infosys is changing lives and building brighter futures through world-class opportunities and education.”

Conner wrote this email to her 12 students: “I've had a few proud teacher moments during my time at the College, but yesterday was the best one – thanks to you! I'm so very proud and humbled to be your instructor. Watching each of you present well thought out recommendations to a group of IT and cybersecurity professionals was absolutely awesome!”