Team: Falcontech Terabytches
School: Centre wellington district high school
City: Fergus
Province: Ontario
About the Terabytches:
Coach Timothy King:
If you look up critical infrastructure in the federal government, ICT (information & communication technology) is now considered as important as food, finance, energy and transportation infrastructures. ICT isn’t a separate specialty; it has become a foundational piece of everything else. Insecure and ineffective ICT isn’t just bad for business, it can seriously damage societies and lives.
I was looking up monthly statistics on ICT jobs for my senior students when I came across the CyberTitan banner in 2017. I showed it to my senior class that happened to have a small core of super-keen students in it who were working on independent projects. I suggested they do CyberTitan as one of them. The deal was, if they documented the contest and how it worked for future teams, that was the only goal, except they got better and better at it in each round. By the final State Round, they were running near the front of the Eastern Division. We were stunned to get an email saying we’d made the National Finals in 2018. For three of our team it was their first time on a plane or leaving Ontario. We had a great experience and that stirred up interest. This year we had three strong teams who were all battling for top ten in the East. The Terabytches finished as the top female team in Canada, so we’re back for another go at Nationals.
CyberTitan offers students and teachers an exciting and engaging way to get into cybersecurity and digital hygiene. If ICT is a critical infrastructure, then surely, we should all be fluent in this new literacy. From a pathway’s perspective, CyberTitan opens doors into the desperately under-served field of cybersecurity and ICT in general. We have a great deal of fun competing in CyberTitan, but that fun serves some pretty big purposes.
Never has a team I’ve coached been more collaborative and inclusive. From the beginning, the Terabytches would meet outside of school to not just practice but spend time with each other. They were questioning themselves rather severely early on in the competition, but I kept encouraging them to come at it in a way that made them feel comfortable. They faced hostility both online and in the school around competing in a male dominated competition, but their camaraderie and positivity not only allowed them to keep at it, but to exceed everyone, including their own, expectations. The Terabytches have not only shown us a way of creating more inclusive teams, they’ve changed how we are going to compete going forward.
Katryna, 16
Why did you join the team?
It presented an opportunity to further my knowledge in computers and served as a great way to prepare myself for a future dominated by technology.
What career would you like to pursue in the future?
It presented an opportunity to further my knowledge in computers and served as a great way to prepare myself for a future dominated by technology.
What is your favorite thing to do in your free time?
Either being a 3D modeler or working in the cyber security field.
What is your Favorite food or snack?
Favourite food: Sushi
Snack: Warheads
Name 3 things you would bring with you to a deserted island.
- The Forager’s Harvest: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants. Book by Samuel Thayer
- Fowler’s Survival Card
- Viking Whetstone Pendant
Louise, 15
Why did you join the team?
The girls on the team were friends of mine, so I wanted to join in and work with them and be part of something great. I also realised that CyberTitans is an excellent learning experience and a great opportunity for my future.
What career would you like to pursue in the future?
I would love to either have a job in the cyber security field or in music production.
What is your favorite thing to do in your free time?
I enjoy playing musical instruments and I love school band. I also enjoy playing video games.
What is your Favorite food or snack?
My favourite food is my mum’s orange cheese cake.
Name 3 things you would bring with you to a deserted island.
A guitar, a lava lamp, and a solar panel so that I can charge it in the morning and turn it on at night.
Anything else you would like to add?
Thank you to our coach, Mr. King, for believing in us!
Emily, 15
Why did you join the team?
I joined the team because my teacher recommended it and I thought it would be a unique experience that would help my understanding of computers, and the fact that it sounded really cool competing with people across the country.
What career would you like to pursue in the future?
I would like to become a medical coroner or somewhere in IT, more specifically cyber security and troubleshooting.
What is your favorite thing to do in your free time?
I’m involved in lots of sports; my favourites are wrestling and rugby, my hobbies include Netflix, showing cattle, and some socializing.
What is your Favorite food or snack?
Favourite food: Tortellini
Snack: Life cereal, anything I can eat in mass amounts let’s be real.
Name 3 things you would bring with you to a deserted island.
Multi tool, first aid kit, land rover fuel for a month.
Rachel, 16
Why did you join the team?
I joined based on the recommendation of our teacher Mr. King to experience a new sector of computers that I had not had much exposure in before the competition.
What career would you like to pursue in the future?
In the future I would like to become a Network engineer and work in developing communities to bring awareness and access of computer issues to those who do not have the opportunities I was able to take advantage of.
What is your favorite thing to do in your free time?
In my spare time I enjoy reading political, queer and anarchist theory, I also enjoy language learning, both coding and spoken.
What is your Favorite food or snack?
My favourite food is vegetable samosas and my fave drink is green tea with honey.
Name 3 things you would bring with you to a deserted island.
I would bring a guitar, a multitool, and a book of edible plants.
Charlotte, 16
Why did you join the team?
I joined the team because I thought it would be a fun experience and I find computer tech really interesting, it is a hobby I really enjoy. This team just lead in to what I already had fun with and liked doing, so it was a perfect match.
What career would you like to pursue in the future?
I don’t really know what I would like to do in the future yet, I am just testing different things out for now. It would be cool to have a job in the technology field though.
What is your favorite thing to do in your free time?
My favourite things to do in my free time is draw, play video games, eat, listen to music, and hang with friends.
What is your Favorite food or snack?
This is one of the absolute hardest questions so a broad smorgasbord would be like sushi, hash browns, Mars bars, pad Thai, and maybe some franks hot wings.
Name 3 things you would bring with you to a deserted island.
- Sketch book and drawing pencils
- A boat with a gas can
- A lot of food
Anything else you would like to add?
Honestly thank you to Mr. King for helping assemble our team and giving us the tools we need to succeed. We never imagined we would make it this far, we are so excited for what lies ahead.
And… Did you know that you can’t hold our breath and stick your tongue out at the same time.
Hehe made ya do it.
Alex, 15
Why did you join the team?
I joined the team because I thought it would be a really great opportunity to further my computer skills, while also having fun competing with other teams. I also decided to join the team because I had previously been in grade 9 computer engineering and this seemed really interesting to me.
What career would you like to pursue in the future?
I would love to mix both of my passions, neuroscience and computer engineering, together to create a new form of research and engineering to better our society.
What is your favorite thing to do in your free time?
My favourite thing to do in my free time is to read and draw. It really helps me relax and unwind from a really stressful day, so that the next day I’m re-energized and ready to seize the day.
What is your Favorite food or snack?
My favourite food is tied between tacos and sushi. My favourite snack is most likely strawberries.
Name 3 things you would bring with you to a deserted island.
I would bring a blanket, a really long book, and some tea.
Anything else you would like to add?
Thanks, King! And sorry this was so late!
