SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – Introducing the next generation to the world of cyber security. Friday Dakota State University held its Governors Cyber Academy Roadshow at the Career and Technical Education Academy in Sioux Falls.

Mason Norberg, a freshman at DSU says he wanted to help out because of his love for cyber security.

“This is what the next generation is going to be. So everybody needs to have some sort of general understanding of what computer science cyber security is because, in 20 years, everything is going to be related to that,” Norberg said.

In this course, students were able to try their luck at soldering.

“So they have a little Dakota State Cyber Academy badge and they’re soldering two buttons, a battery and then two LEDs. And then when you press the button, it turns on the LED,” Norberg said.

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In 2024 the roadshow had over 700 participants in schools statewide, with this year projected to be over 1,000.

“So we come in for a day. We run about four and five different sessions where we have students engaged in some hands-on activities so they can see some of these things come to light rather than just like hear about it kind of off in the periphery,” associate professor at DSU, Mark Spanier said. “They can actually dive in and check out some of these topics and then also ask questions of faculty and students that naturally come up along the way.”

Spanier teaches an artificial intelligence (AI) course, a tool that is now used everywhere.

“Having some familiarity with how these tools are developed gives students a chance to see themselves using it, maybe interested in developing some of them themselves, or just possibly just using them in the future,” Spanier said.

DSU hopes this tour will inspire students toward a career in cyber security along the way.

The Roadshow is free for students to participate.That was made possible by a senate bill that approved funding for the university’s programming in 2022.