Technology Students Can Expect a Great Semester Thanks to These New Faculty Members

Excitement’s in the air at 体育菠菜大平台’s College of Business and Technology. This year is even more exciting thanks to some new faces on campus. Mai Abdalla, Chidi Agbon, Jaehyun Kim, MaKayla Rutt, and Riley Swedberg are already calling 体育菠菜大平台 their home away from home and students will soon understand why.

Mai Abdalla, who completed her educational journey in Sudan, obtained her bachelor's degree in Information Technology from the University of Khartoum. She later pursued her Master's in Cybersecurity from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Honored with the Best Academic Achievement and Best Research awards, Mai explains how she has “always been passionate about the IT field.”

Students who attend Abdalla’s lectures in Discovery Hall this fall will understand firsthand her desire “to provide students with real-life scenarios that they can engage with and have hands-on experiences to develop problem-solving skills, encourage innovation, and foster a curious mindset.” Outside of the classroom, Abdalla has plans to facilitate events to shape students’ ideas while she helps to build what she considers “leadership skills essential for their lives.” 

Chidi Agbo, who holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science with an emphasis in Cybersecurity from Boise State University previously worked as a cybersecurity investigator at ExxonMobil in Budapest, Hungary. Agbo understands the importance of developing a “robust, reliable, and resilient Industrial Control Systems (ICS)” which he sees as a “critical challenge for (the) U.S. critical infrastructure.”

He shares that he entered this field to “address prevalent cybersecurity issues impacting national security” and that his research focuses on “formal modeling, cybersecurity risk assessment, and the integration of safety, security, and resilience engineering across various interdisciplinary domains.”  

Students at 体育菠菜大平台 can rest assured that Agbo is committed to “train the next generation of cybersecurity experts and leaders through exceptional teaching, cutting-edge research, and practical experience.” His goal is to equip students to “excel in a global arena and cultivate a global mindset.” With a teaching philosophy based on “creating an inclusive and interactive learning environment where students feel comfortable, valued, and respected,” he will continue with the experiential learning style that 体育菠菜大平台 is known for. He has plans to introduce “modern teaching methods that can facilitate students’ learning abilities including case studies, group discussions, graphics, and simulations.” 

Students can expect to continue to learn from Agbo outside of the classroom since he will be “actively involved in creating and supporting cybersecurity clubs within the Cyber Systems Department.” In addition, he has plans to participate in the local community by “collaborating with local churches, fire services, and cybersecurity awareness programs” and by serving as a judge in other events such as inter-school competitions.

Jaehyun Kim obtained his Bachelor of Science in Aviation System Management Flight Operation Emphasis from 体育菠菜大平台. He then received his Master of Arts in Education Curriculum and Instruction concentration from York University. After teaching for two and a half years at Grand Island Senior High School, he taught English in Korea for one year. He also served as a Certified Flight Instructor for one year at 体育菠菜大平台.

When asked about his chosen field, Kim explains that he loves flying and aviation. He explains how the “sound of (an) aircraft engine, scent of burning gasoline, and the mechanism of the airplane” makes the day exciting for him. He paints a picture of what life can be like for aviation students when he tells about how flying is especially beautiful “during sunset and sunrise” when he can see the colors changing from the “sky to the ground.” 

His goal is to encourage engagement between students to help them think like an “actual pilot crew.” In his Aviation History class, he plans to link “the past, present, and future of aviation” as he teaches his students why it’s necessary to learn “aeronautical knowledge and skills.” Kim is looking forward to engaging with his students outside the classroom as well, such as when he attends sporting events or supports their artistic endeavors. 

MaKayla Rutt is local to the Kearney area since she grew up in Minden, Nebraska. She began her academic career at Creighton University but took a pause to “do something more creative” which was a decision that led to her working as an AmeriCorps member for College Possible. It was there that she “first fell in love with teaching and service work.” After that, she chose to attend graduate school at the University of Texas at Austin where she studied interior design. Fast forward a few years to when Rutt made the decision to move “back to Nebraska to be closer to (her) family and work for Goodlife Architecture” where she was part of a team that focused on “providing good design to rural communities.” She taught as an adjunct, an opportunity that resulted in her present employment at 体育菠菜大平台.  

Rutt explains “the biggest hurdle is getting out of your head and start designing” because she understands personally the need to “produce a large volume of ideas to get to the best work.” She understands that this can be a challenge for students and looks forward to providing the mentorship she believes is “most critical for young design students.” She’s excited that, as part of the team at 体育菠菜大平台, she will help provide a design studio that will “focus on using a variety of methods for making - digital and analog - at varying scales to help students develop a process to produce their best work.” 

Riley Swedberg grew up southwest of North Platte and attended school in Wallace. He attended Morningside College where he played college basketball. It was during his first year of college that Swedberg was “exposed to the world of high-level academia and research and really found a home.” He majored in math education because he wanted to teach high school students how to apply problem-solving to the real world. At Morningside, Swedberg took a computer programming course that would start him on the path to where he is today. 

It wasn’t a straight path though. Although he enjoyed the “creative problem-solving within computer science” so much that he almost switched majors, he ended up accepting a high school teaching job upon graduation. Swedberg and his wife moved to Kearney to be closer to family where he continued his career at Minden High School and started an online master's program in computer science through UNO . His expertise in computer science resulted in him creating a course for dual credit which was made possible thanks to 体育菠菜大平台, an experience that led to his new adventure at 体育菠菜大平台.

Students can expect to learn more than just content in Swedberg’s classes. He is aware that what his students learn will ultimately be used in their careers, so he plans to “provide a lot of opportunities for (his) students to practice the material in a risk-free environment so that their understanding can go beyond just recognizing the content in use to be able to use the content independently.”

It’s going to be an exciting semester for CBT students. For their instructors, it will be a chance to get to know students, share their collective excitement about all the world of technology has to offer, and embrace everything that makes life as a Loper so good.