Teaching & Mentoring

Teaching

I teach programming and cybersecurity at Bowie State University, mentor student Capture the Flag (CTF) teams and undergraduate researchers, and build open educational resources so that high-quality security education is freely available to anyone.

Philosophy

Learning by building and breaking

I believe Computer Science and Cybersecurity education must be dynamic, practical, and accessible, empowering students from all backgrounds to become proficient problem-solvers. I approach teaching as a design problem: structuring the student experience to foster critical thinking and intellectual curiosity, and moving beyond passive learning toward applied, interactive pedagogy where students engage directly with tools, systems, and contemporary challenges.

Student-centered engagement

Live coding, hands-on simulations, interactive tools, and collaborative problem-solving that cater to different learning styles.

Real-world application

Theory put to practice with open-source security tools (Wireshark, Metasploit, DVWA) and core kernel algorithms (FreeBSD).

Constructive assessment

Formative and summative assessments aligned to learning outcomes, with timely, detailed, constructive feedback.

Research-informed teaching

Active cybersecurity research keeps the curriculum current and connected to scholarship through project-based learning.

Courses Taught

Undergraduate & graduate

Across Bowie State University, Stevens Institute of Technology, and Rashtriya Raksha University, spanning foundational and specialized topics.

Undergraduate

Foundational

Introduction to Computer Science (Java, OOP), Systems Programming (C, Unix), Digital Systems.

Specialized

Computer & Network Security (Security+ aligned), Ethical Hacking (Advanced Practical Cyber Security), Introduction to IT Security, Security, Privacy & Society.

Graduate

Foundational

Operating Systems (FreeBSD kernel), Object-Oriented Programming (Java, C++, Python).

Specialized

Foundations of Cryptography.

Mentoring & Student Success

Coaching researchers and CTF teams

I mentor undergraduate researchers and coach competitive Capture the Flag teams. Recent results:

2026
2nd place, CTF, Regent University, Virginia Beach, VA (Sage Despeignes, Haley Reyes, Rameses Peyton, Jalen Theodore).
2025
3rd place, CTF, and an Honorable Mention for a student poster (Local Government Supply Chain Cybersecurity) at the 41st CCSC Eastern Regional Conference, Arcadia University, PA.
2024
2nd place, CTF at the 40th CCSC Eastern Regional Conference (Mount St. Mary's University, MD), and 2nd place in Temple University's Social Engineering Challenge at BSides Philadelphia.

I also mentor undergraduate scholars through the CyberCorps Scholarship for Service (SFS) program on Threat Assessment research, and Summer Undergraduate Research Institute (SURI) scholars on Privacy-Preserving Computations.

Open Educational Resources

Free resources I have authored

Books and tools I have written and published openly for students and the wider community, archived with DOIs on Zenodo.

Cybersecurity: Theory, Practice & Ethics

A free, open textbook covering cybersecurity fundamentals, practical techniques, and ethics, written for students and self-learners.

CyberQuest Summer Camp

An interactive summer cybersecurity camp with a full curriculum book and slide-based lessons that introduce students to security concepts.

Generative AI with Amazon Bedrock

Course materials adapting the AWS Machine Learning University Educator Enablement Program on Generative AI, hosted for Bowie State students.

TeX Viewer Online

A free in-browser LaTeX compiler (WebAssembly) for students writing technical reports and theses, with no software to install. Includes Beautify, Compare, and CyberChef helpers.

Invited Lectures & Talks

Selected talks

2026
Guest lectures: Intrusion Detection & Prevention Systems (Regent University) and Advanced Database Security (Rashtriya Raksha University).
2025
Privacy-Preserving Log Anomaly Detection, George Washington University and Texas A&M University Corpus Christi.
2021
Quantum Cryptography; A Practical Approach to Attacking the CIA Triad (Rashtriya Raksha University).