Senior Design Team sample • Sample SD Site
Project Overview
Our client, All State Insurance Group, presented us with a challenge: to develop an engaging game centered on the principles of OWASP for their new cybersecurity hires. For those unfamiliar, OWASP stands for Open Web Application Security Project, a comprehensive framework that guides the secure development of online applications, addressing the most critical web security vulnerabilities. In response to this challenge, we are in the process of creating CyEscape, a narrative-rich 2D game on the Unity Game Engine
Problem Statement
In cybersecurity education, one of the challenges we've identified is the need for more practical learning opportunities as the field evolves. This is exemplified by the recent establishment of the Cyber Security Engineering major at Iowa State, highlighting this discipline’s growing importance. However, the primary obstacle we aim to overcome is fostering engagement and retention within the tech industry. While there's no shortage of online coding challenges and practice platforms, few offer immersive experiences that connect with external companies, lack narrative drive, or feature elements like missions, boss levels, or epic protagonists. These resources often focus solely on solving technical problems.
Our ambition with CyEscape is to shatter these conventions by crafting a narrative-rich adventure where every level is not just a challenge but a stage in a gripping story. Each stage is designed to introduce and explore a technical concept, progressively leading to a climactic showdown. This approach aims to raise the retetion of learning new technical skills.
Team Members
Sri Charan Gurramkonda
Manager + Front-End Dev
I am a Cyber Security Engineering major at Iowa State. I have a keen interest in offensive security challenges, and I also pursue web development as a side passion. This project appealed to me because it perfectly combines both areas. After graduation, I aspire to work with a security-focused client, where I can apply my skills and contribute to advancing security measures.
Charlie Millar
Back-End Dev + Testing
I am currently an undergraduate student working towards a degree in Cyber Security Engineering at Iowa State. I enjoy playing a lot of different video games, so I was very excited to have the opportunity to be a part of this project. It is very cool to experience all the work that goes into the development of games first hand. I am unsure where exactly I would like to end up after college, but I would love to end up at a company that develops new video games.
Derek Lengmann
Front-End Dev + Testing
I am a Cyber Security Engineering major currently working on my degree. I am particularly interested in the offensive side of security and seek to continue using the skills I have learned at Iowa State as I venture out into the workforce. As someone who has developed multiple applications, this project is very appealing to me because it allows me to combine my cybersecurity and application development skills.
Brayden Lamb
Design and Visual Lead
I am a Cyber Security major at Iowa State University. I have a personal interest in computers and technology with a professional interest in Networks and Network Security. I was interested in this project because I love video games and thought it would be a great challenge to make one with a team. After graduation, I want to work in a network or infrastructure engineering position focused on security.
Caleb Lemmons
Backend-Dev + Game Scripts
I am a Cybersecuity Undergraduate Student with an interest in network and cloud-based security. For this project, I was mainly tasked with the Information Application Lead. This means that I am in charge of the way and how Cybersecurity concepts are adapted and utilized in our game.
Parker Schmitz
Technical Lead
I am a Senior in Software Engineering. I like to think and learn about how software systems work deep under the hood. I specifically like to do this with video games, hence why I wanted to work on this project. My knowledge and understanding of video games, how they work, and lower level programming experience will help us to build a fun and performant game.
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