Capstone Finalist Snapshot: Qiren Que
Qiren Que, capstone finalist for the ST class of '23.
Qiren Que of our ST program was one of the finalists for best capstone project for the class of '23. He chose TLI despite despite offers from technological leadership programs in other parts of the country specifically because of our Security Technologies track. His capstone project involved creating a new method for detecting malware in network traffic, for which he and his team have applied for technology patents.
He earned his Bachelor's degree in Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin - Madison. While at the U of M he gained hands-on experience as a part-time security engineer and security analyst at Shipper Company, where he was responsible for incident response, testing and configuring security solutions and performing penetration tests.
Qiren was kind enough to answer a few of our questions about his background and his experience with the TLI program.
Q: How did you first hear about TLI?
I learned about the course from my colleagues and later attended an orientation session. I was particularly drawn to the course content and capstone projects. It has always been a regret of mine that I didn't have the opportunity to do a capstone project during my previous undergraduate studies.
Q: Why did you choose to enroll here?
As an international student, I think Minnesota is indeed a beautiful and safe city in the United States. When applying, I had already received scholarship offers from New York University and Columbia University, but after hearing from colleagues about this program, I felt that compared to the purely technical coursework offered by other universities, this program includes more knowledge in other security areas that I have not been exposed to before. I need to understand these other areas so that I can address practical security issues that are relevant to the stakeholders.
Q: Tell us a little about your capstone project.
A: Factories integrate IT systems used by businesses to collect data with OT systems used by factories to control production processes on the manufacturing floor. This integration creates new potential attack surfaces, which come with new cybersecurity risks. The most critical risks are centered around two areas: lack of visibility into network traffic and inability to inventory assets and vulnerabilities.
In our capstone project, we designed and implemented a multi-functional lightweight edge appliance capable of detecting malware in network traffic and inventorying all low-computing power devices within a smart factory. This will provide the necessary environment to execute multiple security functions and integrate with different security solutions. We have successfully completed the proof-of-concept with a prototype device.
Q: How do you feel the program has benefited you?
During the program, I had the opportunity to complete a valuable capstone project that provided me with a deep understanding of the real security issues and implementation barriers faced by many manufacturing companies. With my colleagues and research partners, I also successfully developed patentable solutions that I plan to further improve upon in my Ph.D. studies. Additionally, the program provided me with a wealth of important technical and non-technical security knowledge that will be crucial in shaping my future security development roadmap.