Highlights - UCF’s Collegiate Cybersecurity Competition Team (C3) has established itself as one of the nation’s most successful collegiate cybersecurity programs, preparing students to compete and lead in cybersecurity. - After more than a decade coaching the Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition team, UCF alum and lecturer Thomas Nedorost ’02 is making the team’s largest planned gift to date, investing in the next generation of cyber champions. - Nedorost’s gift highlights the importance of UCF’s Go For Launch campaign, fueling student success, elevating competitive excellence and helping shape a bold tomorrow. As coach of UCF’s championship Collegiate Cybersecurity Competition Team (C3), Thomas Nedorost ’02 keeps his eye on the prize — but not just the trophies. For Nedorost, a management information systems alum, the real prize is seeing his students and C3 team members become trailblazers, land top industry jobs, build successful careers and pave the way for other Knights. A senior lecturer in UCF’s College of Engineering and Computer Science, Nedorost has coached C3 to 15 national championships in 14 years. The team has finished among the top three in 198 competitions, earning 123 first-place wins along the way. UCF has one of the nation’s most successful collegiate cybersecurity programs, with its competition team winning 15 national championships in the last 14 years. C3 members compete against top universities worldwide, putting their cybersecurity defense skills to the test by protecting systems against simulated threats. Nedorost, who built the program from the ground up, is proud of what his teams have achieved over the years, and he sees the impact of their success in the opportunities that come their way. “Because of the experience they get on C3, team members end up in fantastic internships in the field, and when they graduate, most of them skip over entry-level jobs and land