Ritchie School Students Advance in Cybersecurity Competition
From left to right, Brian Wilson, Henry Walen, James Weiner, Spencer Lu, Campbell Willmuth. Missing team members: Benjamin Block and Dishant Desle
The University of Denver Cybersecurity Club students are setting the bar high at the Ritchie School of Engineering & Computer Science. They recently qualified for the Rocky Mountain Regional at the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition. The competition is part of two of the nation's most respected cybersecurity competitions: the Rocky Mountain Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (RMCCDC) and the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (NCCDC).
The seven-person team, comprised of Computer Science undergraduate and Cybersecurity graduate students, finished the qualifiers to advance to the main RMCCDC event, taking place from March 6th to 7th, 2026, at Regis University. During the competition, they will have the opportunity to demonstrate network defense, incident response, and team coordination skills under realistic pressure.
The competing team members are James Weiner (Team captain, Junior, Computer Science major), Campbell Willmuth (Computer Science major, Junior), Benjamin Block (Computer Science major, Junior), Spencer Lu (Computer Science major, Junior), Henry Walen (Computer Science major, Junior), Brian Wilson (Computer Science major, Junior), and Dishant Desle (Cybersecurity, MS).
“Being selected for the final round means a lot to our team. Our cybersecurity club only launched last year, so qualifying for RMCCDC on our first attempt, after a lot of hard work and practice, is very exciting. The Ritchie School helped prepare us by providing strong fundamentals in computer science and cybersecurity coursework and by supporting students in creating clubs to pursue these passions and compete in events like this.” – James Weiner, BS in Computer Science
The RMCCDC is hosted regionally by Regis University, and the winners of RMCCDC will represent the Rocky Mountain region at the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (NCCDC). Teams from Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, and Utah compete in RMCCDC for a chance to earn a place at nationals, making this an exciting achievement for our students.
Competitions like RMCCDC and NCCDC offer valuable learning experiences for our computer science students. These events immerse students in high-pressure, hands-on situations where they defend realistic enterprise systems against active adversaries. This experience helps them develop real-world skills that are directly applicable to cybersecurity careers.
To learn more about our Computer Science programs, visit https://ritchieschool.du.edu/computer-science, and consider joining us this fall.
