Professional Readiness Experiential Program (PREP)
PREP is an Experiential Learning (EXL) Program which puts undergraduate Honors and high-performing students into a real-world agile work environment where students work with industry participants through real hands-on projects to deliver real impactful solutions. Most of our PREP projects focus on the theme of "Solving Business Challenges with Technology Solutions" through systems analysis and design. PREP also has a separate Cyber Security Program Funded by different sources such as the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI) and the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST).
Industry Participants interested in providing projects and mentorship for PREP can learn more about it in this one-pager
You can read more about our PREP efforts through some of our past publications with the International Conference on Information Systems (2024), the American Society for Engineering Education (2024), the Americas' Conference on Information Systems (2023), and the International Information Systems Security Association (2023)
Below are some examples of our past PREP efforts.
Fall 2024 | NIST NICE RAMPS Grant
Mobius Consulting
Student Team Elevates Security Posture for Small Business Across Critical Areas with Mobius Consulting
Integrating Power Platform to Streamline and Automate Financial Reporting Processes with EngineeRD
Providing Analysis & Key Performance Indicator Dashboard with FedWriters
Fall 2024
Aurora & Everest
Providing a Solution Framework for Data Integrity Efforts with Aurora & Everest
Fall 2024
US Cyber Command
Enhancing Synthetic Media Detection and Mitigation for Thwarting Election Interference with the United States Cyber Command
Developing the CARES Framework to Secure IoT Devices in Small-Practice Healthcare Facilities with MAXIMUS
Summer 2024 | Summer Team Impact Project (STIP) Grant
United States Cyber Command
Addressing the International Artificial Intelligence Cyber Question with the United States Cyber Command. Funded by GMU's Office of the Provost. One article for the effort being published in the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) Journal: TBA.
Summer 2024 | Commonwealth Cyber Initiative Grants (Experiential Learning & CATAPULT)
EngineeRD
Leveraging the CATAPULT Grant to Develop the CarePilot App: Transforming Healthcare Navigation for Better Patient Outcomes
Solutioning the Design and Maintenance of the Federal Transit Administration’s Systems to Keep Track of Archived Materials with FedWriters
Developing a Marketing Plan for a Developed AI-powered Text Generation Application with FedWriters
Solving CRM Challenges with Microsoft Power Apps and Power Automate with EngineeRD
Spring 2024
United States Cyber Command
An Analysis of the “Made in China 2025” Initiative with U.S. Cyber Command. Two articles for the effort published in the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) Journal: Quantum Computing & the Internet of Things
Spring 2024 | Commonwealth Cyber Initiative Grant
Institute for Defense Analyses
Optimizing IT Infrastructure and Cybersecurity with Virtual Environments at the Institute for Defense Analyses
Assessing User Experience & Developing a Cloud Migration Plan with 4Stay
Spring 2024
Brand Transitions
Building a Mergers & Acquisition Assessment Model with Brand Transitions
Spring 2024 | Commonwealth Cyber Initiative Grant
Mobius
Enhancing the Critical Security Operations with Mobius Consulting
Spring 2024 | Commonwealth Cyber Initiative Grant
Mobius
Enhancing Cybersecurity at Mobius: Strengthening Insider Risk Management and Compliance through AI and Automation
Summer & Fall 2023 | Commonwealth Cyber Initiative Grant
Mobius
Optimizing Cybersecurity and Data Management with Mobius
Spring 2023
DoD Cyber Crime Center's Vulnerability Disclosure Program
Process Improvement for Onboarding Clients. Efforts highlighted in DoD Press Release!
Spring 2023 | Commonwealth Cyber Initiative Grant
Chameleon Consulting Group
Automating Cybersecurity Compliance by Enhancing Security Frameworks with Ansible at the Chameleon Consulting Group
Spring 2023 | Commonwealth Cyber Initiative Grant
Institute for Defense Analyses
Building and Hardening Windows Server with the Institute for Defense Analyses
Spring 2023 | Commonwealth Cyber Initiative Grant
Mobius
Strengthening Cybersecurity through Data Protection, Access Management, and Automation with Mobius
Developing an Algorithm for Automating the Business Development Prioritizing Process
Business Process Improvement through Automation II (Contact Engagements & Dashboarding)
Data Analytics on environmental, social, and corporate governance data for comparison on petro-plastics and bioplastics
Fall 2022
United States Cyber Command
Cyber Information Sharing with International Partners & Allies. Efforts published in the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA) Journal!
Business Process Improvement through Automation (Human Resource & Sales Processes)
Conducting cyber assessments and a path forward for the compliance with the DoD's Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC). Done by determining a comprehensive CMMC-specific self-assessment tool, and a thorough walkthrough and implementation plan.
Spring 2022
Building Momentum
Providing solution recommendations on custom inventory mobile application needs, along with Expensify plugin extensions for financial management
Conducting user feedback, user interface recommendations, and improvement plans for multiple system components; along with an organizational SWOT analysis
Conducting research on tools and applications that would be effective for a real estate startup in providing services to investors, buyers, and sellers
Fall 2021
Chameleon Consulting Group
Improving the employee onboarding process with onboarding buddies & Paycor
Fall 2021
SURVICE Engineering Company
Improving customer inquery communications & tracking with Smartsheet
Determining the requirements, points of views, and path forward for a custom CRM application development effort
Determining a tracking solution for documents emailed to and from the organization at the classified level
Enhancing client booking through built-in downpayments, zipcode validations, & more
Fall 2021
Fairfax County Economic Development Authority
Enhancing the data aggregation, visualization, and interaction of various databases through scripts development, systems integration, and process standardization
Fall 2021
Gryphon Technologies - A ManTech Company
Determining the feasibility and target market needs for a new cyber security product
Spring 2021
Optiv Security
Enhancing performance evaluation through 360-degree feedback & Workday integration
Spring 2021
Encore Learning
Maximizing the recent Google Suite purchase through classroom delivery, survey feedback aggregation, & more
Automating the collection and compilation of monthly status report inputs & enhancing project management capabilities
Developing a business development process to standardize the effort while providing better capture tracking and oversight