The American National Standards Institute (ANSI), coordinator of the U.S. voluntary standardization system, and its Committee on Education (CoE) are pleased to announce that Sam Cohen of Missouri State University, is the first-place winner of the annual ANSI student paper competition. Scott Brody of Rowan University in New Jersey is the second-place winner. The contest is part of an ANSI-led effort to raise awareness about the strategic importance of standards and conformance among U.S. undergraduate and graduate students.
The competition, which received a record-breaking 77 submissions this year, required participants to submit papers that exemplify the theme, "How Do Standards Help Mitigate Disaster?" The contest was open to students of any discipline currently enrolled in an associate, undergraduate, or graduate-level program at a U.S. academic institute of higher learning.
The winning paper, titled "Cybersecurity Standards and the 2015 Ukraine Power Grid Attack: Mitigating Catastrophic Cyber Disruptions on Electrical Infrastructure," examines how cybersecurity standards could have either mitigated or entirely prevented the Ukraine power grid cyberattack in 2015, when hackers compromised information systems that supported at least 225,000 customers. The paper references standards developed or approved by organizations including ANSI, the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). Cohen explains how controls listed in specific standards could have assisted cybersecurity and IT staff with the defense of their control systems and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) networks. The paper also describes the standards' applicability to any power grid owner or operator aiming to reduce cyber risk.
The second-place entry, "Standards in Crisis Prevention and Response: Inconspicuous but at the Core," highlights how the work of standards developing organizations supports practices for first responders and the general public in order to prevent, prepare for, and respond to emergencies of all severity levels. The paper depicts a flowchart of a theoretical kitchen fire and explains how standards play a role in such a fire if it occurred in the United States or European Union.
Each winner will receive a cash prize for their paper. The winners will also be acknowledged at ANSI's Leadership and Service Awards, to be held on November 6, 2019, during World Standards Week.
ANSI's 2020 student paper competition, to be launched in September 2019, will focus on the theme: UN Sustainable Development Goals. ANSI will release more information on ANSI.org soon.
For more information about the competition or the ANSI Committee on Education, please contact Lisa Rajchel ([email protected]).
About ANSI
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) coordinates the U.S. voluntary standards and conformity assessment system, serving the diverse interests of more than 270,000 companies and organizations and 30 million professionals worldwide. ANSI is the official U.S. representative to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and, via the U.S. National Committee, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).
About the ANSI Committee on Education
The ANSI Committee on Education (CoE) oversees all Institute initiatives related to standards and conformity assessment education and outreach, fulfills the objectives of the United States Standards Strategy (USSS), and responds to other issues that may be delegated by the ANSI Board of Directors, Executive Committee, or the National Policy Committee.