Penn State researchers work closely with students. The Lights Out game scenario is one example of this interaction between researchers and students in the College of Information Sciences and Technology. Here’s the idea: What would you do if you were a community leader and your town was knocked off the grid? This is the third edition in a series of student-written posts about their participation in this capstone course. In the future, we’ll feature more posts from the students as they progress through the Lights Out scenario. To learn more, check out some background information about the course in this post.

McCracken

As far as sandwiches go, this one was pretty bad.

I sat on a rock by the side of the road.  I was only about a half-mile from town, but didn’t feel like answering any questions from passersby while I lunched on a beef jerky, mustard, and celery sandwich.  It was what I’d had in the fridge when this whole thing started.  This damned power outage.

Continue reading Lights Out III: Student Update on Exercise →

What would you do if you were a community leader and your town was knocked off the grid? This is the focus of an IST Security and Risk Analysis Capstone course. This is the second edition in a series of student-written posts about their participation in this capstone course. In the future, we’ll feature more posts from the students as they progress through the Lights Out scenario. You can read the other student blog post, or check out some background information about the course in this post.

Here’s the situation:

The country has received a direct hit of a solar event called a coronal mass ejection. It’s bad news. There are three communities — Smithville, McCracken, and Longview — that the students are attempting to lead back into the 21st century in this Analytic Decision Game.

Continue reading Lights Out II: More Students Blog About Situation →