My name is Erin Clark, and I am a rising junior in the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences at Pitt. I am a Communication Rhetoric major, along with a minor in the Spanish Language and a certificate in Television and Broadcast. I plan to go into the field of Sports Media, with the hopes of pursuing a career as a reporter. I am originally from Montgomery County, PA, about 40 minutes north of Philadelphia. Outside of my studies, I work part-time for the University as a tour guide, am a proud sister and officer of Theta Phi Alpha, and am on the executive board of the Broadcasting Club as the logistics chair.
This summer, I have the opportunity to participate in the SHURE-Grid program through the Frederick Honors College in collaboration with the Swanson School of Engineering and the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The program consists of 16 students, divided into 4 groups, all from different backgrounds such as engineering, technology, media, and policy. The students work together in these teams to analyze cyber-informed engineering (CIE) principles through issues and scenarios dealing with cyber security. I am a member of team 4, or “team anaconda”, as we call ourselves, along with Abby Magistro, Amy Zhang, and James Ross. When asked to look at real-world scenarios concerning cyber attacks, we chose to focus on the electric grid, in reference to the cyber attacks on Ukraine in 2015. Our main goal as a group is to work with these grids and specifically circuit breakers, research their vulnerabilities and risks, and propose solutions how to minimize large damage and blackouts from occurring when attacks like this are performed. My main role in this program is to help educate people on CIE principles as they relate to critical infrastructure. I am doing this by putting together an educational video that tells the story of our group’s focus, work, progress, and solutions. This will include components such as a newscast setting introducing our chosen scenario, interviews with the other members of my team and professionals that specialize in everything from cybersecurity to policy, and labs and simulations performed, as well.
I have always obtained an authentic and strong passion for delivering and telling stories and communicating with and informing others. This is the main reason why the SHURE-Grid Program stood out to me. As someone who wants to go into the media field, it is so easy to fall into one area of study that most interests, such as politics or sports, and stick to it. I feel as though for me, it is so important to be versatile in communicating on all different topics. Although topics like electrical engineering and cyber security can come across as complex to me, I have greatly enjoyed creating video content and projects in this field, and cannot wait to continue to work in this program throughout the rest of the summer.