NYU Tandon alumni earn important federal fellowships

The U.S. Digital Corps (USDC), an initiative of the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), was launched to give early-career technologists the chance to work on some of the most pressing challenges that the nation is facing and introduce them to careers in public service. The two-year fellowships are highly competitive, with thousands of applicants each year vying for available spots.

This fall, two recent Tandon graduates, Sasha LaPommeray (‘24) and Ankhi Afroz Howlader (‘22), who hold master’s degrees in cybersecurity, were selected as part of the program’s third cohort. LaPommeray will spend her two years as a cyber specialist at the Department of Health and Human Services, while Howlader will join the U.S. Department of Agriculture.  

“I am proud of both Sasha and Ankhi for being selected to the latest cohort of the U.S. Digital Corps. This is a significant achievement for them, as well as for the Cyber Fellows program,” Abhijit Chitnis, the director of Tandon’s cybersecurity master’s program, says. “As empowered technology leaders, they will now have a chance to apply their skills to public service for solving the most challenging issues. I am sure they will make NYU and Tandon proud as they start their careers and continue to shine.”

Fully 95 percent of the fellows in the program’s first two cohorts chose to remain in the public sector. GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan says, “Growing the U.S. Digital Corps is crucial to driving innovation across the federal government, especially as emerging technologies like AI evolve. GSA is focused on delivering great value to our customer agencies and the American people, so we are proud to help lead efforts to bring tech talent into government to deliver those results.”

We caught up with LaPommeray to learn more.

Q: What led you to NYU Tandon?

A: I completed my undergraduate degree at the New York Institute of Technology. I was a computer science major. The news seemed to be filled with constant stories about cyberattacks,  so when we were given the opportunity to choose an area of concentration, I decided upon security.

When it was time to consider graduate school, I discovered Tandon’s Cyber Fellows program. It was a great fit for me because it was relatively affordable and offered a lot of flexibility. That’s not to say there weren’t challenges. One of the requirements was that you had to earn a B or higher in all your initial classes in order to remain in the program. It was a little nerve-wracking, but I made it.

Q: What were some highlights of the program?

A: I loved how practical and applicable to real life the courses are. I took things like Offensive Security and Digital Forensics, and it often felt like solving a puzzle each week. You get to put yourself in the shoes of a hacker and reverse-engineer the code.

Q: What was the process of applying to the U.S. Digital Corps like?

A: I applied after I earned my master’s, but it’s so competitive that I was uncertain about my chances of getting in. I accepted a job, just in case, at Codoxo, an AI healthcare solutions company, but they were understanding when the USDC called and I had to give my notice. They’re a great company.

Q: What happens after someone is accepted into the Corps?

A: You have to get a security clearance, and even at a low level, that’s an intensive process! Fellows initially work at a variety of agencies before getting assigned one. I’ll be at HHS, which I’m really enjoying; it’s an agency where every voice is heard and each idea is considered, and I like being one of those voices. I’m getting to work on a national scale now. USDC is instrumental in helping me to fulfill my dreams of utilizing my cybersecurity skills in a public service context.

Q: Do you have any advice for anyone who might want to follow a path like yours?

A: I worried needlessly about picking an area of hyperfocus. We all need to get rid of that idea, because there’s nothing wrong with being a generalist. You can always learn more about any given topic.
 

Federal opportunity knocks

USDC is not the only national initiative available to rising cyber professionals at Tandon.

In 2000, as part of President Bill Clinton’s National Plan for Information Systems Protection, the CyberCorps® Scholarship for Service (SFS) Program was created, and soon after that, Tandon became a host school. Dubbing the initiative ASPIRE (A Scholarship for Service Partnership for Interdisciplinary Research and Education), Memon and his colleagues focused on creating vibrant cybersecurity offerings guided by the core belief that securing a system requires a marriage of good science and engineering, and that engineering concepts are best taught in the classroom and then reinforced with hands-on experiences in the laboratory. 

ASPIRE scholars got a variety of benefits, including tuition, a stipend, an allowance to attend professional development events and classes, mentoring, and career planning support; in return, they agreed to work after graduation for the federal, state, or local government in a position related to cybersecurity for a period equal to the length of their scholarship. 

Since then, dozens of ASPIRE scholars have gone on to forge careers at such organizations as the National Security Agency, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Sandia National Labs, and a host of others.