The team of students from UMass Dartmouth had the highest overall score of any team in the U.S.
/filters:quality(90)/prod01/production-cdn-pxl/media/umassdartmouth/news/2026/IMG_96082.JPG)
The UMass Dartmouth Cyber Games team recently won first place in the regional competition of the 2026 NCAE Cyber Games. The team, comprised of 10 undergraduate, master's, and doctoral students, beat out 11 other teams in the Northeast 2 division and earned the highest overall score of all140 teams across the U.S.
Sponsored by the National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity (NCAE-C) and the National Security Agency (NSA), Cyber Games is a nationwide competition where teams simulate real world cybersecurity scenarios in a controlled environment. The competition is open to students at institutions bearing one of three NCAE designations: Cyber Defense (NCAE-CD), Cyber Operations (NCAE-CO) and Cyber Research (NCAE-R). UMass Dartmouth is one of 97 institutions nationwide designated as a National Center for Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity Research (NCAE-R).
"It was a close competition; we captured the title in the final 20 minutes of the day," said PhD student Goktug Ekinci, team captain. "It was an incredible feeling. After the event, we learned that we scored the most points among all events in the country. It made us all proud."
Ekinci expressed his thanks to the team's faculty advisor Dr. Gokhan Kul, who he also credits with his decision to pursue a PhD at UMass Dartmouth. "As a PhD student, your advisor defines much of your experience and what kind of freedom you will have in your studies. When I met with Dr. Kul during our interviews, I was sure that he was the kind of person that would allow me to communicate openly and express myself. Having these kinds of people is the strongest trait of UMass Dartmouth in my opinion."
"I’m incredibly proud of what this team accomplished," said Dr. Kul. "The NCAE Cyber Games demand not only technical skill, but resilience, teamwork, and the ability to think creatively under pressure. Our students demonstrated all of that and more."
The 2026 UMass Dartmouth Cyber Games team are:
- Goktug Ekinci (Team Captain - CIS PhD)
- Andrew Bajumpaa (CIS MS)
- Adam Trott (CIS PhD)
- Henry Thompson (CIS MS)
- Star Rocha (CIS BS)
- Michelle Kurtz (CIS MS)
- Mayank Raj (Data Science MS)
- Shreyash Tiwari (Data Science MS)
- William Kelley (CIS PhD)
- Aakash Kardam (CIS PhD)