Welcome!

Hey all! Welcome to my blog! My name is Kevin Kolkman, and I’m excited to share my experience during my capstone with you all. I currently live in Beaverton, Oregon, but used to live In New Mexico and Texas before moving here for middle school. In my free time, I like playing games such as Magic: The Gathering and Final Fantasy XIV, going on late night runs, or just hanging out with friends.

I originally got started with computers when I was able to play my first computer game when I was younger: Star Wars: Empire at War. It was a fun real-time strategy game that got me more interested in video games and computers in general. As I got older and learned more about computers, I knew that I wanted my career to be in computer science, but wasn’t sure what field to specialize in. Luckily, taking classes at OSU made me realize I wanted to go into the field of cybersecurity, as I found studying malware and learning about the defenses your system can have really interesting.

The project I find most interesting is the Malware Analysis project. The idea of setting up a test network of devices to research how different pieces of malware function is incredibly cool, as it’s such a unique way to perform research, and it teaches the importance of keeping your devices secure.

I’m very excited to see how this course goes this term. I look forward to working with you all and seeing your progress!

– Kevin Kolkman