After a driver plowed into him as his motorcycle approached a stop sign, Ryan Powers
\n was hospitalized for a month waiting for swelling to go down before doctors could
\n even attempt surgery. He had a broken back, eight broken ribs, a facial fracture,
\n and an arm so badly shattered it nearly had to be amputated. The surgery that was
\n supposed to take eight hours stretched to 14, leaving him unable to move his left
\n arm. He couldn\u2019t work and lost his job.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The accident broke him financially, emotionally and physically, he said. But he realized
\n he had two choices: Give up or get to work.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI chose to get to work, prioritizing my mindset, my health and my future.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Powers had already had a very successful six-year career with the U.S. Marine Corps,
\n surprising himself by excelling in cyber technology, a field he knew nothing about
\n going in. \u00a0He\u2019s transitioned to civilian life and found a good job. But his new life
\n seemed to implode with the devastating accident. He moved to Florida to start fresh.
\n And then he learned about USF\u2019s new Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity
\n and Computing. It seemed to be a light illuminating his path forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n
———<\/p>\n
He had enlisted at 18 years old with no plan for what role he\u2019d serve. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI just wanted to serve where I could serve best.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
So it came as a surprise when, after basic training, the corps made him a cyber network
\n operator. He knew nothing about computer operating systems, networks, routers or anything
\n related to technology. When training began, he fell to the bottom of the roster.\u00a0That
\n didn\u2019t sit well. He spent hours studying, learning about computers, and, eventually,
\n rose to the top.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI was taking classes and spending countless hours reading, learning and watching
\n videos to ensure I was an asset, not a liability\u201d he said. His dedication to learning
\n earned awards and even a meritorious promotion. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Setting up mobile command centers \u2013 from scratch<\/p>\n
That determination carried him through multiple deployments across the globe. From
\n training exercises in Morocco to leading the implementation of mobile command centers
\n throughout the Middle East, Powers became a leader.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile the past matters, in the military, what we care about is what you can do now, more than awards or school training,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, this started a whole new cycle
\n of working extremely hard.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He helped establish mobile command centers, which became a critical asset for coalition
\n forces, allowing them to forward-deploy and command and control from any location.
\n \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe felt like we were the Navy SEAL nerds,\u201d he said, laughing. \u201cScaling the Empire
\n State building with a router.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He was promoted to corporal after his second\u202fdeployment due to efforts on that mobile
\n command center. He was leading Marines in high-pressure environments, balancing technical
\n demands with his troops\u2019 well-being \u2013 and service to the people in the communities
\n where they were deployed. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Finding gratification in serving\u00a0<\/p>\n
While on assignment in Africa, Powers and his team also provided humanitarian assistance
\n to a local orphanage. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we got there and saw how little they had, we knew we had to do more.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Powers and his fellow Marines asked family, friends and businesses back in the U.S.
\n to send boxes of shoes and articles of clothing. He spent his own deployment pay to
\n fund the expensive shipping fees for the donations. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of these kids had never owned a pair of shoes. To see them smile just getting
\n something so simple, it was humbling. It showed me what Marines can do when they care
\n about the people they\u2019re serving. It wasn\u2019t just about military duty. It was about
\n humanity. We just put the word out, and to this date, I have sent thousands of articles
\n of clothing to orphanages between Kenya and Djibouti.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n
Over the course of his deployments, Powers also rescued two dogs and three cats from
\n harm\u2019s way, all now living with service members in the United States, including his
\n own rescue dog, Rasha. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe motivation ever since then was, okay, I really feel something when I help people.
\n The only way for me to continue doing that is to become extremely successful. So that\u2019s
\n the motivation now. To this day, I still help them whenever possible. It showed me
\n how rewarding it feels to make a difference.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
A time for change<\/p>\n
After several deployments involving hundreds of computers, routers and miles of cable
\n to power mobile command centers, Powers decided to transition to civilian life. He
\n began working as a systems analyst and cloud engineer for the U.S. Department of Agriculture\u2019s
\n Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory on Plum Island in New York, using his
\n computing expertise to support the U.S. animal health system. \u00a0<\/p>\n
He imagined himself building a career.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And then the life-changing accident.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A LinkedIn post made his next steps clear<\/p>\n
Once Powers began rebuilding his life, he saw that the need for cybersecurity professionals
\n was growing, especially in fields connected to national defense. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI needed to start learning the ins and outs of AI, to understand its extraordinary
\n potential as well as its risks,\u201d he said. He wanted to become well-versed in the latest
\n cybersecurity tools.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On LinkedIn, Powers saw that USF was creating the Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence,
\n Cybersecurity and Computing. It seemed like the perfect fit at the perfect time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI loved that USF was creating a college, and I saw its mission aligning perfectly
\n with where I want my career to go.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He was impressed by the caliber of the faculty, with experts in AI and cybersecurity
\n whose research is shaping the future. He also valued the chance to gain hands-on experience
\n in emerging technologies. So, he applied for the master\u2019s program in cybersecurity
\n and began classes when the college launched in August.\u00a0He believes his military background,
\n combined with his ongoing education at USF, will position him to be a valuable asset
\n in the defense sector.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a huge need for people who can align strategy, policy and operations,\u201d he
\n said. \u201cI want to be that person companies and agencies can rely on, knowledgeable,
\n confident and committed to doing the right thing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now living in Lakewood Ranch, his grit is shaping his new mission. He commutes to
\n Tampa for classes in AI, data networks and security, and advanced data structures.
\n \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is my first time being in person at university, and I love it,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m
\n just happy to be here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Whether it is building computer networks, bringing shoes to children who had none,
\n or protecting systems that safeguard nations, Powers\u2019 story and mission are linked
\n to service. He is an example of the type of graduate student that USF\u2019s Bellini College
\n is attracting: resilient leaders with real-world experience, eager to gain advanced
\n technical expertise.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After a driver plowed into him as his motorcycle approached a stop sign, Ryan Powers was hospitalized for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":194240,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[191,74],"class_list":{"0":"post-194239","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-computing","8":"tag-computing","9":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=194239"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194239\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/194240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=194239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=194239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=194239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}