SAN JOSE, Calif., Dec. 8, 2010 - Cisco today announced that the following students have won the prestigious Internet networking competition Cisco® Networking Academy® NetRiders 2010 for Latin America, which aims to identify and recognize the most promising individuals in networking technology across Latin America and the Caribbean. Contestants from more than 21 countries competed in a virtual competition to win prizes including three Grand Prize study trips to visit Cisco's U.S. headquarters. The Latin American NetRiders winners are:
| Country |
Winner |
Academy |
| Brasil |
Rodrigo De Andrade Couto |
UniverCidade |
| Brasil |
Luiz Alberto da Silva |
SENAI-Brasilia |
| Brasil |
Wesley de Almeida Maretti |
SENAI-Brasilia |
| Brasil |
Anderson de Souza Santos |
SENAI-Brasilia |
| Brasil |
Daniel Alves Barreto |
SENAI-Brasilia |
| Chile |
Pablo Godoy |
Universidad Tecnologica de Chile-INACAP |
| Chile |
Daniel Hernandez |
INACAP Santiago-Sur |
| Jamaica |
Andre Tulloch |
Vocational Training Development Institute |
| Mexico |
Catalina Rosa Gonzalez Solano |
Universidad Politecnica de Puebla |
| Mexico |
Ivonne Lopez Cuacuas |
Universidad Politecnica de Puebla |
| Venezuela |
Carlos Romero |
Eslared-Maracaibo |
| Venezuela |
Rafael Long |
CTU-Centro de Tecnologia Universitaria |
Key Facts / Highlights
- The NetRiders 2010 contest took place from Sept. 6 through Nov. 5, 2010, as one of the key initiatives of the Cisco Networking Academy program. The program is designed to foster training and employment for the socio-economic development in countries around the world.
- More than 2,700 students in Latin America competed in the first phase of the contest.
- The competition contained three phases, which included a theoretical multiple-choice quiz and practical networking tasks using Cisco Packet Tracer network simulation software.
- National winners were declared in each of the 21 countries taking part in the competition. The top 15 scorers were then invited to participate in the final phase, in which they had the opportunity to test their knowledge and present their results to a panel of judges.
- The top three students (Rodrigo De Andrade Couto from Brazil, Pablo Godoy from Chile and Rafael Long from Venezuela), will join winners from other NetRiders competitions around the world for a one-week study tour in California in January 2011. They will spend a working week at Cisco headquarters in San Jose; meet with senior executives, systems engineers, and experts from Cisco and other IT organizations; and tour San Francisco and Stanford University.
- The 20 Latin American participants in each country with the highest scores were listed in a ranking posted on the Cisco Networking Academy NetRiders 2010 website. This website is available to more than 4,500 Cisco registered channel partners in Latin America, as well as to thousands of Cisco and non-Cisco users that may require qualified personnel for the networking areas.
Supporting Quotes:
"Congratulations to all of the students who competed in this exciting event. We are delighted that the Cisco Networking Academy has been able to provide this opportunity for students to showcase their skills and compete with their peers in an immersive hands-on competition. We look forward to seeing these talented young people continue to pursue technical education in the rapidly growing information technology field."
"Education in the 21st century is largely based on a new environment that includes collaboration and innovative ways of using technology to foster the learning process as required by today's students and labor market. Cisco Networking Academy NetRiders 2010 was a unique opportunity for thousands of students to collaborate, compete, have fun as they learn, and obtain international experience and recognition for their knowledge in the management of network technologies."
- Bill Souders, director, Corporate Affairs, Cisco
- Ricardo Santos, education market lead, Cisco Latin America
Tags / Keywords:
Cisco, Cisco Networking Academy, Talent development, e-learning
Links / URLs:
About Cisco Networking Academy
Launched in 1997, Cisco Networking Academy is a partnership between Cisco, education, business, government and community organizations around the world, aimed at nurturing IT professionals. The education program employs an e-learning model, using a combination of Web-based and instructor-led training along with a hands-on lab environment to teach students how to design, build and maintain computer networks. Worldwide, more than 2 million students have graduated from a total of approximately 10,000 academies in more than 165 countries.
