Discovering a passion for engineering

Malcolm Ryce came to Olive-Harvey College after spending his freshman year of college at a state university that didn’t quite fit his interests. He then found himself working dead-end jobs until he felt the urge to demand more of himself and decided the first step was to enroll at City Colleges of Chicago.

Initially, Malcolm assumed his interest was strictly in business administration and finance, but, after attending a free cybersecurity conference provided by the school, he learned that his passion was in the tech industry and, more specifically, in engineering software. After switching his intent to computer science, Malcolm says he was “off to the races,” attending as many local events as possible and networking with various entrepreneurs and tech companies. While completing classes at Olive-Harvey, he applied to internships and apprenticeships both near and far.

Malcolm is currently completing an internship with Catalyte, a Chicago-based software company. Shortly after earning his associate degree, he decided to apply to several four-year colleges and is now eagerly awaiting their responses.

His passion and drive led to being named Olive-Harvey College’s Class of 2022 salutatorian. Malcolm hopes to use his knowledge and skills to help play a role in the development of AI and cybersecurity defenses to ensure that future generations are better equipped to deal with the challenges posed by bio-tech and info-tech.