WHO WE ARE
of, relating to, or characteristic of the culture of computers, information technology, and virtual reality
Cyber
Aegis
the protection, backing, or support of a particular person or organization
We are a team consisting of Oak Valley Middle School, Design 39 Campus and Del Norte High School students, collectively known as CyberAegis. Much of our program is student lead. This means the team grows depending on the the dedication and effort put by the students. From organizing meetups to teaching the class, there are many lessons beyond cybersecurity that the students learn, such as the importance of collaboration, teamwork, and leadership. This is a great sandbox for students to try out and improve these skills. Aside from competitions, the program also allows students to tour multiple fields surrounding cyber defense.
What are some of the competitions?
In addition to The CyberPatriot National Youth Cyber Education Program, Securing our eCity and NDIA have been conducting a cybersecurity competition in San Diego for about 10 years. It was originally called the San Diego Mayor’s Cup. The LAUSD has also been conducting competitions for years and we competed at CyberDay LA. California Governor Brown’s business development office, GoBiz, wants to encourage cybersecurity business in California, and they started a California state round called California Cyber Innovation Challenge (CCIC). The LAUSD competition and Mayor’s Cup, along with two other competitions, became the 4 qualification competitions for CCIC. Consequently, the Mayor’s Cup was renamed to the SoCal Cyber Cup Challenge (SCC). Along with that CyberAegis competes in the MITRE Embedded Capture the Flag competition which is an annual competition in which embedded system cybersecurity is tested. Teams implement secure systems and then search for weaknesses in other teams’ designs. Students learn skills such as cryptography, reverse engineering, and secure coding practices.
What we stand for
We believe everyone should receive equal opportunity to learn and participate regardless of race, gender, or religion. We are especially proud to advocate for girls in the male dominated field of technology by closing the gender gap in our team.
The Team
Meet the leaders
Sam Jha
Coach/Mentor
Coach Sam holds a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering and an MBA, and is an alumnus of Harvard Business School. He is an accomplished entrepreneur and technology executive, currently serving as Senior Vice President and Group General Manager at ZeroNorth, and Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer at Alpha Ori Technologies. Previously, he held leadership roles at Qualcomm as Global Director of Advanced Software Products, and at Sprint and Nextel Communications in product and program management. As a volunteer, he has served as a Science Olympiad Head Coach for five years, leading teams to numerous medals at regional and state competitions.
Yash Parikh
President
Yash is a junior at Del Norte who is extremely passionate about cybersecurity; his success in the field has been demonstrated by his championship at the CyberPatriot National Finals three times, leading his team as the captain for one of the years, and being voted MVP by his team in another. He has been awarded the prestigious Eisenhower Award for Inspired Leadership by former Coach Paul Johnson, and spearheaded CyberAegis’ participation in the MITRE eCTF competition. Yash actively engages with protecting populations vulnerable to cyberattacks as the VP of the student-run Cybersecurity Community Education Outreach organization.
Anvay Vahia
InfrastructurE VP
Anvay is a junior at Del Norte High School with a strong passion for cybersecurity and infrastructure systems. He is a 2-time CyberPatriot National Finalist and a National Final winner. He actively competes in major cybersecurity events, including MITRE’s eCTF, the SoCal Cyber Cup, and the Space Grand Challenge. As the VP of Infrastructure at CyberAegis, Anvay focuses on building and maintaining competition environments, scoring systems, and training platforms, ensuring that teams have the tools and systems needed to perform at a national level.
Ishan Jha
Competitions VP
Ishan is a freshman at Del Norte High School with a passion for cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. As a 2-time CyberPatriot National Finalist and VP of Competitions at CyberAegis, he organizes Red vs. Blue training exercises and CTFs to help CyberAegis teams compete at the national level.
Mihir Bapat
Windows VP
Mihir Bapat is a junior at Del Norte with a passion for Cybersecurity. Having been a 3x CyberPatriot National Finalist while leading his team as captain for two of those years, Mihir is the current VP of Windows Security. Outside of CyberPatriot, he has won the SoCal Cyber Cup and participated in MITRE’s eCTF embedded security competition.
Jacob Chou
linux VP
Jacob is a sophomore at Del Norte High School who is dedicated to research in cybersecurity. As the VP of Linux, he has spent over five years learning how to secure the system, and looks to guide the next generation of Linux mains. Through CyberAegis, he has qualified for the national finals twice, and has placed on the podium for Socal Cyber Cup twice.
Adya Shipekar
networking Vp
Adya is a freshman at Del Norte High School with a dedicated passion for STEM and computer science. She enjoys participating in cybersecurity competitions like CyberPatriot, SoCal Cyber Cup, and MITRE eCTF. Adya is a two-time CyberPatriot National Finalist and a CyberPatriot National Champion. She earned first place (2025) and third place (2026) in the Cisco NetAcad Challenge at the CyberPatriot National Finals.