Emile Stettler, a Bainbridge High School alumnus and recent Western Washington University graduate, served as a founding member of the recently formed Poulsbo Cybersecurity Club in efforts to get some experience in the industry.

Stettler said a key motivator was having more time for hands-on extracurricular cybersecurity activities. He grew up on Bainbridge Island and graduated from BHS in 2008.

“I have been a computer gamer most of my life, and have been as such, dabbling with a little bit of security stuff, just to make sure that my own systems are secure,” he said. “But this seemed like a way that I could put my foot into the industry in a way that really actually sparked my interest. So I was looking for something in the information technology field.”

Stettler previously worked for software automation company Avalara, which was founded on BI before moving to Seattle, where he did customer support work.

Stettler said during COVID, he decided to return to school and went to Olympic College in Poulsbo before transferring to WWU’s Poulsbo cybersecurity program. Professor Kevin Blackwall, an Olympic College professor, later sparked his interest in pursuing Western’s program.

Stettler said his cohort had seven students. Despite the small class size, he said it led to a fantastic classroom experience with everyone getting to know one another.

Western’s main campus in Bellingham has a cybersecurity club, and Stettler wanted to create additional opportunities for Poulsbo students as he didn’t feel Discord groups created the same in-person experience as working together in the same space. Stettler wanted to formalize the work he and his peers were doing with the creation of a cybersecurity club, founded in January of 2024.

Stettler said he enjoyed running through different puzzles or cybersecurity problems and everyone being able to work together. One of his favorite ones was called a “bomb lab.”

“It was called the bomb lab because the fictional villain put a bomb on all the computers in the computer lab, and you have to disarm them. It was a bunch of very interesting puzzles in sequence,” he said.

After graduation, Stettler said he wants to stay connected with students in the program and looks forward to sharing his perspective of working in the industry.

“It feels good to have sort of built this and participated, and it also feels pretty good to be able to pass on those lessons learned to a next class so that they can continue in our footsteps and really get the most out of the Western program,” he said.

Stettler graduated from Western in the spring with a Bachelor of Science degree in Cybersecurity.