Ramy Attia and Michael Piatnicia arrived at the Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing offices in late January hoping to make the final cut for the 2026 ReliaQuest Labs program, a highly desired and competitive opportunity.
Instead of landing internships, they both landed full-time job offers.
“When I first learned that I had been selected to interview for one of the full-time positions, it was honestly one of the very few times where, after applying somewhere, the response wasn’t, ‘We regret to inform you,’ but instead, ‘We’re excited to move forward with your interview,’” Attia said. “I was ecstatic.”
Ramy Attia begins his interview with representatives with ReliaQuest.
The pair were among 110 students who showed up in suits and ties at the Bellini College
of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing offices over three days in
late January. Of those, 58 were selected to join the 2026 ReliaQuest Labs program.
The competitive, hands-on program, open to junior-, senior- or graduate-level students,
provides real-world experience with industry-leading cybersecurity technologies and
the fundamentals of network infrastructure.
Attia, a cybersecurity major, and expects to graduate this spring, initially interviewed for the program on a Monday. By Thursday, he received a follow up call from one of the interviewers.
“I was sitting in my car when I got the call, trying my best to stay calm and composed while we were talking,” Attia said. “But the moment the call ended, all of that coolness immediately turned into absolute joy and laughter, mixed with a real sense of relief. It finally hit me that I was being recognized as someone who could genuinely work with a company as impactful as ReliaQuest, and that was a surreal feeling.”
Attia applied because he wanted to take advantage of every professional development opportunity offered by the new college.
“I applied because I didn’t want to look back and feel like I had missed a chance to be part of such a great program,” he said. “I never expected that applying would lead not only to being accepted into the labs, but also to eventually receiving a full-time job offer.”
Piatnicia said he went through several rounds of interviews with the company before getting the offer. The interview experiences, as well as the job offer itself, reinforced his excitement about the field’s future.
Michael Piatnicia, along with Attia above, was offered a full time position with ReliaQuest following graduation.
“Cybersecurity is always changing and there’s always new things to learn,” he said. “This motivates me because I know the field won’t get boring. It will never be repetitive.”
Attia credits the hands-on classes and practical knowledge he gained from his classes in the Bellini College at helping him navigate the technical assessment and interview process.
“Professors such as Dr. James Anderson, Dr. Xinming Ou and Dennis Guillette helped me better understand complex cybersecurity concepts and, more importantly, relate them to real-world applications,” Attia said. “Additionally, having the privilege to work under Dr. Ou in the Rapid7 Cyber Threat Intelligence Lab gave me a significant advantage in developing a deeper understanding of threat detection and detection engineering through research.”
Both students expect to begin their roles at ReliaQuest in June following graduation.
Looking back on his college career, Attia is pleased with the path he chose and how it prepared him for this opportunity to launch his career immediate after graduation.
“When I first came to USF, I initially chose to study computer engineering so I could continue learning about both the hardware and software aspects of technology that I had grown to love,” he said. “USF’s continued stride with the establishment of the Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing, and its growing focus on the intersection between AI and cybersecurity, played a major role in preparing students like me for opportunities at companies such as ReliaQuest.”