TROY – Nanette Poulios, Director of Information Assurance Center Associate Professor BIT Department at Walsh College, has retired, but plans to stay active in the cyber security world.

Her last day at Walsh College was July 8. She worked at the college for 12 years and was instrumental in creating the IAC, where students get certified through the National Security Agency-sanctioned program.

?It is with mixed emotions that I announce my retirement from Walsh College,? Poulios wrote in an email sent to her colleagues. ?I will miss my colleagues and friends that have supported me over the years. I appreciate the encouragement and assistance that you have shown Walsh College and me over the years. I do intend to stay active in many security organizations at the national and local levels. My husband and I are also looking forward to traveling and new adventures.”

Poulios, in an interview with MITechNews.Com Editor Mike Brennan, said she?s still passionate about the field and still passionate about supporting women in technology.

?We?re down to 11 percent women in our field,? she said. ??I?m passionate about security awareness and helping people to protect themselves from security breaches. ?There is still so much work to be done. Women are half the population, but we?re not getting them into the STEM fields.?

STEM is science, technology, engineering and math.

Another area Poulios said she is passionate about is the Walsh open source group, which was started in 2007 to help people stay current with their skills. It meets the second Saturday of each month to encourage professionals to develop open source projects.

?We take on community projects,? she said. ?We mentor someone just learning and give back to the community.?

Another successful program she helped pioneer was the redevelopment of website for Gifts for All God?s Children, part of Detroit rescue ministries.

?We needed a security database for children to service families. They needed a new website. We provided that for them. We created a donate button and donations have doubled.?

Poulios said she and her husband Chuck will stay in Michigan for now. Chuck has lived in Michigan all his life. She went to college Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo and has lived in Michigan since 1968.

?There?s still a lot of things on my bucket list,? Poulios said. ?I don?t want to wake up and say I?m too old to do all the things I want to do in life.?

Action items include hiking national parks. Zip lining. Seeing South America. And spending more time with her grandchildren.

?I want to enjoy my retirement years,? she said.