Magnet Forensics helps advance the careers of five digital investigators with the Magnet Forensics Scholarship Award program
WATERLOO, Ontario & ATLANTA, GA – Magnet Forensics Inc., a developer of digital investigation solutions for more than 4,000 enterprises and public safety agencies in over 100 countries, announced today that five recipients will receive the Magnet Forensics Scholarship Award—providing an opportunity to advance their careers in digital investigations and expand their contributions to public safety.
This is the fifth year of the Magnet Forensics Scholarship Awards, and they will allow recipients to take part in training led by highly experienced digital forensic examiners, as well as have the opportunity to obtain an industry leading certification. Their agency will also receive licenses for Magnet Forensics’ digital investigation software, Magnet Axiom.
Magnet Forensics launched its scholarship program in 2018 to help police agencies address their growing talent shortage in digital forensics and to promote diversity in the profession. Budgetary constraints often limit the ability of police agencies to create and bolster digital investigation units at a time when digital evidence has become pivotal to criminal prosecutions. These constraints are hindering their ability to investigate crimes such as child sexual exploitation, human trafficking, and cybercrime.
“We truly believe that barriers to digital forensics knowledge need to be overcome for the sake of justice,” said Jad Saliba, founder and Chief Innovation Officer at Magnet Forensics. “With the Magnet Forensics Scholarship Award, we’re helping agencies face that challenge by providing promising officers an opportunity to advance in their careers and expand the ways they contribute to the pursuit of justice.”
The recipients of the 2023 Magnet Forensics Scholarship Awards were selected from a large pool of worthy applicants in two categories: new to digital forensics, which seeks to aid investigators with little or no experience, and an advanced category, which is open to experienced digital investigators who are looking to upskill and achieve certification.
The scholarships will be awarded in honour of Peel Regional Police Sgt. Steve Martin. As an Internet Child Exploitation unit investigator, Sgt. Martin played a leading role in arresting criminals who preyed on children before he died of cancer in January 2021.
The 2023 Magnet Forensics Scholarship Award winners are:
New to Forensics:
- Madeline Vogelsang, Vancouver Police Department, Vancouver, Washington
- Kaung Zaw Hein, National Bank of Canada Group, Yangon, Myanmar
Advanced Field:
- Jennifer Graham, Plover Police Department, Plover, Wisconsin
- Alban Haxhia, Albanian State Police, Tirane, Albania
- Jeanne-Marie Grobler, Commerce Commission New Zealand, Auckland, New Zealand
“This is an exciting time to be entering the world of digital forensics,” said Madeline Vogelsang, Vancouver Police Department, Vancouver, Washington. “Nearly every case these days has a digital nexus. The more I learn, the more I can bring new ideas to cases where other leads may have been exhausted. What I love about this field is that our knowledge is always growing, and technology is constantly evolving, but the digital forensics community (and particularly the internet crimes against children [ICAC] community) has the singular, unchanging goal of finding the truth and protecting the innocent.”
Investigators who are interested in applying for the 2024 Magnet Forensics Scholarship Awards can visit the program’s website for future updates.
About Magnet Forensics
Founded in 2010, Magnet Forensics is a developer of digital investigation software that acquires, analyzes, reports on, and manages evidence from digital sources, including computers, mobile devices, IoT devices and cloud services. Magnet Forensics software is used by more than 4,000 public and private sector customers in over 100 countries and helps investigators fight crime, protect assets and guard national security.