Deloitte presented a $100,000 gift to the Alabama School of Cyber Technology and Engineering Foundation in a ceremony at the 2019 Paris Air Show.

The donation is a combination of a financial contribution and in-kind support. It is intended to promote and advance the state magnet school, which opens in Huntsville in August 2020.

Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle accepted the check on behalf of Deloitte from Ray Winn, a partner at Deloitte & Touche LLP and a cyber leader.

“One of the primary conversations we are having here at the Paris Air Show is the need to secure aviation and missile platforms,” Battle said. “To do so requires a workforce that understands how cyber systems interact with hardware.

“This school sets the foundation blocks for creating those platforms.”

Deloitte officials present a major donation to the Alabama School of Cyber Technology and Engineering Foundation at the 2019 Paris Air Show. (contributed)

Carey Miller, a managing director at Deloitte & Touche LLP, said the firm has been committed to the success of the Huntsville community since opening its office there six years ago.

“The Huntsville community recognizes that cyber is everywhere and that by investing in education, it can be the nation’s cyber leader,” Miller said.

The independent residential magnet school will provide academically motivated seventh- through 12th-grade students from across the state with educational opportunities and experiences in the rapidly growing fields of cyber technology and engineering.

The school will also assist a broad range of teachers, administrators and superintendents across Alabama in replicating cyber technology and engineering studies in their own schools.

Deloitte is one of the largest professional service organizations in the world.

This story originally appeared on the Alabama Department of Commerce’s Made in Alabama website.