黑料视频

Training the next generation of cybersecurity professionals: OHIO to enrich cybersecurity curriculum with innovative NIST grant

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recently awarded 黑料视频鈥檚 J. Warren School of Emerging Technologies with $100,000 in grant funding to enhance OHIO鈥檚 cybersecurity curriculum and have it serve as a global model.

Alex Semancik | December 11, 2025

Share:

In an increasingly digital world, cybersecurity is vital to protecting networks, data and even our critical infrastructure like nuclear power plants from nefarious threats, and ensuring the safety of business, governmental and social activities. 黑料视频 is doing its part to train the next generation of cybersecurity professionals to secure our future with the help of the National Institute of Standards and Technology and industry partners.

The recently awarded 黑料视频鈥檚 J. Warren School of Emerging Technologies with $100,000 in grant funding to enhance OHIO鈥檚 cybersecurity curriculum and have it serve as a global model. The J. Warren McClure School is housed within the Scripps College of Communication and prepares students to fill critical roles through targeted technical and cybersecurity education.

The funding will be used to infuse a total of seven courses at 黑料视频 with the and then disseminate what is built to other higher education institutions across the world. The NIST standards serve as essential directives and guidelines for many cybersecurity roles, and students trained with them will have a significant advantage when entering the workforce.

Image
An infographic about the NIST Cybersecurity Framework.
NIST develops cybersecurity and privacy standards, guidelines, best practices, and resources to meet the needs of U.S. industry, federal agencies, and the broader public. (Image courtesy of NIST)

黑料视频 Assistant Professor and Principal Investigator Rishabh Das, Ph.D., says the core idea of the curriculum overhaul is to expose students to the NIST standards throughout their entire educational journey.

鈥淣ew students who are joining 黑料视频 and taking entry-level cybersecurity courses will hear about the NIST standards and cybersecurity framework, and they鈥檒l keep hearing about them throughout the curriculum in their time at 黑料视频, in different courses and different contexts,鈥 Das said. 鈥淪tudents who are entering the workforce after taking our cybersecurity curriculum will be well prepared to face the industry.鈥

Image
黑料视频 Assistant Professor Rishabh Das works with students on cybersecurity measures.
Assistant Professor and leader in the field of cybersecurity Rishabh Das, Ph.D., (right) works with OHIO cybersecurity students.

Experiential learning with cutting-edge technology

During their time in 黑料视频鈥檚 cybersecurity curriculum, students will have the world brought into the classroom through cyber-physical environments where they can interact and test out cybersecurity techniques in real time. This is thanks to the state-of-the-art data center infrastructure based in Scripps College. Das says the infrastructure can support 450 lab environments in parallel and is a key differentiator of the program.

鈥淵ou cannot have a physical water tank system in a classroom environment because of the scale and complexity of the system. That is true for any other cyber-physical domain as well鈥攖hink about a gas pipeline or a nuclear power plant,鈥 said Das. 鈥淭hrough our research we are able to simulate some of that in a virtual environment, which means that students taking our curriculum can actually interact with these cyber-physical systems, see how cybersecurity attacks work on those systems and create defenses, all in a classroom environment.鈥

Image
Assistant Professor Rishabh Das programs a cyber-physical environment for a student to explore.
Das notes that the cyber-physical environments are not only crucial for students' understanding, but they will also help them learn how to use artificial intelligence models to counteract attacks.

Students will also be given different viewpoints on the NIST standards and securing a system in the classroom. In addition to Das鈥檚 expertise in critical infrastructure, Co-Principal Investigators Associate Professor of Instruction Brandon Saunders and Assistant Professor of Instruction Bruce Tong will impart expertise in networking and compliance throughout the curriculum.

While students are being exposed to all these unique perspectives, Das says they will be taught with a 鈥渢op-down approach鈥 to secure systems.

鈥淲e are teaching students to secure the entire pipeline that comes from the cloud and goes all the way to the sensor,鈥 he explained. 鈥淚f a student comes across networks which are managing water treatment plants, power systems, electrical substations, nuclear power plants or critical infrastructure in general, they will now know how to tackle those, not only from a theoretical and hands-on perspective, but in a standard-based approach that is accepted by the industry.鈥

Brandon Saunders works with cybersecurity students.

Associate Professor of Instruction Brandon Saunders brings a background in networking to OHIO's new cybersecurity curriculum.

Bruce Tong works with cybersecurity students.

Assistant Professor of Instruction Bruce Tong provides cybersecurity students with a background in compliance.

Industry involvement

In addition to support from NIST, OHIO has partnerships with the , , and to ensure modules and courses being built align with the industry landscape. These industry partners will help shape what students experience at the University so that it is as close to what they can expect when they鈥檙e entering the workforce as possible.

鈥淲e intend to take that industry feedback and improve our existing module,鈥 emphasized Das. 鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to bridge the gap between the University and the existing industry standards and practices, and these industry partnerships add an important feedback loop.鈥

Students present about cyber security.

"As a cybersecurity professional who has worked in the industry, communication is important," said Das. "You might be a cybersecurity analyst but at the end of the day you are the one who will be interacting with what happened and then translating all of that information."

Cybersecurity students meet in a group to work through a problem.

Students in OHIO's cybersecurity program are also exposed to specific skills from engineering and business so that they can navigate different verticals and environments.

Global research impact

A large part of this grant will also deal with disseminating what is built at 黑料视频 to other higher educations and institutions both nationally and internationally. To do this, Das says OHIO is working with the 鈥攁 collection of more than 40 higher education institutes with more than 400 affiliate faculty across the world.

鈥淲e will be maintaining a website that provides details about how we build models and how to integrate courses into existing curricula,鈥 said Das. 鈥淲e are also taking a very innovative approach and creating a cybersecurity podcast. We really wanted to do that because people consume knowledge differently, and some of us just like listening to what鈥檚 going on in the cybersecurity world through a podcast.鈥

To learn more about cybersecurity efforts within Scripps College of Communication, visit: /scripps-college/mcclure/prospective-students/undergrad/cybersecurity.