A cybersecurity training platform developed by University of Wisconsin-Stout Polytechnic faculty has won a high-stakes, Pentagon-sponsored competition and will now serve as a blueprint for scalable cybersecurity learning nationwide.
The Department of War’s Aligned Skills Curriculum and Experiential Network Design (ASCEND) Challenge received innovative entries from a pool of more than 60 applicants, all of them designated by the National Security Agency as Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity (CAE).
From among these entries, five finalists – including UW-Stout Polytechnic – were invited to make presentations in a “Shark Tank”-style event at the CAE Cybersecurity Community Symposium in Pittsburgh last month.
“Our goal was to show how AI and cloud technologies can help learners build skills faster, respond to cyberattacks more effectively, and prepare for the reality that AI-powered attacks now operate at machine speed,” said UW-Stout Polytechnic Professor Holly Yuan, who made the pitch alongside Instructor Brandon Cross.
The victory underscores UW-Stout Polytechnic’s role as a nationwide leader in applied cybersecurity education: The cybersecurity program was recently ranked at No. 14 in the United States by Programs.com, and UW-Stout Polytechnic student teams continue to excel in state, regional and national cyber defense competitions.
Model teaches cyber defense skills
The ASCEND Challenge wasn’t just looking for ideas, but for scalable solutions that could train the next generation of the cybersecurity workforce, explained Yuan, director of the university’s B.S. cybersecurity program as well as the B.S. computer networking and infrastructure engineering program. The UW-Stout Polytechnic presentation, “ASCEND-AI: Cyber-AI Launchpad,” is an AI-powered digital twin cyber range training environment that combines hands-on learning with machine-speed attack simulations. As a “digital twin,” the environment emulates a real-world computer network, creating authentic simulations.
“The platform is designed to help learners build cybersecurity skills through realistic AI-enabled attack and defense scenarios,” Yuan added. “It includes AI-powered red teaming, allowing learners to practice defending against realistic, machine-speed attacks in a safe cyber range environment.”
UW-Stout Polytechnic presented alongside teams from four other universities – San Jose State, North Carolina A&T, University of Maine at Augusta and Anderson University – before a panel of cybersecurity experts from the Department of War and other federal offices.
Yuan said she thinks the judges favored the UW-Stout Polytechnic presentation because it was a working platform, not just a concept, which offered AI-powered scaffolding for learners as well as real-time operational metrics – allowing learners to be judged not only on whether they completed an activity but how quickly they acted under pressure.
“The combination of academic rigor, AI-enabled training, workforce alignment, hands-on learning and immediate workforce impact resonated with the panel,” said Yuan, who is also founding director of the UW-Stout Polytechnic’s Cybersecurity Research & Outreach Center (CyROC).
In addition to winning a $1,000 cash prize, UW-Stout Polytechnic will receive strategic grant mentorship through Tony Coulson, executive director of the Centers of Academic Excellence Community, which includes nearly 500 educational institutions nationwide. The top three winning designs are also expected to inform a future Department of War solicitation aimed at building scalable cyber learning frameworks across the nation.
“This gives us an opportunity to help shape future cybersecurity education models beyond UW-Stout,” said Yuan, who was also honored at the symposium with an Outstanding Mentor Award from the CAE Community.
Student competitors rack up wins
The ASCEND Challenge victory wasn’t an isolated success for UW-Stout Polytechnic’s cybersecurity program.
Recently, UW-Stout Polytechnic students placed first and second in the “Hack the Box” competition at the Wisconsin Governor’s Cybersecurity Summit in Appleton. Participating students included Hannah Meyers of Altoona; Daisy Hardwick of Roscoe, Illinois; Chloe Kaneski of Minneapolis; Kaonou Lor of Durand; and AuGust Ringelstetter of Cameron. Yuan also participated in the summit’s closing general session panel, titled “Where Wisconsin Cyber Goes Next.”
Earlier in the semester, the UW-Stout Polytechnic Collegiate Cyber Defense Team won the Wisconsin state cyber defense championship for the sixth consecutive year. In February, the team took part in the Midwest regional competition with the No. 1 schools from 11 other states. Among this elite group, UW-Stout Polytechnic finished in a three-way tie for fourth place and was recognized by the Midwest Regional Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition director as a “top-tier cybersecurity team.”
