{"id":13637,"date":"2026-07-03T09:07:28","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T14:07:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/?post_type=campus_story&p=13637"},"modified":"2026-07-03T12:10:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T17:10:11","slug":"uw-stout-polytechnic-cybersecurity-faculty-win-pentagon-sponsored-competition-to-build-workforce-preparedness","status":"publish","type":"campus_story","link":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/story\/uw-stout-polytechnic-cybersecurity-faculty-win-pentagon-sponsored-competition-to-build-workforce-preparedness\/","title":{"rendered":"UW-Stout Polytechnic cybersecurity faculty win Pentagon-sponsored competition to build workforce preparedness"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Photo<\/a>
UW-Stout Polytechnic Professor Holly Yuan and Instructor Brandon Cross make their pitch during the Department of War\u2019s Aligned Skills Curriculum and Experiential Network Design (ASCEND) Challenge in Pittsburgh in May. \/ Submitted photo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Department of War\u2019s 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<\/a> (CAE).  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From among these entries, five finalists \u2013 including UW-Stout Polytechnic \u2013 were invited to make presentations in a \u201cShark Tank\u201d-style event at the CAE Cybersecurity Community Symposium in Pittsburgh last month.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur 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,\u201d said UW-Stout Polytechnic Professor Holly Yuan<\/strong>, who made the pitch alongside Instructor Brandon Cross<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The victory underscores UW-Stout Polytechnic\u2019s 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<\/a>, and UW-Stout Polytechnic student teams continue to excel in state, regional and national cyber defense competitions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
Professor Holly Yuan receives a ceremonial prize check after the competition from Scott Nelson, acting principal director of the Department of War Cyber Academic Engagement Office.\u00a0\/\u00a0Submitted photo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Model teaches cyber defense skills <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The ASCEND Challenge wasn\u2019t just looking for ideas, but for scalable solutions that could train the next generation of the cybersecurity workforce, explained Yuan, director of the university\u2019s B.S. cybersecurity program<\/a> as well as the B.S. computer networking and infrastructure engineering program<\/a>. The UW-Stout Polytechnic presentation, \u201cASCEND-AI: Cyber-AI Launchpad,\u201d is an AI-powered digital twin cyber range training environment that combines hands-on learning with machine-speed attack simulations. As a \u201cdigital twin,\u201d the environment emulates a real-world computer network, creating authentic simulations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe platform is designed to help learners build cybersecurity skills through realistic AI-enabled attack and defense scenarios,\u201d Yuan added. \u201cIt includes AI-powered red teaming, allowing learners to practice defending against realistic, machine-speed attacks in a safe cyber range environment.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

UW-Stout Polytechnic presented alongside teams from four other universities \u2013 San Jose State, North Carolina A&T, University of Maine at Augusta and Anderson University \u2013 before a panel of cybersecurity experts from the Department of War and other federal offices. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 \u2013 allowing learners to be judged not only on whether they completed an activity but how quickly they acted under pressure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe combination of academic rigor, AI-enabled training, workforce alignment, hands-on learning and immediate workforce impact resonated with the panel,\u201d said Yuan, who is also founding director of the UW-Stout Polytechnic\u2019s Cybersecurity Research & Outreach Center (CyROC)<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis gives us an opportunity to help shape future cybersecurity education models beyond UW-Stout,\u201d said Yuan, who was also honored at the symposium with an Outstanding Mentor Award from the CAE Community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Six
UW-Stout Polytechnic cybersecurity students pose at the Wisconsin Governor\u2019s Cybersecurity Summit.\u00a0\/\u00a0Submitted photo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Student competitors rack up wins <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The ASCEND Challenge victory wasn\u2019t an isolated success for UW-Stout Polytechnic\u2019s cybersecurity program.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently, UW-Stout Polytechnic students placed first and second in the \u201cHack the Box\u201d competition at the Wisconsin Governor\u2019s Cybersecurity Summit<\/a> in Appleton. Participating students included Hannah Meyers<\/strong> of Altoona; Daisy Hardwick<\/strong> of Roscoe, Illinois; Chloe Kaneski<\/strong> of Minneapolis; Kaonou Lor<\/strong> of Durand; and AuGust Ringelstetter<\/strong> of Cameron. Yuan also participated in the summit\u2019s closing general session panel, titled \u201cWhere Wisconsin Cyber Goes Next.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/a> director as a \u201ctop-tier cybersecurity team.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Written by UW-Stout<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Link to original story: https:\/\/www.uwstout.edu\/about-us\/news-center\/uw-stout-polytechnic-cybersecurity-faculty-win-pentagon-sponsored-competition-build-workforce<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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\u2019s Aligned Skills Curriculum and Experiential Network Design (ASCEND) Challenge received innovative entries from a pool of more than 60 applicants, all of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":13638,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","institution":[90],"story_category":[150,146],"class_list":["post-13637","campus_story","type-campus_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","institution-uw-stout-polytechnic","story_category-featured","story_category-research-innovation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story\/13637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/campus_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13637"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"institution","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/institution?post=13637"},{"taxonomy":"story_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story_category?post=13637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}