Overview

CEROC is committed to broadening participation in cybersecurity and artificial intelligence by delivering hands‑on, accessible learning experiences for K–12 students, teachers, and community partners. Through mobile labs, dual‑enrollment programs, and interactive AI‑Cyber activities, CEROC brings real‑world cyber education directly to schools across Tennessee and beyond.

AI‑Assisted Cybersecurity in the STEMobile

As part of CEROC’s collaboration with the Millard Oakley STEM Center, the STEMobile is transformed into a mobile cyber classroom that delivers 30‑minute, hands‑on lessons to groups of up to 25 students. During a week‑long school engagement, the CEROC team provides:

• • • AI‑Cyber lessons inside the STEMobile or a school’s library/classroom
    • Teacher and counselor professional development
    • Parent engagement sessions
    • Ready‑to‑use lesson plans that schools may reuse throughout the year

To expand AI‑Cyber outreach, CEROC developed a set of high‑school–friendly modules on AI‑driven cybersecurity applications such as intrusion detection of hardware Trojans. The lesson introduces students to supply‑chain security by demonstrating how malicious hardware modifications can alter system behavior. A Raspberry Pi–based setup emulates a hardware Trojan, enabling students to:

• • • Observe changes in device latency, temperature, and memory usage
    • Analyze datasets representing “clean” vs. “Trojan‑affected” operation
    • Build simple AI classifiers—such as convolutional neural networks (CNNs)—to detect anomalies
    • Explore the real‑world impact of hardware Trojans on embedded systems

Golden Eagle Cyber Certificate (GECC) — Dual Enrollment Program

CEROC leads Tennessee Tech’s Golden Eagle Cyber Certificate (GECC) program, a dual‑enrollment initiative supported by state funding to expand cybersecurity pathways for high‑school students. Development began in FY22–FY23 and focused on district needs, course alignment, administrative structures, and pilot partnerships across the region.

Students who complete nine (9) credit hours of university coursework prior to graduation earn the GECC credential. The current structure is a “6‑pick‑3” model, in which students choose any three of five available courses. One of the cornerstone GECC offerings is Data Science for All, an introductory AI and data science course tailored for high‑school learners. This course introduces:

• • • Foundations of data analytics
    • Machine learning concepts through accessible, hands‑on activities
    • Responsible and ethical AI use
    • Applications of AI in cybersecurity, including anomaly detection and cyber‑threat modeling

Students gain practical experience with supervised and unsupervised learning techniques, building simple models to understand how AI can detect patterns, classify cyber events, and support security decision‑making.