Group 1
Undergraduate Academic Curriculum
Leadership
Working group leadership and academic direction
The initiative is led by a researcher and professor whose work spans cybersecurity, smart health, and the broader interaction between society and technology.
Dr. Sriram Chellappan
Professor, USF Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing
Dr. Sriram Chellappan is a professor in the USF Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing at the University of South Florida. Prior to joining USF, he was an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Missouri University of Science and Technology, where he directed the SCoRe (Social Computing Research) Group.
His primary interests lie in how society and technology interact with each other, particularly within the realms of smart health and cybersecurity. His research has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, Department of Education, Army Research Office, National Security Agency, DARPA, and the Missouri Research Board.
Dr. Chellappan received his PhD in Computer Science and Engineering from The Ohio State University in 2007.
Mission
The mission of the Undergraduate Education Curriculum Group
is to collaboratively refine the Cybersecurity curriculum at the undergraduate level with optimal integration of foundations, algorithms, hands-on challenges, industry engagement and learning frameworks to enable graduates to be ready, and meaningfully contribute to the workforce.
Deliverable (March 2026)
A NICE-aligned software planning tool for students
The Undergraduate Education Curriculum Working Group, formed following the recent CyberBay event in Tampa, will produce a software planning tool to assist current and prospective cybersecurity students in developing a schedule of coursework that adheres to the NICE framework. The NICE framework, developed and promulgated by NIST, is strongly connected to real-world requirements for cybersecurity skill development, and this connection is its primary purpose and greatest strength. The working group’s near-term deliverable, targeted for the March 12 CyberBay event, will be to have a demonstrable version of this tool giving students the means to build a more relevant and career-focused course of study.
The core function of the tool is to guide students in aligning their academic plan with the NICE Framework. Students will input their desired cybersecurity career pathway, and the software will guide them toward a recommended educational path, including relevant courses and access to “challenge labs”. Though not yet available as of March 2026, the intent is to include specific course offerings from University of South Florida (USF) and St. Leo University (over time can be expanded to include other Universities) This output will serve as a practical, actionable guide for students to construct a curriculum that better prepares them for the demands of the modern cybersecurity workforce, directly addressing the concerns raised by the local business community as reported in the CyberBay Survey 2025 (cyberbay.org/survey).
Final outcome
The solution was demonstrated at CyberBay Summit 2026
Its Post-March 2026 life will be managed by Bellini Capital, in conjunction with portfolio companies SkillBit and ConnectSecure, who will assist in realizing the solution’s commercial potential.
Members
Members of the Undergraduate Academic Curriculum Working Group
The working group combines higher education, NICE framework leadership, K–12 STEM, industry architecture, national workforce development, and software development perspectives to ensure the curriculum tool is grounded in both education and real-world pathway needs.
Working group participants
This cross-functional mix strengthens the connection between curriculum design, career mapping, and workforce relevance.
- Ellyn Couillard, PhD, USF Bellini College
- Kurt Friday, PhD, Assistant Professor, USF Bellini College
- Melissa Dark, Founder, DARK Enterprises
- Karen Wetzel, Director of NICE, NIST / NICE
- Margaret Berridge, K-12 STEM Resource Director, Hillsborough County Public Schools
- Jereme Monette, Cybersecurity and CTAE Specialist, Cyber Florida
- Steve Caroll, CIO, St. Leo
- Mello Kirouac, Security Architect, Cisco
- Jam Mirzakhalov, Development Lead, Study Spaces
- April Augustine, Director, National Security Workforce Development Programs, Idaho National Labs
Help students build a more relevant cybersecurity pathway.
Explore how CyberBay is connecting curriculum, challenge labs, and NICE-aligned career planning to create stronger undergraduate preparation for the cybersecurity workforce.