{"id":239056,"date":"2026-08-13T16:23:55","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T02:23:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=239056"},"modified":"2026-08-13T16:25:01","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T02:25:01","slug":"uh-maui-college-660k-ai-cybersecurity-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2026\/08\/13\/uh-maui-college-660k-ai-cybersecurity-education\/","title":{"rendered":"UH<\/abbr> Maui College receives $660K to enhance AI<\/abbr>, cybersecurity education"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
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Cyber student working on cyber logs at UH<\/abbr> Maui College<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To tackle a critical nationwide shortage of cybersecurity and artificial intelligence (AI<\/abbr>) professionals, the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Maui College<\/a> has secured a three-year, $441,645 National Science Foundation<\/a> (NSF<\/abbr>) award<\/a> to launch a groundbreaking project: “CyberAI<\/abbr> Innovation: AI<\/abbr>-Enhanced Cyber Data Analytics Education.”<\/p>\n

Led by Principal Investigator Debasis Bhattacharya and Co-Investigator Thomas Blamey, the initiative builds on previous NSF<\/abbr>-funded efforts and directly addresses a vital local need, as Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> currently ranks among the top five states in the nation for unmet cybersecurity workforce demand.<\/p>\n

“The intersection of AI<\/abbr>, data analytics and cybersecurity is a critical frontier for modern digital defense,” said Bhattacharya, who also serves as the director of the Center for Cybersecurity Education and Research<\/a>. “With Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> facing such a steep challenge in meeting cybersecurity job demands, this grant enables us to build robust, early-career pipelines. We are excited to empower local educators and students with the advanced skills needed to protect our critical systems.”<\/p>\n

New curriculum, training<\/h2>\n
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Cyber instructor teaching a class at UH<\/abbr> Maui College<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The project will introduce an AI<\/abbr>-integrated curriculum by embedding six new modules\u2014including adversarial machine learning, AI<\/abbr>-powered threat detection, secure AI<\/abbr> pipelines and CyberAI<\/abbr> ethics\u2014across six core computer science courses at UH<\/abbr> Maui College. Additionally, a three-year professional development program will deliver statewide faculty training across all seven UH<\/abbr> community colleges and Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Department of Education (HIDOE<\/abbr>) secondary schools.<\/p>\n

To cultivate early interest, the college will leverage the community of practice created by the NSF<\/abbr> Project CSP4Hawaii<\/a> (a collaboration aimed at improving computer science education at the state level) to expand K–14 academic pathways. The project also extends beyond IT<\/abbr>, developing customized cyberAI<\/abbr> micro-modules for non-IT<\/abbr> fields such as healthcare\/nursing, automotive technology and accounting\/finance.<\/p>\n

AI<\/abbr>, GenCyber cybersecurity camps<\/h2>\n

UH<\/abbr> Maui College has also secured a supplement award of $129,190<\/a> from the NSF<\/abbr> to host two AI<\/abbr> camps during the summers of 2027 and 2028 in conjunction with the HIDOE<\/abbr>. These camps will provide middle and high school students with basic AI<\/abbr> literacy, safety, well-being, vibe coding (software development utilizing AI<\/abbr>) experience and guidance on responsible usage.<\/p>\n

To continue the tradition of cybersecurity summer camps funded by the National Security Agency\u2019s GenCyber<\/a>, UH<\/abbr> Maui College has been awarded $89,537 to conduct two in-person student summer camps on O\u02bbahu and an online student camp during the summer of 2027. More details on all these camps will be available at GenCyber Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New funding will prepare local students for urgent tech protection roles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[1602,749,71,60],"class_list":["post-239056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-news","tag-ai","tag-cybersecurity","tag-uh-community-colleges","tag-maui-college","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t