Adding ‘Industrial’ to Cybersecurity Education

One of the accomplishments I am most pleased with is that the Industrial Cybersecurity Program at ISU is stackable. “Stackable” means that students can come into the program directly from high school and earn an Associate of Applied Science degree within two years, or they can come into the program from a variety of engineering or operational technology (OT) degrees—including electrical, instrumentation, mechanical and nuclear operations, as well as on-site diesel power and information technology (IT) systems. Students have completed the program from each of these entry points.

One key to this stackability is that the industrial cybersecurity courses are offered as upper division credit (300 and 400 level), meaning they can provide a pathway to a bachelor's degree. After completing industrial cybersecurity courses, students are pointed to a handful of management-oriented upper-division courses including technical writing, project management, supply chain management and organizational behavior. Once students satisfy their general education requirements, they earn a Bachelor of Applied Science in Cyber-Physical Systems.

ISU has taken program development very seriously. In 2022, the Industrial Cybersecurity Program was recognized as a National Security Agency-designated cybersecurity program of study; and, in 2024, the program achieved ABET accreditation. So, how we are going to move towards a more secure digital future in critical infrastructure and industrial automation? I’d say we have to start with the people—the future workforce.
The Industrial Cybersecurity Program at ISU is an outstanding model for how to do this. Through interdisciplinary stackable pathways, we are developing a new generation of automation professionals capable of seamlessly moving between IT, OT and cybersecurity domains.