Since its inception in 2017, the Warren B. Nelms Institute for the Connected World has worked toward becoming a leader in education and research on Internet of Things (IoT) Innovation. 

The institute is spearheading efforts to enhance workforce development and preparation of students for careers in IoT technology, hardware security, and cybersecurity. These projects are helping to address the national skills shortage in AI, IoT, and microelectronics fields by conducting research, developing curriculum, and introducing new concepts in K-12 education.

The following are some of the institute’s current projects on education and workforce development:

Collaborative Research: Engaging High Schoolers in Integrated Computer Science and Engineering Through Hands-On Experiences with Microelectronics and Artificial Intelligence

Researchers: Pasha Antonenko, Swarup Bhunia, Andrea Ramirez-Salgado
Funding: NSF, $1.49M total

Society has grown to rely on smart, embedded, and interconnected systems. This has created a great need for well-qualified and motivated engineers, scientists, and technicians who can design, develop, and deploy innovative microelectronics and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies, which drive these systems. This project will address the need for a more robust computer science and engineering workforce, a matter of national security, by broadening access to microelectronics and AI education leveraging the cutting-edge technologies of Tiny Machine Learning and low-cost microcontroller systems in Florida, Kansas, and Texas high schools. This project will leverage the partnership with the Scientist for Every Florida School network and nurture new relationships with industry partners.

The goal of this project is to engage about 500 high-school students and approximately 25 teachers in the design and creative application of AI-enabled smart, embedded technologies, while supporting their engineering identity development and preparing them for the STEM jobs of tomorrow. The accessible curriculum will have no prerequisites for programming or hardware knowledge. Every module is centered around a real-world application of microelectronics and AI with direct implications for improving the quality of life in local communities, making learning relevant and place-based.

Engaging Microelectronics Explorations to Public in Children’s Museums

Researchers: Swarup Bhunia, Pasha Antonenko, Baibhab Chatterjee
Funding: NSF, $295K total

Researchers in the Warren B. Nelms Institute are developing a curriculum on microelectronics and artificial intelligence (AI) that will support and encourage engaging, hands-on learning for middle school students in a unique setting—children’s museums.

Through a partnership with the Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention in Gainesville, FL, the curriculum will be delivered as a two-week summer camp called “AI & Microelectronics – Build, Innovate, Create!” at the museum from July 14th to July 25th, 2025.

The program will use a kid-friendly version of the AHA board, which is currently in development. Participants will learn how computers work, the role of data in the design of smart technologies, and produce a team project that uses microelectronics and AI to address a problem that is relevant to their lives.

Collaborative Research: Remote Access to Digital Immersive Artificial Intelligence of Things Education

Researchers: Rui Guo, Swarup Bhunia, Sandip Ray
Funding: NSF, $720K total

Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) and its applications are of paramount importance in the ongoing fourth industrial revolution, which is marked by the seamless fusion of physical and digital systems. This project aims to revolutionize Artificial Intelligence (AI) education by establishing a remotely accessible AIoT infrastructure, making state-of-the-art labs available to a broader student audience for immersive learning of AI with hands-on experiences. This project seeks to address several fundamental issues in AI education and workforce development. First, it will address the imbalance in AI education, which focuses on primarily building software skills, by integrating exposure to essential hardware components for a comprehensive understanding of the field. Second, it will address the resource constraints faced by many educational institutions, which limit their ability to offer state-of-the-art, hands-on AI learning experiences. Through collaboration and resource sharing among participating universities, University of Florida, North Carolina A&T, and Prairie View A&M University, this project will directly impact over 30 instructors and 1,500 undergraduate students across institutions.

SALT-Math: Scalable AI-Augmented Learning by Teaching for Math Education

SALT-Math aims to revolutionize the math learning process by implementing a learning-by-teaching (LT) framework using socially responsible large language models (LLMs) to flip students’ role as teachers to AI agents, resulting in substantially enhanced students’ motivation, engagement, and algebra learning outcomes. In essence, SALT-Math is an LLM-powered AI system that simulates fictional students with realistic educational needs, then asks real students to tutor them. The highlighted originality of SALT-Math is that it catalyzes a paradigm shift, moving beyond the current focus on constructing superior AI to guide learning, and embracing the potential of interactive and enjoyable AI that motivates and engages students. This project strives to make algebra learning a fun and proactive experience for students to deepen their understanding of algebra concepts. After all, while we are training LLMs to be BETTER TEACHERS (or TUTORS), they are already EXCEPTIONAL STUDENTS. Given the project’s scope, our primary focus will be on developing SALT-Math for Algebra I, an area that is likely of high demand.

Pivots: VETS-HASTE: Veterans SkillBridge through Industry based Hardware Security Training and Education

Due to the complex design of modern semiconductor devices, there is a clear potential for a malicious actor to introduce security vulnerabilities that undermine the entire system’s integrity. The presence of compromised hardware components in commercial or military cyberinfrastructure can lead to severe and widespread implications for security and safety. Thus, ensuring hardware security is vital for establishing a strong semiconductor design ecosystem. However, there is a significant shortage of adequately trained hardware security workforce despite the critical need in our government and private sectors. This project will develop a sustainable and scalable experiential learning program for underserved participants in STEM to gain new skills and pathways into hardware security careers.

This project will utilize innovative learning science strategies to actively involve a diverse group of veterans, a significant underserved population, in experiential hardware security training. Veterans possess unique qualities and skills, including hands-on experience, resilience, attention to detail, and diverse backgrounds, making them an untapped resource for the advanced technology field, particularly in hardware security. The project will prioritize the recruitment and support of veteran participants, who will undergo an industry-driven course by leveraging university resources and then engage in a series of authentic learning activities facilitated by industry partners, such as in-situ modeling, expert mentoring, and internships. In addition, the project will provide ample opportunities for career exploration and self-discovery to enhance participants’ conceptual knowledge and cultivate their interests in hardware security careers.

SaTC: EDU: An Integrative Hands-on Approach to Education of Vehicular Security

Researchers: Sandip Ray, Wanli Xing, Swarup Bhunia, Janise McNair
Funding: NSF, $500K total

Transportation systems have seen a rapid transformation in recent years, with an explosive infusion of autonomous features, however this has led to the increasing vulnerability of these systems to cyber-attacks. Existing curricula across the universities in the United States do not provide adequate insight into the spectrum of security threats in transportation, with only glimpses of the issue sprinkled across research seminars.

The research team is developing an a comprehensive hands-on experimental platform to enable understanding of unique security challenges at vehicular hardware, sensor, compute, network, and full platform levels. The platform will target multi-disciplinary undergraduate students across STEM areas relevant to transportation and will additionally facilitate training of transportation engineers, designers of vehicular electronics, and practitioners in security of hardware and cyber-physical systems.

Project HaHa: Hands-on security education

Researchers: Sandip Ray, Wanli Xing, Swarup Bhunia
Funding: State of Florida, $1.4M total

This collaborative project with Florida International University and University of South Florida focuses on engaging students in practical learning of computer hardware security using a hands-on approach. Graduate students perform a set of well-designed experiments on a custom-designed hardware platform, called HaHa, to understand innards of a computer system and ethically “hack” into it at different levels. The custom-designed hardware platform is called Hardware Hacking board (HaHa). It is an experimental development board for teaching and learning on diverse aspects of hardware security.

Collaborative Research: Innovating Quantum-Inspired Learning for Undergraduates in Research and Engineering (INQUIRE)

Researchers: Philip Feng, Jing Guo, Wanli Xing, Gloria Kim
Funding: NSF, $2M total

The INQUIRE project in collaboration with the University of Minnesota will address both software (theoretical foundation, algorithm, programming, and modeling) and hardware (quantum technology implementations from materials, devices, to circuits and practical systems) aspects of quantum information science and technology (QIST) learning. The multidisciplinary nature of quantum technologies poses challenges to providing a comprehensive education for undergraduates from different degree programs who may lack the technical background. This project aims to lower barriers to entry, to develop transferable skillsets for quantum computing and engineering, and to prepare students for entering this rapidly emerging field. INQUIRE will generate knowledge about conditions under which improved student learning of quantum science and engineering occurs and the effectiveness of the created hands-on tools and experiential approaches.

Collaborative Research: Peek Inside the Box: Gamified Learning of Computing Hardware Fundamentals

Researchers: Pasha Antonenko, Swarup Bhunia, Mary Jo Koroly
Funding: NSF, $400K total

Despite college students using technology every day—and many entering college with an understanding of programming—most lack basic knowledge of computing hardware fundamentals. But there is a solution to this problem: games that teach hardware fundamentals. The team plans to work with high school teachers to co-develop curriculum that uses a gamified approach to motivate and engage college undergraduate and high school students to stimulate interest in computer hardware. The investigators will design and test a new gamified curriculum at UF before introducing them to high school students and teachers at UF Center for Pre-collegiate Education and Training summer institutes.

REU Site: Secure, Accessible, and Sustainable Transportation

Researchers: Sandip Ray, Wanli Xing, Swarup Bhunia, Janise McNair
Funding: NSF, $500K total

Led by Dr. Sandip Ray, the REU Site on Secure, Accessible, and Sustainable Transportation involves students in meaningful ways in ongoing research projects and gives them the opportunity to thoroughly explore a research topic early on in their academic career.

One of the key problems in the automotive industry is that new and novel solutions are needed to address the security, accessibility, and sustainability challenges that are arising with new autonomous vehicle technology. However, it’s difficult to find a well-trained workforce that can develop these solutions. This project aims to bring in cohorts of promising students from across the United States to interest them in careers in these fields.

In addition to training in foundational research skills through hands-on experience, the SAST REU Site encourages growth beyond students’ technical skills. Professional engagement and development are emphasized, as well as technical communication and dissemination of research results through oral and written communications. Additionally, the program compensated students for their work through stipends, making this experience more accessible to all students.

ML4Math

Researchers: Wanli Xing, Rui Guo, Swarup Bhunia
Funding: ONR, $600K

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a crucial force with significant implications for the U.S. Navy. Machine learning (ML) stands as the very backbone of AI, infusing it with the remarkable ability to autonomously identify patterns and predict future outcomes. However, a workforce deficit in AI threatens to hinder its potential for the Navy. This project, ML4Math focusing on high school ML education, aligns with the Navy’s objective to harness AI’s capabilities, amplifying national security and technological supremacy. Nonetheless, integrating ML into high school education faces challenges such as disparities in Access and Diversity, the complex Nature of ML, and limited Information on Naval STEM Programs and Careers. This program has two main objectives: 1) to integrate ML into high school mathematics education in an engaging and seamless way. This approach will reach a much larger audience especially since high school math is a universal requirement. It holds particular promise for underserved students who often lack access to, or interest in, AI relevant after school programs, clubs, camps, or computing courses and 2) to expose students to NAVY STEM and potential AI education and career paths.