USF’s $2M AI Cyber Makerspace Sets a Bar for Miami

A $2M NIST grant will give USF students a safe place to attack and defend AI hardware. Miami's universities are building toward the same thing.

Students who want to learn how AI systems break need somewhere safe to break them. The University of South Florida just got $2 million to build that place.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology awarded the grant, USF announced. It funds an Artificial Intelligence and Cyber Makerspace inside the Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing. USF calls it the first of its kind at a Florida university.

A Lab Where Attacks Are Allowed

Most AI security work happens on screens. This space puts hardware on the bench.

The labs will cover networking, embedded systems and microcontroller design. They will also cover hardware and software reverse engineering and vulnerability analysis.

Richard Rauscher, assistant dean of computing, described the aim. The makerspace will “give our students, faculty and staff a way to safely bridge the physical and digital worlds using edge AI devices.”

That phrase matters. Edge AI is the kind that runs inside cameras, vehicles and factory equipment, far from a data center. When it fails, the failure is physical.

Marbin Pazos Revilla sketched the classes that could follow. Penetration testing, malware analysis, reverse engineering and capture-the-flag competitions all made his list.

Who Gets Through the Door

The space is not only for students. Regional businesses and public sector organizations can use it to test AI applications and probe their security risks.

USF also plans microcourses and credentials, so working employees can build skills without a full degree. Demonstrations of attacks and defenses will be part of the teaching.

That is a practical offer to a small company. It can bring a product into a controlled setting and learn how it fails before a customer does.

The project fits the priorities NIST has set for trustworthy AI and critical infrastructure security. U.S. Rep. Laurel Lee championed it through federal community project funding.

Sudeep Sarkar, the college’s launch dean, framed the stakes. “The development of trustworthy AI will require people who understand both what the technology can accomplish and how to make it secure.”

FIU, FAU and MDC Are Already on This

Tampa and Miami are chasing the same talent. Miami’s universities have been moving the same way.

FIU runs the Center for Integrated Security, Privacy, and Trustworthy AI, known as CIERTA. MAIN covered how FIU’s CIERTA is already watching the AI risk its own leaders had warned about. MAIN also reported on FIU studying AI swarm attacks, where many AI agents coordinate against a target.

Florida Atlantic University drew its own NIST money. MAIN reported that FAU won a NIST grant. It trains a quantum cybersecurity workforce across Palm Beach, Broward and the Treasure Coast.

Miami Dade College takes the hands-on route. Its AI Elite Talent Hub puts AI students on company projects for ten months before they graduate.

Each of these programs solves a piece of the pipeline. FIU produces research. FAU trains a specialized workforce. MDC gives students real work.

USF’s makerspace adds something different, a shared bench where students can attack and defend edge AI hardware.

Pazos Revilla said USF is known for a hands-on approach to teaching AI and cybersecurity. The makerspace gives that reputation a physical home.

More than 800 USF students a year are enrolled in undergraduate courses that could use the space.

A graduate who has broken a sensor and fixed it is worth more than one who read about it. Florida’s AI security talent will be built on benches like this one.

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