2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Hands-On Post-Quantum Cryptography Education: Laboratory Modules for Teaching NIST-Standardized Quantum-Resistant Algorithms

Presented at CIT Technical Session 5: Curriculum and Program Development.

Right now, RSA and elliptic curve cryptography protect most of our online transactions. Quantum computers will break both. It's not a question of if, it's when. NIST released new quantum-resistant algorithms in 2024, but most cybersecurity programs aren't teaching students about these changes. Our graduates are heading into careers where they'll need to understand and implement post-quantum cryptography, yet we're not giving them the tools to do it.
I'm proposing five hands-on lab modules that teach post-quantum cryptography by having students actually use it. Rather than adding more lecture content to already-packed courses, these labs let students work with the actual algorithms NIST has standardized, CRYSTALS-Kyber and CRYSTALS-Dilithium. Students will explore the practical differences between classical and post-quantum systems, including hybrid approaches for real-world migration. The labs use open-source tools and don't require students to understand quantum physics first.
Student learning will be assessed through a combination of knowledge evaluations, practical implementation work, and demonstrated understanding of migration challenges. The modular design allows instructors to integrate these labs into existing security courses without curriculum overhauls.
Cybersecurity education needs to catch up with where the field is heading. These labs would give instructors a practical way to prepare students for a post-quantum world, which may occur sooner than anticipated.

Authors

Jonah Whitford East Carolina University [biography]

Jonah Whitford is a cybersecurity student at East Carolina University who cares about emerging technologies and making the internet safer. My goal is to help connect what researchers are discovering about new threats, like quantum computing breaking our current encryption, with what we're actually teaching students in the classroom. I want to work on building a curriculum that gives cybersecurity students the practical skills they'll need when they graduate, not just what worked five years ago.
Mr. Colby Lee Sawyer MSSE East Carolina University [biography]

I’m a Teaching Instructor in Technology Systems at East Carolina University, where I teach courses in cybersecurity, IoT, and AI systems. My research focuses on building intelligent, data-driven architectures that connect edge sensing with cloud-based reasoning to improve automation, awareness, and decision-making.
Dr. Ciprian Popoviciu http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2084-2240 East Carolina University [biography]

Dr. Ciprian Popoviciu has over 26 years of experience working in various technical and leadership roles in the IT industry. He founded and led Nephos6, the first company to enable OpenStack for IPv6 and deploy it in production. Prior to starting Nephos6 he worked for CIsco and he is an industry recognized IPv6 subject matter expert. Currently he is an assistant professor in the college of engineering at East Carolina University and his research is focused on IoT and cybersecurity.

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