A student team comprised of undergraduate and graduate computer science, information systems, computer engineering, and even a nutrition major joined forces to form “Team LayerZero” to compete in this year’s Department of Energy’s CyberForce® Competition. Mentored by UNLV volunteer coach Anthony Lopez, the team succeeded in placing 24th out of a field of 100 teams.

Each participating student, who are members of UNLV’s Cyber Clinic or Layer Zero student organizations, were given specific roles for the competition ranging from human-machine interface, to web server, anomaly support, and more. Participants included:

• Thien Nguyen, team captain
• Faris Atout
• Stephanie Lugo
• Kaylee Melendez
• Santiago Montenegro
• Jesus Oseguera

While the competition took place in Chicago, Il in November, the work actually started weeks ahead of time. DOE works with its national laboratories to develop unique scenarios that include realistic components including virtual cyber-physical infrastructures, life-like anomalies and contrainsts, and actual end users of the systems. The scenarios are focused on the energy sector and are designed to help students develop skills to protect critical infrastructure.

One of the most unique aspects of the CyberForce Competition is the need for participants to balance security with usability. CyberForce participants are not just solving security issues but have the added layer of interacting with users and working through real-world issues and requests made by the users, on top of actively defending the network.

UNLV’s “LayerZero” team joined fellow Consortium on National Critical Infrastructure Security (CONCISE) members at the competition, including those from University of Texas, San Antonio (UTSA) and North Carolina A&T (NCAT), whose team, the “The Roadrunners,” came in second place.

UNLV’s team is taking the lessons learned through this competition and looks forward to competing again in 2026.