Scholars Build Cybersecurity Game for Science Center

NSF S-STEM interns pair artificial intelligence with hands-on coding to teach kids online safety

Key Highlights

• Sacred Heart University seniors Tasneem Kandawala and Mahdiya Vahora developed Operation Rover Rescue during a paid community internship at the Discovery Science Center & Planetarium in Bridgeport through SHU’s NSF S-STEM scholarship program
• Operation Rover Rescue teaches children ages seven and older about password security, phishing detection, encryption, hidden messages, and software patching through five interactive missions
• Kandawala and Vahora used artificial intelligence to assist with coding while guiding the game’s design, testing, and revisions through human feedback

Two Sacred Heart University seniors spent their community internship at the Sacred Heart University's Discovery Science Center & Planetarium building a game that teaches kids how to protect themselves online. They used artificial intelligence (AI) as a development partner rather than a replacement for their own problem-solving.

Tasneem Kandawala and her classmate, Mahdiya Vahora, completed the project through Sacred Heart's National Science Foundation Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (S-STEM) scholarship, which funds paid community internships for scholarship recipients. The resulting game, Operation Rover Rescue, is a web-browser experience built for kids ages seven and up. Players regain control of a Mars rover hijacked by a space hacker by completing five missions covering password strength, phishing detection, the Caesar cipher, steganography, and software patching.

“Cybersecurity touches nearly every part of technology, from networks and operating systems to software, data, and the people who use them,” Kandawala said. “What really drew me to this field is how cybersecurity threats can affect both individuals and organizations.”

Kandawala and Vahora began their internship assisting the science center’s IT needs before identifying an opportunity to leave a lasting mark on young visitors.

“We decided the most valuable thing we could offer young kids was an early introduction to basic cybersecurity concepts,” Kandawala said. “We believed it was crucial to introduce secure passwords first, so kids can see how something that seems so simple can have a big impact on computer systems.”

Development combined AI tools with what Tolga Kaya, director of engineering, called a "human-in-the-loop" process. The students sketched workflows on paper, tested each mission with their museum manager, and refined the game through repeated rounds of feedback before using AI to accelerate coding.

“They used AI to the fullest to develop their game and coding but were very conscious of human feedback,” Kaya said. “They were basically project managers at this young age where many AI agents were reporting to them. It's a perfect way to model the new generation of coding, where AI is a co-coder.”

Kandawala said the experience reshaped how she approached problem-solving. “Working on a real-world technology project taught me that AI can only be as helpful as the information you give it,” she said. “Relying on AI alone is not enough. You have to understand what you are working on and working with.”

Kaya said the internship mirrors the realities students will face after graduation. “Coding has been undervalued recently because AI can write very complex codes by itself now," he said. "However, human involvement and insights are critical for product development. They experienced something they would experience at a real software development company, without the stress of losing a job or disappointing a supervisor.”

Sacred Heart’s S-STEM program is supported by a $1.5 million NSF grant awarded to fund scholarships for academically talented, low-income students in engineering and computer science. Each selected scholar can receive up to $9,500 per year for four years, and recipients are encouraged to complete a paid community service internship, often as a STEM mentor at a Bridgeport nonprofit or in their hometown.