Project Bayfield

 

Let us know your interest in Project Bayfield by nominating your institution using this FORM to begin equipping your students with skills, credentials, and confidence to lead.

 

Project Bayfield, powered by Microsoft, enables universities to establish student-driven innovation hubs focused on Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Through this initiative, students gain hands-on experience with Microsoft technologies, earn industry-recognized certifications, and contribute to enhancing their institution’s operations and digital resilience.

By joining Project Bayfield, universities empower students to become active changemakers within their campus community—leading innovation, strengthening institutional capabilities, and preparing for high-demand technology careers.

Institutions can select one or both specialized tracks:

This track empowers students to become cybersecurity practitioners by operating a live Security Operations Center on campus. They gain hands-on experience with Microsoft’s enterprise-grade security tools while helping protect institutional systems and data.

Hands-On Technology Experience

• Microsoft Defender, Microsoft Sentinel, Copilot for Security, Microsoft Purview, Microsoft Entra, Microsoft Intune.

Sample Learning Modules

• Introduction to Security Operation Centers (SOC), Overview of SOC Tools & Technologies, SOC Scenarios & Practical Application of AI Security Tools, Best Practices for a Career in Cybersecurity.

Ideas for Student-Led Projects

Once your students complete the courses, they would be able to work alongside your operation teams and on impactful cybersecurity projects, such as:

• Detecting and blocking phishing attempts across campus platforms 
• Monitoring network activity for anomalies in student housing 
• Building dashboards to track data access and flag suspicious behavior 
• Creating tools for instant reporting of security concerns 
• Collaborating with university IT teams to simulate incident response and strengthen digital resilience

This track enables students to lead campus transformation through AI. They design intelligent agents, automate workflows, and build data-driven solutions that improve campus operations and student experiences.

Hands-On Technology Experience

• Copilot Studio Lite, Copilot Chat, Power Platform, Visual Studio, GitHub, Azure AI Foundry, Microsoft Fabric.

Sample Learning Modules

• AI Fluency, Prompt Engineering, Introduction to AI Agent Builder, Copilot Studio Fundamentals, Foundations of Automated Workflows, Azure AI Foundry.

Ideas for Student-Led Projects

Once your students complete the courses, they would be able to work alongside your operation teams on impactful campus operations projects, such as:

• Developing AI assistants for campus services and navigation 
• Optimizing scheduling for classes, labs, and rooms using AI 
• Analyzing resource usage to support sustainability initiatives 
• Automating event promotion and communication across digital platforms 
• Partnering with faculty and administrators to deploy AI solutions that streamline operations

• Establish student-led hubs focused on AI or Cybersecurity and more.
• Access ready-to-use Microsoft learning paths and lab environments.
• Strengthen your workforce-ready pipeline with certifications and micro-credentials.
• Build institutional capacity through hands-on student participation.
• Effectively improve campus operations by capturing students’ enthusiasm and creativity in a cost-effective way.

Express your institution’s interest in Project Bayfield by completing this FORM to empower your students with the skills, credentials, and confidence to lead innovation on campus.

A Microsoft Account Executive will contact you to confirm eligibility and next steps.