Integrating Industrial Control System (ICS/OT) Cybersecurity and Geospatial Reasoning into Power Systems Engineering Education: A Design-Based Framework for Scenario-Driven Learning

Abstract

The electric power engineer of the next decade will increasingly work with systems whose electrical, digital, operational, and geographic states are interdependent. Yet these dimensions are still commonly taught in separate curricular spaces: power-system analysis emphasizes electrical state, cybersecurity courses emphasize information and network security, and geographic information system (GIS) activities often remain disconnected from the electrical engineering decision process. This separation creates a pedagogical problem rather than simply a content gap: students may learn the components of a modern grid without learning how evidence from one representation constrains decisions in the others. This paper develops GeoCyberTwin-PS, a design-based framework for integrating power-system simulation, GIS/spatial analysis, and industrial control system/operational technology (ICS/OT) cybersecurity into scenario-driven power engineering education. The framework is derived from a structured integrative synthesis of recent engineering-education literature, OT-security guidance, cyber-informed engineering curriculum guidance, and technical work on geospatial-power-system data mapping. The synthesis identifies five recurring needs: authentic cross-layer problems, hands-on or simulation-mediated experience, explicit systems reasoning, evidence-based assessment, and safe separation of educational cyber exercises from operational environments. GeoCyberTwin-PS operationalizes these requirements through a four-layer architecture, a competency model, a reusable scenario grammar, a 12-week curriculum, and a transfer-oriented assessment protocol. The paper does not report fabricated classroom results; instead, it defines research propositions and an evaluation design specified in sufficient detail for future pre-registration for future empirical testing. The contribution is therefore not a claim that the proposed framework is already effective, but a testable educational architecture that makes the interaction among electrical state, spatial context, and OT cyber risk visible and assessable.