competitions

Veterans

Forged in passion, not just fire: This alum is on a hot streak

Shayla Brown — Mon, 27 Oct 2025 18:20:46 +0000

Forged in passion, not just fire: This alum is on a hot streak  Shayla Brown Mon, 10/27/2025 - 14:20

Keeping his nose to the grindstone is not just how Andrew Hutsell approaches his academic career in engineering—it's how he cut a small slice of fame.  

The George Mason Ģ��AV alumnus recently put his engineering skills to the test on national television, competing in an episode of the History Channel’s Forged in Fire, a competition show that challenges bladesmiths to create weapons under tight deadlines.  

Hutsell (second from right) and the Forged in Fire judges. Photo provided.

Hutsell, BS Mechanical Engineering ’23, appeared on the episode “Junkyard Meltdown” on September 17 (S10E27).  

 Hutsell’s journey began when one of the show’s judges posted a casting call on Instagram.  

“I was still a student at the time, so they asked what I do at George Mason, what I do in my free time, and to provide examples of the knives I’ve made,” said Hutsell, who also was president of George Mason’s club baseball. 

Hutsell has been a fan of the show since 2016 and started bladesmithing in 2019.  

“Ever since I started making knives, I have only had one goal with each knife I make: learn at least one new skill or method [for the trade]. With this mindset, it is easy to see how my skills have improved over time,” said Hutsell. 

After multiple rounds of interviews, he got the call to appear during a midterm exam.  

Filming took place in March and April 2023. Hutsell described the show’s format as similar to Chopped, but instead of cooking, contestants forge knives through three rounds of competition.  

One of Andrew Hutsell's knives. Photo provided.

For the last round, judges pick a historical weapon, such as a broad sword or katana, and then contestants go back to their hometown to forge it with their own equipment.   

"I traveled back home to Newport News. When I came back, they tested it to determine the winner,” said Hutsell.  

“They tested the knives by chopping through bone for strength, then slicing sugar cane to see how well the edge held up. It was surreal to compete on a show I’d watched for years,” said Hutsell, who came in second place.  

Hutsell is currently a graduate student at Virginia Commonwealth Ģ��AV working on similar topics such as fluids research.  

“The research that I’m doing is for thermal hydraulics—the cooling system—of molten salt [nuclear] reactors, researching the gas sparring of fission products of molten salts for molten salt reactors,” said Hutsell.  

Hutsell was influenced by Jeffrey Moran, an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, who Hutsell describes as a “a big influence on my work with heat and mass transfer,” as well as Juan Cebral, an associate professor in the Department of Bioengineering.  

“It is always very rewarding when a student demonstrates this passion for learning and dedicates substantial time and effort to master the material to reach high levels of achievement,” said Cebral. “Andrew was one of those students who is dedicated to solving complex problems. His perseverance and motivation will certainly help him make important contributions in his field.”  

Connect with the Alumni Association

In This Story

Juan Cebral

Jeffrey Moran

Ģ��AVics

Alumni

mechanical engineering

Bioengineering

Department of Cyber Security Engineering

A one-woman team puts many eyes in the skies

Nathan Kahl — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 19:37:27 +0000

A one-woman team puts many eyes in the skies Nathan Kahl Wed, 10/01/2025 - 15:37

Fatima Majid, a George Mason Ģ��AV senior majoring in cyber security engineering, was not just the only one-person team in the top 10 award winners at a recent National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) cyber competition, she was the only student team. Majid placed ninth out of 51 teams, most of them comprising industry experts.

“I went in, and they were all professional teams, like from Lockheed Martin. I thought, ‘I want to go home,’” said Majid with a laugh, describing her initial cold feet. “But I told myself I could do it. It helped that it was hosted at George Mason, and I had professors there giving me support.”

Her project focused on how the Department of Defense (DoD) can protect critical U.S. infrastructure against low-cost drone attacks at scale, informed by Ukraine’s “Operation Spiderweb,” which used 117 drones to attack Russian air bases in June 2025.

Majid spent the summer in Richmond during a public policy internship. Photo provided

Majid’s lightbulb moment came with a flash as bright as a Virginia speed camera catching a lead-footed driver. Considering the significant network of traffic cameras in the commonwealth, she conceived SkyEyes. This applies an artificial intelligence (AI) model to the live feed of the Virginia 511 camera network, which provides real-time traffic information to citizens and transportation officials. SkyEyes demonstrated how a low-cost, AI-enabled surveillance layer could differentiate threats from non-threats, employing geofencing logic to define safe versus threat zones around sensitive sites.

“I understand how drones work because of what I’ve done at George Mason’s MIX lab—and since I know how to build it, I also know how to jam it. I trained the AI model on a data set provided from a contest sponsor, and that data set had drone imaging and drone prototyping,” she said. “The camera feeds can find objects flying, but what if it’s an Amazon drone, for example? Then I added geofencing and threat analysis to observe the behavior of the drone—if it's a drone at 2 a.m., for example, maybe that's sketchy. So, the model gets smarter.”

Majid said that to access the cameras, all she had to do was make a phone call to the right person and explain her project. She cited time spent this summer at the Virginia Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine in the Undergraduate Policy Program (VASEM UPP) in Richmond as giving her confidence and exposure to how government works.

K. L. Akerlof, an associate professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy at George Mason, said, “The VASEM UPP is a unique opportunity for undergraduates to learn about opportunities in science policy at the state level. The immersive experience of spending a week in Richmond visiting the General Assembly and state agencies, while getting a crash course in how research evidence relates to public policy, can open new doors and career pathways.”

Majid said the strong showing gave her tremendous exposure to influential professional contacts. She fielded several questions about her simulation and future professional plans from a man she only later realized was Retired Brigadier General and NDIA Executive Vice President Guy Walsh.

“Because he showed interest, after he walked away, a crowd of people gathered around to ask me questions. It was very validating.”

She also had a long conversation about her project with Harley Stout, acting chief digital and AI officer at the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Majid is still pleasantly shocked by her top-10 finish. She is working with Mohamed Gebril, an associate professor in Cyber Security Engineering, on expanding the research. She is confident that such a cost-efficient solution for critical infrastructure protection against drone attacks will attract more funding opportunities.

She credited the supportive culture at Mason—and her family—for keeping her grounded and encouraging her throughout, saying their support made the accomplishment even more meaningful.

In This Story

Mohamed Gebril

Ģ��AVics

Cyber Security Research

Drones

Artificial Intelligence

The MIX

Defense and Security

CEC students

George Mason Ģ��AV students ran with the big dogs at defense hackathon

Jennifer Pocock — Thu, 11 Sep 2025 16:22:00 +0000

George Mason Ģ��AV students ran with the big dogs at defense hackathon Jennifer Pocock Thu, 09/11/2025 - 12:22

When the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) convened the first round of its high-tech competition at Fuse at Mason Square, they should have known it would end with a strong George Mason showing.

From left to right: Ricardo Vega, Chris Martin, Noah Kabiri, Van Tran, Phuoc Nguyen, and NDIA judge. Photo provided.

The NDIA Hackathon is an internationally renowned competition that welcomes teams from every sector—not just colleges. That means that some of the country’s greatest minds in professional national defense industries and the military line up against ambitious young students to see who has the best vision for securing our future.

In this case, that project came from a team of George Mason students led by Noah Kabiri, a newly minted sophomore in computer science, with an idea for context-based visualization. How the team came together was kismet.

Kabiri met Chris Martin, a senior in cybersecurity engineering, when looking for someone to join him. The two happened to be working at the same table as Ricardo Vega, a George Mason PhD student in electrical engineering, who had teamed up with Major Phuoc Nguyen from the Department of Defense (DoD) and Van Tran, CEO of Advanced Cambridge Technologies.

“Halfway through the competition we realized that we were all doing similar things and using similar platforms. We decided that we would be a more competitive team if we combined,” Karbiri said. “We got together and swept the competition.”

Each team in the hackathon had to come up with a product that would be marketable and meet some need for the DoD. They then had to market, present, and sell the product to a panel of non-technical judges from the industry and military. Kabiri’s team, SpecDOps Force, addressed a need in the ISR (intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance) category.

Their product was an SaaS (software as a service) that takes footage and video feeds from anywhere—drone surveillance video, infrared, geospatial satellite images, security cameras, body cams, and more—and analyzes the environment.

“We had machine learning detection models pick up objects like vehicles, weapons, and faces,” Kabiri said. Their software is important because it can determine threat levels based on environmental contexts. “For example, if you were deploying it on a mission in the desert, detecting firearms would be normal because everyone has firearms in war. If you put it in an airport, however, seeing firearms would be bad.”

Out of the 683 registered participants, the George Mason-led team took third place. They were separated from second place by hundredths of a point—it was extremely close. This is gratifying, considering that first place went to a well-established corporate team from a major tech company and second place went to a mix of government contractors. Compared to that, an ad-hoc team headed by George Mason undergrads is nothing short of incredible.

Kabiri hopes that there is a future for their innovation. While the competition only looks for proof of concept over the 72-hour project period, he thinks that he can take it forward. “I don’t see any other products out there that are context-driven. It’s also really adaptable,” he said. “Right now I’m researching how to add walking gaits onto it, where you can determine who someone is based on how they move.”

Though Kabiri is still deciding exactly where to specialize his studies or whether he should pick up a second major in math (it’s only the beginning of his second year, after all), he seems to be headed in a productive direction.

Ģ��AVics

Hackathon

U.S. Department of Defense

Military

Artificial Intelligence

invention

CEC students

Five George Mason cybersecurity students hack their way to Boston

Jennifer Pocock — Thu, 31 Jul 2025 14:38:39 +0000

Five George Mason cybersecurity students hack their way to Boston Jennifer Pocock Thu, 07/31/2025 - 10:38

The Country to Country (C2C) Capture the Flag (CTF) contest is an international competition that issues challenges to code, decrypt, search, hack, and reverse engineer their way through as many challenges as possible.

(C2C) CTF contestants gathered from across the globe to solve pernicious problems. Photo provided.

About 500 students from nearly 100 countries, ranging from inexperienced freshmen to PhD candidates in cybersecurity, competed individually in the qualifying rounds. Only the top 100—including five from George Mason Ģ��AV—were accepted into the finals. Four went to Boston for the competition, held this year at Northeastern Ģ��AV.

The College of Engineering and Computing students Gael Abboud, Sanjay Kumar Samala, Nhat Le, and Jonah Wilbur represented the green and gold, but were all placed on different teams. (Amaan Abbas also made the cut but could not attend.)

“The organizers were amazing,” said Abboud, who is a graduate student pursuing her master's in systems engineering through the Accelerated Master's Program. She explained that they try to make it a truly international and cooperative competition. Ideally, each team would contain people from different countries.

“Somehow, I ended up on a team with two other people from Virginia,” Abboud said with a laugh. “They came from Virginia Commonwealth Ģ��AV and William and Mary.”

Her Virginia-strong team did the state proud. Over a day of competition, they sometimes worked together and sometimes apart to solve as many problems as possible from across various skill sets.

It’s not just coding. Abboud described one of the challenges. “It was open-source intelligence, which is really just fancy Googling. They set a scene where we had to find a very certain scooter repair shop in Boston. They told us that it was near a metro stop and in sight of an Indian restaurant. Seems like it should be easy, but it wasn’t!”

They also had to track down things like the price of the building and the vice president of the company that sold it more than 60 years ago. “No one solved that one.”

In the end, Abboud’s team landed in fourth place: an admirable showing when the contestants represent some of the best from around the globe. “I was so disappointed,” she sighed. “There was less than one point separating us from the third-place team.”

Abboud said that she loved every minute and would tell anyone curious about hack-a-thons to try qualifying for this Capture the Flag event.

“It may seem intimidating, but there are challenges for any skill level,” she said. “You don’t know what it will be like if you don’t try. Don’t stress if you don’t know something. People are happy to walk you through how they solved it.”

Learn more about the College of Engineering and Computing

Ģ��AVics

lighter-than-air robotics

Drones and rovers save the day at Raytheon Autonomous Vehicle Competition 2025

Jennifer Pocock — Thu, 01 May 2025 18:18:35 +0000

Drones and rovers save the day at Raytheon Autonomous Vehicle Competition 2025 Jennifer Pocock Thu, 05/01/2025 - 14:18

As the saying goes, if you love something, set it free. If it maps an area, finds a target, delivers a package, and comes back, the trophy is yours forever. Or something like that.

The Raytheon Autonomous Vehicle Competition Team poses with their ground and air robots. Photo by Jenn Pocock

The black quadcopter drone surveyed the field in two quick swoops against a cloud-heavy sky. In just a matter of seconds, it picked up a signal and flew to the sidelines where it landed itself. A small ground rover took off, bumping over the grass to drop a first aid kit a few feet from the goal. Team members on the side of the field exploded with cheers and high fives.

The entire search and rescue took less than two minutes.

Senior electrical engineering student Qeon Edwards jumped with joy at just how well and how quickly their vehicles performed. “What, you doubted us?” he laughed, obviously relieved.

It was late in April when five teams gathered at the Xelevate drone ecosystem field in Leesburg, Virginia, to test their autonomous programming mettle via ground and air vehicles. This was George Mason Ģ��AV’s second year in the competition, which they won last year. The team consisted of 16 students ranging from sophomores to PhDs in computer science, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering. As the reigning champs, they had a lot to prove.

A quadcopter takes off from the starting line to search for its target, as the rover and judges stand by. Photo by Jenn Pocock

The challenge rules change every year, so the team can’t just copy their predecessors’ codes. “Last year was basically a game of tag,” said Xuesu Xiao, assistant professor of computer science and the team’s faculty lead. They had to fly a drone around to squirt water on their opponents’ ground vehicles while avoiding their own.

This year, instead of trying to shoot others down, they had to perform a rescue mission: Find a randomly assigned “survivor” in a field of battle and send first aid. The faster the find and the closer the kit, the higher the score.

“Our strategy was for a drone to scout the area first, find the target, and then drive another ground vehicle robot to deliver the first-aid kit,” said Xiao.

The team programmed six flying drones and a ground robot that communicated with one another—and nothing else. That means that the programmers had no immediate control over the vehicles; they set their autonomous creations free and hoped that they did a good job coding them.

Judges measure the distance from the target to the rover-delivered first aid kit. Photo by Jenn Pocock

Overall, their robots performed exceptionally, managing to cut their delivery time and distance to less than a minute and 57 inches, respectively. They were just nudged out, however, by first-place Ģ��AV of Southern Florida and second-place Virginia Tech.

“It was definitely very tight between the top three!” said Cameron Nowzari, associate professor in electrical and computer engineering. “There was only a two-point difference between first and second, and one point between second and third.”

Still, the team wasn’t disappointed with how they performed. Their robots were a labor of love, and they met the challenge in a big way.

In This Story

Xuesu Xiao

Cameron Nowzari

Sea life defended the republic

Jennifer Pocock — Tue, 29 Apr 2025 15:34:12 +0000

Sea life defended the republic Jennifer Pocock Tue, 04/29/2025 - 11:34

The bioinspired blimps performed swimmingly.

Blimp Squad members Elijah Pointer and Kareem Zaharan (seniors in mechanical engineering) reach for a balloon captured in Narly's net as Faculty Adviser Daigo Shishika looks on. Photo by Jenn Pocock

Narly glided toward the ceiling of George Mason Ģ��AV's Life Science and Engineering Building aviary like a shiny beluga whale with undulating manta-ray wings and a rudder tail. Thomas Girois, a senior in mechanical engineering and Narly’s team lead, flipped on the blimp’s autonomous goal-seeking program to show off its ability to target airborne objects. He hopes it will head toward the balloon that he wants to capture. But it made an unexpected turn and instead nosed the high bay windows, where it wouldn’t move despite its programmed back-up function.

After a moment of confusion, Girois laughed. “It’s outsmarted us again!”

Narly’s microcontroller and camera was coded to recognize and hunt down green and purple airborne objects—which is exactly what it did when it registered the glowing green Exit sign on the ceiling outside the window. Still, the test boded well for the upcoming competition.

Narly was one of three sea life–inspired Lighter Than Air (LTA) vehicles to compete on George Mason’s Blimp Squad in the Defend the Republic (DTR) contest from April 21 – 25, 2025.

The Blimp Squad lines up with their devices, ready to go on the offense. Photo by Jenn Pocock

Flappy, another manta ray blimp, has a larger rudder tail that allows it to make pinpoint midair turns, and Knifey, inspired by the knifefish, has a long, undulating frill along its belly—and a fierce expression. These designs differ from their competitors’, which rely on propellers for propulsion and steering.

“Using propellers is easier,” said Daigo Shishika, assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and one of the Blimp Squad’s faculty advisers. “But the big surface areas of our flapping wings are more efficient. Propeller-driven blimps need to carry more batteries, which are heavy and drain fast.”

Shishika noted that contestants lose points if they hurt another team’s blimp, which is always a risk with propellers.

Alexia De Costa (sophomore, computer science) follows under the fearsome Knifey, whose underbelly frill was inspired by the knifefish. Photo by Jenn Pocock

“We’re hoping to get more agility and a safer blimp,” he said.

Ningshi Yao, an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the squad’s other faculty adviser, also pointed out the blimps’ winning personalities. “Our flappies are pretty attractive robots,” she said. “Human-robot interaction is important. You want humans to like being around it!”

One DTR spectator, upon seeing Flappy fly for the first time, confirmed this theory. “It’s so cute!” she gasped. “I would die for Flappy.”

After hundreds of hours of testing, Narly, Flappy, and Knifey joined their two defense blimps—a zippy acrobatic wonder called Space Fish, and a high-scoring high-flier called Backbone Junior—to play a midair game of capturing balloons and releasing them through hoops to score goals.

Knifey's fierce expression intimidates the competition. Photo by:Jenn Pocock.

The team took third place out of six and scored the second-most points of all the teams.

“One highlight for me personally was that the flapping wing blimp achieved fully autonomous scoring for the first time since its first debut in the spring of 2023,” said Shishika. “It started as an exploratory agent that was primarily for research, but after two years and four competitions, Flappy finally contributed to the team by scoring 70 points.”

Narly also scored its first autonomous points.

While the team may not have taken first place, their sea-inspired research won the week.

Check out these shorts on our Youtube channel to see the vehicles and their designers in action.

In This Story

Daigo Shishika

Ningshi Yao

Electrical and Computer Engineering at George Mason

Ģ��AVics

robotics and autonomous systems

Electrical and Computer Engineering

mechanical engineering

Applied computer science

Mason ASCE teams hosted, competed in 2023

Teresa Donnellan — Mon, 08 Jan 2024 17:00:16 +0000

Mason ASCE teams hosted, competed in 2023 Teresa Donnellan Mon, 01/08/2024 - 12:00

In This Story

Doaa Bondok

Every year, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) allows its college chapters to participate in competitions that showcase the engineering knowledge and finesse of civil engineering students across the country.

Two of George Mason Ģ��AV's ASCE teams—Team Surveying and Team Sustainable Solutions—participated and won in the annual competition, which was held in early spring of 2023. Led by Doaa Bondok, assistant professor of structural engineering and Mason ASCE faculty advisor, the Mason teams competed in challenges like the Steel Bridge Competition, Surveying Competition, and Sustainable Solutions.

“These competitions present fun challenges where students extend their engineering knowledge, think through concepts, create innovative solutions, and consider sustainability practices in their final designs,” said Bondok.

Mason's student team competes in the Steel Bridge Competition at the annual ASCE Virginias' Conference, hosted by the student chapter of Mason’s American Society of Civil Engineers. Photo by Bethany Camp/Office of Ģ��AV Branding

Several Mason civil engineering students also won ASCE National Capital Section scholarships: Amber Brown, previous ASCE student vice president, received $2,500; Phillip Hunt, current ASCE student vice president, received $1500; and Kyler Resnick, ASCE recruiting and membership officer and the captain of the Steel Bridge Competition, received $1,500.

“My role as faculty advisor is to support the teams to achieve their goals,” said Bondok. “Personally, I see the most significant aspect of my role is to encourage and motivate them to overcome challenges along the way, help them grow professionally, uplift their spirit, and just being there for them.”

According to Bondok, being an ASCE student member is a rewarding experience that offers the chance to participate in and work on projects that may not be taught within a classroom and work closely with professional mentors in the industry.

Nicholo Gadiana, a Mason ASCE alum, was the project lead of the Sustainable Solutions Competition in 2022.

“One thing I would advise to anyone interested is don't be afraid to let your ideas be heard,” said Gadiana, who underscored the value of being a member of Mason's ASCE chapter. “Students should start having the mentality of networking and interacting with students, professors, and industry professionals when joining ASCE. After graduation, this attribute significantly improved how I approach other professionals in the industry.”

“Students have the ability to significantly improve their critical thinking abilities, gain management skills, and have a strong role on their resume that helps them be well-rounded and competitive as job candidates,” said Bondok.

The Mason ASCE chapter also received an honorable mention for their outstanding activities in 2022.

Ģ��AVics

Civil Engineering

student organizations

George Mason Ģ��AV wins Defend the Republic

Rena Malai — Mon, 22 May 2023 19:07:41 +0000

George Mason Ģ��AV wins Defend the Republic Rena Malai Mon, 05/22/2023 - 15:07

In This Story

Cameron Nowzari

Ningshi Yao

Daigo Shishika

Patriot Pilots pose with their Lighter Than Air (LTA) creations. Photo by Ron Aira/Office of Ģ��AV Branding

Twice a year, university teams compete in the Lighter Than Air (LTA) Defend the Republic competition. In April, George Mason Ģ��AV hosted the competition in EagleBank Arena and won. The winning Mason team, Patriot Pilots, led by principal investigators Cameron Nowzari, Ningshi Yao, and Daigo Shishika, all from the College of Engineering and Computing, competed against six universities and about 50 LTA robotic agents, aka blimps.

“Even after three years, I’m still in awe of what happens at this competition,” said Nowzari, who has led the competition for the past three years, will be moving on from the annual competition and leaving things in the hands of Yao and Shishika. “My hope is that this competition will continue, and more schools will get involved.”

The competition is a mix of technology and creativity, and something students seem to have a lot of fun with, according to Yao.

“The strength of our winning team was in the ability to think creatively through building and design,” said Yao.

Without the severity that can sometimes accompany other types of flying agents, blimps are a lighter, gentler kind of airborne machine that appeals to many people.

“Their soft body and low operational speed make them more tangible and accessible than drones or planes,” said Shishika. “At the same time, they bring unique and exciting research challenges that our students with diverse background tackle together.”

The team will schedule a kickoff meeting during the summer, to plan for the next competition in November. The team welcomes students from all majors.

“We’re always actively recruiting for the team,” Nowzari said. “All that you need to bring is your passion and creativity.”

For information on how to join, email dshishik@gmu.edu or nyao4@gmu.edu. People can also visit blimp-robotics.org to learn how to build their own LTA blimp and encourage younger students to do the same.

Ģ��AVics

EagleBank Arena