USC Dual-Use Hackathon Challenges Students to Engineer for the Unexpected

What if a neighborhood could keep its lights on after an earthquake cuts off the electricity grid? Could port operators anticipate the consequences of an emergency before making critical decisions? And could a simple modification to electrical equipment help prevent blackouts during extreme heat?

These were among the challenges tackled at the USC Dual-Use Hackathon, held October 16-18 as part of LA Tech Week, in partnership with venture capitalist firm a16z.

Presented by Innovate LA and USC Viterbi's Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE), the competition brought together 55 teams and close to 200 participants to develop technologies for civilian use with potential applications in emergencies, disasters or defense operations.

"Participants had 48 hours to develop ideas across four tracks: crisis mitigation, energy independence and grid hardening, resilient communications, and ports and logistics," said Alex Bartolomei, an environmental engineering senior and chair of Innovate LA, the CEE-based entrepreneurship program supporting student ventures across USC and the wider Los Angeles community.

Why dual-use?

"One of the challenges with emergency technologies is finding a reason for organizations to invest in them before a crisis happens," Bartolomei said. "We wanted students to consider whether the same technology could solve an everyday problem, creating a viable market while strengthening our ability to respond to emergencies."

Throughout the weekend, participants had access to 25 mentors from organizations including NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NVIDIA, Amazon and IBM, as well as USC faculty. The 15 judges brought expertise in engineering, entrepreneurship, defense and public-sector innovation, including SpaceX veteran Meharban Singh Sobti, venture investor Alex Rubalcava, defense technology entrepreneur Tariq Nazar, and Krystal Ayala of the Southern California Association of Governments, who has overseen $100 million in regional pilot projects.

The competition culminated in seven finalist pitches and a public demonstration session at USC's Ginsburg Hall. Alongside cash prizes, the three podium teams secured places in the Das Family Incubator, where they will compete for a share of $30,000 to develop their ideas.

"Some of the most significant opportunities for entrepreneurship arise from the challenges addressed by civil and environmental engineering," said Burcin Becerik-Gerber, professor of civil and environmental engineering and Fred Champion Chair in Civil and Environmental Engineering. "Our students understand not only the technical complexities, but also the people, institutions and practical constraints involved in developing effective solutions. Through Innovate LA, we can bring this expertise together with students from across disciplines, industry partners and investors to identify opportunities for new ventures and support their growth beyond the university."

First place: Electric Island - Keeping neighborhoods powered

First year civil engineering students Miles Silverman and Solal Chasques teamed up with electrical engineering senior Mohammad Moghaddam to address the risk of power outages caused by extreme weather and damage to the electricity grid.

"Power outages can put people's lives at risk," Silverman said. "For someone who depends on electrically powered medical equipment, losing power can be life-threatening."

The team's first-place project, Electric Island, proposes a neighborhood energy network capable of maintaining local electricity supplies during a wider grid failure.

The concept combines household batteries, rooftop solar and potentially electric vehicles with a system of switches capable of isolating sections of the electricity grid. Participating households could share locally generated and stored energy during normal operations, while maintaining electricity supplies independently if an earthquake or other disruption damages the wider grid.

"We started by trying to prevent blackouts," Chasques explained. "Then we realized the same system could also help us make better use of renewable energy."

Moghaddam, applying his knowledge of electrical engineering, proposed a modular design compatible with existing infrastructure, incorporating microcontrollers to automate grid isolation and direct electricity where needed.

"Other teams proposed ways to keep electricity flowing during grid failures, but we also designed safeguards against cyberattacks," Silverman said. "By limiting remote commands and including manual shutdown controls, we could make it harder for someone to interfere with the network."

The 48-hour deadline required the team to move quickly from researching the problem to developing a design and demonstration. Despite the competitive format, the team found opportunities to exchange feedback with other participants, including during the poster presentations before the final pitches.

"Everyone was there to support each other," Chasques recalled. "Even though we were competing, people were interested in each other's projects and willing to share feedback."

Electric Island received the $1,000 first prize.

Second place: Portle - Anticipating disruption at the docks

At a busy port, decisions about cargo handling, equipment or transportation can have consequences throughout the logistics network. Second-place winners Poluk Sharma, a computer science and business major, and Melissa Wang, a computational neuroscience major, developed Portle to help operators anticipate those consequences to guide decisions.

As roommates, the two are natural collaborators. "We already had a flow of things," Wang explained. "We knew how each other worked and what was best delegated to which person."

Their software demonstration allows a planner to describe a proposed action in ordinary language, then compare its likely effects with two alternatives. Using simulated port data, the tool highlights conflicting operational reports and maintains a record of decisions, potentially helping operators respond more effectively to disruptions.

"Infrastructure is very interconnected," Sharma explained. "If you make one change in one area, it can have a lot of downstream effects."

Neither student had specialized knowledge of maritime logistics. Instead, they researched the competition's challenge areas and identified an opportunity to apply their experience in software, AI and data analysis.

"We tried to see where we could best apply transferable skills," Sharma said, "and learn as much about the industry as quickly as possible."

Portle received $500, an unexpected result for the pair, who had entered primarily to learn.

Third place: Golden Fleece - Protecting the grid from extreme heat

Heatwaves place electrical transformers under considerable stress, increasing the risk of equipment failure and power interruptions. USC biomedical engineering student Sophia Benzari proposed Golden Fleece, a hardware solution using a passive thermal buffer to absorb excess heat before it damages electrical equipment.

Unlike cooling systems relying on fans or circulating water, her concept would operate without additional powered equipment and could potentially be fitted to existing transformers without major modifications.

Benzari's experience in electrical systems, thermodynamics and 3D modeling comes partly from her involvement with USC's Formula Electric Club. She developed Golden Fleece as an individual submission, racing to the deadline with just one minute to spare.

Her final presentation included a memorable demonstration: she turned off the lights to simulate a blackout, bringing the consequences of electrical failure directly into the room.

"Be bold," she advised future participants. "I've participated in many hackathons before, and I've learned to work with the pressure. You can let go of your perfectionism and experiment with your pitch. And sometimes, it works!"

From hackathon to incubator

The Innovate x LA: Das Family Incubator and Student Competition offers the winning teams an opportunity to develop their concepts into viable ventures, with mentorship from faculty, alumni and industry experts. Established in 2022 through the support of CEE alumni Santanu and Kelly Das, the program brings together students from across USC to develop entrepreneurial solutions to urban and environmental challenges. Its annual competition awards funding to the strongest ventures, with $30,000 available in the upcoming cycle.

For CEE alumnus Mitch Kirby (BS, MS '26), a member of the winning teams in the 2024 and 2025 Das Family Competitions and co-producer with Bartolomei of the Dual-Use Hackathon, the opportunity to participate and lead entrepreneurship initiatives has shaped his own trajectory as a startup founder.

"I've been on the other side of these competitions, and there's nothing quite like the energy of bringing an idea to life in such a short time," Kirby said. "Advancing to the Das Family Incubator gives students the chance to build on that momentum, work with potential users and industry experts, and understand what it takes to move from idea to implementation."

Bartolomei agrees. "Whether rapid-fire hackathons or startup incubators, the programs at Innovate x LA all aim to turn the problem-solving strengths of civil and environmental engineering into entrepreneurial opportunities. Los Angeles offers a testbed for innovation, with challenges relevant to cities around the world. We want students to have the experience, connections and resources to develop solutions here with the potential to scale far beyond LA."

Published on November 10th, 2026

Last updated on November 10th, 2026