Disrupting disaster response: Systems engineering students get top spot in Patriot Pitch

What began as a routine college course quickly turned into an innovation with real-world impact for a team of systems engineering students, winning first place in the George Mason Patriot Pitch Social Impact Track along with a People's Choice Award. The team also captured first place in the U.S. Military Academy System Engineering Design Competition.

"One minute we were playing video games in our dorm room. The next we were in the system engineering capstone class designing ways to deliver humanitarian aid to citizens in distress," said Tim Shipman, a senior system engineering major. "Systems engineering is mind-blowing."

The student team set out to address a growing global challenge. According to team lead Hocine Filali, the demand for humanitarian aid is increasing. "Over the last 10 years, an average of 380 natural disasters per year required humanitarian aid delivery," he said.

One major bottleneck in disaster response is transporting aid from cargo ships-often anchored up to five miles offshore-to temporary distribution warehouses on land. Traditionally, aid is transferred using helicopters, ferry boats, or trucks traveling across floating causeways.

To evaluate these options, the team developed a stochastic simulation model comparing three delivery methods for transporting 10,000 aid pallets over a 90-day period. "Ferry boats are the least expensive option, but they're also very slow," said team member Alan Garcia. "Floating causeways are costly and take too long to install. Helicopters can deliver aid quickly, but they cost about twice as much as ferries."

Beyond technical modeling, the students conducted interviews with a wide range of stakeholders, including representatives from nongovernmental organizations, aid workers, and military personnel involved in humanitarian missions.

"The ecosystem is incredibly complex," said team member Nesma Khalafalla. "Economics, regulations, and politics often create perverse incentives. One thing became clear very quickly: if aid could move from ship to shore as fast as helicopters but at a lower cost, it would fundamentally improve the system."

Exploring alternatives, the team examined the use of remotely piloted, heavy-lift electric drones, an emerging technology capable of matching helicopter speeds at significantly lower operating costs. However, the drones presented a critical limitation. "The problem is battery recharge time," explained team member Amr Hamza. "It slows the entire operation."

The breakthrough came when the team discovered a catenary power system-an overhead power system similar to those used by city trams. In this approach, drones draw continuous power from an overhead electric line through what's known as a pantograph, eliminating the need for battery recharging.

Designing that power infrastructure posed the next challenge. "We needed a power line that could stretch five miles from ship-to-shore," said Shipman. "Our solution was a series of floating utility poles equipped with propellers that allow them to motor into position and hold steady against ocean currents. Detailed simulation models showed the concept is feasible." The result was the Automated Floating Power Line System (AFPLS), a novel approach to ship-to-shore humanitarian aid delivery.

"The comprehensive nature of this design really showcases the power of system engineering," said Guiping Hu, chair of the Systems Engineering and Operations Research Department. "We are extremely proud of our students and their ability to tackle complex, real-world problems."

"I highly recommend this course to any undergraduates who really want to learn how to develop innovative solutions to the world's toughest problems," said Filali.