Congratulations to Berkeley CEE students Rishi Kumar Srinivasan (M.Eng ’25), Andrew Park (M.S. ’25), Atiila Kharobo (M.S. ’25, continuing Ph.D.), Jorge Duarte (M.S. ’25, continuing Ph.D.), and Jordan Kam (continuing B.S.), who received the Atech Award for Most Innovative Design for Air Mobility at the 2025 CITRIS Aviation Prize competition!
The team began developing their design in Fall 2024 and was selected to represent UC Berkeley in the multi-campus competition held in January. Since then, they have worked closely with academic and industry advisors to refine their concept: a high-fidelity trajectory evaluator and simulation-based network scheduler for eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) aircraft. Their tool uses NASA’s GUAM model to evaluate and plan future air mobility operations.
“Working with so many industry partners and their constant feedback shaped the development of our eVTOL network scheduler, simulation, and trajectory evaluator,” said Srinivasan. “We now have an implementation plan supported by complementary simulations that can be deployed to any geography worldwide.”
The students were guided by CEE Professor Raja Sengupta and Lecturer Vishwanath Bulusu, and received mentorship from experts at NASA Ames Research Center, MathWorks, Archer Aviation, Atech, and Supernal.
The Atech Award, co-presented to teams from UC Berkeley and UC Davis, recognized the most creative and sustainable concepts for connecting UC campuses to NASA facilities across California.
Now in its third year, the CITRIS Aviation Prize challenges students to develop forward-thinking solutions for sustainable air mobility, with a focus on innovation, environmental impact, and integration with existing transportation systems.
“Our participation reinforces Atech’s commitment to one of the most promising fields in global aviation and highlights our dedication to innovation, knowledge, and the next generation,” said Mauro do Santo Junior, Head of Innovation and Engineering at Atech. “And there’s more: five UC students will join Atech to contribute to real-world projects on our technology teams through the CITRIS Workforce Innovation Program.”