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The floor of EagleBank Arena buzzed with high-tech aerial excitement on August 15 as George Mason University hosted the culmination of the second annual Airborne Robotics Cup (ARC 2026). The STEM outreach competition ran an intense 12-hour tournament featuring dynamic, lighter-than-air autonomous blimp “soccer” matches.
ARC was founded and organized by Ningshi Yao, assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and director of the Control, Intelligent Autonomy, and Optimization (CIAO) Lab. It was co-organized by the Capital Youth Outreach Club (CYOC).
The initiative serves as a core component of Yao’s National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award. As part of the award’s integrated education plan, it translates university research in robotics, control theory, and autonomous systems into transformative hands-on learning for K-12 students, with vital venue, equipment, and organizational backing from the College of Engineering and Computing (CEC) and the Mason Autonomy and Robotics Center (MARC).
The tournament received enthusiastic support and on-site participation from CEC leadership and its academic departments. Ariela Sofer, divisional dean of the Volgenau School of Engineering, kicked off the morning session by encouraging students to pursue curiosity and explore the expansive possibilities within engineering. During the evening awards ceremony, Amarda Shehu, associate dean for research, celebrated the students’ accomplishments and underscored the transformative impact of early engagement with robotics and artificial intelligence, alongside Alex Sprintson, ECE chair, who recognized the exceptional ingenuity and technical rigor demonstrated by the competitors.
Adding to the strong departmental support, Pelin Kurtay, ECE associate chair, attended to engage with participants and cheer on the young roboticists. Leigh McCue, chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, joined the morning awards session to deliver encouraging remarks on multidisciplinary engineering and present awards to the winning teams across the morning’s two competition groups.
Building on last year's debut success, ARC expanded exponentially in 2026. The program received more than 180 applications, and through a highly competitive selection process, 16 talented finalist teams comprising more than 80 middle and high school students earned spots in the tournament.
Rather than a standalone one-day competition, ARC represents a comprehensive two-month summer engineering program. Over the past seven weeks, students dedicated their weekends to four intensive in-person training sessions and four hands-on practice sessions at MARC. Led by Yao, alongside ECE PhD student Ahnaf Asif Khan, graduate student Yojan Gautam, and former George Mason Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Program participants Adam Bhatti and Harry Yu, the mentorship team taught students foundational mechatronics skills from the ground up, including soldering, assembling basic blimp kits, embedded programming, and custom 3D printing.
Student leadership and authentic engineering problem-solving took center stage throughout ARC2026. Reflecting on the engineering hurdles of lighter-than-air robotics, Lucas Liu, a junior from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology and captain of Team 14, noted, "Working with blimps taught our team very quickly that every single gram matters. Through constant iteration, we redesigned parts and switched to lighter microcontrollers, bringing the total weight down to 70% of the original."
Aaron Liu, captain of Team 12 and representing his team from Luther Jackson Middle School, echoed the value of hands-on troubleshooting, "Building and flying a robot is a lot more complicated than watching one fly. Engineering problems don’t always happen when it's convenient, and solutions don't come linearly. You just have to keep going one step at a time," said Aaron.
Reflecting on the broader impact and purpose of the initiative, Yao emphasized the long-term growth of the participants. "ARC is far more than just a competition," said Yao. "It is a launchpad for lifelong skills, including problem solving, critical thinking, teamwork, leadership, and resilience. Today is a celebration of taking ideas from concept to reality, embracing setbacks, and learning through hands-on trial and error."
That transformative experience resonated strongly with families across the community. "Your continuous support, patience, guidance, and extra effort meant so much to them and to us as parents," shared Sisi Jou, parent of Team 15 competitor Skylon Jou. "Skylon already said he definitely wants to participate again next year and hopes to come back even stronger!"
Building on the tremendous energy and success of this second edition, the CIAO Lab and its partners are already preparing to expand ARC for summer 2027 by increasing team capacity, broadening community outreach, and continuing to cement George Mason as a premier hub for youth robotics innovation.