A.E.R.I.S. was announced as a finalist in the Gateways to Blue Skies Competition this March. NASA.GOV / COURTESY
Emmanouel Sofillas, Asst. Sports Editor
A team of six Manhattan University (MU) mechanical engineering students have been named finalists in NASA’s 2026 Gateways to Blue Skies Competition, earning a spot among the top contenders in one of aerospace’s most prestigious student competitions.
The team’s project, Aircraft Enhanced Resilience and Intelligence Systems (A.E.R.I.S.), aims to solve a costly and persistent problem in commercial aviation: keeping aging aircraft operational with fewer delays and less wasted time on the ground. Manahill Gohar, a senior mechanical engineering student and team member, spoke to The Quadrangle about the team’s objective in the competition.
“Basically, in the event that a plane needs to stay on the ground, it bleeds the airlines a lot of money,” Gohar said. “As the planes get older, it’s much harder to find parts for them.”
The team’s solution centers on retrofitting legacy aircrafts, older planes which are used primarily for cargo. With sensors capable of detecting mechanical issues earlier, a problem is identified and the system runs through a solution matrix to determine the fastest fix; whether that means 3D printing a replacement part on-site, or having one pre-ordered and waiting at the station by the time the aircraft arrives.
What sets A.E.R.I.S. apart, team members said, is its ability to bridge the communication gap between older aircraft systems and modern predictive analytics platforms. Legacy aircraft generate significant sensor data, but that data is formatted differently than what today’s maintenance software is designed to read. Angie Centeno, a junior mechanical engineering student and team member, expanded on this.
“Our system will bridge that gap between the legacy aircrafts and the modern predictive analytics,” Centeno said. “We’re just going to make the best out of the information that we already have from the legacy aircrafts.”
Centeno also emphasized that the technology is designed to support, not replace, the human technicians who rely on it.
“It’s made to help them out,” Centeno said. “It just makes the entire airplane system work faster.”
Labiba Saddika, a junior mechanical engineering student, continued to note that the most challenging part of the project was identifying the right problem to solve in the first place.
“It’s just a broad topic, but we did a lot of outreach,” Saddika said. “Manahill reached out to a lot of local hangars in Long Island, and we contacted our aerospace mentors.”
Gohar noted that another distinguishing factor in the competition was the team’s hands-on research approach. Rather than building the project from the outside in, team members contacted working technicians directly to understand the real problems they face on the job.
“The judges seemed to really like the fact that we actually spoke with technicians to hear what the issues were,” Gohar said. “That made us stand out.”
Amelia Mantuano, a junior mechanical engineering student, said the cross-disciplinary nature of the project also reflected how problems are actually solved in industry.
“You can imagine, for every company, they have a different way of processing data,” Mantuano said. “It’d be like switching from Microsoft to Apple to Linux for different software, and our system brings all of that together.”
The team began work in the fall semester, spending months on outreach to local hangars on Long Island, consulting aerospace mentors and working with industry professionals. Later, submitting their initial paper by the Feb. 14 deadline. Finally, receiving word that they had advanced on March 14.
From here, the team must submit a finalized 10-page research paper and a poster by May 3, followed by their slideshow presentation on May 15. On May 17, the team will travel to NASA Langley Research Center in Virginia to present their work.
Dr. Bahareh Estejab, Ph.D., who has advised student teams in this competition for four years, said this group stood out for how quickly they developed as researchers.
“At the beginning, I saw the way that they started learning how to do research, how to go over different sources, find the data, the information that they need,” Estejab said. “Until now that we are working on our final paper, I don’t have to say anything. They know what they’re doing. They actually bring up ideas and add to what we’re doing here, which is amazing to see.”
For the students themselves, the value of the experience extends beyond any trophy. Gohar said that for many on the team, the competition has served as a preview of senior design work ahead, while also deepening her connection to the aerospace field she hopes to enter.
“Whenever I took a plane, I didn’t think about the specifications of the engines or anything like that,” Gohar said. “So it’s just interesting learning more about the field that I want to get into.”
Centeno, who is pursuing biomedical engineering rather than aerospace, said the project pushed her beyond her comfort zone in the best way.
“I just wanted to gain a new perspective and broaden my horizons,” Centeno said. “Now I’m motivated to really win the competition.”