Cyber-Physical Systems Engineering

10/13/2026

The Universities at Shady Grove(USG) is a magnet for innovators—and these four are ready to change the game.

Galea Guard set out to build an award-winning smart football helmet in the UMD CPSE’s “Jumpstart Your Engineering Career” Summer Program. The smart helmet was designed to capture and display impact data in real time to help coaches, trainers, athletes, and families make more informed decisions and detect head injuries sooner rather than later.

For five weeks, Team Galea Guard built and tested a prototype using accelerometers and gyroscopes to measure movement, force, and rotation, along with pressure sensors designed to identify where the helmet was struck.

Their work earned the 2026 Impact & Innovation Award at Jumpstart Demo Day, recognizing their innovative, user-focused approach to tackling a meaningful challenge with potential for future impact.

The students in Galea Guard were Bennett Parisi from Richard Montgomery High School, Srinikhesh Sriram from Thomas Sprigg Wootton High School, Kaleb Teshale from Montgomery College, and Joshua Luong, former Dual Enrollment student at Quince Orchard High School and Montgomery College, now attending the UMD A. James Clark School of Engineering.

Programs like Jumpstart are made possible through our partnership with USG, which provides the space, resources, and support that allow aspiring engineers to turn their ideas into tangible, working solutions.

Our students bring the talent, curiosity, and desire to learn. We are incredibly grateful to our staff and partners at USG for helping provide the support that allows them to build, experiment, and grow.

Please watch Team Galea Guard’s full documentary journey at USG! It is linked here, or you can check it out anytime on our UMD CPSE YouTube channel! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pgs6QmIEQZs

Congrats again to Team Galea Guard!

Head impacts are a serious concern in football, particularly in you...

10/09/2026

From MC to UMD Engineering!

What does the journey from Montgomery College to a career in engineering look like? Join us on Monday, October 19 at Montgomery College’s Rockville Campus for a panel and meet-and-greet featuring MC alumni who continued their engineering education at the UMD A. James Clark School of Engineering available at The Universities at Shady Grove.

We’re excited to welcome Nima Sichani and Sholom Kott, CSPE students and graduates, who will share their experiences transferring from MC to UMD, studying engineering, working in industry, and building their careers.

Whether you’re considering transferring to UMD Engineering or simply exploring your next steps in STEM, this is a great opportunity to hear directly from students and alumni who have been in your shoes.

Date: Monday, October 19, 2026
Time: 5:00–7:00 PM
Location: MC Rockville Campus — Science Center West, Room 301

Open to all engineering students and MC faculty!

RSVP Here: go.umd.edu/alumnipanel

09/22/2026

We’re proud to be part of an engineering community that continues to push the boundaries of innovation, collaboration, and hands-on learning.

Congratulations to the A. James Clark School of Engineering on this recognition!

For the second consecutive year, we’ve ranked #12 among the country’s public colleges and universities in undergraduate engineering, according to U.S. News and World Report’s 2026–27 rankings of more than 200 degree programs.

“Engineers remain a critical part of today’s society: the opportunities and challenges before us require their unique skillset to solve. Our undergraduates aren’t just learning about society’s needs; they are designing the solutions,” said Dean Samuel Graham.

See what sets Maryland Engineering apart:
https://eng.umd.edu/news/story/two-years-running-maryland-12-among-publics-for-undergrad-engineering

Five of our departments rank among the top 15 public programs in the country:
#9 The Department of Aerospace Engineering at UMCP
#10 Computer Engineering (Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, UMD)
#11 Electrical Engineering (Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, UMD)
#13 Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland
#15 Fischell Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland (Biomedical Engineering)

At #24, Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering at UMD ranks in the top 25 public programs.

US News & World Report did not rank the following types of programs:
* Fire protection: University of Maryland Department of Fire Protection Engineering is the only fully ABET-accredited undergraduate fire protection engineering program in the country.
* Materials science: Maryland Department of Materials Science and Engineering is among fewer than 50 ABET-accredited materials science programs in the country.

We congratulate our entire community achieving this latest success!

09/21/2026

What can aspiring engineers build in just five weeks at The Universities at Shady Grove (USG)?

For Team Pipe Patrol, the answer was an award-winning semi-autonomous rover designed to make sewer inspections safer, faster, and more efficient.

As part of UMD CPSE’s “Jumpstart Your Engineering Career” Summer Program, Pipe Patrol spent five weeks working together to design, build, and test a rover that combines robotics and artificial intelligence to help identify potential pipe issues and prevent major failures.

Their hard work earned them the 2026 Engineering Excellence Award at Jumpstart Demo Day, recognizing their engineering design, functionality, technical ex*****on, testing and iteration, and technical understanding.

The students in Team Pipe Patrol were Newton Yang, Leah Wang, and Arav Assija from Poolesville High School, and Andrew Zhao from Wootton High School.

Pipe Patrol was one of 11 teams that spent the summer at USG tackling real-world engineering challenges. Throughout the program, students moved beyond the classroom and experienced what engineering looks like in practice---working through challenges, learning from failure, iterating on their designs, and ultimately presenting working prototypes to an audience of more than 300 people at Demo Day.

Programs like Jumpstart are made possible through our partnership with USG, which provides the space, resources, and support that allow aspiring engineers to turn their ideas into tangible, working solutions.

At Demo Day, our students had the opportunity to hear from an incredible engineering leader, Dr. Tsu-Jae Liu, President of the National Academy of Engineering, who shared her insights and experience with our students. We want to wholeheartedly thank Dr. Liu for her inspiring Demo Day keynote address. She is a role model for our students and a great engineering leader. Thank you, Dr. Liu, for serving as a guiding light to our students as they navigate the path of becoming great engineers.

We are also especially grateful to Anne Khademian for her continued support of CPSE and our students. From welcoming our students and speaking with them on the very first day of the program to joining us again at Demo Day, Dr. Khademian has been a wonderful part of their Jumpstart journey.
Our students bring the talent, curiosity, and desire to learn. We are incredibly grateful to our staff and partners at USG for helping provide the support that allows them to build, experiment, and grow.

Please watch Team Pipe Patrol’s full documentary journey at USG! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wiF5dVZUYw
It is linked here, or you can check it out anytime on our UMD CPSE YouTube channel!

Congrats again to Team Pipe Patrol!

Sewer systems are difficult to inspect, yet aging pipes may contain...

08/29/2026

5 weeks. 11 teams. Real-world engineering solutions. One unforgettable Demo Day.

After five weeks of designing, building, testing, collaborating, and problem-solving, our Jumpstart Your Engineering Career students took the stage to showcase what they created in our summer program.

Demo Day brought together students, families, educators, engineering professionals, community partners, elected officials, and supporters to celebrate the incredible work of this summer’s cohort.

Students demo'd their prototypes, shared the engineering behind their solutions, presented their projects on stage, and connected with professionals from across the engineering community.

We were also honored to welcome Dr. Tsu-Jae Liu, President of the National Academy of Engineering, as our keynote speaker. Her time with our students—from visiting their projects during the showcase to joining us for the evening program made the day even more special.

A very special thank-you to The Universities at Shady Grove for being the home of our five-week summer program and Demo Day. USG's partnership, support, and welcoming campus played an important role in making this experience possible for our students.

Another special recognition needs to go to Dr. Nestor Michael Tiglao who was the Chief Innovation Architect of the Jumpstart Summer Program. He led lectures and aided the students in their projects, helping them to think and design like engineers.

We are incredibly proud of what these students accomplished in just five weeks, and Demo Day was the perfect way to celebrate their hard work, creativity, and growth.

07/10/2026

This summer, rising senior Nima Sichani is gaining hands-on experience at Claritev as a Software Engineering Intern on the AutoFlow team!

He's developing automation tools using Python, FastAPI, and Azure Document Intelligence to help streamline workflows, reduce repetitive tasks, and improve production systems. Along the way, he's strengthening his skills in backend development, AI, and enterprise software while working toward his goal of becoming a well-rounded software engineer.

We're proud to see our students applying what they've learned in the classroom to solve real-world engineering challenges.

Congratulations, and best of luck for the rest of your internship! 👏

05/28/2026

We are proud to celebrate our eleven graduating seniors from the Class of 2026 as they officially become CPSE alumni.

Their hard work, resilience, and dedication have left a lasting impact on our program, and we look forward to seeing the many ways they will continue to grow and succeed beyond CPSE.

Congratulations to the Class of 2026; your future is bright!

05/21/2026

We are proud to celebrate our CPSE recipients of the 2025–26 Board of Advisors Kendall Service Awards at The Universities at Shady Grove.

CPSE Lecturer Dr. Nestor Michael Tiglao received the Excellence in Teaching Award for his outstanding dedication to student learning, mentorship, and academic achievement.

CPSE Program Advisor Brian Schoem received the Outstanding Service to Students Award for his exceptional commitment to student advocacy and support services that positively impact current and future students.

The Kendall Service Awards recognize faculty and staff whose leadership, innovation, and service make a lasting difference across the USG community.

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Tiglao and Brian on this well-deserved recognition!

05/07/2026

Congratulations to our CPSE seniors for showcasing their capstone projects at the University of Maryland Design Expo!

The seniors worked on these projects in Fall 2025 and Spring 2026 in their ENEB 408A and 408B classes.

These projects represent hard work, late nights, creativity, collaboration, and growth. It was amazing to celebrate how far they’ve come and all they’ve accomplished.

We are incredibly proud of each of you and can’t wait to see the impact you’ll make next. Great job, seniors!

04/29/2026

Prospective students interested in the CPSE program are invited to participate in a special opportunity to engage with our faculty, explore our facilities, and enter to win a Nintendo Switch 2 (with MarioKart).

📅 Raffle Deadline to complete all steps: June 1

To qualify for the raffle, please complete the following steps:

1️⃣ Watch and complete the CPSE program webinar (via QR code or link)
- Link: https://forms.gle/hwt1yiGPhJgK63px9

2️⃣ Schedule an advising session to connect with UMD faculty/staff and tour our Rockville, MD facilities
- To schedule, email: [email protected]

3️⃣ Attend your advising session to receive a complimentary t-shirt and raffle entry

We look forward to connecting with you and sharing more about the CPSE experience!