A team led by the Air Force Institute of Technology faculty, Lt. Col. James Dean, MSgt. Benjamin Johnis, and master’s student, Lt. Josiah Stearns won first place out of 72 teams in the Hackers Choice Awards at the Bravo 11 Bits2Effects Hackathon in February 2024.  The team delivered a fully functional prototype that automatically identifies malicious navigation signal interference with 96% accuracy. (Contributed photo)

The Air Force Institute of Technology’s students, faculty and staff celebrated many significant milestones throughout 2024.  After more than a century of education excellence, AFIT’s current vision of leading defense-focused education, research and consultation to accelerate military superiority across all domains continues to be accomplished through its five schools:  the Civil Engineer School, the Graduate School of Engineering and Management, the School of Strategic Force Studies, and the School of Systems and Logistics and Civilian Institution Programs Office.

The Graduate School of Engineering & Management – 2024 Yearly Highlights

In January 2024, Dr. Adedeij Badiru, dean of AFIT’s Graduate School of Engineering and Management of more than 10 years, retired after more than 38 years as a distinguished industrial engineer.  His successor, Dr. Muhammad Mustafizur Rahman, became the School’s ninth dean in the same month.   

The GSEM’s annual graduation was held in March 2024, and conferred a total of 206 graduates composed of 196 master’s degrees and four doctorate degrees in science, technology, engineering and math programs.  In addition, one master’s and five doctoral alumni, who graduated earlier in the academic year, returned to participate in the ceremony.  The graduating class included 132 Air Force, 27 Space Force, four Army and six Marine Corps officers, as well as four enlisted Airmen and 23 civilians.  Ten international students from Australia, Bahrain, Brazil, Germany, Israel and Saudi Arabia also received master’s degrees.  Two graduates earned dual master’s degrees:  Capt. Andre Romulado in space systems and systems engineering and 1st Lt. Eric Higginbotham in aeronatucial engineering and astonautical engineering.  The ceremony’s keynote address was delivered by Dr. Mark Lewis, chief executive officer of Purdue Applied Research Institute and former Air Force chief scientist.

The Applied Research Center for Hypersonics, the Graduate School’s eighth multidisciplinary research center, was inaugurated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on May 9, 2024.  ARCH will focus on four lines of effort: delivering interdisciplinary defense-focused solutions, providing subject-matter expertise to ensure warfighter readiness, integrating and connecting organizations to foster understanding and collaboration within the hypersonic domain, and producing and empowering customers through its initiatives. 

In August 2024, the Air Force’s Basic Meteorology Program was moved to AFIT from the Naval Postgraduate School.  The recent updates are part of a larger effort by the Air Force to not only improve talent and resource management, but to enable new mentorship opportunities for its junior members.  The program is currently open to applicants for its fall 2025 class.

The School’s fall commencement ceremony celebrated 99 new graduates in September 2024.  The graduating class included 81 Air Force officers, 6 Space Force officers, 1 Naval officer, and 10 Department of Defense civilians. One international student from the Royal Saudi Air Force received a master’s degree in computer engineering.

The keynote speaker was Lt. Gen. Linda S. Hurry, Deputy Commander, Air Force Materiel Command. She oversees activities across multiple centers, responsible for installation and mission support, discovery and development, test and evaluation, life cycle management services and sustainment of virtually every major Air Force weapon system, to include the entire scope of nuclear weapons sustainment.

Bravo 11 Bits2Effects Hackathon 

A team led by AFIT faculty Lt. Col. James Dean, MSgt. Benjamin Johnis, and master’s student, Lt. Josiah Stearns won first place out of 72 teams in the Hackers Choice Awards at the Bravo 11 Bits2Effects Hackathon in February 2024.  The team delivered a fully functional prototype that automatically identifies malicious navigation signal interference with 96% accuracy. 

The prestigious Hacker’s Choice Award was won by the Air Force Institute of Technology’s 2nd Lt Josiah Stearns and Maj. Anthony Rose, three enlisted members of the USAF and a USCM Officer at the BRAVO 101 Hackathon in June 2024.  The BRAVO 101 Hackathon brought together 120 participants across 22 teams from various services to tackle pressing challenges in military systems.  Their project, MALWARE (Malware Artificial Learning Workstation Analysis Recommendation Engine) aimed to develop methods for automated categorization of malware samples and provide visual aids for the initial identification of malicious binaries.  (Contributed photo)

Bravo 101 Hackathon

The prestigious Hacker’s Choice Award was won by AFIT’s 2nd Lt Josiah Stearns and Maj. Anthony Rose, three enlisted members of the USAF and a USCM Officer at the BRAVO 101 Hackathon in June 2024.  The BRAVO 101 Hackathon brought together 120 participants across 22 teams from various services to tackle pressing challenges in military systems.  Their project, MALWARE (Malware Artificial Learning Workstation Analysis Recommendation Engine) aimed to develop methods for automated categorization of malware samples and provide visual aids for the initial identification of malicious binaries.

The Air Force Institute of Technology, AFIT located at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, is the Department of the Air Force’s leader for advanced, multi-disciplinary academic education, as well as its institution for initial technical and professional continuing education.  AFIT is committed to providing defense-focused graduate education and related research, and operationally-relevant initial skills training and professional continuing education to sustain the technological supremacy of America's air, space, and cyber forces. 

AFIT’s Graduate School of Engineering and Management, GSEM provides in-residence and distance learning graduate degrees and certificates in engineering, applied science, mathematics and management. The Graduate School provides its students with several significant advantages, including a more personalized educational experience; academic programs with a defense-related focus; and research on high-priority defense problems. Degree and certificate programs are open to active duty U.S. military members, DoD/government civilians and contractors, and international allies.   For more information, please visit https://www.afit.edu/EN/

For more information about AFIT degree programs, research collaborations or continuing education courses, please visit the AFIT webpage https://www.afit.edu/ or contact Ms. Jaclyn Knapp at Jaclyn.Knapp.2@us.af.mil