Summary
CYSE 587/SYST 687 & CYSE 787 is a course led by George Mason University’s (GMU) Cyber Security Engineering faculty. The course focuses on designing and engineering secure cyber-physical systems, with projects likely involving the vulnerability assessment, security threat analysis, and defense strategies for complex systems like Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) or industrial control systems (ICS).
Students will also develop technical and professional skills through their project work.
CYSE 587 and SYST 687 students work in Teams A thru E. CYSE 787 students design and develop their projects on their own.
OnAir Post: CYSE 587/SYST 687 & CYSE 787 (2025)
News
– December 9, 2025
On December 8th, 2025, Dr. Alexandre De Barros Barreto’s CYSE 587 class presented their shark tank seminar presentations! Each team presented for twenty minutes before a panel of sharks began to ask their questions.
It was an innovative and engaging night, full of discussion, collaboration, and problem solving. Thank you to all of the amazing sharks who came out, and to all of the presenters for their solutions to real world problems!
Please look at the overview post to view each team’s presentation and videos.
About
Source: Course Catalog
Enrollment limited to students with a class of Advanced to Candidacy, Graduate, Junior Plus, Non-Degree or Senior Plus.
Students in a Non-Degree Undergraduate degree may not enroll.
This course is graded on the Graduate Regular scale.
587 & 687 Teams
Team A
Team A’s project “Zero-Trust Architecture for Securing UAV Systems” in CYSE 587 is composed of the following members:
Members of Team A: Yaz Barmil, Karthik V Calanji Sridhar, Mohamed El Mostapha Cheikh Abdallahi, Edwarwd Hickey, Fatima Majid, Pablo Sejas Fernandez, and Huy Than
Team B
Team B’s project “Anonymous Authentication for UTM Access” in CYSE 587 is composed of the following members:
Members of Team B: Jai Althi, Simon Betancur, Sharath Chandra Kumar Chavla, Salome Kotei, Varun Prakash Murugesan, Joseph Yeboah, and Alite Zemichael
Team C
Team C’s project “Protecting Individual Privacy from Intrusive Drone Surveillance” in GMU 587 is composed of the following members:
Members of Team C: Kabir Dugh, Zachary Francis, Fatima Hashimi, Tom Oswald, Ameer Quazi, and Connor Wadlin.
Team D
Team D’s project “Zero-Trust Architecture for Securing UAV Systems” in GMU 587 is composed of the following members:
Members of Team D: Nikith Kadambi, Blake Lainhoff, Shriya Pasyavala, Rahul Patel, Noor Qadir, Arshraj Singh, and Solomon Pamie-george
Team E
Team E’s project “Zero-Trust Architecture for Securing UAV Systems” in GMU 587 is composed of the following members:
Members of Team E: Srivanth Dhulipala, Nic Dmitriev, Aaron Lam, Carlos Ortiz Collao, Dj Strigel, and Brodie Watson
CYSE 787 Projects
Pitches & Schedule
Time | Presenter (Group) | Topic |
4:30 – 5:00 PM | Group A | Zero-Trust Architecture for Securing UAV Systems |
5:05 – 5:35 PM | Group B | Anonymous Authentication for UTM Access |
5:40 – 6:10 PM | Group D | Zero-Trust Architecture for Securing UAV Systems |
6:15 – 6:45 PM | Group C | Protecting Individual Privacy from Intrusive Drone Surveillance |
6:50 – 7:20 PM | Group E | Zero-Trust Architecture for Securing UAV Systems |
Team A Pitch
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Team B Pitch
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Team C Pitch – Protecting Privacy from Drones
Protecting Individual Privacy from Intrusive Drone Surveillance
Team C focused on how to protect privacy within Unmanned Aerial Systems. We implemented protections throughout the system, from low-level hardware solutions to high-level route planning and guidance solutions. This research helps to protect individuals while in public, at work, and at home from being spied on by drones.
In our presentation, we covered the current field of play, how current solutions fail to protect individuals, and how we can advance UAS technology for the benefit of everyone!
If you are interested and want to learn more, you can view our post here!
Team D Pitch
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Team E Pitch
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