Lab News

Lab Updates, Networking Event

BID4R Lab End-of-Semester Celebration

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April 27, 2025 – As another semester draws to a close, the BID4R lab got together to celebrate each other’s accomplishments and reflect on challenges overcome, insights uncovered, and goals achieved.

This semester, we had much to celebrate! Our first journal paper was published by James Hand, two conference papers were accepted and presented at CSER, 4 conference papers were accepted and will be presented at the ASEE National Convention, and 3

more conference papers have been accepted and will be presented at INCOSE IS!

We’re also excited to share that several of our lab members won awards! Jonah Kohlmeyer and James Hand received Best Poster with a Faculty Mentor at Cyber Rodeo, Grace Gratton won Best Undergraduate Poster at Discovery Day and became a recipient of the Goldwater Scholarship, Ava Nubert won a SURF grant, Mikalya Dutkiewicz won an IGNITE grant, and Rasika Kale won ERAU Outstanding Systems Masters Student!

We are so proud of each of our lab members whose dedication and passion for research make our lab a leading force. A huge thank you to our faculty mentor, Dr. Watson, whose guidance and unwavering support make these accomplishments possible. Here’s to continued growth, discovery, and impact in the semesters ahead!

Lab Updates, Poster Presentation

BID4R Lab at Discovery Day 2025

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April 16, 2025  – This semester, the BID4R lab shared 10 posters at Discovery Day! Our topics ranged from interplanetary colonization and multi-agent systems to exploring bio-inspired agent behaviors from ants for robotic swarm fault resilience. We’re excited to share that Grace Gratton’s poster won best undergraduate poster! Congratulations to all of the presenters for their hard work and dedication, which they showcased this semester. 

We are also excited to announce that Ava Nubert won a SURF grant and Mikayla Dutkiewicz won an IGNITE grant! Congratulations Ava and Mikalya!

We are so thankful to the Office of Undergraduate Research for hosting a great event and for funding our researchers, and we look forward to the next Discovery Day!

Awards, Lab Updates

Dr. Watson wins Tej Gupta Teacher of the Year!

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April 1, 2025 – We are excited to share that our lab advisor, Dr. Bryan Watson, has been recognized as the 2025 Tej Gupta Teacher of the Year!

Dr. Watson is more than an outstanding teacher. He is a mentor and motivator for all students. His unwavering dedication to his students’ growth, continuous efforts to help students

reach their greatest potential, and commitment to excellence make him an extraordinary educator and role model. His classes are a space where learning is not just an activity but an experience, as he brings energy, curiosity, and purpose to every lesson. Dr. Watson’s passion for learning and relentless pursuit of growth within himself and others is truly contagious, inspiring his students to strive for their best.

We are incredibly grateful for Dr. Watson’s dedication to our success. This well-earned award reflects the incredible influence he has on the lives and careers of his students!

Congratulations, Dr. Watson, and thank you for your commitment to us!

Awards, Lab Updates

Grace Gratton selected as 2025 Goldwater Scholar

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March 28, 2025 – We are thrilled to announce that one of our lab members, Grace Gratton, has been named a Goldwater Scholar! Grace is a sophomore studying space physics and is one of two Goldwater Scholars selected from Embry-Riddle this year. The Goldwater Scholarship is one of the most prestigious undergraduate scholarships, recognizing excellence in STEM research. It is awarded to students who intend to pursue research careers and demonstrate exceptional dedication and passion for their work.

Grace joined the BID4R Lab during her freshman year and has been diligently researching consensus algorithms used in multi-agent systems. Her research focuses on how the synchronous hatching behavior of the South American River Turtle can be applied to consensus algorithms to increase their robustness against faulty agents. She recently presented her findings at the 2025 CSER Conference in Long Beach, California.

This summer, Grace will participate in an internship at the Air Force Research Laboratory. She looks forward to developing her research skills in an industrial setting and hopes this experience will help her achieve her goal of becoming a professor.

We are incredibly proud to see Grace’s hard work and research recognized at such a prestigious level, and we can’t wait to see what she accomplishes next!

Congratulations, Grace!

Two Embry-Riddle Undergraduates Named Goldwater Scholars

Two Embry‑Riddle Aeronautical University students have been awarded Goldwater scholarships, marking the first time the university has had multiple scholars in one year. Aerospace Physiology junior Natalie Brattain and Space Physics sophomore Grace Gratton were selected by the scholarship program, which aims to support college sophomores and juniors poised to become the next research leaders …

news.erau.edu

Conference, Lab Updates

BID4R Lab at CSER 2025

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March 21, 2025 – Last week, BID4R Lab had the opportunity to attend and present at the 2025 Conference on Systems Engineering Research. Three significant events included Dr. Watson’s session, “Opportunities at the Boundaries between Systems Engineering and Design Theory”; master’s student Fayruz Maysha’s presentation, “Kinship Infrastructure Design: A Biologically-Inspired Approach for Emergency Response Systems”; and undergraduate Grace

Gratton’s presentation, “Evaluation of a Biologically-Inspired Multi-Agent System Consensus Algorithm to Develop Application Insights”. The conference was held in Long Beach, CA, from March 18–21 and featured 61 insightful talks and 7 panels focused on systems engineering.

Both Fayruz’s and Grace’s presentations were well received and sparked lively discussions following their talks. Dr. Watson’s panel, organized with Dr. Alexander Murphy from Florida Polytechnic University, featured insightful contributions from Dr. Taylan Topcu – Assistant Professor at Virgina Tech, Zak Ouzzif – Chief System Architect at Anduril Industries, and Dr. Zoe Szajnfarber – Professor and Director of Strategic Initiatives at George Washington University. Overall, our lab enjoyed the memorable discussions on the exciting work being done in systems engineering and looks forward to the next CSER conference!

Lab Updates

Dr. Watson Visits Florida Polytechnic University to Give Seminar

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March 17, 2025 – Dr. Bryan Watson recently visited the Florida Polytechnic University to deliver a seminar to the Mechanical Engineering Department. He was hosted by Dr. Alexander Murphy and his colleagues, Dr. Elisabeth Kames and Dr. Apurva Patel. Below are some thoughts he shared about his visit!

I did not realize how young Florida Poly is! Walking around, I would have never guessed that they were established in 2012. Their accomplishments (including national rankings) inspired me (as Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University just started our bachelor’s in Systems Engineering this year). I’m excited to see where our program is in 13 years, and my visit yesterday showed me how far we can go.

The campus shows very well due to the intentionality in design (large windows on labs, landscaping, layout). I’m thinking about how I can be more intentional in setting up the “systems” in life, both personally and professionally to intentionally support long-term goals.

Lab Updates

Dr.  Watson Visits University of Florida for Seminar at ESSIE

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March 6, 2025 – Dr. Bryan Watson recently visited the University of Florida Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering to deliver a seminar at the Engineering School of Sustainable Infrastructure & Environment (ESSIE). Hosted by Dr. Sara Behdad, the visit provided an opportunity for engaging discussions with faculty and students on bio-inspired engineering and the broader impact of research. The visit also held special significance, as Dr. Watson’s grandfather graduated from UF’s Civil Engineering program in 1958.

Dr. Watson’s talk explored complex systems and the need for increased resilience, highlighting emergence as a key property and discussing how biologically inspired design (BID) can enhance system resilience. He presented a case study on mitigating peer-to-peer network attacks using strategies inspired by the Zombie Ant Fungus (Ophiocordyceps camponoti-rufipedis), demonstrating the application of agent-based models to faulted agents in complex systems. The talk concluded with a discussion of future directions for Biologically Inspired Design for Resilience (BID4R), including insights from the Allee Effect and its implications for system stability. The work presented included contributions from students James Hand, Rasika Ravindra Kale, Isabella V Hernandez, EIT, Mia Jastrzembski, Fayruz Maysha, Jessica Christa Wira Hadipoernomo, Julia Gorthey, and Austen Pallen.

Follow this link to watch his seminar!

Awards, Lab Updates

Lab members win top poster with a faculty at Cyber Rodeo

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February 5, 2025 – Two of our lab members, Jonah Kohlmeyer and James Hand, along with our faculty mentor Dr. Bryan Watson, won top poster with a faculty mentor at Cyber Rodeo! Cyber Rodeo is Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Aviation Cyber Initiative hosted by the Center for Aerospace Resilient Systems. It’s a two-day event focused on enhancing cyber resilience and mitigating cyber threats to aviation. It features technical demonstrations, company recruiting, Capture-The-Flag challenges, and an engaging poster session.

We are honored to have one of our lab’s posters selected as the top poster with a faculty mentor! When asked what the poster highlighted, Jonah Kohlmeyer, who helped create the poster with James Hand and faculty mentor Dr. Bryan Watson, replied:

BID4R’s contribution to this year’s cyber rodeo was an overview of STARS, or the Swarm Test Arena for Resilient Systems. Specifically, it presented a poster on “A Comparison of Biologically Inspired Faulted Agent Resilience Strategy Performance in Computer Simulated Environments Vs. Physical Swarm Test Platform Data.” The poster outlined the current work the BID4R lab is doing with the STARS platform and demonstrated one of our swarm units. – Jonah Kohlmeyer

Congratulations to Jonah, James, and Dr. Watson on a fantastic poster!

Awards, Lab Updates

Dr. Watson’s Paper Recognized as INCOSE Editors Choice!

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We are thrilled to announce that our faculty mentor, Dr. Bryan Watson, along with co-authors Isabella Hernandez, Marc Weissburg, and Bert Bras, had their paper selected as an Editor’s Choice by the INCOSE Systems Engineering Journal!

Their paper employed biologically inspired design to outline key steps for enhancing system resilience. By performing functional decomposition of eusocial insect colonies, they developed innovative approaches to strengthen the emergent resilience of multi-agent systems. Their work resulted in two major contributions: the recognition of six generalized functions which can be applied to systems to increase resilience, and a methodology to identify and translate insect behavior into generalized guidelines for designing resilient systems. They supported their work with a case study, by applying their identified functions to an emergency power service system and suggesting methods to improve its resilience. Their paper contributed several insights to the field of systems engineering, and we are proud to have it recognized by INCOSE!

Congratulations Dr. Watson!

For more information or to read the paper: https://lnkd.in/ePQTw5ve

Lab Updates, Networking Event

BID4R Lab End-of-Semester Celebration

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December 7, 2024 – As the 2024 fall semester drew to a close, our lab joined together to celebrate the numerous accomplishments we have achieved this semester. These accomplishments were made possible by the collaboration, determination, and persistence of our lab members. This semester, we submitted 4 abstracts and 6 conference papers! We are very proud of all the work our dedicated members have produced and look forward to our future growth, learning, and accomplishments!