Mark Moujabber & Sean Rassa
Mark Moujabber, a fourth-year mechanical engineering and mechanics
major, and Sean Rassa, a second-year electrical and computer engineering
major, made a strong showing at the 7th annual Lockheed Martin Ethics in
Engineering Competition held in Bethesda, MD last month. The duo,
advised by MEM department head Jonathan Spanier, PhD, placed as
semi-finalists, securing a spot in the top four among 72 teams from
universities across the nation.
The competition, which ran from February 26 to 28, challenged teams to
tackle a real-world case study that demanded the integration of ethical,
technical, and business expertise to provide solutions for complex
engineering problems. This year's case focused on the deployment of a
satellite designed to use AI for detecting asteroids that pass
dangerously close to Earth. Moujabber and Rassa assumed the roles of two
subcontractor organizations supporting this mission.
The competition format included multiple rounds of role-playing,
simulating business meetings where teams presented their assigned
company's recommendations and engaged in discussions to develop a common
approach. The teams had to address issues such as interpersonal ethics,
like dealing with harassment between employees, and maintaining trust
between the companies involved in the project. Judges evaluated the
teams based on their analysis, solution, persuasiveness, and
presentation skills.
The Drexel team's success hinged on their ability to approach
problem-solving from an interdisciplinary and holistic perspective.
Rassa, a computer engineering major, leveraged his strong knowledge base
in AI and electrical technical components to take the lead on the
technical aspects of the case. Moujabber, a mechanical engineering major with a finance minor and consulting experience, drew upon his industry
background to guide the team's approach to the case's crucial ethics
component. The pair's clear communication was key, as they needed to
express complex, multidisciplinary information in a way that could be
easily understood.
"Beyond their clear strengths in engineering, Mark and Sean have remarkable emotional intelligence," Spanier said. "As the competition progressed, the teams were surprised with escalating challenges and new twists in the interpersonal relationships between the fictitious clients and companies. They were prepared for everything that was put in front of them."
The team credits Drexel’s hands-on learning approach for preparing them
with the tools to succeed in the competition. "There's few opportunities
for most college students to get the feel of what an actual business
meeting is and how to operate a business and how to talk to clients and
other people, but our co-op experiences prepared us for this dynamic,"
Moujabber said.
Rassa, one of the youngest participants in the competition, said that
the competition gave him valuable perspective on how engineering
integrates with business. "I’m finishing up my first co-op now, and in
both co-op and this competition, you're able to see the decisions that
drive the engineering practices that are put in place, which is really
interesting because business is not quite as disconnected from the
engineering as you would think," he explained.
This marks only the second year that Drexel has participated in the
Lockheed Martin Ethics in Engineering Competition. As Moujabber and
Rassa demonstrated, Drexel's commitment to experiential learning through
co-op and interdisciplinary education prepares students to tackle
real-world challenges with skill, integrity, and innovation.