UC Berkeley student Alexis Eskenazi has won second place in the Airport Environmental Interactions category of the 2025–2026 Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) University Design Competition for Addressing Airport Needs. Eskenazi’s project, Nuclear for Airports: An Integrated SMR, Hydrogen, and Sustainable Aviation Fuel System at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, was completed under the guidance of Jasenka Rakas, a faculty member in UC Berkeley’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Deputy Director of National Center of Excellence in Aviation Operations Research (NEXTOR) at UC Berkeley.
The annual competition challenges university students to develop innovative and practical solutions to real-world issues facing airports. Students work with faculty advisers and consult airport operators and industry experts to assess the practicality of their proposed designs. Submissions are evaluated by panels of airport industry practitioners across four technical challenge areas, including Airport Environmental Interactions, Airport Safety, Operations, and Maintenance, Passenger Experience and Innovations in Airport Terminal Design, and Airport Management and Planning.
Eskenazi’s proposal earned second place in the Airport Environmental Interactions category after review by a panel of experts from industry and academia. The award includes a $2,000 prize for Eskenazi, as well as a certificate for the student and a plaque recognizing UC Berkeley.
The ACRP University Design Competition is sponsored by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the U.S. Department of Transportation and administered by the Airport Cooperative Research Program of the Transportation Research Board, part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Winning teams may also have the opportunity to present their proposals at an industry professional conference or workshop in 2026.