Event Staff

Charli Brooks

Elizabeth City State University

When Charli Brooks looks up, she doesn't just see the sky; she sees a canvas for her future. As an Aviation Science student at Elizabeth City State University, Brooks is on a singular, determined mission: to become one of the few Black female pilots in the commercial aviation industry. Armed with a student pilot license issued by the Federal Aviation Administration, Brooks has already logged numerous hours of flight training and simulation. But her ambitions extend beyond the cockpit into the broader realms of aeronautics and aerospace. In the fall of 2024, she joined the NASA L’SPACE Mission Concept Academy. There, she collaborated with a diverse team of STEM students and experienced NASA mentors to design a comprehensive space mission concept. Her technical acumen is further highlighted by her intensive work at the SGX3 Coding Institute, where she honed her skills in collaborative coding, user interface integration, and science gateway development. Yet, what makes Brooks truly stand out is her deep commitment to lifting others as she climbs. Her leadership is felt daily on her campus, where she serves as a Resident Assistant. In this demanding role, she enforces policies, fosters a safe and inclusive living environment, and provides crucial, empathetic support to her peers. Brooks is also a passionate, vocal advocate for global education. Having experienced the transformative power of studying in the South of France, she now serves as an Ambassador for AIFS Abroad, guiding students to expand their own horizons. Her dedication to cultural exchange has also earned her the prestigious role of a 2025 Gilman Alumni Ambassador for the U.S. Department of State's Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program. In this capacity, she acts as an official representative, offering mentorship, application tips, and outreach to inspire the next generation of global scholars. Whether she is coding modern scientific research platforms, advocating for international study, or mastering the controls of an aircraft, Charli Brooks is proving that she is not just navigating her own path—she is actively charting a course for others to follow.

Dr. Mohamed Elbakary

Elizabeth City State University

Dr. Mohamed Elbakary is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematics, Computer Science, and Engineering Technology at Elizabeth City State University. As a member of the HackHPC@ADMI26 event staff, Dr. Elbakary brings valuable experience in computer science, engineering technology, applied research, and student mentorship. His work at ECSU supports the preparation of students for careers in computing, engineering, and technology-driven fields. For HackHPC@ADMI26, Dr. Elbakary helps guide participants as they explore this year's hackathon theme: deconstructing the architecture of human knowledge through knowledge graphs, AI, and computational analysis. His involvement strengthens the event's commitment to hands-on learning, technical growth, and meaningful student engagement.

Qimora Mason

Elizabeth City State University

In the rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence, Qimora Mason is already making waves before even completing her undergraduate degrees. As a dual major pursuing Bachelor of Science degrees in both Computer Science and Mathematics at Elizabeth City State University, Mason represents the next generation of computational innovators. Set to graduate in May 2026, she has built a formidable technical foundation centered on High-Performance Computing (HPC), C++, and Machine Learning. Mason’s trajectory into high-level research began early. During the summer of 2023, she served as an Undergraduate Research Intern at the UVA School of Data Science in Charlottesville, Virginia. There, she tackled complex ethical challenges in technology, developing a Python-based machine learning script utilizing the XGBoost algorithm to predict bias and fairness across different races. Her technical prowess quickly caught the attention of the nation's top research facilities. In the summer of 2024, Mason secured a Computer Science Research Internship at Sandia National Laboratories, where she applied machine learning techniques to a complex particle clustering simulation. She returned to Sandia in the summer of 2025, this time focusing deeply on Computational Mathematics. During this stint, she pushed the boundaries of neural network architectures by implementing Kolmogorov-Arnold Networks (KANs/KATs) to process ImageNet data. Her rigorous approach established critical baseline performance metrics, an achievement reached through more than 10,000 training iterations. Whether she is interrogating the fairness of algorithms or optimizing advanced neural networks at a national laboratory, Mason demonstrates a profound capacity to bridge theoretical mathematics and applied computer science. As she looks toward the future, Qimora Mason is not just writing code—she is actively helping to engineer a smarter, fairer, and more highly optimized technological world.