University of Michigan Students to Support Leidos Hypersonic Aircraft Development Project

The University of Michigan has joined Leidos’ team for Mayhem, a 51-month, $334 million Air Force Research Laboratory program for the development of a hypersonic aircraft. Participating students will assemble components of U-M’s Model-Based Systems Engineering laboratory, which is planned to be integrated into the Mayhem team’s digital engineering ecosystem.

According to Arthur Mabbett, the Leidos Innovation Center’s operations manager, the partnership will also establish a talent pipeline for the defense industrial base. Mabbett conceived of the collaboration alongside George Halow, the MBSE program director and a U-M aerospace engineering professor.

Halow chose the first batch of students for the program, with more expected to join in the future, Leidos said.

In 2022, the MBSE lab announced a partnership with Blue Origin to provide U-M engineering students with new opportunities in education, mentoring and research while providing the company with access to talent. According to Halow, subjects that could see collaborative research include hypersonics, MBSE and space.