The Unsung Hero Behind Team Atlanta’s AI Cyber Challenge Victory

Every winning team has its unsung hero — and for Team Atlanta, that person was Elijah Mastinu.

While students, faculty, and alumni from Georgia Tech’s School of Cybersecurity and Privacy (SCP) competed in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s AI Cyber Challenge (AIxCC), Mastinu worked tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure their path to victory ran smoothly.

Mastinu joined SCP in September 2023 as a temporary staff member and quickly proved himself indispensable. By March 2024, he had been promoted to administrative operations coordinator, a full-time role that placed him at the center of the school’s day-to-day operations.