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Naja A. Mack, Ph.D.
Beyond the lab

Initiatives & Outreach

Beyond the lab, I create and lead initiatives that expand access to computing education and emerging technologies. Through hands-on learning, mentorship, and community engagement, these programs introduce students to new possibilities in computer science, artificial intelligence, and interactive computing.

160+K–12 campers through CodeBears
200+attendees at the inaugural HBCU Brain Drone Race
192undergraduate research placements through SAIRI

Initiatives I lead

Founder & Director · 2023 – present

CodeBears

I founded and direct CodeBears, an AI, computing, and robotics outreach program launched through the HAX Lab in 2023, with summer camps taught by Morgan State students and STEM days at schools, community centers, and on campus. Rather than simply teaching students how to use technology, CodeBears encourages them to become creators, designers, and problem-solvers.

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Small round robots on a soccer-field mat with numbered targets, steered by children using tablets
Robot soccer at the 2024 Woodholme Elementary STEM Day.
Organizer & Logistics Lead · November 2025

HBCU Brain Drone Race

On November 22, 2025, the HAX Lab hosted the inaugural HBCU Brain Drone Race at Morgan State University. Racers wore brain-computer interface headsets and flew drones using only their brainwaves, while more than 200 people watched in the University Student Center Ballroom.

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A team member fitting a brain-computer interface headset on a seated racer while spectators look on
A racer is fitted with a brain-computer interface headset.
Founder & Program Director · 2023 – 2026

CEAMLS Summer AI Research Institute (SAIRI)

I created and directed SAIRI, an intensive summer research program at Morgan State's Center for Equitable AI and Machine Learning Systems. Undergraduate teams, guided by graduate and faculty mentors, tackle real-world problems with AI and machine learning, then present their results at the end of the summer.

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About ninety SAIRI participants and mentors posed in rows on a wide staircase in a bright, wood-paneled atrium
The 2025 SAIRI cohort.