National Football League/Provided Ilayda Samilgil ’19, left, and Rob Shepherd, associate professor of mechanical engineering, are co-founders of Organic Robotics Corporation, which won the NFL 1st & Future competition Feb. 2 for their Light Lace technology. They are pictured in early January 2020 at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. CREDIT: Courtesy of NFL Score! Engineering startup wins NFL innovation competition February 3, 2021 Growing up in Turkey, the only football Ilayda Samilgil ’19 knew was the kind played mostly with the feet. “I used to do gymnastics and ice skate,” she said, “but I wasn’t very familiar with some of the most-followed sports here, such as American football or baseball.”