ABOUT US
We are a talented group of students from Northeastern University in Boston, MA.
Our team is composed of students from a variety of majors, including engineering, computer science, and life science. We grew out of a collaboration between two highly successful clubs on campus, Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) and the Northeastern chapter of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).
THE COMPETITION
The Mars Society University Rover Challenge (URC) attracts teams of students from all over the world.
Teams are invited annually to design and build a Mars Rover that can compete at the Mars Desert Research Society in southern Utah.
The competition requires completion of four missions: the Science Mission (Life Detection), Extreme Retrieval and Delivery Mission, Equipment Servicing Mission, and Autonomous Traversal Mission. More information about the competition can be found here.
MEET THE TEAM
We are in the process of taking headshots, more members will be here soon!
Peter Whitney
Faculty Advisor
College of Engineering
Bryan Holsinger
Operations Co-Lead
Jason Kobrin
Operations Co-Lead/
Mechanical
William Walling-Sotolongo
Co-Secretary/ Software
Computer Science
Noah Büttner
Software Co-Lead
Adharsh Kandula
Autonomous Lead/ Software Co-Lead
Brooke Chalmers
Integration Lead & Software Co-Lead
Dylan Wolter
Mechanical Co-Lead
Matthew Geisel
Mechanical Co-Lead
Grace Lapinig
Mechanical Co-Lead
Luke DePinho
Electrical Lead
Ryana Sarcar
Life Detection Co-Lead
Bryan Zeng
Webmaster/ Software
Computer Science & Business
Maria Fountas
Drone Lead
Jonathan Edelman
Software
Computer Science & Media Arts
Matthew Goldgirsh
Software
Computer Science
Dani McLaughlin
Software
Vincent Soubbotin
Mechanical
Grace Irwin
Electrical
Sofia Handzy
Mechanical
Grace DiScala
Mechanical
Alexander Poulin
Software
Chris Sewkumar
Mechanical
Jack Turner
Software
Katherine Gervais
Mechanical
Liu von Engelbrechten
Software
Maharshi Das
Mechanical
Nico Rising
Software
Nikolas Sanderson
Electrical & Software
Pauline Saveliev
Life Detection
Sakib Azgar
Mechanical
Sam Damonti
Software
Sarah Rescanski
Mechanical
Yassine Bakhouch
Mechanical
Previous Members
“If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants” - Isaac Newton
Vlad Vandalovsky
Team Lead
Computer Engineering
Sanya Mittal
Team Lead
Chemistry
Tom Degen
Team Lead
Mechanical Engineering
Rigel Madraswalla
Software Team Lead
Mechanical Engineering
Mohammed Laota
Software Team
Computer Science
Jamin Eisenberg
Electrical & Software Engineer
Computer Science & Computer Engineering
Garrit Strenge
Former Team Lead/Software Lead
Computer Science & Computer Engineering
Alex Zeng
Former Financial Head
Mechanical Engineering
Shannon McInnis
Former Software Co-Lead
Computer Science
Grace McDonough
Former Mechanical Co-Lead/ Mobility Lead
Mechanical Engineering
Ben Levin
Former Mechanical Co-Lead
Ben Thacher
Former Electrical Co-lead
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Allison Care
Former Electrical Co-lead
Kara Lui
Science Lead
Heather Branan
Former Mechanical Engineer
Mechanical Engineering
SPONSORS
Thank you to our sponsors! Without your help, our project would not be possible.
PAST SPONSORS
Thank you to our past sponsors! Without your help, our project would not be possible.
UPDATES
05/01/2020: NU ROVER is accepted to the 2020 University Rover Challenge
View the URC acceptance video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWmJP_FHhik
On May 1st, the Mars Society announced that 36 teams from 10 countries would be competing in the Utah desert this year - and NU ROVER was one of them! This is the second year in a row where NU ROVER has been accepted into the competition. Unfortunately, the actual competition did not take place in 2020 due to COVID-19, but the team is very excited to continue working and compete in URC 2021.
02/12/20: Amazon Robotics and Boston Engineering Become Sponsors
The team is excited to welcome Amazon Robotics and Boston Engineering as sponsors for our 2020 Rover, Watney Mk. 2. Both of these companies have rich histories of innovation in robotics and will be great partners going forward.
07/22/2019: Watney Mk. 1 visits the Boston Museum of Science
Pictured left: A colorful Watney surrounded by enthusiastic children and their families, eager to learn about STEM and space exploration.
This past weekend, the team took Watney Mk. 1 to the Boston Museum of Science to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing. Watney got the chance to play with hundreds of parents and kids throughout the day while the team talked about the engineering design process, STEM education, and the Mars Society Competition in an interactive exhibition. The team would like to thank the Boston Museum of Science for the invitation and looks forward to coming back soon!
06/04/2019: A successful performance at the 2019 University Rover Challenge
Team members pictured at the competition Welcome BBQ, left, with the rover Watney Mk. 1. (Photo by Ted Myers)
Last week, the team competed at the 2019 University Rover Challenge at the Mars Society’s Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS). The team is incredibly proud of how they performed in their first year at this competition and look forward to returning next year. They would like to thank the Mars Society for hosting this event as well as all of their sponsors, who they could never have done this without.
03/22/19: NU ROVER is accepted to the University Rover Challenge
View the URC acceptance video here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-6qI4nvH5fg
On March 22, the Mars Desert Research Society announced that 36 teams from 10 countries would be competing in the Utah desert this year - and NU ROVER was one of them! The team's hard work has paid off this year and is sure to shine at the competition, held during the last week of May at the MDRS Station outside of Hanksville, UT. Wish the team luck as they make the final push to design, build, and test the world's next best Mars rover.
11/16/18: NU ROVER partners with STEM OUT for Friday Field Trips
Pictured left: Systems Lead Dominic Yamarone acts as a target as students launch Skittles at him.
Through a series called "Friday Field Trips," Northeastern's STEM OUT program connects university students with elementary school classes to teach STEM skills through engaging hands-on activities. Our team members chose to teach the topics of velocity and momentum this week by challenging the young students to build two fun mechanisms: a device to save a dropped egg and a catapult to launch Skittles as far as possible.
10/22/18: NU ROVER partners with ASME for an FEA Workshop
Tom Degen, Team Lead, hosted an interactive workshop for mechanical engineering students as part of the Monday Night Workshop series held by the Northeastern chapter of the American Society for Mechanical Engineers (ASME). Since FEA is a valuable engineering skill and a large component of designing a Mars rover, Tom taught students how to complete basic FEA in SOLIDWORKS using example parts from the rover. The event was a success and helped NU ROVER get the word out there about our team!
10/12/18: The team completes their first internal design review
The initial design review acted as a milestone for completing preliminary CAD and FEA and ensured team alignment on the full rover assembly. The team gave critical design feedback and fielded questions about each subsystem during the presentation. Overall, the review was a success and each subsystem team walked away with a strong understanding of next steps as we move towards the competition.
