NC Space Grant Selects Recipients of 2024-2025 Team Experience and Competition Award

North Carolina Space Grant proudly recognizes this year’s Team Experience and Competition Grant awardees. These teams will take part in prestigious national competitions backed by NASA and other STEM organizations. Through interdisciplinary expertise, they will conduct in-depth research and develop innovative STEM projects—like rockets, robots, and rovers—focused on safety and efficiency.

“Participating in national competitions enables students to acquire not only technical STEM skills but also essential professional abilities like project management and collaboration—qualities highly sought by NASA and other employers,” says Sandy Canfield, assistant director of NC Space Grant. “Competitions also help students build resilience and time management under pressure, which are key in real-world settings.”

Team members also receive distinguished opportunities to network and engage with STEM professionals, while also contributing to NASA research and developing mission-critical solutions. Competitions often support at least one out of the five NASA Mission Directorates, or areas of focus: Aeronautics, Exploration Systems, Science, Space Operations and Space Technology.

NC Space Grant is supporting six teams participating in Artemis Student Challenges, which promote and contribute to NASA’s mission to land the first woman and person of color on the moon.

The UNC Charlotte 49er Miners, UNC Pembroke Robot Team, UNC Charlotte 49er Rocketry Team, NC State High-Powered Rocketry Team and Campbell University Human Exploration Rover Teams are participating in the following mission-related challenges: NASA’s Lunabotics Challenge, Student Launch Challenge, First Nations Launch, and Human Exploration Rover Challenge.

Congratulations to the 2024-2025 grant recipients:

Campbell University Human Exploration Rover Team, competing in the NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge (HERC) Human-Powered Division, faculty advisor: Dr. Lee Rynearson.

The Campbell University Human Exploration Rover Team will develop, test and deploy a competition-ready rover capable of traversing challenging terrain. Campbell’s team finished third overall in 2024. This year, they aim to leverage their expertise to create a lightweight, high-performance rover using advanced materials like carbon fiber, targeting an early completion to allow ample testing time.

Campbell University Human Exploration Rover Team, competing in the NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge (HERC) Remote Controlled Division, faculty advisor: Dr. Mohsen Manesh.

For the first time, Campbell will take part in the recently launched Remote-Operated Vehicular Research division, which will require students to build a rover that can be controlled remotely. This will include a separate team of students from the Human-Powered division, as well as a different advisor.

Duke University’s Duke AERO team, competing in the Spaceport America Cup, faculty advisor: Robert Twiss

Duke AERO will compete in the world’s largest intercollegiate rocket engineering competition, where they will design, build, and launch rockets aiming for target altitudes between 10,000 and 30,000 feet. Their rocket will be designed and built almost entirely in-house, including roll-stabilizing canards, a payload with computer vision capabilities, and a guided recovery system. The avionics team also hopes to focus on apogee control and roll stabilization.

Lenoir-Rhyne University Rocket Team, competing in the Spaceport America Cup, faculty advisor: Dr. Doug Knight

The Lenoir-Rhyne University “Aerobears” will design, build and safely fly a high-power rocket with a minimum four kilogram payload to a target altitude of 10,000 feet. Over the course of the year, the team will build their rocket and test motors, fuel and payload configurations- hoping to outperform the team’s highest-ever finish which they achieved in last year’s competition.

NC State University’s Wolfeye team, competing in the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Design-Build-Fly challenge, faculty advisor: Dr. Jack Edwards

The Wolfeye team will design, build and fly a remote-controlled, fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Student teams will design, fabricate, and demonstrate the flight capabilities of an unmanned, electric powered, radio-controlled aircraft. This year’s competition focuses on creating an aircraft capable of executing an X-1 Supersonic Flight Test Program, including launching a test vehicle, with a strong emphasis on competitive performance and practical, affordable manufacturing.

NC State University High-Powered Rocketry Club, competing in the NASA Student Launch Challenge, faculty advisor: Dr. Felix Ewere

The High-Powered Rocketry Club or “Tacho Lycos,” has been a competitor in the NASA Student Launch competition for over a decade. This competition is based around designing, creating, and using a solid fueled rocket to launch and land a payload that is used in various mission scenarios. The team hopes to build on their past successes with its diverse membership of many different majors and skills, all focused on rocketry excellence.

NC State University Aerial Robotics Club, competing in the Student Unmanned Aerial Systems (SUAS) Competition, faculty advisor: Dr. Felix Ewere

The club’s primary task is to design, build, and operate an unmanned aerial system (UAS), commonly known as a drone, to complete a series of complex autonomous flight missions. This will allow students to showcase their skills by creating and flying drones that can navigate and perform tasks without human intervention.

NC State University AquaPack Team, competing in the RoboSub 2025 Competition, faculty advisor: Dr. John Muth

The NC State team will design and build an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) that can complete complex tasks like navigating obstacles, manipulating objects, and identifying sonar beacons. Teams will gain practical experience in robotics, engineering, and underwater navigation, simulating real-world maritime tasks used in exploration and seafloor mapping.

UNC Charlotte 49er Miners, competing in the NASA Lunabotics Challenge, faculty advisor: Dr. Aiden Browne

The 49er Miners are experienced competitors and will work this year to upgrade their previous competition rover with improved subsystems. Beyond the technical improvements, team members will gain experience in NASA’s Systems Engineering process, along with valuable skills in project management and systems-level thinking—preparing them well for future careers or graduate studies.

UNC Charlotte 49er Rocketry Team, competing in the NASA Student Launch Challenge, faculty advisor: Dr. Arun Vishnu Suresh Babu

In past competitions, the 49er Rocketry Team has achieved impressive results. This year, the team is preparing for the 2024-25 competition by placing significant emphasis on the payload, crafting a multidisciplinary team with computer and electrical/electronics engineering backgrounds.

UNC Charlotte’s Gold Rush Robotics Club, competing in the Southeast Con 2025 Hardware Competition, faculty advisor: Dr. Sam Shue

UNC Charlotte’s team will design an autonomous robot for this year’s competition, “Mining Mayhem,” which simulates a futuristic space mining mission. Teams must create a robot capable of collecting and securing valuable materials on a simulated asteroid before time runs out. The event emphasizes hands-on engineering, programming, and problem-solving, providing students with practical robotics experience.

UNC Pembroke’s Rocket Team, competing in the First Nations Launch Competition, faculty advisor: Dr. Steven Singletary

The First Nations Launch (FNL) is a rocket competition specifically for students at Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), Native American-Serving Nontribal Institutions, or American Indian Science and Engineering Society chapters. The UNC Pembroke team will design and launch a high-power rocket, building engineering and rocketry skills through the challenges. The program offers resources, travel awards, and certification opportunities to support participants in this aerospace-focused competition.

Many of these teams have previously participated in competitions and are returning to build upon their successes. Read about last year’s Team Experience and Competition Grant recipients and how they performed in national NASA- and STEM-related challenges: