Project Teams

The University of Michigan Autonomous Robotic Vehicle Team is a new student design team founded in fall 2016, with the goal to create a fully autonomous vehicle for the Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition in 2018 at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. We want to engage and educate our community about intelligent and autonomous systems, through outreach efforts like demos and hands-on workshops where audiences can interact with our vehicle and learn more about autonomous systems.

The Michigan Baja Race team Logo

The Michigan Baja Race team is a student-run competition team housed within the College of Engineering. Every year we design and manufacture an entirely new off-road race vehicle from the ground up. Team members work in the Wilson Student Team Project Center to machine parts, fabricate molds and assemble the new car. If all goes well, we used the remainder of the semester to test and tune the car for the upcoming competitions.

ChemE Car logo

The ChemE Car competition sponsored by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) requires the development of a shoe-box sized car designed and calibrated to run for a pre-determined distance and to carry a certain amount of weight. The car must be fueled by a chemical reaction and stopped by a chemical reaction.

ChemE Cube at the University of Michigan is an engineering and business-focused project team that participates in the AIChE ChemE Cube Competition. Students will collaborate to create a 1 cubic foot chemical plant and promote our technology through a 1-minute ad, poster, and 20-minute “shark tank” style pitch to a panel of mock investors. The team values creativity, collaboration, and innovation, and encourages students from all majors to join and contribute.

The Collaborative Lab for Advancing Work in Space is a multi-disciplinary group of student designers and engineers. Our work centers around the NASA SUITS challenge to create an AR (augmented reality) interface that supports astronauts on lunar missions, paving the way for future space exploration. Members have the opportunity to learn and apply industry skills in a collaborative project team, engage with the broader space community, and travel to the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX to present our final product. We are open to students of all majors and class standing, no experience is necessary. 

Concrete Canoe Team logo

The Michigan Concrete Canoe Team works together to design, fabricate, and race a canoe made from concrete as part of the annual ASCE National Concrete Canoe Competition. The purpose of this event is to promote developments in concrete mix designs and encourage undergraduate involvement in advanced research, project management, and intercollegiate competition.

The University of Michigan Human-Powered Submarine Team is a student-run team focused on designing, building, and testing underwater vehicles solely powered by one person. Each school year the team begins drafting plans for a new sub or designing improvements for an existing sub. Members spend countless hours manufacturing and testing new, innovative systems. Every summer, the team competes in an international competition which tests the sub’s speed and agility against other teams from around the world.

M-Fly Logo

M-Fly is a Society of Automotive Engineers Aerospace Design team at the University of Michigan. Our team’s goal is to design, build, test, and fly remote controlled aircraft for the SAE Aero Design Competition annually. We are open to students of all majors/class standing and no previous experience is necessary.

M-HEAL Logo

M-HEAL is a student organization that fosters interdisciplinary work in global health, design, and entrepreneurship. We engage students from various backgrounds in these efforts through guest lectures, interactive workshops, and volunteer opportunities. We support project teams as they develop health care solutions and as they travel abroad to work with international partners. M-HEAL strives to cultivate a well-informed, creative, and collaborative community prepared to make a positive impact for global health.

Michigan Autonomous Aerial Vehicles Logo

MAAV strives to provide practical, hands-on experience for students by competing annually in the International Aerial Robotics Competition (IARC). Members of MAAV engage in the design, building, and testing of an autonomous unmanned aerial system (UAS) while furthering multiple areas of Computer Science and Aerospace Engineering research.

MACH Logo

The competition we compete in is centered around designing, building, and testing an RC aircraft based upon a set of mission requirements that change every year. The set of missions for each year is based upon a different area within the field of aircraft design. The theme for this year is “Tube Launched UAV” and in past years the theme has been “Distributed Manufacturing Aircraft”, “Backcountry Bush Plane”, “Joint Strike Fighter”, and “Small Passenger Aircraft.”

MASA is the student-run rocketry team at the University of Michigan. We take a multidisciplinary approach to engineering, bringing students together to design, build, and launch pioneering liquid-fueled rockets. MASA is composed of 7 subteams, allowing team members to grow in all aspects of engineering, business, outreach, and leadership. Together, MASA works to take Michigan to new heights!

The Michigan Blacksmithing Club collaborates to design and forge a blade to showcase in the TMS Bladesmithing Competition. This event is designed to promote engagement within the field of materials science and provide students with opportunities for industry jobs and advanced research. Members play a part in fabricating the blade using traditional and modern bladesmithing methods and perform material analysis using tools in the MSE Van Vlack Laboratory. In the off-season, members work on refining their own smithing skills to create blades for club use. No prior experience is necessary as members are all taught safety guidelines and basic hand-forging skills at the beginning of each year. We encourage both engineering and non-engineering members to join and take a swing at some hot steel!

University of Michigan Electric Boat is a student team that designs, builds, and races a manned electric racing boat to compete in the Promoting Electronic Propulsion Competition (PEP) hosted by the American Society of Naval Engineers. Our team offers students the unique opportunity to work on a full-scale vehicle project. Some challenges we face include designing and fabricating a hull and propeller for high-speed efficiency and performance, building an electrical system for high peak power output, and assembling a solar array.

The Michigan Interferometry Club works on projects related to interferometry and optical engineering for terrestrial and space applications. Currently, we are working on a technology demonstrator mission to reflect starlight between two cubesats.

Michigan Robotic Submarine (Michigan RoboSub) is a student-led engineering team with members of diverse backgrounds and interests working together to design and build an autonomous robotic submarine for the annual RoboSub competition in San Diego, CA. We strive to advance autonomous underwater vehicle technology, cultivate individual member growth, & develop opportunities for future wolverine success.

MRacing Logo

MRacing is the University’s Formula SAE team founded in 1986. With over 30 years Founded in 1986 the MRacing SAE team at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor develops engineers with the engineering knowledge and teamwork experience critical to excelling in any field. It takes special focus, motivation, and commitment to produce a winning team in our series. Each year we design, build and race a formula-style car against other college teams worldwide. We have a long-standing legacy of high-performing vehicles and great success at competitions. In 2021, MRacing and Michigan Electric Racing (MER) merged into one team, adapting to changes within the competition and focusing on the future of the automotive industry. MRacing focus as a student-run organization will be to design, build, and test an all-electric race car to compete in Formula SAE Electric.

The Michigan Mars Rover Team (MRover) is a student-run, multidisciplinary organization whose mission is to design and build a rover for the exploration of extraterrestrial environments. Our team consists of undergraduate and graduate students, representing majors for the College of Engineering and the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. We strive to inspire and educate students about space, Mars exploration, and engineering.

Michigan- Sustainability Applications for Aerospace Vehicle Engineering

Michigan – Sustainability Applications for Aerospace Vehicle Engineering (M-SAAVE) is a student project team that is committed to driving social and environmental progress via the deliberate application of aerospace technologies. Our objective is to design, build, test, and fly an aircraft each academic year, aligned with the United Nations SDGs and a partner organization’s core mission. For the 2021-2022 school year, we will be developing an unpiloted aerial vehicle that can be utilized by our partner Air Serv International, one of the world’s leading aviation service providers for humanitarian missions.

Undergraduate and graduate students of all majors are welcome to join!

Michigan Seismic

Michigan Seismic is to help students improve their understanding of the impact of an earthquake in multidisciplinary aspects and advance their knowledge in the science and the practice of earthquake engineering in mitigating earthquake risk. Michigan Seismic’s mission is to challenge a team of students to design, analyze, and construct a balsa wood structure to compete in a worldwide collegiate competition hosted by the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI). The competition will be judged based upon the structure’s constructability, craftsmanship, and durability.

Michigan Task Based Robotics, or MTBR or HAIL Robotics, is a collegiate-level robotics team that designs, programs, manufactures, tests, and pilot robots that compete annually in the VEX U competition – the collegiate division of the biggest robotics competition globally. We are composed of three subteams – Mechanical, Programming, and Business and Operations – with students from across different majors and experience levels, and are united in our love of robotics and goal of elite performance. Go HAIL!

Michigan Vertical Flight Technology Logo

Michigan Vertical Flight Technology is partnering with Purdue VTOL to create a new collegiate personal vertical flight competition for sustainable transportation to help alleviate urban ground congestion. We will also design and build a flight vehicle to compete.

Pantanal Partnership Logo

Pantanal Partnership seeks to use sustainable technology and community-oriented design as a medium to improve the quality of life for residents of the Pantanal,  expand research and environmental stewardship in the Pantanal region of Brazil, and equip our members with technical skills and experience engaging with different cultures.

Project Music Logo

The purpose of this student organization is to push our creative skills to the limit and revolutionize the music industry and the way music is created. We have two main objectives: to invent, fabricate, and perform experimental and conventional musical instruments. We intend to design several experimental instruments each term and perform throughout the university.

SEDS logo

Students for Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) is a worldwide organization with the mission to promote and advance space exploration. SEDS@UM, the chapter of SEDS at the University of Michigan, achieves this goal in the greater U-M community through multidisciplinary technical project teams, professional development opportunities, and K-12 outreach events.

SolarCar Logo

The University of Michigan Solar Car Team is an entirely student-run organization that designs and builds solar electric vehicles. The team races both nationally and internationally. Since its establishment in 1989, the team has built 14 vehicles, won the American Solar Car Challenge nine times, and placed third in the World Solar Challenge five times.

The SPARK Electric Racing Team Logo

The SPARK Electric Racing Team is raising awareness about electric vehicles. Using advanced battery technologies, safety systems, and powerful drivetrains, SPARK is building competition-worthy motorcycles which utilize clean, renewable power sources to achieve performance-level speed by using new technologies and innovative methods to design, build, and race electric motorcycles.

STARX Logo

STARX is a student-run engineering design team at the University of Michigan focused on making practical powered exoskeletons that increase the effective strength of the user. By basing our designs on the best current research, we aim to bring exoskeletons to a functional level that can be applied to real-world use.

The University of Michigan Steel Logo

The University of Michigan Steel is a student project team comprised of undergraduate and graduate engineering students. Each year the team designs, fabricates, and constructs a 1:10 scale bridge according to a set of rules from the American Institute of Steel Construction. The team then competes against other universities at a regional and sometimes national competition.

The Supermileage Team is a student project team that aims to enable students to carry out the engineering and design of a high-efficiency vehicle. The perennial goal of the team is to enter the vehicle into the Society of Automotive Engineers Supermileage Competition and the Shell Eco-marathon Americas Competition.

Team Aquador Logo

Team Aquador is focused on creating a sustainable water treatment system to clean contaminated fresh water sources in several regions in Ecuador. Our mission is to design, build, and implement a system that will be easy to use and maintain by the local communities. We hope to work with communities in the rainforest and jungle regions of Ecuador.

UM::Autonomy is an award-winning undergraduate student project team from the University of Michigan. Each year we build an autonomous boat to participate in the AUVSI Foundation Roboboat competition. The boat is completely designed and programmed by students and must complete a wide range of challenges that are designed to test its autonomous abilities.