Nationally Competitive Niner Engineers Represent UNC Charlotte Talent Among World’s Top Teams
July 17, 2025
Spring is competition season for engineering college students across the country, including UNC Charlotte. The internal drive to win, a common denominator of Niner Engineers, leads them to the national level where they develop solutions for real-world challenges.
UNC Charlotte engineering students are among the most motivated, dedicated problem solvers, displayed by the many teams that travel to national events each year. This year has proven to be yet another successful year for tenacity, hard work, lessons learned and celebrations.
49er Miner Robotics @ NASA Lunabotics Competition
#6 Caterpillar Autonomy Award and 11th place overall
2025 Student Team Leader
Reece Walser, Project Lead
The challenge was to design and build a prototype off-world construction rover capable of performing specific operations including navigating autonomously, digging lunar simulant, transporting and depositing it into a designated space. Ultimately, students are working toward supporting future space exploration objectives.
The team achieved 6th place in the autonomy award which honors teams that successfully complete competition activities autonomously. It emphasizes the development and implementation of autonomous control systems in lunar robotics, reflecting real-world applications in remote and automated operations.
NASA’s 2025 Lunabotics Challenge was held at The Astronauts Memorial Foundation’s Center for Space Education at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida
Aidan Brown, associate professor of electromechanical engineering technology, and Michael Smith, assistant professor of mechanical engineering technology serve as the team’s faculty advisors.
Learn more about 49er Miner Robotics.
Learn more about NASA Lunabotics.
49ers Racing – EV @ Formula SAE Competition
As a relatively new team, 49ers Racing EV has excelled by racing at the national level three years in a row.
2025 Student Team Leaders
Vinny Cagno, Team Captain
Aditya Amraotkar, Finance Lead
Nicole Lane, Marketing Lead
Matthew Shaffer, Vice President
Anthony Bombik, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, and Jim Fox, research operations manager for UNC Charlotte’s Alan D. Kulwicki Motorsports Lab, serve as advisors to the 49ers Racing – Electric Vehicle team.
“The team completed over 100 miles of testing,” said Bombik, an EV battery research expert with the North Carolina BATT CAVE Research Center. “It was a successful year with significant progress – a monumental step forward toward 2026 when more than half of the same members will return and build on this experience. Their goal will be to compete in all of the events for the first time in school history. I am looking forward to the upcoming season.”
Learn more about 49ers Racing – EV.
Learn more about Formula SAE Electric.
49ers Racing – IC @ Formula SAE Competition
10th overall among 105 international teams; securing three years in a row in top 10; 1st place in business presentation event; first time as a Design Finalist
2025 Student Team Leaders
Simon Sanders, Team Captain and Powertrain Lead
Baker Cobb, Marketing Lead
Ben Demosthene and Hayden Kupka, Vehicle Dynamics Co-Leads
Henry Kelleher, Chassis Lead
Samuel Kleinschuster, Aerodynamics Lead
Rocco Procaccini, Business Lead
Ryan Taylor, Driver Controls Lead
Alex Volmer, Electronics Lead
Jim Fox, manager for the Kulwicki Lab, and Tyler Stover, teaching assistant professor of mechanical engineering, serve as advisors for 49ers Racing – Internal Combustion team.
“Our FSAE teams are perfect examples of how perseverance, hard work and dedication can lead to extraordinary results,” said Fox of both the IC and EV competition teams. “To say we are proud of our teams would be the understatement of the year.”
The Design Finalist recognition held deep meaning for the team as an appropriate reflection of their inspiration, Alan Kulwicki, NASCAR’s first champion who held an engineering degree and namesake of the UNC Charlotte motorsports lab.
“We are very proud of the team for being one of the design finalists since this category is reflective of the engineering work put into the car, and a very tough part of the competition” Stover elaborated. “It’s like a graduate level exam on the theory of engineering. To make it to this level of the competition, 49ers Racing really demonstrated their knowledge and professionalism during the design judging.”
Learn more about the 49ers Racing IC team.
Learn more about the Forumula SAE.
49ers Rocketry Team @ NASA Student Launch
Long history of proven team success at a national level even with no academic aerospace program.
2025 Student Team Leaders:
Ben Janke, Team Lead
Dillon Lewis Freer, Payload Lead
Gracie Judy, Vehicle Lead
“The UNC Charlotte 49er Rocketry Team has provided me a unique opportunity to challenge myself and others, by applying engineering skills that we learned over the course of our engineering studies,” said Ben Janke ‘25 BSME. “While this project has been highly intensive and has tested the mettle of the team, we have all learned valuable lessons, and have had a positive experience.”
UNC Charlotte is one of the very few universities to routinely dominate at the national level of aerospace student competition while not having an aerospace program. Notably, as of 2024, 49ers Rocketry placed in the top three overall teams for seven years straight, featuring multiple grand prizes and a record-breaking altitude award with a distance-from-projection of only two feet.
Beginning fall 2025, UNC Charlotte is offering an aerospace engineering concentration, formally training students in flight aerodynamics, orbital mechanics, aerospace propulsion, vehicle design and more.
Arun Vishnu Babu, teaching assistant professor of mechanical engineering, has served as the team’s faculty advisor for years. “This year, the team had exceptional dynamics,” shared Babu. “The students built strong relationships, supported each other and maintained a positive attitude even in high-pressure situations. This team spirit helped them have a memorable experience while applying their engineering knowledge to solve a challenging real-world problem.”
Learn more about 49ers Rocketry.
Explore the NASA Student Launch.
ASCE UNC Charlotte Student Chapter @ American Society of Civil Engineers Concrete Canoe Event
Broke team record by placing in top ten in two categories: men’s slalom and proposal
2025 Student Team Leaders
Jamie Welday, UNC Charlotte ASCE Student Chapter President
Julissa Badillo and Daniel Rodriguez, Concrete Canoe co-captains
Kimberly Warren, associate professor of civil engineering (ret.) and faculty advisor to the team shared her pride in the team. “Congratulations to these outstanding students for their unwavering dedication during the academic year leading up to these competitions. They put in countless hours of hard work while preparing for their team events. During the conference, they demonstrated clear leadership, integrity, creativity, and technical capabilities.”
Warren also guided the team earlier in the semester to the regionals, called the “Carolinas Symposium.” In addition to concrete canoe, challenges included Steel Bridge, Surveying, Timber Strong and more.
Warren retired at the end of the 2024-2025 school year after having led research, academic programs, the civil and environmental engineering department operations and especially students. She will be missed for her focus on student success and winning spirit.
Learn more about the ASCE UNC Charlotte Student Chapter.
Learn more about the ASCE Concrete Canoe Event.
Design Build Fly Team @ AIAA DBF Competition
First time at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics international Design-Build-Fly event
2025 Student Team Leader:
Kyle VanHorn, Team President
Over 110 teams representing 14 countries from around the world met in Tuscon, Arizona to design, build and test an airplane. The plane should be able to execute an X-1 supersonic flight test program, including a launch of another vehicle, and autonomous glider with flashing lights.
Artur Wolek, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, serves as the faculty advisor to the team. “A huge thank you to our team for their hard work,” said Wolek,” and to everyone who has supported us on this journey!”
Learn more about the UNC Charlotte DBF Team.
Learn more about the AIAA Design-Build-Fly Competition.