WVU University Rover Challenge

WVU University Rover Challenge Welcome to the official account of the University Rover Challenge team at West Virginia University! 🚀

We survived URC 2026!Team Mountaineers is proud to announce that we placed 4th out of 116 teams from 18 different countr...
06/07/2026

We survived URC 2026!

Team Mountaineers is proud to announce that we placed 4th out of 116 teams from 18 different countries. Our team had the top scores in both our System Acceptance Review and tied for first in the Autonomous Navigation mission.

03/25/2026

Meet Deimos & Phobos! Team Mountaineers is officially headed to URC 2026 in Utah this May.

This Tuesday we are talking about Patrick Boarman and Ryan Ostrander. Patrick is a senior in mechanical and aerospace en...
11/19/2025

This Tuesday we are talking about Patrick Boarman and Ryan Ostrander. Patrick is a senior in mechanical and aerospace engineering with an aerospace emphasis and Ryan is a senior in mechanical engineering.

🦾What is your job in URC?

Patrick: Drivetrain Coordinator (Mainly in charge of wheg design)

Ryan: Drivetrain Coordinator

🦿What is your favorite thing about URC?

Patrick: My favorite part of URC is the push from others to be a better engineer because there are so many great ones on this team.

Ryan: My favorite thing about URC is working with engineers from all different disciplines.

🤖What is your dream job after college?

Patrick: I would love to work on anything in the field of hypersonics or high speed unsteady aerodynamics

Ryan: My dream job after college is between a manufacturing engineer, biomedical engineer, or eventually becoming an engineering professor.

⚙️What is a hobby you have outside of URC?

Patrick: I love to go to the gym and powerlift. I have competed nationally multiple times and have placed #7 in the nation in 2024

Ryan: Outside of URC I enjoy coaching and playing soccer.

Team Mountaineers had an awesome week showing off our rover at both the Pumpkin Drop and Track or Treat! We loved meetin...
11/03/2025

Team Mountaineers had an awesome week showing off our rover at both the Pumpkin Drop and Track or Treat! We loved meeting everyone, seeing the creative costumes, and sharing our rover and robotic dog with the community. 🍬 🎃 🤖

Big thanks to and for having us!

This Tuesday we are talking about Rex McAllister and Tim Wright. Rex is a senior in computer engineering and Tim is a se...
10/21/2025

This Tuesday we are talking about Rex McAllister and Tim Wright. Rex is a senior in computer engineering and Tim is a senior in mechanical engineering.

🦾What is your job in URC?

Rex: Communications Coordinator

Tim: Communications Coordinator

🦿What is your favorite thing about URC?

Rex: It’s a great place to combine all engineering disciplines into one final product

Tim: The people I get to work with.

🤖What is your dream job after college?

Rex: I’m hoping to work in controls engineering

Tim: Locomotive Engineer

⚙️What is a hobby you have outside of URC?

Rex: I’m heavily involved in the Experimental Rocketry team

Tim: Model Railroading

Mock comp 2025✅ Another successful test run in the books! The team overcame obstacles, made key improvements, and pushed...
10/15/2025

Mock comp 2025✅ Another successful test run in the books! The team overcame obstacles, made key improvements, and pushed us one step close to Utah. 🤖🚀

This Tuesday we are talking about Wyatt Albertson and Austin Driggs. Wyatt is a senior in computer science and computer ...
10/14/2025

This Tuesday we are talking about Wyatt Albertson and Austin Driggs. Wyatt is a senior in computer science and computer engineering and Austin is a senior in computer and electrical engineering.

🦾What is your job in URC?

Wyatt: Electronics Coordinator

Austin: Electronics Coordinator

🦿What is your favorite thing about URC?

Wyatt: Payload swapping

Austin: I enjoy learning from and seeing others’ perspectives on projects we’re working on while connecting with them

🤖What is your dream job after college?

Wyatt: Rapid prototyping

Austin: PCB Design Engineer

⚙️What is a hobby you have outside of URC?

Wyatt: FPV drone building

Austin: I love playing soccer and also have my own homelab setup.

This Tuesday we are talking about Cameron Salgado and Katerina Hernandez. Cameron is a sophomore in computer science and...
10/08/2025

This Tuesday we are talking about Cameron Salgado and Katerina Hernandez. Cameron is a sophomore in computer science and Katrina is a junior in chemistry.

🦾What is your job in URC?

Cameron: Electronics Coordinator

Katrina: Science Coordinator

🦿What is your favorite thing about URC?

Cameron: The people

Katrina: Getting to learn more about how life detection experiments are implemented into a rover and learning from the group how field tests can be executed in a rover.

🤖What is your dream job after college?

Cameron: Engineer for NASA or SpaceX

Katrina: Astrobiology research

⚙️What is a hobby you have outside of URC?

Cameron: I like to draw

Katrina: Cooking, being outdoors, buying toys for my cat

This Tuesday we are talking about Doug Herr and Ian Long. Doug is a senior MAE student and Ian is a junior in mechanical...
09/30/2025

This Tuesday we are talking about Doug Herr and Ian Long. Doug is a senior MAE student and Ian is a junior in mechanical engineering.

🦾What is your job in URC?

Doug: Coordinator of Science Sub Team

Ian: Science Coordinator

🦿What is your favorite thing about URC?

Doug: Seeing so many people come together for one product

Ian: My favorite part of URC is working with people who come from so many different technical backgrounds and perspectives. It’s pretty cool to see how our unique skills can combine to accomplish the goals of each sub-team and mission.

🤖What is your dream job after college?

Doug: DoD

Ian: I’d love to work with industrial/mobile robotics for manufacturing or space exploration after I graduate.

⚙️What is a hobby you have outside of URC?

Doug: Guitar, cooking, watching sports with friends

Ian: Aside from URC, I love spending time outdoors (camping, mountain biking, hiking, etc. ) and working on classic cars.

Talk About Tuesday is a fun way for you to get to know more about different members of our team and for team members to ...
09/23/2025

Talk About Tuesday is a fun way for you to get to know more about different members of our team and for team members to be recognized for their individual hard work each week. This Tuesday we are talking about Logan Gold and Izaak Whetsell. Logan is a senior in Mechanical Engineering. Izaak is a senior in Computer Science and Computer and Electrical Engineering.

🦾What is your job in URC?

Logan: Chief Executive Officer and Drivetrain Coordinater

Izaak: CTO and Programming Subteam Coordinator

🦿What is your favorite thing about URC?

Logan: Not only are the people great, but I also enjoy the challenge of building a robot from scratch every year and then seeing it compete against teams across the world.

Izaak: I really like getting to explore my degrees through a wide variety of projects such as device firmware, autonomous algorithms, PCBs, and power systems.

🤖What is your dream job after college?

Logan: My dream job would be materials and process engineering because I would have the ability to bridge the gap between manufacturing and material discovery, while developing improved processes for dealing with these new materials.

Izaak: Working for NASA to develop robotics for space exploration.

⚙️What is a hobby you have outside of URC?

Logan: I enjoy playing pickleball with friends and family.

Izaak: In my spare time, I like to read and explore the outdoors through hiking, biking, and swimming.

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West Virginia University
Morgantown, WV
26501

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