Innovation in Action Meet the BIC/KIC Competition Teams

Welcome to the heart of innovation.

In the Branam and Kremer Innovation Centers (BIC and KIC), students tinker with their ideas and let their creativity take flight. Through several competition teams, students hone their passions, work with state-of-the-art equipment, and gain technical and leadership skills to launch their careers and push the boundaries of possibilities.

Each year, top employers specifically seek out competition team students, hosting networking events within the BIC and the KIC for the teams to showcase their projects.

Though FIRST Robotics mentors strive to teach technical skills to the high school students, they also emphasize building relationships within the team, playing mini golf and card games as a group in the evenings after their competitions.

Students in Design-Build-Fly learn from each other's specialties, including automated flight, electronic components, SolidWorks and CAD design, 3D printing, and principles of aerospace.

The team designs, builds, and races an open-wheel formula-style racecar. Teams compete in a combination of static events, which focus on design and engineering, and dynamic events, which focus on car performance.

Everyone, regardless of major or automotive experience, is welcome in RoseGPE.

RoseGPE celebrated a major milestone last season: designing their first electric vehicle.

The team learned new skills, including machining and welding, in order to meet the competition standards.

RoseGPE also obtained record sponsorship funding and learned from industry experts at Lucid and Tesla.

NASA Student Launch Initiative (NASA USLI) - Hosted by NASA, NASA USLI is a nine-month challenge throughout which students design, document, build, test, and launch a high-power rocket that carries a scientific payload.

In its second full season of competition, the NASA USLI team recorded its first successful Vehicle Demonstration Flight (VDF) and Payload Demonstration Flight (PDF) for the Flight Readiness Review (FRR) milestone. This historic accomplishment for the team qualified them for competition in Huntsville, Alabama.

Rose Propulsion Lab (RPL) - RPL competes in the Collegiate Propulsive Lander Challenge, developing a self-landing rocket powered by custom 3D-printed liquid rocket engines. In their most recent season, RPL advanced development on their high-pressure feed system for the LE-1 rocket engine in preparation for the upcoming test campaign.

High-Power Rocketry (HPR) - HPR is a hobby program where students are able to build personal rockets and earn certifications to fly different motor classes. Members of HPR recently celebrated one Level 2 and 13 Level 1 certification flights.

Throughout each organization, members gain experience in technical documentation, project management, teamwork, and cross-disciplinary collaboration.

Students are encouraged to work outside of their field of study, broadening their perspective and strengthening the team's project integration, and gain opportunities to learn from engaged alumni and knowledgeable campus advisers.

Members competing in each weight class learn about mechanical design, component selection, design for manufacture, 3D printing, and soldering. In addition to project management skills, Combat Robotics members gain experience in working independently with minimal directions, preparing them for success in the workplace.

Throughout building the robot, as well as pizza parties and late-night documentation sessions, MATE members learned mechanical skills — design, analysis, controls, and waterproofing — and electrical and computer engineering skills, including PCB and power electronics design, and signal processing and filtering.

They also gained experience in UI/UX design, code design, and computer vision, as well as data processing and artificial intelligence.

Robomaster developed a new, lighter chassis that featured suspension and increased defensive capabilities. The team enhanced their computer vision pipeline to autonomously aim at and strike competitors during competition, as well as creating a prototype of a super-capacitor bank.

Rover recently developed several substantial improvements to their robot, including working with a senior capstone project team to develop a new arm, and stabilizing their drive train. Rover team members also built a soil package to test soil samples for signs of life, as well as participated in STEM outreach events.

The team attended Champaign's CCSCC Autocross school to learn more about autocross.

The team also made multiple visits to the drag strip with their freshly-rebuilt Ford Mustang Foxbody and rebuilt their Porsche engine this past summer.

The Maker Lab is an innovator's creative playground. With equipment including 3D printers, vinyl cutters, and laser cutters, the Maker Lab enables students to pursue personal creative projects. In addition to more traditional officer roles, Maker Lab elects officers for each machine, allowing members to train each other in practical skills.

Last year, the Maker Lab was proud to host a Halloween party and a mini painting event, and they were honored to have received recognition in the BIC's quarterly 5 S Safety Audit.

The Maker Lab is open to any Rose-Hulman student who completes the "Welcome to Maker Lab" training course, though access to specific machines require additional training courses.

Members also develop teamwork, communication, and presentation abilities through the competition's technical reports, oral presentations, and racing events.

Rose-Hulman's humanitarian engineering club, Make It Happen, tackles local projects to fill unmet needs in the community utilizing the skills of club members.

Make It Happen uses the engineering design process to solve problems, fabricating solutions by sewing, welding, woodworking, soldering, and machining. The club deliberately employs a loose organizational structure to accommodate student workloads and recently shifted to a more collaborative project structure to provide more opportunities for involvement.