Spring 2026 ME 2110 Design Competition Takes Students Across the Galaxy
April 22, 2026
Story by Tracie Troha | Photos by Mikey Fuller and Mahir Ashraf
More than 280 students in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering put their creativity, technical skills, and teamwork to the test during the Spring 2026 ME 2110 Design Competition on April 17.
The competition marked the culmination of ME 2110: Creative Decisions and Design Review, the School’s second-year design-build course in which all mechanical engineering students participate. This semester, 71 teams took on a challenge inspired by the “Super Mario Galaxy” movie, transforming the GTMI Building into a high-energy arena of engineering and imagination.
The evening began with an in-person design review in the Love Building Atrium, where student teams presented their robotic designs to a panel of rotating judges on the first and second floors. Judges evaluated each team’s design process, innovation, and technical execution.
Afterward, the action moved to the GTMI Atrium for the live robotics competition. With the galaxy in peril, Princess Rosalina tasked students with building robots capable of delivering Mario, feeding Lumas, defeating Koopas, infiltrating Bowser’s castle, and stabilizing Bowser’s Galaxy Reactor in a dynamic arena inspired by the movie.
Team Rainbow Road Rage earned the event’s Design Review Award for its standout engineering.
“It feels great (to win the Design Award). All the hard work we put in was worth it,” said team member Josiah Claxton-Jones, a third-year mechanical engineering student.
First place in the overall competition went to team Bowser? Who is he?, whose robot consistently scored 126 points per round for a total of 754 points, nearly double the class average of 66 points.
“There were not just three or four incredibly accurate and consistent robots, but over a dozen real contenders,” said Senior Lecturer Marty Jacobson. “Each was very well designed and built by their highly capable teams. Any one of them could have taken home the trophy and deserved it just as much.”
Jacobson noted that seven other teams posted similarly strong performances, with scores consistently in the low 100s.
“I’m astonished,” said Liam Boehme, a third-year mechanical engineering student and a member of the winning team. “It was a great competition, and I thought our robot worked really well.”
“I’m shocked. I never expected to win,” added teammate Noble Strickland, also a third-year mechanical engineering student.
Second place went to i-LUMA-nati, which posted the highest average score of the night at 163 points per round and 976 total points. Golden Goombas, tied for third place, was the second-most consistent scoring team, averaging 149 points per round and 894 total points.
The winning teams received trophies and Milwaukee-brand tools, closing out a memorable night that celebrated innovation, persistence, and the collaborative spirit of ME 2110.
