Media Release

Manipal, Jul 13: Student team from Manipal Institute of Technology, MAHE excelled in performing at the University Rover Challenge 2022 held in the Mars Desert Research Station, Hanksville, Utah, USA on June 1- 4, 2022.

The team from MIT named Mars Rover Manipal achieved an overall rank of 21 in the competition and also won the 'John Barainca Award' for being the Best Science team.

The University Rover Challenge is a premier robotics competition organized annually by ‘The Mars Society’ during summer at the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in Utah, USA. The challenge is to build a next-generation Mars Rover capable of working alongside humans in future Martian colonies. Each edition of the competition has multiple problem statements which are designed to capture the complex system design requirements in such environments.

This year 36 teams participated in the competition from across the globe

Speaking of the achievement of Team Mars Rover Manipal Lt Gen (Dr) MD Venkatesh, vice chancellor, Manipal Academy of Higher Education said, “We are delighted with the performance of our students at an international competition of such repute. They have made us proud by participating with unity and determination in the University Rover Challenge 2022. We congratulate them and wish them all the success in future endeavors. We are sure they will achieve greater heights in the years to come."

Cdr Dr Anil Rana, director, Manipal Institute of Technology, MAHE said, “Team Mars Rover Manipal has always strived and excelled in designing and building next generation of rovers for exploration of extraterrestrial environments and interplanetary missions. Their participation and performance will inspire other students to push themselves to inculcate practical and technical skills along with theoretical knowledge. We are extremely happy at their achievement, as they showed grit and determination in spite of the several challenges posed by the pandemic and made their institute proud."