UA Engineering Students Compete in Robotics Program

Note: Media can view the robot and meet the team on Wednesday, March 9, at 2 p.m. in Houser Hall, room 212.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — University of Alabama engineering students will compete in the IEEE SoutheastCon Hardware competition March 17-20 in Nashville, Tenn.

This competition, inspired by the 2010 Haiti earthquake, features a course modeled after a collapsed building. Each team must build an autonomous robot, meaning it operates on its own without a driver, to navigate four rooms of the course. The robot must identify victims and announce their condition and location in a spoken form.

UA’s team will be competing against several teams from the IEEE Southeast region. Last year, UA finished 6^th out of about 50 teams.

This competition showcases the potential for modern technology to save lives in disaster situations. Robots, like the ones designed for this competition, can produce quick and accurate reports to emergency responders, who can then act more effectively.

The UA student team consists of seven seniors majoring in electrical and computer engineering:

• Taylor Hall from Montgomery
• Bianca Kuczynski from Owens Crossroads
• Chris Millan from Madison
• Stephen Palecek from Northport
• Andrew Price from Birmingham
• Jeremiah Ritchey from Guntersville
• James Yerby from Madison

Dr. Kenneth Ricks, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, is the faculty adviser for the team. He provides technical advising and guidance.

In 1837, The University of Alabama became one of the first five universities in the nation to offer engineering classes. Today, UA’s fully accredited College of Engineering has more than 2,700 students and more than 100 faculty. In the last eight years, students in the College have been named USA TodayAll-USA College Academic Team members, Goldwater scholars, Hollings scholars and Portz scholars.