For the second consecutive year, University of Detroit Mercy took home the top prize at the Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition, held June 5-8 in Rochester, Michigan.

The 2009 UDM Team with Thor the robot at the IGVC.

Fifty teams representing 43 schools constructed their robots and competed against other universities throughout the world. These included nationally recognized leaders in engineering education such as Princeton, Cornell, Georgia Tech, Olin and Rose-Hulman, and other Michigan universities: Michigan Tech, Lawrence Tech, Wayne State and University of Michigan-Dearborn. Competitors also included state universities from across the nation (including Florida, Maryland, Wisconsin, California, Nebraska, Texas and Pennsylvania), and international universities including University of Toronto and Ecole de Technologie Superieure (Canada).

Team member Kevin Barry with Thor the robot during the 2009 competition.

"Our students worked extremely hard and were able to achieve a high score in their last attempt in the Autonomous Challenge, which enabled the team to take overall first place in the IGVC," says Electrical Engineering Professor Mark Paulik.

The IGVC is an annual international competition created to offer cutting-edge design experience to engineering students. The competition consisted of three challenge events: Autonomous Challenge, Navigation Challenge, and the Design Competition. The scores from each of these events are combined to determine the overall First Place Grand Award winner.

The University of Detroit Mercy team received the 2009 First Place Grand Award. University of Delaware placed second.

"This win reflects not only the hard work and competitiveness of our team and faculty mentors, but also UDM's innovative curriculum that employs autonomous vehicles as a vertically integrative platform," says UDM Engineering & Science Dean Leo Hanifin. "It's a major accomplishment to win the IGVC Grand Prize for the second year in a row. This team's success, and that of other UDM student teams, demonstrates the unparalleled competence of our students in designing and building complex systems that work."

Watch video footage from the winning team on the E&S video gallery!

Thor Pro, the IGVC Champion Robot, did the coin toss for several game starts at the 2009 Detroit Catholic League Prep Bowl Championship at Ford Field, Oct. 24. The College also sponsored an information table at the event, which was staffed by E&S faculty and students.