[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ inner_width=”auto” inner_max_width=”1080px” _builder_version=”4.27.4″][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ custom_padding__hover=”|||” custom_padding=”|||”][et_pb_image _builder_version=”4.27.4″ src=”https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cet-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/405\/2025\/05\/WCU-IEEE-Spring-2025-6.jpg” background_pattern_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.2)” background_mask_color=”#ffffff” box_shadow_horizontal_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_vertical_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_blur_tablet=”40px” box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px” vertical_offset_tablet=”0″ horizontal_offset_tablet=”0″ z_index_tablet=”0″ \/][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ background_pattern_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.2)” background_mask_color=”#ffffff” text_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”text_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ text_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” text_text_shadow_vertical_length=”text_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ text_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” 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header_6_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_6_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_6_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_6_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” box_shadow_horizontal_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_vertical_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_blur_tablet=”40px” box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px” vertical_offset_tablet=”0″ horizontal_offset_tablet=”0″ z_index_tablet=”0″ custom_margin=”0px|||” custom_margin_phone=”0px||0px|” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|phone” custom_padding=”0px||0px|”]<\/p>\n
In the year 2047\u2014or at least in the world imagined by the IEEE SoutheastCon 2025 Hardware Challenge\u2014teams of student engineers faced off in a high-stakes scramble for rare minerals in outer space. Their mission: program a fully autonomous robot to navigate the rocky terrain of a distant asteroid, collect geodinium and nebulite, and transport it to a teleportation pad before time ran out. The scene, dubbed \u201cMining Mayhem,\u201d pushed competitors to blend precision engineering with futuristic vision, and WCU\u2019s IEEE student team enjoyed working on the challenge throughout the year.<\/p>\n
This was one of several challenges WCU\u2019s chapter of IEEE<\/strong><\/a> tackled as members connected and collaborated throughout the year. IEEE student branches seek to give students a community of peers and a connection to faculty and industry professionals who drive innovation in technical fields, and students in WCU\u2019s IEEE student club say they enjoy being part of it, especially participating in events such as the IEEE SoutheastCon conference.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ background_pattern_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.2)” background_mask_color=”#ffffff” custom_margin=”0px||0px|” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|desktop” box_shadow_horizontal_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_vertical_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_blur_tablet=”40px” box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px” vertical_offset_tablet=”0″ horizontal_offset_tablet=”0″ z_index_tablet=”0″ custom_padding=”0px||0px|”][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ custom_padding__hover=”|||” custom_padding=”|||”][et_pb_video _builder_version=”4.27.4″ src=”https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cet-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/405\/2025\/05\/WCU-IEEE-Robot-2025-.mp4″ 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header_2_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_2_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_2_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_2_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_3_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”header_3_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_3_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_3_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_3_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_3_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_3_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_3_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_3_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_4_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”header_4_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_4_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_4_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_4_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_4_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_4_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_4_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_4_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_5_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”header_5_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_5_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_5_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_5_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_5_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_5_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_5_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_5_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_6_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”header_6_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_6_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_6_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_6_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_6_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_6_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_6_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_6_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” box_shadow_horizontal_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_vertical_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_blur_tablet=”40px” box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px” vertical_offset_tablet=”0″ horizontal_offset_tablet=”0″ z_index_tablet=”0″]<\/p>\n \u201cI love getting to see our ideas come together and work beautifully,\u201d said Haley Glenn, WCU IEEE president for 2025-26 and a mechanical engineering student with a minor in math from Boiling Springs. \u201cThe connections you make (with IEEE), the different disciplines involved, and the hands-on experience\u2014it\u2019s something I wouldn\u2019t trade. I did FIRST Robotics in middle school, so when I found out Western had a robotics team (with IEEE), I couldn’t wait to join. It has been a wonderful learning experience, from sharpening CAD skills to learning things from the electrical majors, to getting to connect with lots of interesting people.\u201d<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ background_pattern_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.2)” background_mask_color=”#ffffff” custom_margin=”||0px|” custom_padding=”||0px|” box_shadow_horizontal_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_vertical_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_blur_tablet=”40px” box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px” vertical_offset_tablet=”0″ horizontal_offset_tablet=”0″ z_index_tablet=”0″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ custom_padding__hover=”|||” custom_padding=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ background_pattern_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.2)” background_mask_color=”#ffffff” text_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”text_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ text_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” text_text_shadow_vertical_length=”text_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ 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Object%93″ header_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_2_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”header_2_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_2_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_2_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_2_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_2_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_2_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_2_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_2_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_3_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”header_3_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_3_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_3_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_3_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_3_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_3_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_3_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_3_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_4_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”header_4_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_4_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_4_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_4_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_4_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_4_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_4_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_4_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_5_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”header_5_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_5_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_5_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_5_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_5_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_5_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_5_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_5_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_6_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”header_6_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_6_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_6_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_6_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_6_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_6_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_6_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_6_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” box_shadow_horizontal_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_vertical_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_blur_tablet=”40px” box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px” vertical_offset_tablet=”0″ horizontal_offset_tablet=”0″ z_index_tablet=”0″]<\/p>\n At IEEE SoutheastCon 2025, WCU\u2019s IEEE student teams competed in competitions related to robotics, promotional design, website design, ethics, professional networking, hardware design, and software design (game design). They claimed second place in the Ethics competition and placed seventh out of 41 teams in the \u201cMining Mayhem\u201d challenge.<\/p>\n \u201cIEEE SoutheastCon is an incredible event where you get to compete in many engineering challenges, and being a part of it has been an amazing experience,\u201d said Ethan Magnante, an electrical engineering student from Winston-Salem who served as lead software and electronics designer for the team.<\/p>\n \u201cOver the past two semesters, I\u2019ve put in over 50-plus hours into total work time on the robot. The most fun thing that I worked on was actually getting to work on microcontroller logic and implementation for the robot’s \u2018brain.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Student coders, designers, and builders spent the academic year preparing\u2014starting with brainstorming and 3D prints in the fall and picking up steam with late-night testing sessions in the spring. The WCU robot relied on motor encoders and a gyroscope for autonomous navigation, with a custom mechanical system using an Archimedes screw to transport collected materials.\u00a0 At times, the robot used a computer vision system, though the team didn\u2019t rely on it for the competition, said Dr. Adam Harris<\/a>, assistant professor and the team\u2019s faculty mentor. Dr. Bob Adams also supported the WCU student team.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ background_pattern_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.2)” background_mask_color=”#ffffff” custom_margin=”||0px|” custom_padding=”||0px|” box_shadow_horizontal_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_vertical_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_blur_tablet=”40px” box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px” vertical_offset_tablet=”0″ horizontal_offset_tablet=”0″ z_index_tablet=”0″][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ custom_padding__hover=”|||” custom_padding=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ background_pattern_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.2)” background_mask_color=”#ffffff” text_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”text_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ text_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” text_text_shadow_vertical_length=”text_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ text_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” text_text_shadow_blur_strength=”text_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ 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header_2_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”header_2_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_2_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_2_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_2_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_2_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_2_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_2_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_2_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_3_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”header_3_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_3_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_3_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_3_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_3_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_3_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_3_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_3_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_4_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”header_4_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_4_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_4_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_4_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_4_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_4_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_4_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_4_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_5_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”header_5_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_5_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_5_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_5_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_5_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_5_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_5_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_5_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_6_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”header_6_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_6_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_6_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_6_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_6_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_6_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_6_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_6_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” box_shadow_horizontal_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_vertical_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_blur_tablet=”40px” box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px” vertical_offset_tablet=”0″ horizontal_offset_tablet=”0″ z_index_tablet=”0″]<\/p>\n \u201cThe biggest roadblock we faced this semester was settling on a final design,\u201d said Jordan Fox, an electrical and computer engineering technology student from Cullowhee. \u201cMany great ideas were tested and attempted to be implemented, but its process slowed our final refinement process down. However, that is a part of the fun!\u201d<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ custom_padding__hover=”|||” custom_padding=”|||”][et_pb_image _builder_version=”4.27.4″ src=”https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cet-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/405\/2025\/05\/WCU-IEEE-Spring-2025-7.jpg” background_pattern_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.2)” background_mask_color=”#ffffff” box_shadow_horizontal_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_vertical_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_blur_tablet=”40px” box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px” vertical_offset_tablet=”0″ horizontal_offset_tablet=”0″ z_index_tablet=”0″ \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ background_pattern_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.2)” background_mask_color=”#ffffff” custom_margin=”||0px|” custom_padding=”||0px|” box_shadow_horizontal_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_vertical_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_blur_tablet=”40px” box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px” vertical_offset_tablet=”0″ horizontal_offset_tablet=”0″ z_index_tablet=”0″][et_pb_column 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header_3_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_3_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_3_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_3_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_3_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_3_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_4_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”header_4_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_4_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_4_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_4_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_4_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_4_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_4_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_4_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_5_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”header_5_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_5_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_5_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_5_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_5_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_5_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_5_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_5_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_6_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”header_6_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_6_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_6_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_6_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_6_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_6_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_6_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_6_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” box_shadow_horizontal_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_vertical_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_blur_tablet=”40px” box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px” vertical_offset_tablet=”0″ horizontal_offset_tablet=”0″ z_index_tablet=”0″]<\/p>\n \u201cThe connections you make with your teammates and the involved learning process that takes place fosters a unique learning environment that does not compare to your classes,\u201d said Fox. \u201cIt gets my seal of approval, and you will catch me being involved again next year without a doubt.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Glenn conceded, IEEE can be a very involved club with meetings, creating CAD models, printing iterations, and more.<\/p>\n \u201cHowever, as challenging and time-consuming as it can be, I wouldn’t give it up,\u201d Glenn said. \u201cI love the new hardware challenges. I love getting to bounce ideas around with different-minded people to create something amazing. I love getting to see those ideas come together and work beautifully. I love getting to help out and be a part of something this big.\u201d<\/p>\n Learn more about engineering programs at WCU<\/a> and\u00a0 how to get involved with IEEE at WCU<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Competing at IEEE SoutheastCon 2025 was a highlight of the year for students in WCU’s IEEE chapter, and the group proudly claimed second and seventh places in ethics and robotics contests, respectively. “I love getting to bounce ideas around with different-minded people to create something amazing,” said student Haley Glenn.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3401,"featured_media":9958,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[86],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9957","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wcu-engineering"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cet-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cet-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cet-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cet-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3401"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cet-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9957"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cet-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9957\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10078,"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cet-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9957\/revisions\/10078"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cet-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cet-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cet-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cet-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}