MTSU team gears up for NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge

As Middle Tennessee State University graduate assistants Mahina Pranti, left, and Philip Sheffield make adjustments, driver and junior mechatronics engineering major Domonic Dalton of Murfreesboro, Tenn., applies Threadlocker Orange, an industrial strength substance to ensure bolts and threads do not loosen over time to the lunar rover in a student laboratory on campus in Murfreesboro. The team will be competing 2025 NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge April 11-12 in Huntsville, Ala., at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center. (MTSU photo by Randy Weiler)

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — New student team members, new vehicle design and new vision and goals are part of the optimism as the Engineering Technology Experimental Vehicles lunar rover team at Middle Tennessee State University returns to the 2025 Human Exploration Rover Challenge.

Seven undergraduate students, including drivers Domonic Dalton and Angela Thongdinharath, have been working all hours for eight months in preparation for the challenge Friday and Saturday, April 11-12, at the Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

In the student laboratory on campus in Murfreesboro, Tenn., Domonic Dalton, left, a junior Middle Tennessee State University mechatronics engineering major from Murfreesboro, and freshman aerospace major Tyler Smith, 19, of Grays Lake, Ill., make adjustments to the seat of the lunar rover the Experimental Vehicles team will take to Huntsville, Ala., to compete in the annual NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge April 11-12. (MTSU photo by Randy Weiler)

The NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge is a rigorous and continuously evolving activity engaging students in hands-on engineering design. It is an annual competition for college and high school students to design, build and race human-powered, collapsible vehicles over simulated lunar/Martian terrain.

Philip Sheffield, a first-year graduate student guiding the MTSU lunar rover team — Philip Sheffield

“Our goal is to complete the course. It would be nice to win an award,” said Philip Sheffield, a first-year graduate student guiding the team. “We made mistakes, but we learned along the way.”

Past MTSU teams were used to awards and high finishes. They were first in the nation and third internationally in 2015 and seventh overall in 2016. MTSU students earned the Phoenix Award in 2022 and the Neil Armstrong Best Design Award in 2014 and 2020.

To learn more about engineering technology, visit https://et.mtsu.edu.

Facing challenges

Tyler Smith, 19, a freshman aerospace professional pilot major from Grays Lake, Illinois, near Wisconsin, is the only non-engineering major on the team. He learned about the team at a career fair. Smith, who “originally wanted to be in engineering, but math wasn’t for me,” has attended space camp in Huntsville the past seven years and will work it again this summer.

“We have had hurdles along the way,” Smith said, adding that “testing revealed design flaws leading to last-minute design choices. There have been good challenges. We have learned team-building skills. We’ve had long nights and long weekends.”

In a student laboratory on the Middle Tennessee State University campus in Murfreesboro, Tenn., team members with the Engineering Technology Experimental Vehicles lunar rover team have been preparing for the 2025 NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge April 11-12 in Huntsville, Ala., at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center. From left, team members include Domonic Dalton, grad assistant Harshkumar Prajapati, Max Brooks, grad assistant Philip Sheffield, Demaine Williamson, grad assistant Niraj Yadav, Tyler Smith, grad assistant Mahina Pranti, Lydia Ashby and Angela Thongdinharath. (MTSU photo by Randy Weiler)

The drivers

Dalton, 21, a mechatronics engineering major from Murfreesboro, took the rover for a short-lived spin Friday, April 4, with teammate Marco Montoya.

Domonic Dalton, 21, a mechatronics engineering major from Murfreesboro — Domonic Dalton

“We tested it, it got stuck in a ditch and broke an axle. You could see straight through the axle,” Dalton said, adding he had tested the rover previously. They replaced the aluminum parts with steel axles.

Angela Thongdinharath, 20, a sophomore mechatronics engineering major from Smyrna — Angela Thongdinharath

Thongdinharath, 20, a sophomore mechatronics engineering major from Smyrna, hopes to get a turn on the rover before the team departs Thursday, April 10.

“It’s an eye-opening experience,” she said. “We’re happy to get more hands-on experience.” Her involvement has included taking measurements and helping with the wheel design.

Other team members include Max Brooks, Demaine Williamson, Niraj Yadav and Lydia Ashby. Also making the trip will be machine shop coordinator Rick Taylor and advisor Saeed Foroudastan, associate dean for the College of Basic and Applied Sciences.

— Randy Weiler (Randy.Weiler@mtsu.edu)