Sponsor: D. Shapiro

Mentors: B. Ellis, B. Shapiro, and J. Stephens

The Sea Air and Land Challenge is an exciting STEM initiative for middle and high school students. Participants engage in the engineering process by designing and building robotic systems to compete in challenges that simulate real-world missions faced by the military and first responders.

Throughout the program, students collaborate with educators and engineering mentors over a twelve-to sixteen-week period. They create unmanned vehicles and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) payloads for various challenges: submersibles for the Sea Challenge, drones for the Air Challenge, or rovers for the Land Challenge. These challenges are crafted by engineers at the Penn State Applied Research Laboratory and elite special operations forces.

This program not only addresses the growing demand for STEM careers but also introduces students to potential job opportunities in the field. It supports educators and administrators in implementing effective STEM programs within their school districts while navigating budget and resource constraints.