In 2009, NASA created an event called the Robotic Mining National Championship. Engineering students from The University of Alabama have competed as a team in the event every year since its creation. The team won first place overall for the second time in three years on May 23.
Kenneth Ricks, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering as well as the faculty adviser for the team, said he believed this was a huge victory for the University, the team and the engineering program.
“These students deserve all of the publicity possible,” Ricks said. “It may not be football, but it is a national championship in a competition against many big name engineering schools around the country.” Sources: The Crimson White, Al.com, Nasa.gov, The Tuscaloosa News