Friday 2 October 2026

Following success at the UK Lunabotics competition earlier this year, 10 students from Queen’s Propulsion Lab (QPL) have been invited to Nasa to compete in the International Lunabotics competition at the University of Central Florida in October.  

The competition challenges students to apply Nasa systems engineering principles to design, build and operate a prototype lunar construction rover. These robots are expected to dig up lunar material, drive over obstacles and use the material to form a wall. 

The students have been busy upgrading their current rover to compete against university teams from Australia, India and the US.  

Generosity of Queen’s alumni

The trip to Nasa has been supported by the Queen's Annual Fund, which brings together the generosity of Queen’s alumni to enhance the student experience, through clubs, societies and other student-focused initiatives. 

Eddie Friel, director of alumni engagement and philanthropy at Queen’s, said: “The annual fund is an effective way for the university’s alumni and friends to support dozens of student-led projects each year. We are delighted to be able to support the team as they fly the flag for Queen’s and wish them the best of luck in the competition.” 

Some of the students heading to Nasa include (L-R): Jack Fitzpatrick, Sandro O'Hara, Eoin Conway, Jamie Smith and Alex Dunne.

Caolán Boyle, head of robotics at QPL, added: "The team are exceptionally proud and excited to have been selected by NASA and Caterpillar to compete at the very first International Lunabotics Competition. Hundreds of hours have gone into making the rover mission ready for the event in October and after a tough few weeks, the team now eagerly await their chance to see their work be put to the test in the Lunar yard." 

Dr Charlie McCartan, academic lead at the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, said: "Competing at this international event will give our students an authentic engineering experience on a global stage. They’ll also showcase Queen’s as a hub for space systems engineering talent. We are incredibly proud to be part of this international competition and wish our team all the best.”