Laurentian engineers win NASA competition

Students from Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ont. have won the NASA Lunabotics Mining Competition, beating out teams from 40 other universities, reports CBC News. The prize was awarded to the team whose robot collected and deposited the most lunar-type material in 15 minutes. Laurentian’s robot carried 237 kilograms — far more than the second place robot, which carried 172 kilos. “They won the most prestigious prize you could win for an engineering student,” Laurentian faculty adviser Markus Timusk told CBC, adding that it’s “an especially sweet victory” because the students will be the first-ever graduates of the school’s mechanical engineering program. The team won $5,000 cash and VIP passes to the July launch of the space shuttle Atlantis. McGill University was the only other Canadian team in the competition.