By Jackey Locke

Memorial University’s Student Design Hub will host a student pitch/fundraiser event on Wednesday, May 18.

The event will provide student teams at Memorial an opportunity to seek corporate sponsorships and donations before the 2022 competition season begins.

It will also provide teams with an opportunity to sharpen their presentation skills as they represent Memorial and Newfoundland and Labrador at national and international competitions.

Based on the St. John’s Campus, the Student Design Hub was established in 2020 and is a collaborative manufacturing and assembly space available to any undergraduate or graduate student at Memorial competing in a student-centred competition or developing products.

Seven teams from the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, the Marine Institute, the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Business Administration will present five-minute pitches.

Following each pitch, teams will answer questions from the attendees/potential sponsors.

The event will end with a networking and tradeshow-style demo table event and an opportunity for attendees to sponsor some or all teams.

It will conclude with a Best Pitch award for the team with the best presentation.

Members of the media and public may register by emailing RSVP@mun.ca or visiting here.

Teams include the below. 

1. Eastern Edge Robotics: Competing in Long Beach, Calif. 
• The team spends roughly 10 months designing, constructing and implementing a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to compete internationally at the MATE ROV Competition.
2. MUN RoboSub: Competing in Baltimore, Md. 
• The team designs and builds autonomous underwater vehicles that can identify and distinguish objects through machine learning, pick up objects, drop markers, monitor subsea structures, collect data and touch buoys under the water, thus mimicking those of real-world systems.
3. FMUNTenth: Competing in Philadelphia, Pa. 
• The team will compete to write the best driving algorithm for a one-tenth scale racing vehicle.
4. Phoenix Aerospace: Competing in Lafayette, Ind.
• The team is building an in-house autonomous drone and designing navigation software solutions to participate in the 2022 Unmanned Aerial vehicle competition hosted by the Insititute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
5. MUN Concrete Toboggan: Competing in Kelowna, B.C.
• The team is constructing a toboggan that can safely hold five riders with concrete running surfaces, fully functional steering and braking systems, a completely enclosed roll cage, and weighs less than 350lbs to compete in the multidisciplinary Great Northern Concrete Toboggan Race.
6. Paradigm Engineering: Competing in Rochester, Mich.  
• The team is designing, developing and testing an intelligent ground vehicle capable of autonomously navigating a course and completing complex challenges.
7. Memorial Baja: Competing in Rochester, N.Y.
8. • The team is designing, developing and testing an intelligent ground vehicle capable of autonomously navigating a course and completing complex challenges.

The Student Design Hub Showcase will take place on Wednesday, May 18, from 6-8 p.m. in the Core Science Facility, off the blue whale atrium (CSF-1302).

Parking is available on level 1 of the Arctic Avenue parking garage.