CSE students win first round of 2025 Bright Manufacturing Challenge

The team advances to the finals in Illinois this October

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (09/17/2025) — A group of engineering students from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities won the first round of the 2025 Bright Manufacturing Student Challenge.

The Bright Manufacturing Challenge is an immersive, hands-on experience where students design, fabricate and test a custom printed circuit board to serve as the control center for a robot. The challenge brings together teams from across the country to compete. 

The team, Ride and Grind Crew, includes undergraduate students Ethan Chung, Levi Krogh, Alexander Wan and Raymond Zha from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, along with Kevin Vo from the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

The teams create what is called a “line-following robot”—a robot that follows a line on a floor track using various sensors. The challenge has four parts: designing the circuit board, a manufacturing review, assembly, and a final challenge. The University of Minnesota team won the first part by successfully designing the main circuit board for a robot, which included key components like infrared sensors, motors, and a microcontroller (MCU). 

The team is advancing to the finals that will take place at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Oct. 19-22, 2025 in Illinois.

In the Q&A below, the team talks about how they got involved and what they are learning from this experience. 

How did the team get involved in this challenge?

Kevin: Our team members got involved with this challenge because we wanted to improve our skills in PCB [printed circuit board] design and CAD [Computer-Aided Design] over the summer, and this challenge offered both of those challenges.

Explain your PCB design and how the team has created it. 

Alex: Each team competing is given a base board shape to use along with the same base components. Using the Altium software, we placed components on our base PCB, and completed routing of each component. For the additional feature, we decided to create a separate PCB to house encoders and an Inertial Measurement Unit. This separate PCB is a rigid-flex PCB allowing the encoders to align with the motors provided. On the final robot, our additional feature board will send sensor data back to the main PCB, allowing for better robot path correction, movement, and efficiency when navigating the competition track.

What have you learned from being on this team/in this competition?

Ethan: I’d say the most valuable part of the experience so far has been seeing how AI can support PCB design. In past projects, one of the most tedious steps was digging through countless datasheets just to track down the right component. For this project, we tried using AI tools like Perplexity and ChatGPT to handle a lot of that searching. It ended up working really well and streamlined the whole process of finding parts. I can see us using this approach again in future projects.

What are the benefits of working on a challenge like this?

Ethan: It builds skills that are extremely necessary in the workforce such as planning, collaboration, problem-solving and adapting to unexpected challenges. Beyond the technical aspects, it also helps strengthen communication and leadership abilities, all while providing a hands-on experience that goes beyond what can be learned in the classroom.

Read an additional Q&A with the team on the IConnect007 website. 

Learn more about the competition on the Electronics Manufacturing and Assembly Collaborative Website.

Scholarship impact

The students on this team are supported by a variety of scholarships from the College of Science and Engineering and the University of Minnesota. Ethan Chung is the recipient of the Iron Range Scholarship. Levi Krogh received the 2024-2025 Hartig Scholarship. Kevin Vo received the 2024-2025 MN Space Grant Scholarship and is the recipient of the Iron Range Scholarship. Alexander Wan is the recipient of the Buuck Family Scholarship and the Gold Scholar Award 2024. Raymond Zhao is the recipient of the Robert Eddy Scholarship, the Daniel and Kimberly McDonald Engineering Scholarship, and the Gold Scholar Award.

Find out more about how you can make a gift to support students.

Story by Kalie Pluchel