Mission-Based Project Teams

Anteater Baja Racing (ABR) is a student-led engineering team at the University of California, Irvine dedicated to designing, manufacturing, testing, and racing an off-road vehicle for the international Baja SAE collegiate competition. Our core goal is to give students the opportunity to solve real engineering problems while developing a vehicle that can withstand rocky terrain, maximize performance, and withstand consistent reliability throughout competition.

The team is made up of more than 35 undergraduate students from a variety of engineering backgrounds. Students are responsible for the vehicle's major systems and development, including the chassis, suspension, steering, brakes, powertrain, testing and operations. ABR takes their team through the complete engineering development process, from identifying problems and designing components to manufacturing, assembling, testing, and competing with the finished vehicle. This gives students hands-on experience with CAD, machining, welding, fabrication, vehicle dynamics, testing, and project management while requiring them to balance...

Anteater Combat Engineering (ACE) is a robotics organization dedicated to innovating in the field of combat robotics. Our lightweight and heavyweight teams compete in various competitions that are much like that BattleBots show you may remember on TV. 

We are a young project team started by a couple of UCI students who really loved making their own plastic BattleBots. Through passion and hard work, this grew from a couple of friends to a group of over 100 students working to make the best possible robots. 

We have two main groups of students, each with their own goal. Our lightweight teams challenge groups of students to build battlebots that do not exceed one pound in weight, entirely out of 3D printed plastic. This group focuses on teaching the engineering fundamentals to incoming collegiate students, Our heavyweight teams focus on iterating and innovating...

F1tenth strives to research Machine Learning approaches for 1/10th scaled autonomous racing with the goal of making the vehicle run as fast as possible through different navigation controls and vehicle engineering. The team was started in summer of 2024 and had since taken our methods to the RoboRacer competitions. 

Humans have achieved flight, yet birds and insects still surpass man-made aircraft in agility and control. The Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicle (FWMAV) team seeks to uncover how nature achieves such mastery. By studying creatures like hummingbirds and dragonflies, engineers analyze the unsteady aerodynamics and nonlinear mechanisms that enable efficient, stable flight.

FWMAV’s small, agile, and hovering capabilities have applications in law enforcement, defense, and scientific research. The project investigates the physics behind flapping-wing flight to design innovative aerial systems.

Established in 2015 at UC Irvine, HyperXite is an undergraduate project team that participates in the SpaceX Hyperloop competition. Our team is focused on researching and developing new technologies to revolutionize sustainable transportation. The Hyperloop concept is a proposed high-speed mode of transportation that uses a pod to transport passengers and cargo through vacuum tubes. This concept was developed in 2013 and described as a “5th mode of transportation”. At a top speed of 760 mph, passengers could travel from Los Angeles to San Francisco in just 35 minutes. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the Hyperloop could use up to 20% less energy per passenger-mile than air travel. HyperXite is fully immersed in the process of designing new technologies, helping advance both rapid and sustainable travel for the future. Most recently, HyperXite competed at the 2025 Canadian Hyperloop Global conference, earning 1st-place awards in Guidance System, Levitation, and Overall Presentation.

The Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Student Chapter at the University of California, Irvine is a student-led organization dedicated to promoting interest in all facets of transportation. Through hands-on projects, field trips, workshops, guest lectures, networking events and more, we provide ample opportunities for students to engage with the transportation industry beyond the classroom. 

The UCI CanSat team is a prominent representation of the University of California, Irvine's commitment to pushing the boundaries of student-led engineering projects. Comprised of a dedicated and dynamic group of students, the team participates in the International CanSat Competition each year to hone their engineering skills. This competition hosted by the American Astronomical Society (AAS) provides an opportunity for us to experience the entire development cycle of a complex engineering project – from conceptual design through integration and testing, to real-world operation and post-mission summary. It not only offers an avenue to apply theoretical knowledge but also propels UCI's engineering students into real-world scenarios that mimic the challenges faced by professionals in the industry. 

About ChemE Cube at UCI

ChemE Cube is a national student competition hosted by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), challenging students to design a modular, one-cubic-foot plant to solve global issues. Organized through the UC Irvine chapter of AIChE, our interdisciplinary engineering team designs the chemical process, builds the physical cube, and conducts market analysis to pitch the technology to mock investors. 

Challenge and Solution:

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), global warming continues to accelerate climate change, with the U.S. alone releasing 6,343 million metric tons of greenhouse gases in 2022 . To tackle this, ChemE Cube at UCI is engineering a Direct Air Capture (DAC) and regeneration process to scrub carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere, pairing innovative engineering with a viable commercial business model. 

Key Highlights:

• 7th Place Nationally (2025): Outperformed 50
...

UCI CubeSat is a student-led engineering team working to develop, build, test, and launch UCI’s first 2U CubeSat, AntSat01. Our interdisciplinary undergraduate team is organized across six subteams: Avionics, Communications, Operations, Power, Structures, and Systems. From modeling and simulation to hardware integration, testing, and debugging, students have direct ownership of the spacecraft development process and the opportunity to work with real satellite systems. Under the guidance of our advisors, Professors Shimane and Lee, AntSat01 serves as a platform for hands-on experience with spacecraft systems while supporting space research and development at UCI. Our mission also provides a foundation for continued research into phage therapy in microgravity in collaboration with the Whiteson Lab at UCI. By combining student engineering, interdisciplinary research, and real spaceflight systems, UCI CubeSat aims to expand undergraduate opportunities in spacecraft development, establish a foundation for future student-led missions, and contribute to the advancement of scalable space...

Who Are We:

The UCI Solar Airplane Team is a multidisciplinary group of approximately 25 undergraduate students dedicated to advancing sustainable aviation through innovation, research, and hands-on engineering. Our members come from a wide range of academic backgrounds, including Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and the arts. Each year, our team designs, analyzes, manufactures, and tests a new solar-powered aircraft, building upon the knowledge and achievements of previous generations. Through collaboration and continuous improvement, we strive to maximize flight endurance and efficiency by integrating solar energy with advanced battery systems.

Our Purpose:

The UCI Solar Airplane Project aims to demonstrate the potential of solar energy as a practical and sustainable power source for aviation while inspiring broader adoption of renewable energy technologies. As the world continues to confront the challenges of climate change and increasing energy demands, innovative clean-energy...

Underwater Robotics at UCI is a student-run engineering organization specializing in autonomous underwater robotics. We plan to compete in the annual RoboSub competition with the help of our sponsors 

ZIMS is the largest club within the ZOTBotics Network and serves as UCI's premiere gateway into robotics and engineering. Since ZOTBotics was founded in 2017, it has grown into a community of over 1,000 members spanning 10+ majors. Unlike most technical organizations at UCI, ZIMS requires no application, interviews, or prior experience.

Beginning in Fall 2026, ZIMS will feature 3 levels of projects: the Hexapod, 5-axis Robot Arm, and Self-Leveling Anteater Project (SLAP).

ZIMS project members automatically gain access to our fully student-run makerspace at the Engineering and Computing Trailers (ECT) room 12, which includes access to over twenty-five 3D printers and all of the power tools necessary to complete any engineering project, including any ZIMS or personal/team projects. This year, we're implementing an access card system to facilitate members' usage of the makerspace. Project members get their own access cards for...