The Sea Air and Land Challenge is a STEM initiative in which teams of high school or middle school aged students learn about the engineering process through the design and build of a robotic system. The systems are then used to compete in challenges relevant to the Department of Defense which mimic missions encountered by the military, national security agencies and first responders.
The Sea Air and Land Challenge provides the opportunity for students to tackle a difficult engineering task while working with educators and engineering mentors. The teams have twelve to sixteen weeks (one semester) to design and build unmanned vehicles and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) payloads to compete in the Challenge of their choice – teams may build submersibles for the Sea Challenge, drones for the Air Challenge or rovers for the Land Challenge. The challenges are designed by engineers at the Penn State Applied Research Laboratory and by some of the country’s finest special operations forces.
Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) is where jobs are today and where the job growth will be in the future. The military’s role in STEM starts with our war fighters, and our national security is dependent upon it. This program will introduce students to career opportunities that they may not have known existed and help school educators and administrators implement a successful STEM program into their school district given budget, time and resource constraints.
Become a Researcher, Innovator and Leader!
The Sea Air and Land Challenge is supported by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s
Interaction of Ionizing Radiation with Matter University Research Alliance or DTRA IIRM-URA
For more information, contact:
Sea, Air, and Land headquarters at Penn State’s Applied Research Labs
Phone: (724) 295-7000
Email: Sea Air Land Group