Metal Supermarkets Helps WSU Mars Rover Team Win 2nd Place


With exploration of Mars ramping up in recent years, Metal Supermarkets has jumped on the bandwagon, helping a team of students from Washington State University North Puget Sound at Everett claim 2nd place at an international competition with their own Mars rover design.

The team of WSU engineering students was one of 30 semifinalists selected from a pool of 63 teams across 12 countries, all designing and building a Mars rover that is meant to work alongside human astronauts on the surface of mars. The WSU rover, which received donations of aluminum, brass and stainless steel from Metal Supermarkets Seattle (Everett), was designed, built, tested, and redesigned over more than a year. The competition required participants to navigate their rover through a short course to test maneuverability and dexterity, in addition to a variety of other tasks. The rover had to be durable enough to cross rough terrain, yet agile enough to manipulate a variety of tools. The WSU team’s design passed with flying colors.

When the dust had settled, the 20 member WSU team – in only in its second year of existence competing against many more established teams – became the only American team to place within the top 5, taking second place overall. “I have never had a trophy mean so much to me,” team captain Blaine Liukko told WSU News.

After their improbable win, the returning students are already working hard on next year’s rover design, hoping to repeat their success at this year’s competition.
Metal Supermarkets Everett Donates to WSU


Metal Supermarkets

Metal Supermarkets is the world’s largest small-quantity metal supplier with over 100 brick-and-mortar stores across the US, Canada, and United Kingdom. We are metal experts and have been providing quality customer service and products since 1985.

At Metal Supermarkets, we supply a wide range of metals for a variety of applications. Our stock includes: mild steel, stainless steel, aluminum, tool steel, alloy steel, brass, bronze and copper.

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