Mizzou Engineering teams triumph in competition season

July 07, 2025

Students made a strong showing at national competitions, bringing home awards that reflect their passion and perseverance.

Mizzou Racing's quarter-scale formula car at Michigan International Speedway
Mizzou Racing was just one of several student organizations bringing home hardware from competitions this summer.

What makes Mizzou’s education stand out is its emphasis on hands-on learning. Students apply the Missouri Method national competitions, seizing opportunities to put their knowledge into practice. Scroll to explore some of the teams’ recent successes and discover how they’ve been recognized with team awards.

ASME Student Design Finalists

A team of Mizzou computer science undergraduates took second place at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers/Society of Manufacturing Engineers 2025 Manufacturing Science and Engineering Conference for their project, Smart Manufacturing: Guided Mixed Reality Control for Multiple CNC and 3D Printing Machines.

Zach Snyder, Gianni Ioannou and Olivia Franken
From left: Zach Snyder, Gianni Ioannou and Olivia Franken represented Mizzou at ASME MSEC 2025. Not pictured: Dion Burns.

Using the Microsoft HoloLens 2, the team developed a mixed reality platform that simplifies machine control through intuitive interfaces, live data and built-in tutorials. Judges praised their creative approach and clear presentation.

While the team was in Greenville, their paper “Intelligent Mixed Reality Platform for CNC Machine and 3D Printer Operation and Management” won the Best Paper Award at the 2025 Flexible Automation and Intelligent Manufacturing conference in New York City.

Torq’N Tigers Quarter Scale Tractor Pulling Team

Mizzou’s Torq’N Tigers earned third place at the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers International 1/4 Scale Tractor Student Design Competition.

Torq’n Tigers A-Team’s tractor, Tiger XX.
Torq’n Tigers member Aidan Engbert behind the wheel of the A-Team’s tractor, Tiger XX.

The award was earned by Mizzou’s X-Team, a group composed of newer or less experienced members. In their category, teams redesign at least 30% of the previous year’s design. The members of Mizzou’s more experienced A-Team compete in a separate category and build a new tractor each year. The A-Team placed third in the durability event.

The Torq’N Tigers team is jointly housed within Mizzou Engineering and the Mizzou College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources.

Mizzou Virtual Reality Organization (MUVR)

MUVR member Ethan Johnson was part of a team recognized among the Grand Finalists at MIT Reality Hack 2025, which focused on extended reality and experiential technology.

Ethan Johnson, Jessica Sheng, Emmanuel Corona and Steven Lee
From left: Ethan Johnson, Jessica Sheng, University of Southern California; Emmanuel Corona, Stanford University; and Steven Lee, Stanford University.

The team, which also included students from Stanford and the University of Southern California, developed the mixed reality experience NudgePet. Their goal was to help people regulate their emotional state, taking inspiration from emotional support animals while recognizing such animals may be difficult to obtain.

Watch this video, produced by the team, to learn more about the innovation.

Mizzou Racing – Formula SAE

The Mizzou Racing team placed second in the acceleration event during their May competition at Michigan International Speedway. Overall, the team placed 22 out of the 110 cars at the event. 

Mizzou Racing's quarter-scale formula car at Michigan International Speedway
Mizzou Racing’s Jack Fels puts the team’s quarter-scale formula car through the paces at Michigan International Speedway.

Mizzou Racing builds a quarter-scale formula car every academic year and a quarter-scale electric formula car every two years. Competitions include static events such as design and cost presentations and numerous technical inspections in addition to various driving events such as acceleration, autocross and skidpad

Participation provides students with hands-on engineering experience in a supportive team environment. 

Get involved 

Inspired by the opportunities available to undergraduate and graduate students at Mizzou? Join a student organization! 

Connect with communities you’re interested in at the Mizzou Engineering New Student BBQ. Nearly 50 engineering student orgs will host tables and chat with students about how to get involved. 

Organizations are open to all students at Mizzou and often encourage new members to try something they don’t have experience in to discover a new passion.  

The Fall 2025 New Student BBQ will take place at 5-7 p.m. Aug. 28 on Shamrock Plaza. Mark your calendars today!