University Rover Challenge 2025: How UIU set a new bar by bagging the ‘Best Scientist Award’

For the first time in the history of University Rover Challenge (URC), an Asian team has scored a perfect 100/100 in the Science Mission and earned the Best Scientist Award— and that team is from Bangladesh.

The Mars Rover team from United International University (UIU) made history and brought glory for the nation. The team maintained their position as Asia's top team for the fourth year in a row. Globally it has placed sixth this year.

"We had a legacy to uphold and we delivered. Not only that, we set a new benchmark. But the best feeling of all is making our country proud," Tawsif Torabi, co-lead of the team, told The Business Standard.

"It never felt this heavy to hold the flag up, there was pressure and some nerves but we knew we gave our best," he added.

URC is an annual robotics competition which challenges university teams worldwide to design, build, and operate a Mars rover prototype capable of performing tasks similar to those expected of future human-supporting rovers on Mars.

"This competition isn't about big speeches or flag-waving. It's about how well your robot works under stress, how precise your code is, and how deeply you understand the science. That's where we focused."

Tawsif Torabi, Co-lead, UIU Mars Rover team

The annual competition, organised by the Mars Society, was held from 28 to 31 May at the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah, US. The University Rover Challenge is the world's premier robotics competition for university students. This year, more than 200 teams participated, but only 38 made it to the finals.

Teams from the US, Australia, Mexico, Poland, India, Canada, Chile, Japan, and Türkiye showcased their uniquely designed rovers, each built to simulate real-world outer space exploration.

The finalists were tested in four missions: science exploration, autonomous navigation, extreme terrain traversal, and equipment servicing. Each mission demanded precision engineering, cutting-edge software, and a deep understanding of Martian challenges.

UIU's rover named Axios, was designed and built by a team of 10 students from the university's Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, under the supervision of Md Abid Hossain, a lecturer at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering.

The team performed in four categories, but their standout performance came in the Science Mission, where their rover conducted soil testing and the team presented the analysis to a panel of NASA and planetary scientists.

Photo: Courtesy

The team's strong finish was also due to technical upgrades made since their 2024 version. According to Siam Bin Rashid, head of the mechanical team, Axios incorporated a modular plug-and-play design, allowing faster part replacements during missions.

"This year, our approach was different. We recalibrated the centre of gravity and mass, redesigned the robotic arm, widened the chassis, and used carbon fibre components. The weight of the arm alone was reduced by four kilograms compared to the previous version. This gave us a huge advantage in time and efficiency," Siam said.

These changes were developed in response to earlier performance issues, especially in mobility and mechanical control. The team's adjustments appear to have paid off.

"The finals are tough. Every prototype is tested in different simulated Mars environments. The science mission, where we had to test soil samples, present results, and go through a Q&A with judges, was the most rigorous," Siam added.

The Science Mission win adds a new dimension to their record, as they outperformed teams from traditionally dominant countries, including the USA, Poland, and Canada. Much of the credit for this triumph goes to Saif Al Saad, the Science team lead, and Ayesha Akter, who played a pivotal role in the science mission.

The team was led by Md Mushfiqur Rahman and Tawsif Torabi, with Siam Bin Rashid overseeing the mechanical unit, Ifta Faisal leading the communication wing, and Ahmed Jebail Shoukhin overseeing the rover's programming and autonomy systems as the software lead. Their supervisor Md Abid Hossain believes the win reflected more than just one university's success.

"This is not just a UIU achievement, it reflects what students from Bangladesh are capable of when they have the resources and direction," he said.

While the team acknowledged the pride associated with representing the country, they were cautious about over-celebrating.

"This competition isn't about big speeches or flag-waving. It's about how well your robot works under stress, how precise your code is, and how deeply you understand the science. That's where we focused," said Tawsif.

"Our Q&A session in the Science mission with the judges was probably the toughest part, they don't go easy on you. But we knew our material and had tested the system properly," said Siam.

Looking ahead, the team says there's still room for improvement. Despite the perfect science score, they believe there are rooms for improvement in other categories such as terrain traversal and autonomous navigation.

"We'll go through everything that didn't work or could have worked better. Just because we ranked sixth doesn't mean we should stop. We're already planning on next year," said Tawsif.

This achievement shows that Bangladeshi teams can compete with top institutions in a demanding global arena with prototypes that work.