Miner Mayhem 2024 exceeds all expectations: New Mexico Tech

Miner Mayhem 2024 Robotics Tourney exceeds all expectations

May 6, 2024

350 competitors in 99 teams converge on Socorro to battle

See more photos below.

Organizers with State Rep. Sariñana

Left to right: Seokbin Lim, chair of Mechanical Engineering; Mostafa Hassalinalian, Associate Professor; Curtis O'Malley, Assistant Professor; NM Rep Debra Sariñana (Dist. 21); Ling Faith-Heuertz, Director of NM MESA; Michael Jackson, VPAA.

Competitors from across New Mexico and Colorado squared off on April 27 for a day of battles at New Mexico Tech’s Miner Mayhem. The event has grown from 3 teams to 34 to 56, and now in 2024, 99 teams attended from middle and high schools, plus universities such as UNM, NMSU and Colorado School of Mines. The teams represent more than 350 student competitors in various classes of robot: MESA foam and 3D printed, 150-gram, and 3-pound bots.

The whole event runs smoothly because of more than 80 volunteers who are Tech students, faculty and alumni. Also in attendance were 150 spectators – parents and advisors – who assisted in the pits as well as ensured their robot drivers were well-fed and hydrated.

Notably, New Mexico State Rep. Debra Sariñana (District 21) came to investigate and enjoy the competition. Also in attendance was Dr. Yolanda Jones-King who sits on the New Mexico Tech Board of Regents.

Event organizer and outreach coordinator Dr. Curtis O’Malley said in a letter thanking the volunteers, “Every year, we strive to anticipate and plan for growth and impact. Your support helped us hold, by far, our largest event.”

O’Malley, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at NMT, especially noted the wealth of guidance from the Advisory Board for the event: Macs Brown – NMT alumnus; Ling Faith – NM MESA director; Johnathan Garcia – NMT alumnus; Yolanda Jones-King – VP of NMNWSE, NMT regent; Ashli Knoell – V. Sue Cleveland High School STEAM and robotics teacher and NMT alumna; Megan Van Winkle – NMT Advancement associate director.

Winners of the events were:

MESA Foam Class

1) Lucky Loki – Mischief Managed

2) Medallion – Anton Chico Middle School

3) Hot Wheels – Anton Chico Middle School

MESA 3D Printed Class

1) Mr. Potato – Jefferson Middle School

2) Doritos Box – Roswell High School

3) WhiteOut – Edgewood Middle School

150-gram Class

1) Knee Tapper – Treacherous Robotics

2) 8776 Battering Ram – Arrowhead Robotics

3) Fatal Error – V. Sue Cleveland High School

3-pound Class

1) MCRN Tachi – Disaster Picnic Robotics

2) BUTTERKAVE – Complified Creations

3) WedgiSteel – Disaster Picnic Robotics

A huge thank you to all the sponsors, volunteers, and supporters for their participation.

Sponsors for the event: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Albuquerque District); Kaehr Coatings; Brighter Future Fund (NM Oil & Gas Association); NM Mesa Inc.; New Mexico Tech Mechanical Engineering Dept.; New Mexico Space Grant; PNM; Growing STEMS (DOE-NNSA MSIPP Program); Sandia National Laboratories.

Volunteers: Godsway Akpabli; Yaa Saah Apenteng; Kimberly Aragon; David Avalos; Kenneth Bowden; Ashley Bradshaw; Logan Bujewski; Jared Cannon; Giessi Caraveo-Macias; Christopher Castillo; Florian Chavez; Xavier Chavers; Destiny Crawford; Sarah Crotzer ; Connor Deuschle; Niall Devlin; Emiliano Diaz; Chase Dunaway; Noah Edwards; Jett Emms ; Eric Fielenbach; Leslie Flores; Ashok Ghosh; Joaquin Gonzales; Kevyn Gonzales; Sean Goodyear; David Hargather; Michael Hargather; Ben Harrington; Mostafa Hassanalian; Brandon Herrera; Michael Jackson; Arezou Karimian; Zohreh Kazemi; Jamie Kimberly; Amy Knowles; Fredrick "Fritz" Lacombe; Adonis Leal; Osley Leos ; Bin Lim ; Fiona Litiku; William Lucker ; Zoey Mancuso de Lopez ; Daniel Martinez; Julian Martinez; Amanda Massey; Nathan McMillan; Spencer Merill; Leonor Merino Osornio; Adam Mirate ; James Montoya; Hendrik Muller; Harriet Naakai Tetteh; Kyle Nee; Jakobe Ochoa; Desmond Ofori Koranteng ; William O’Malley ; Thomas Pierson; Efrain Pita; Aabhushan Pokharel; Aaron Prager; Stuart Prager; John Recette ; Ellie Rightley ; Carlos Romero; Jim Ruff; Raechelle Sandoval; Alyssa Sandusky; Kyler "Cody" Severe; Sarah Skrien; Maria Smith; Noah Spivey; Griffin Stidham; Quinlan Towler; Matthew Tyrrell ; Aidan Vig; Clara Wei; Tie Wei; Byron Whitehorse; Andrei Zagrai; Mrs. Zagrai.

Photos from the event:

Students put the final tweaks on their robot.