Something for Everyone:

New Orgs Empower Students To Fuel Their Passions

There’s a beetle invasion at MSOE—but it’s not insects, it’s robots. Midnight Robotics, MSOE’s new combat robotics club, is hard at work creating one-pound antweight robots and three-pound beetleweight robots to battle in combat competitions.

MSOE has more than 90 student organizations on campus—ranging from special interest groups to professional organizations—that offer a place for everyone to find their niche. And the best part is, students have the power to spearhead their own groups, like Midnight Robotics.

Combat robotics is a form of competition where custom-built machines fight to disable the other robot. “Over the course of a three-minute match, the goal is to disable your opponent’s robot through destructive means. This can be achieved in a variety of ways, such as horizontal spinners, vertical spinners, flamethrowers, flippers and more,” explained Ben Young, Midnight Robotics vice president. Although a new group, they already have 30 members from a variety of majors. The group is led by Young and Griffin Hill, Midnight Robotics president. Their main focus is designing antweight and beetleweight robots as well as developing a test box and competition arena to ensure safe operation of their robots.

From reverse engineering controllers, to installing electronics and drawing 3D CAD models, students get to put their tech passions into practice across Midnight Robotics. For Young, the best part is sharing this passion with likeminded individuals.

“My favorite is being able to develop and refine a framework that allows us to support all of the member-led projects we have going on,” said Young. “I’m always giddy whenever we host our end-of-term pizza parties. It’s fun to celebrate our progress over some Ian’s pizza and music!”

The group recently received a $10,000 grant from Norwalk Havoc Robot League (NHRL), the world’s largest and most accessible robot combat league, to support their mission. Midnight Robotics plans to use the grant to help grow their inventory of electrical components, raw materials and tools to make the fabrication process easier. “This will allow us to take advantage of our resources to design, build and ultimately compete with our robots,” said Young.

The group is incredibly grateful for the grant and the opportunities it will lead to.

“Our entire E-board was ecstatic,” said Young. “This grant will go a long way to help support our club for the coming academic year, especially considering we are a newer club on campus. We can’t wait to represent MSOE in the combat robotics space!”

Midnight Robotics members hosted their first community event during the MSOE Robotics End of Season Showcase. They were able to show off the robots they’ve created and have some fun battling against one another.

The Muslim Student Association is another new student group built from the ground up to share their passions and cultures with the MSOE community. MSOE had a variety of faith-based student organizations when Layla Masoud set out to start her own to foster a sense of belonging on campus. The Muslim Student Association became an official club in February 2023.

“I wanted to build a safe community for not only myself but others who are looking for that same bond,” said Masoud, president of the Muslim Student Association. “I feel that students now would have a sense of belonging as they grow closer to others who have the same goals and aspirations.”

The organization strives to provide a space for students to gather and learn from one another at events. “Our goal is to have events that are not only fun but informative as well, where both Muslim and non-Muslim students can join, learn and share different ideas and experiences.”

The Muslim Student Association and International Student Association teamed up to host a Ramadan Iftar event in April. Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and observed by Muslims as a month of fasting, prayer, reflection and community. During Ramadan, adult Muslims fast from dawn to sunset.

The predawn meal is called suhur, and the nightly feast that breaks the fast is called iftar.

Students, faculty, staff and families enjoyed Middle Eastern food and learned about traditions at MSOE’s Ramadan Iftar event. It featured an informative lecture from Janan Najeeb, president and CEO of Milwaukee Muslim Women’s Coalition, and ended with a prayer for Muslims.

Masoud feels honored to be able to share her religion and cultural traditions with the MSOE community. “It honestly feels so amazing being able to educate others on the importance of Muslim traditions such as Ramadan or Eid as it’s not highly publicized to the general population, and being able to share pieces of information with fellow MSOE students makes a big impact!”

The Muslim Student Association is led by its executive board consisting of Masoud, president; Nishath Hussaini, vice president; Mustafa Maykhan, treasurer; and Muhammad Alliyu, secretary. Tamara Omari, assistant professor in the

Civil and Architectural Engineering and Construction Management, serves as the faculty advisor for the group. “We are all very excited to make this group happen and strive for the same goal,” said Masoud.

In the future, the group hopes to collaborate with other Muslim Student Associations at UW-Milwaukee or Marquette University to help spread their mission.

From the single-wheeled enthusiasts of Unicycle Club to the adrenalin junkies in Rock Climbing Club, MSOE student organizations and clubs showcase the unique passions of the university and foster engagement across campus. Student organizations and clubs like these foster a greater sense of belonging for students and empower them to build connections, develop as leaders, learn from others and create lifelong bonds and friendships.