Experiential Learning
Experiential learning opportunities allow students to participate in hands-on design, build, and competition teams that span multiple engineering disciplines and give them real-world experience in applying knowledge to solve problems.
Experiential Learning Teams
Get to know some of our experiential learning teams and organizations below. For at full list of engineering organizations, visit Engineering Student Council's Organizations page.
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Cavalier Autonomous Racing
An internationally recognized autonomous racing team that creates high-speed, AI-powered self-driving race cars using LiDAR, machine learning, and sensor fusion algorithms. The team won the Indy Autonomous Challenge and set a world record for autonomous racing
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Cyber Defense Team
A cybersecurity team that protects simulated networks against cyberattacks in competition, The team is ranked #2 in the country and won the 2025 Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition championship for the third consecutive year.
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Mechatronics and Robotics Society (MARS)
A space robotics team that develops lunar excavation and construction robots for NASA's annual Lunabotics competition. Their robot "Artie" — named for NASA's Artemis mission — advanced to the finals at Kennedy Space Center among 35 competing teams and won the Innovation Award, including an Artemis 1 mission-flown flag.
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Virginia Motorsports
A motorsports team that designs, builds, and races cars. Lacy Hall is the headquarters for all Virginia Motorsports operations and the team holds an annual Motorsports weekend each spring. In June 2025, the team competed at the FSAE EV competition with its second-ever attempt at an electric vehicle.
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UVA Rocketry Team
A rocketry team that designs, builds, and launches rockets for the International Rocketry Engineering Competition (IREC). The team is ranked #1 in the "10K COTS solids" category and finished second overall at IREC 2025, winning the New Horizons Trophy runner-up award among 143 teams from 22 countries. Their Sabre II rocket executed a near-perfect flight, flying to an altitude of 10, 019 feet, remarkably close to the 10,000 foot target.
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Steel Bridge Team
A student-led organization dedicated to designing, fabricating and constructing a steel bridge for the annual ASCE Steel Bridge Competition. After an eight-year hiatus, the club has been revived to give students hands-on experience in structural engineering, steel manufacturing, teamwork and project management. Members collaborate to optimize their bridge for efficiency, stiffness, and aesthetics, while competing against other universities.
Watch: Rocketry Team Test Flight
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Solar Car
A club where students obtain hands-on interdisciplinary experience in designing, manufacturing, testing, fundraising, and racing solar battery-electric cars.
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Concrete Canoe
The UVA Concrete Canoe Team is a Civil Engineering design team that competes in the annual American Society of Civil Engineers Symposium. Every year, the team designs and builds a canoe made entirely out of concrete. Members are able to earn credit, apply knowledge learned in classes, and build relationships with peers in engineering.
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Hoos Flying
A student-run engineering team with a 15-year legacy of designing, building and competing in the SAE Aero Design competition. Each year, the competition introduces new design challenges that teams must solve while adhering to strict aircraft requirements. Success is measured through both flight performance and a detailed engineering report that justifies design choices.
Watch: Concrete Canoe Team Competes
The UVA Concrete Canoe Team is a Civil Engineering design team that competes in the annual American Society of Civil Engineers Symposium. Every year, the team designs and builds a canoe made entirely out of concrete. Members are able to earn credit, apply knowledge learned in classes, and build relationships with peers in engineering.
Explore More Opportunities
UVA's Engineering Student Council works closely with student organizations in the engineering school, including social groups, design teams, professional societies, and other student organizations.