Douglass “STEMinists” Win Big at Dublin City University FIRST® LEGO® League InterVarsity Hackathon

From March 19 to March 23, 2025, Douglass Residential College students participated in the inaugural Dublin City University (DCU) FIRST® LEGO® League Intervarsity Hackathon—and came home with first place in the overall competition!

Throughout the 24-hour event, teams used LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Prime kits to tackle the SUBMERGED℠ challenge, developing autonomous robots and innovative solutions to real-world underwater issues, such as marine conservation and deep-sea exploration. Six students from Douglass’ STEM Living-Learning Communities; Mehak Mantoo DRC’25, Kristodya Koduah DRC’26, Rachel Chempiel DRC’26, Rabiya Haque DRC’25, Alyssa Schmidt DRC’25, and Aishat Agboola DRC’25 traveled to Dublin, Ireland to compete. The all-expenses-paid trip abroad was sponsored by generous donations from Douglass alumni to the Women in Science and Engineering program.

“The Hackathon was a great experience where we got to design and code a robot that could interact with LEGO structures throughout a game board with an ocean theme,” said Mehak Mantoo DRC’25, a packaging engineering major. “We also got to work on an innovative project discussing a problem in the world's oceans and a solution to it.”

Over 120 students from universities around the world participated in the competition. Led by team captain Aishat, the Douglass team dubbed themselves the “STEMinists.” They created a robot capable of navigating the complex challenges of the deep sea. Aptly named Reilly, in honor of the Douglass Engineering community’s sponsors, Brian (ENG’80) and Stacey (DC’80) Reilly—the robot took first place in the overall competition. The STEMinists secured their win by earning high marks in every category.

“The competition was a challenge, but 24 hours can be a lot of time if you use it wisely. We were able to apply our engineering thinking in ways we had never done before,” said Kristodya Koduah, DRC’26. “With the leadership of our team captain, Aishat, we learned not to waste time and focus on tangible executions rather than vague ideas. We learned so much!”

The team’s robot was judged in every category:

• 25% of the score was based on innovation, including the problem the team identified regarding the world’s oceans and their proposed solution. The STEMinists addressed the issue of microplastics in water and food caused by the fast fashion industry.
• 50% of the score was based on the robot’s performance and the design process behind how it performed various tasks to address the problem.
• The final portion of the score was based on the team’s collaboration and sportsmanship.

In addition to the competition, the students’ journey to Ireland allowed them to travel, expand their horizons, try new cuisine, and make lasting connections with engineering students and faculty from across the world.

“Traveling to Ireland was a great experience,” said Mehak. “As a packaging engineering student, it was super exciting to see the different packaging Ireland had compared to the US. It was also super fun getting to meet students from around the world and share our experiences.”

This opportunity was made possible by Douglass and Rutgers programs, which encourage students to build the confidence necessary to think creatively and tackle real-world problems.

“Being a part of the Reilly Douglass Engineering Living-Learning Community has given me the opportunity to be involved with the other Douglass engineers on campus and take part in events such as this one,” said Mehak. “It has given me the confidence to explore my interests and partake in new opportunities that I may have shied away from in the past.”

“I am very grateful to Rutgers for the cultural and community organizations that have brought me so much joy and reassurance over my time here,” Kristodya added. “I would not be who I am without Douglass and organizations like the Minority Engineering Educational Taskforce (MEET). Of course, I am ever grateful for the Packaging Engineering program, as the guidance there has been invaluable, particularly from the women faculty, both past and present.”

The hackathon was hosted and sponsored by Dublin City University, DCU's Faculty of Engineering and Computing, and the DCU Engineering Society in partnership with CreativeHUT, PwC Ireland, and Intel Corporation. Douglass thanks DCU for their hospitality and looks forward to future collaborations.

“I am proud that our Douglass STEM students were able to demonstrate these core values at the Hackathon and emerge not only as champions but as ambassadors of their Rutgers-Douglass experience,” said Dr. Lorne Joseph, Douglass’ Director of Engineering and STEM Research Initiatives, who accompanied the students on the trip. “This is the literal definition of being a Douglass student.”