Princeton University's Alexander Smits, the Eugene Higgins Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering with the Mantabot, Princeton, N.J., October 20, 2011. Photo by Beverly Schaefer.
Princeton University’s Alexander Smits, the Eugene Higgins Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering with the Mantabot, Princeton, N.J., October 20, 2011. Photo by Beverly Schaefer.
Manta bot takes a test swim in the Woodrow Wilson School fountain

Professors Alexander Smits (Princeton) and Hilary Bart-Smith (University of Virginia) decided to arrange a competition between their students to see who could design the best manta ray inspired robot. Mohammad Javed ’11, a mechanical engineering major, took on the project as a senior thesis and represented Princeton.