A Kansas University engineering team was the last group standing in a recent NASA satellite competition.

“No one else could finish the project,” said KU student and team leader Nigel Dunham. “They either disqualified themselves or were disqualified by the NASA judges.”

The team of electrical and aerospace engineering students participated in the Annual CanSat competition in Manassas, Va., started by Trevor Sorensen, associate professor of aerospace engineering.

Two KU teams participated in the contest.

Dunham’s group was on an advanced mission that involved having the satellite take in-flight images and create a map from those images. That group took first place.

A second team charged with building a CanSat, a soda can-sized satellite, that can determine altitude, range and direction, came in third place.

From left, Ryan Shaffer, Briana Swigart, Nigel Dunham and Yi Yang take part in a NASA satellite competition. The Kansas University team was the only one to complete the contest.

“It was a pretty good weekend for KU engineering,” Dunham said.

The students on the advanced team succeeded where others failed.

“It is a challenge,” Sorensen said. “They earned their prize.”

Dunham’s team won $2,500 and the third-place finishers received $1,000. All had a chance to add a line to their resumes.

“It’s definitely on our resume,” team member Yi Yang said.