The physics and math students at Kansas Wesleyan University are getting combative, and they are helping area high school students do the same.

The STEM Club is building a battlebot — a fighting robot — to enter in regional competition at BotsKC the end of April. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. The MECHACOYOTES team has received a $3,000 grant from the Gene Haas Foundation, to help with building its bot.

In addition, the team is included in the SendCutSend STEM Sponsorship Program, a new program that offers $750 worth of their services, plus technical advice and resources from industry experts to the MECHACOYOTES.

The MECHACOYOTES are designing and building a battlebot for the hobby class, under 15 pounds, so all the components must be as lightweight as possible, said STEM Club president and team captain Elijah Resano, sophomore Physics major. The mainframe will be of plastic made on a 3D printer. The design is based on a champion heavyweight battlebot Tombstone, so the KWU bot will be low and rectangular with a blade as the main weapon. It has been named “Rapture.”

The six team members, all sophomores and juniors, are responsible for designing, building, marketing and fundraising for Rapture.

“Everybody knows their way around a drill,” Resano said.

Rapture will be up against stiff competition, with teams from large universities, including the University of Kansas and Kansas State University, sending teams to the hobby class.

In between designing battlebots, attending classes and participating in other activities, the MECHACOYOTES are helping to mentor a team of area high school students, the Robo-yotes FRC Team 10682. Their robot, with a weight limit of 115 pounds will compete in the FIRST Robotics Competition, which is team- and objective-based, not combat.

The KWU STEM Club team is sponsored by Dr. Kristin Kraemer, chair of the Math, Physics and Computer Studies departments, and Dr. Mazen Nairat, assistant professor of Math and Physics. Kraemer is also the faculty advisor for the high school team.