Southern Illinois University Edwardsville alum Ross Mead will be among the competitors in Syfy Channel’s Robot Combat League that premieres at 9 p.m. (CT) Tuesday, Feb. 26.
Robot Combat League will feature tournament-style battles between eight-feet tall, state-of-the-art humanoid robots controlled by human “robo-jockeys.” This extraordinary new series will feature 12 teams consisting of a fighter (a robo-jockey) and a robotics engineer (a robo-tech) from various backgrounds.
Mead is the robo-tech for Team A.X.E. He is paired with Andrew Montanez, a professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter known as “The Squid.”
Each team is paired with its own unique robot and will fight in a first-of-its kind competition using a high-tech exo-suit that translates the robo-jockey’s movements to its robot. Each fight consists of three rounds of intense action with the winning team advancing in the competition.
Mead graduated in 2007 with a bachelor’s in computer science from SIUE’s School of Engineering. The Edwardsville native is currently pursuing his doctorate at the University of Southern California.
SIUE’s Dr. Jerry Weinberg, who was then chair of the Department of Computer Science and is now dean of the Graduate School, introduced Mead to robotics when he was still a junior in high school. Weinberg recruited him to a robotics competition. Mead eventually was named SIUE Student Laureate of the 2007 Lincoln Academy of Illinois. The award recognized an SIUE senior for excellence in curricular and extracurricular activities.