Michael Paul, space systems engineer for Penn State’s Applied Research Laboratory, is on his way to making history.

Michael is leading the Penn State team in the Google Lunar X PRIZE Competition, an effort started by Google and the X PRIZE foundation to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers. The two companies are offering a total of $30 million in prize money for the first team to successfully land a privately funded robot on the surface of the moon and send video, images and data back to Earth by the end of 2015. There are currently 26 teams from around the world that are fundraising, planning and building robots in this exceptional race to space – but the Penn State team is the only university team participating in the competition.

The team includes dedicated and talented students, faculty and first-rate scientists and engineers from across the Penn State community. Because of the broad reaching needs of the project, Michael is working towards involving all of the University’s colleges and campuses on the Lunar Lions team, making this project one of the most wide-ranging and collaborative research projects in the history of Penn State.

Michael has tirelessly built this project from the ground up and, as a result, has helped the Penn State team grow into one of the leading contenders. His enthusiasm is incontestable, and he has inspired many with his drive and positive attitude for this incredible and daring project. But along the way, Michael hopes to inspire the next generation of students to appreciate technology and make meaningful contributions to the modern technology-focused workforce, and hopes that through this effort Penn State will become the leading University for the space industry.