Competition and camaraderie: Student teams built on the Missouri Method

By Brian Consiglio

Aug. 25, 2026
Contact: Brian Consiglio, consigliob@missouri.edu
Photos by Abbie Lankitus

Students don’t just learn in classrooms at the University of Missouri; they get their hands dirty — literally — by judging soil types, building race cars, designing tractors and launching rockets.

As the fall semester begins, Mizzou students can take advantage of the Missouri Method philosophy of learning-by-doing through groups such as the Mizzou Soil Judging Team, Mizzou Racing, the Mizzou Quarter Scale Tractor Pulling Team and the Mizzou Space Program.

These student-run teams give Tigers opportunities to gain practical skills, such as welding and graphic design, while developing leadership, teamwork and problem-solving skills that prepare them for the workforce.

Students involved in these immersive experiences find themselves in lively outdoor laboratories: NASCAR racetracks, dirt tracks, launch pads and soil pits.

Open to all majors and experience levels, competition teams invite students to learn, compete and make friends outside the classroom.

Read on to get the dirt on how much work — and fun — goes into judging soil and building race cars, tractors and rockets. 

Mizzou Soil Judging Team

There’s a whole world beneath our feet, and members of the Mizzou Soil Judging Team are getting to the root of it.

By jumping into massive pits six feet deep and analyzing soil types, colors, textures and moisture content in different regions of the country, students are helping determine which areas are best for building basements and roads or for growing corn.

“I’m so passionate about sustainability and using what I’ve learned to contribute to environmental science,” said Emma Knudson, last year’s co-captain of the Soil Judging Team who studied environmental sciences in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources. “I love being out in the field all day. And the satisfaction of exploring what is beneath our feet is the coolest feeling.”

This past fall, the team placed third overall at the regional competition in Omaha, Nebraska, and this past spring, the team placed second overall at the national competition in North Carolina. In years past, the team has traveled to California, South Dakota, Texas and Kansas.

The best parts of the club were the friendships she made with other students, Knudson said, as well as the mentorship she and other students received from team coach Kerry Clark, an associate research professor in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources.

“After practice we would all eat dinner together and play games, and we were all in a group chat,” Knudson said. “Coach Clark wrote me dozens of letters of recommendation. And at competitions, she helped us network with professionals in the field from other universities.”

The immersive experiences had such an important impact on former co-captain Alayna Kruse, who studied environmental sciences, that she now wants to coach a soil judging team in the future as a graduate student.

“It was so rewarding to watch someone go from knowing nothing to being confident in their assessments and being the person others come to for questions,” Kruse said.

Mizzou Racing

Ever wanted to build a race car with your college buddies and drive it on a NASCAR racetrack? That’s the reality for students in Mizzou Racing.

Each spring, the Society of Automotive Engineers hosts more than 100 student teams, including Mizzou Racing, from around the world at Michigan International Speedway. The Mizzou team spends the fall semester designing a race car for the competition before manufacturing the car in the winter and early spring.

The goal is to have the car ready to test-drive by the end of March before the competition in May.

“This club is the best place on campus to get hands-on experience in both the design and manufacturing processes of engineering,” Justin Bowers, last year’s president of Mizzou Racing, said. “It’s one of the few places at Mizzou where you can get experience with high-voltage electronics and powertrain systems as an undergraduate student.”

In 2022, Mizzou Racing moved its garage to Lafferre Hall, and a larger, more modern shop has helped fuel the growth of the club.

“All of us became one large group of friends since we hung out all the time inside and outside the shop,” Bowers, who studied computer science and electrical engineering in the College of Engineering, said. “This club was a cool thing to talk about in job interviews as we got so many chances to learn, problem-solve, tweak and improve things. Those skills are valuable regardless of what you go on to do in the workforce.”

A highlight for Bowers was seeing the car he helped build place second overall in the acceleration category out of 120 teams at Michigan International Speedway in Spring 2025.

“The feeling of designing and manufacturing something and then seeing it in action is unparalleled,” Bowers said. “It was also rewarding as president to mentor younger students and help them succeed with the projects they were working on. It was truly a team effort.”

Mizzou Quarter Scale Tractor Pulling Team

How far can a tractor built by Mizzou college students pull a heavy sled along a track? Every year, the Mizzou Quarter Scale Tractor Pulling Team — also known as Torq’N Tigers — builds a tractor from scratch to find out.

The first half of the school year is spent designing and manufacturing parts before assembling and test driving the tractor in the spring. The skills students develop, including welding, engine maintenance and performance optimization, prepare them for a variety of agriculture- and engineering-related careers.

Each year around the end of May, the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers hosts a competition in Peoria, Illinois, where Mizzou’s team competes against more than 20 student teams from universities in the United States, Canada and the Middle East.

“I came from a small town, and this club connects me to a lot of what I was used to growing up,” Avery Thomas, president of the club and a mechanical engineering major, said. “Working on equipment and being around farm-minded people with similar interests at Mizzou has been a lot of fun.”

Jacob Lakenburger, last year’s vice president of the club who studied mechanical engineering, organized welding training for new members.

“I know countless people in the club over the years who have gotten job opportunities with companies because of the skills they learned being a part of this club,” Lakenburger said. “There are alumni who work with companies that now sponsor the club, so being able to build resumes, network and develop leadership skills was huge. Teaching others to weld was rewarding, too.”

Mizzou Space Program

When it comes to launching rockets, Mizzou students are shooting for the stars — literally. After months designing, testing and building rockets, the Mizzou Space Program competed at the Argonia Cup in Argonia, Kansas, in late March and at the International Rocket Engineering Competition in Midland, Texas, in June.

“We pride ourselves on giving everyone hands-on experiences as soon as they join,” Evan Hefele, a mechanical engineering major and president of Mizzou Space Program, said. “This club is a great chance to apply what you learn in class, whether it’s math, physics or computer-aided design.”

The only requirement for joining the club is enthusiasm, Hefele said. Previous club members have gone on to work at NASA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon.

While one of the team’s rockets successfully traveled 38,000 feet at a competition last year, the greatest benefit of getting involved is hard to quantify.

“Joining this club helped me find a sense of community here at Mizzou,” Maddie Rupp, a junior studying mechanical engineering, said. “The opportunities at Mizzou allow you to explore what you are interested in and learn something about yourself along the way.”