aQuatonomous - Co-Captain

Ahoy! Want to sail the seven seas? Interested in autonomous vehicles, marine research, and outdoor robotics? aQuatonomous is a design team within Smith Engineering dedicated to building an autonomous surface vessel (ASV) for applied ecological and water research in harsh marine environments, while competing in the internationally recognized RoboNation RoboBoat competition.

aQuatonomous is hiring Co-Captains for the 2025-2026 academic year. These individuals will lead technical development across our five engineering sub-teams—electrical, robotic integration, mechanical, perception, and autonomy—while also supporting our ecological sciences/water research and business sub-teams.

In March 2025, aQuatonomous competed at RoboBoat for the first time, making it to the semi-finals. Now, we're looking for new Co-Captains to take us even further in March 2026. If you're ready to lead, innovate, and push the limits of autonomous marine robotics, apply now.

🚀 We are looking for someone who:

• Has strong communication skills and time management skills.
• Can facilitate collaboration and sponsorships with external companies, labs, and student groups.
• Is a good listener and democratic leader who leads by example.
• Can get things done and is determined to get aQuatonomous to RoboBoat 2026.
• Is happy to partake in field work, technical work, business management, and the lot.
• Cares about our mission of utilizing autonomous boats as a catalyst for sustainable development.

🧭 As a Co-Captain, you will be responsible for:

• Coordinating the activities of all technical leads and creating and ensuring team-wide adherence to a technical timeline.
• Splitting work with your Co-Captain according to your dynamic.
• Meeting with stakeholders regarding the team’s progress and collaborative efforts with labs and companies.
• Logistical planning of competition participation in collaboration with your executive team.
• Approving the work of the business team (sponsorship initiatives, finances).
• Attending outreach events and field work activities.
• Picking up technical tasks that need to get done all across the board (electrical, perception, autonomy, robotics integration, mechanical).
• Helping the Ecological Sciences and Water Research Lead (ESWR) to define the sub-teams' projects in adherence with aQuatonomous’s mission and in pursuit of collaboration with the technical subteams.
• Being the face of aQuatonomous in professional settings and outside of your work within the club.

This application will close on April 1^st, 2025. Interviews will be scheduled via Zoom from April 2^nd through April 6^th.

Arr matey! If ye have any questions, please contact aQuatonomous at engsoc.queensu.ca! 🏴‍☠️🌊