About Us

Wizard's Chess

Wizard's Chess was the idea of five Notre Dame senior looking to combine what we've learned throughout our college experience in a fun and creative way. Although our design was cut short we were able to work as a group through planning, design, and subassembly stages of the project.

The Team

• Benjamin Baileys

  Notre Dame Electrical Engineering 20'

Ben is a graduating senior pursuing Electrical Engineering and Physics degrees. He is a transfer student in a 3+2 program coming from King's College and finishing his education at Notre Dame. Upon graduation he will be searching for a job in the field. He is from Scranton, Pennsylvania and returned there when the Covid-19 pandemic started.



• Delany Bolton

  Notre Dame Electrical Engineering 20'

Delany is a graduating electrical engineering major with plans to commission as a Naval Officer in May. She will attend Naval Nuclear Power School in order to train for her future as a submarine officer. Some of her interests include horses, fostering dogs, and soaking up the beautiful Florida sunshine. She hopes to one day power her own farm with renewable energy.



• Fabio Frietas Lopes Soares

  Notre Dame Electrical Engineering 20'

Fabio is a graduating senior pursuing Electrical Engineering and Math/Physics degrees. He is a transfer student in a 3+2 program coming from Bethel University and finishing his education at Notre Dame. Upon graduation he will be moving to Austin - TX to pursue a career in Investment Data & Analytics. Some of his interests include British Rock music, music festivals, playing soccer, TV Series (not the last season of GOT), and movies.



• Luke Tholen

  Notre Dame Electrical Engineering 20'

Luke is a graduating senior majoring in Electrical Engineering. Upon graduation, he will commission as an officer into the United States Navy as a Naval Reactors Engineer living in Washington, D.C. His interests include reading Ernest Hemingway novels, cigars, anything related to nuclear power, his dog Ruth, and scotch whisky.

• Shae Watkins

  Notre Dame Electrical Engineering 20'

Shae is a member of the class of 2020 electrical engineering department. He participated on the varsity track and field team as a thrower for four years, representing the team on the Student Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) and participating in Rosenthal Leadership training. Additionally, Shae was on the leadership committee for Notre Dame Christian Athletes (NDCA) for three years, assisting in bringing professional athletes such as former NFL athlete Justin Hartwig, former NBA athlete David Robinson, current NFL athlete Drue Tranquill, and soon to include current MLB athlete Craig Stammen. Coming from Fostoria, Ohio, Shae grew up in rural America, attending high school in a class of 52 students. He has three sisters, one of which currently attends college at Walsh University and is a member of their track and field team. Following graduation in the spring of 2020 from Notre Dame, Shae will be joining Norfolk Southern as an Electrical Engineering Supervisor.

Due to a notional pandemic halfway through our semester, students were sent home to resume classes through "distance learning." This happened just as we were starting to assemble subsystems. So, we found ourselves away from the university, without any of our resources or equipment, in different parts of the country, still attempting to salvage our project with the hopes that someday we would get to return and assemble.