Since these high school kids trounced MIT in a national underwater robot contest ("La Vida Robot," April 2005), they've been wined and dined in Beverly Hills* — Salma Hayek is producing a movie based on their story — *and courted by top universities. But they'll take West Phoenix over Hollywood or MIT any day. Thanks to Wired readers who donated more than $90,000 to a scholarship fund, all four team members have pursued higher education close to home.

Photographs: Livia Corona Oscar Vazquez — the leader — was working construction when the April 2005 Wired hit newsstands. Now he's a junior at Arizona State University. A standout engineering student, Vazquez has formed ASU's first robotics club and regularly competes in events.

Cristian Arcega — the brainiac — dropped out of ASU after a year. His complaint: It was boring. He's now earning a machining license so he can do mechanical R&D for tech companies. Arcega graduates at the end of May.

Luis Aranda — the muscle — enrolled in the Le Cordon Bleu Program at the Scottsdale Culinary Institute last year and is now starting his own catering company. He can flip between French haute cuisine and Mexican-style home cooking, but most agree that his shredded pork and green chile tamales are unbeatable.

Lorenzo Santillan — the mechanic — is attending Phoenix Community College and entered the 2007 National Underwater Robotics Challenge as a one-man team. He placed third, besting several five-person teams: "I had never won anything on my own, so when they told me I got third, I kind of wanted to cry."

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