Engineering is all about applying the STEM knowledge to come up with real solutions, and there is a field for every area of interest! Whether you are passionate about deep space, ocean exploration, clean energy, or autonomous systems, hands-on engineering competitions offer an ideal platform to build teamwork, make connections, and showcase your knowledge and creativity.
Here is a roundup of top engineering challenges across every major discipline, for K-college, to inspire your inner innovator.
- Environmental Engineering: WERC Environmental Design Contest
Hosted annually by New Mexico State University, the WERC Environmental Design Contest challenges international, interdisciplinary student teams to develop solutions to pressing ecological issues.
Participants can choose from task orders in water quality, renewable energy, resource recovery, climate adaptation, and more, or propose their own environmental challenge. At the event in April, teams provide bench-scale demos, connect with industry leaders and fellow student engineers of all specialties, and present their work to leaders in academia, government agencies, and private industries.
Registration opens each November.
- Aerospace Engineering: NASA ORBIT
The NASA ORBIT Challenge merges space exploration with entrepreneurship, inviting students from TCUs, HBCUs, and eligible Institutions of Higher Education to work directly with NASA intellectual property.
Teams can choose between ORBIT Earth—adapting NASA patents to commercial terrestrial problems—or ORBIT Space—designing next-generation space exploration technology. Top teams compete for up to $500,000 in prizes, NASA mentorship, and access to an exclusive STEM accelerator program to help launch their careers.
Registration is open through November 16, 2026.
- Architectural Engineering: Build the Moon Challenge
To support long-term human habitation on the Moon, the Build the Moon Challenge tasks students with mastering In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU). Participants experiment with lunar regolith simulant to formulate durable concrete mixtures, design structures capable of withstanding extreme space environments, and create 3D-printed models.
Registration opens each summer for the fall season.
- Marine Robotics Engineering: MATE ROV Competition
The MATE ROV Competition inspires K–university students worldwide to design, build, and pilot Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) for underwater missions. Spanning five distinct skill tiers—from SCOUT to EXPLORER—teams tackle workplace-inspired scenarios such as inspecting offshore wind farms, monitoring marine ecosystems, or repairing aquaculture facilities. The MATE ROV Competition offers unmatched hands-on experience in marine hardware design, tethering systems, and underwater telemetry.
Learn more about how to get started.
- Mechanical Engineering: Rube Goldberg Machine Contest®
Forget engineering for efficiency. The Rube Goldberg Machine Contest® challenges students to use their physics and mechanics skills, along with their most whimsical creativity, to build complex, multi-step contraptions using everyday objects.
Teams compete to accomplish a simple, mundane task through the most excitingly over-engineered and entertaining chain reaction possible. It provides a fun, problem-based learning environment that sharpens mechanical design principles, momentum transfer, and teamwork.
2027 Registration is open now.
- Wind Power Engineering: The KidWind Challenge
Focused on clean energy transition, The KidWind Challenge invites students to research, assemble, and test custom small-scale wind turbines and other clean energy systems.
Participants demonstrate their builds in high-speed wind tunnels, present their engineering choices to expert judges, and take on fast-paced instant design challenges. With both regional in-person events and online options, it prepares the next generation to conceptualize new solutions in clean technology.
Challenges take place year-round. Find one near you!
- Solar Power Engineering: Solar Car Challenge
Established to advance alternative energy awareness, the Solar Car Challenge guides high school teams through building roadworthy, solar-powered vehicles from scratch.
The upcoming 2027 Challenge is a closed-track event at the famous Texas Motor Speedway, where students will gain real-world expertise in electrical engineering, battery management, and aerodynamics while showing off their solar cars.
Intent to Race Deadline is January 31, 2027.
- Robotics & Software Engineering: VEX Robotics Competition
The VEX Robotics Competition is a global platform that engages students from grades 4 through 12 in designing, programming, and operating custom robots.
Teams compete in year-round regional and national game challenges that build key software and mechanical engineering competencies alongside crucial soft skills like time management and strategic communication. The season culminates every April at the massive VEX Robotics World Championship.
World Championship: April 23–30, 2027 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
- Engineering Design: eCYBERMISSION
eCYBERMISSION is a free, web-based STEM competition designed for 6th through 9th graders. Working in small teams alongside adult advisors and professional STEM mentors, students identify a local community problem and apply formal engineering design principles or scientific inquiry to solve it.
All submissions are reviewed online, with state, regional, and national recognition awarded to top-performing teams.
Registration closes February 24, 2027.