When people think of NASA the first things that come to mind are usually rockets and robots; however, NASA works on so many incredible areas of technology development that most of us don’t associate with the high tech space exploration administration. From advancing crop science that helps farmers increase their yields to improving how biomedical researchers can grow human tissues, NASA researchers have their hands in nearly every industry here on Planet One. And luckily, there are great ways for students to get involved and get recognized by NASA!
We’re fortunate to be living in the Artemis era, as second golden era of space exploration where NASA has a prime directive to return humans to the Moon and push on to Mars! Right now, excitement about space is growing faster than a speeding neutrino! The recent launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, the development of new commercial space stations, the discovery of Earth-like exoplanets, the launch of commercial astronauts and (soon!) sending crewed missions to the moon! There’s never been a better time to get involved in space programs than right now.
But how do you get started? How do you get recognized by NASA. I mean, those people are wicked smart! If you’re a student in high school or college and you want to work at NASA helping to advance any of the amazing projects on the horizon, it might seem a little daunting to even know how to begin. Well, NASA, and a bunch of supporting organizations have tons of amazing competitions and contests that students can participate in.
These student competitions, contests, challenges, and prize programs are amazing ways to get recognized by and connected with NASA. Not only that, their Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) focus, helps students prepare for a wide array of college and career opportunities. So if you want to get recognized by the smarty pants at NASA, you might want to start here. We’ve compiled a list of our top competitions that can help you get connected with NASA!
1. Plant the Moon and Mars Challenge
Age Range: Elementary, Middle, High, and College
Tags: Citizen Science, Science Fair, Agriculture, Botany, Lunar Exploration, Mars Exploration, Life Support, Mission Design.
This STEM competition challenges teams of up to 10 students to see who can grow the best crops in Lunar or Martian regolith! It combines agriscience, farming, and botany with space exploration, planetary science, geology, and NASA mission technology development. Teams receive 5kg packs of simulated regolith painstakingly engineered by the University of Central Florida’s Exolith Laboratory to be as close to the real thing as possible. Through an 8 week grow period, students conduct their own experiments to test out which types of crops grow best with which types of fertilizers added to the simulated regolith.
Students get connected with NASA researchers, botanists, and university academics to learn how NASA is helping to advance crop science for space exploration and for the agriculture industry here at home. Anyone interested in testing out their hand at being an astrofarmer, check out this citizen science competition!
Learn more: https://plantthemoon.com/
2. Lunabotics
Age Range: College
Tags: Robotics, Mining, Lunar Exploration
LUNABOTICS is a STEM competition for college students that supports NASA’s lunar technology development by focusing on lunar construction with a challenge to build robots to simulate building a section of a berm on the lunar surface. On the lunar surface, a berm would surround lander launch and landing pads to prevent dust and debris from spreading onto habitats and experiments during. The challenge provides students exposure to NASA’s systems engineering process: design, develop and evaluate robots, and an opportunity to be involved in a challenge with other community colleges, colleges/universities at KSC. The teams will also perform public outreach, submit systems engineering papers and present and demonstrate their work to a NASA review panel.
3. Human Exploration Rover Challenge
Ages: High, College
Tags: Rovers, Lunar Expedition
This STEM competition for high school and college students tasks teams to design, develop, build, and test human-powered rovers capable of traversing challenging terrain and task tools for completion of various mission tasks.
4. International Space Settlement Design Competition
Age: high
Tags: Space Exploration, Mission Design, Habitats, Engineering
Through these hands on students competitions, teams of high school students adopt positions within a simulated professional workplace setting related to a future space settlement scenario. They are mentored by industry professionals as they work to deliver solutions to simulated futuristic aerospace engineering scenarios. Students gain a deeper understanding of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) – specifically their application in the industries of today and tomorrow –providing them a platform to pursue careers in aeronautical, and other, fields and disciplines.
5. Spaceport America Cup
Ages: college
Tags: Rocketry
The Spaceport America Cup is the world’s largest Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering Competition for student rocketry teams. With over 120 teams from colleges and universities in twenty countries, the competition continues to grow every year. Students launch solid, liquid, and hybrid rockets to target altitudes of 10,000 and 30,000 feet. A great way for college students to connect their STEM skills with NASA launch goals!
6. The American Rocketry Challenge
Ages: middle, high
Tags: Rocketry
The American Rocketry Challenge is the world’s largest rocket contest with nearly 5,000 students nationwide competing each year. The contest gives middle and high school students the opportunity to design, build and launch model rockets and hands-on experience solving engineering problems. This STEM competition for students is a sure way to get NASA to recognize your students’ work!
7. NASA Student Launch Competition
Ages: middle, high, college
Tags: rocketry
NASA’s Student Launch is a research-based, competitive, experiential exploration activity. It strives to provide relevant, cost-effective research and development of rocket propulsion systems. The student competition provides science, technology, engineering, and math skills for students that are directly relevant to NASA. This project offers multiple challenges reaching a broad audience of middle and high schools, colleges, and universities across the nation.
8. Micro-G Next
Ages: college
Tags: science, research, microgravity, Neutral Buoyancy
Micro-g Neutral Buoyancy Experiment Design Teams encourages undergraduate students to design, build and test a tool or device that addresses an authentic, current space exploration challenge. The challenge includes hands-on engineering design, test operations and public outreach. Test operations are conducted in a simulated microgravity environment at NASA’s Johnson Space Center Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory in Houston, Texas.
9. NASA BIG Idea Challenge
Ages: college, graduate
Tags: robotics, rover, space exploration
The 2022 BIG Idea Challenge provides undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to design, develop, and demonstrate robotic systems with alternative rover locomotion modalities for use in off-world extreme lunar terrain applications. A panel of NASA and industry judges selected seven innovative ideas from the academic community for a wide range of alternative rover locomotion modalities to either enhance or replace traditional wheeled mobility systems that can expand our access to extreme terrain on the Moon and (later) on Mars.
10. Great Lunar Expedition for Everyone (GLEE)
Age Range: High, College
Tags: Lunar Exploration, Programming, Satellites,
Inspired by NASA’s Apollo Moon landings over 50 years ago, the Great Lunar Expedition for Everyone (GLEE) will be a catalyst for a new generation of space missions and explorers. This scientific and technological mission to the Moon will deploy 500 LunaSats to the lunar surface to conduct local and distributed science missions. LunaSats are tiny spacecraft with an integrated sensor suite that will be programmed by teams of students all over the world for a mission of their own design. These teams will be mentored by GLEE program staff through the programming, test, launch, and data gathering process. GLEE will be free to all teams that are selected for participation. From hands-on activities to a global citizen science network, GLEE is the next step to inspire and engage the world in a truly global mission to the Moon.
11. International Space Apps Challenge
Ages: high, college, graduate, professional
Tags: coding, programming
The NASA International Space Apps Challenge (Space Apps) is an international hackathon for coders, scientists, designers, storytellers, makers, builders, technologists, and others in cities around the world, where teams engage the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA’s) free and open data to address real-world problems on Earth and in space.
Each October, over the course of two days, Space Apps brings participants from around the world together at hundreds of in-person and virtual local events to solve challenges submitted by NASA experts. After the hackathon, project submissions are judged by space agency experts and winners are selected for one of 10 Global Awards. Space Apps provides problem-solvers worldwide with NASA’s free and open data, giving teams the opportunity to learn how to use these resources to solve each year’s challenges.
12. Zero Robotics Competition
Ages: Middle, High
Tags: Robotics, Microgravity, International Space Station, Coding, Programming
Zero Robotics is a robotics programming competition where the robots are SPHERES (Synchronized Position Hold Engage and Reorient Experimental Satellites) inside the International Space Station. The competition starts online, on this website, where teams program the SPHERES to solve an annual challenge. After several phases of virtual competition in a simulation environment that mimics the real SPHERES, finalists are selected to compete in a live championship aboard the ISS. An astronaut will conduct the championship competition in microgravity with a live broadcast!
13. NASA AstroPhoto Contests
Ages: Elementary, Middle, High, College, Graduate
Tags: Photography, science, astrophotography, data science
NASA’s Astrophoto Challenges include two challenges: the MicroObservatory Challenge and the NASA Data Challenge. Teams entering either challenge could be selected by NASA’s Universe of Learning team as a standout entry for feedback from NASA scientists! In the MicroObservatory Challenge, students capture their own real-time telescope image of the Carina Nebula, and process it with MicroObservatory’s JS9‑4L tool. Then student teams consider how the image of the Carina Nebula that they processed compares to an image of the Carina Nebula processed by NASA. In the NASA Data Challenge, student teams select any of NASA’s images of Eta Carina & the Carina Nebula and process them with MicroObservatory’s JS9‑4L tool. Then students use all the techniques they’ve learned with MicroObservatory to process real NASA data and create their best image.
14. Space Entrepreneurs Academy
Ages: high, college
Tags: technology, research, science, entrepreneurship, mission design,
This high school and university student education program combines science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) with the excitement of commercial space entrepreneurship. The Space Entrepreneurs Academy (SEA) engages students in a wide array of aerospace topics through a unique library of diverse video interviews and custom tutorial videos from industry executives, academic researchers, and government leaders. The SEA provides an innovative digital learning opportunity to engage students in the STEM concepts behind commercial space entrepreneurship and encourages critical thinking about the future of the aerospace industry.
Each year, the academy concludes with a pitch competition presenting innovative new ideas for commercial space businesses from the top students around the world. Students completing the Space Entrepreneurship Academy are trained on a unique combination of entrepreneurship and aerospace content, gaining skills to help them bolster the rapidly growing workforce and launch the next wave of innovative aerospace products, services, and businesses.
The Space Entrepreneurs Academy opens in the fall of 2022. To receive information about this competition make sure you are registered on the ICS platform.
Find out more about these and hundreds of other competitions for students on the Institute of Competition Sciences platform! Join us as a featured member to get access to special discounts, unique competition opportunities, and to get an insider advice on how to succeed in all kinds of academic competitions.
Signup for your insider account at: www.competitionsciences.org
What does it take to build and operate a competitive robot? Students in robotics competitions have been discovering the answer to that question for decades. There’s a reason that robotics competitions like FIRST and BattleBots were the first STEM competitions to go “mainstream.” Beyond the engineering and programming skills that they foster, robotics competitions encourage teamwork, creativity, problem-solving, and determination. Just as important, though, the competitions are really, undeniably fun.
If you’re interested in engineering, design, tech, or team sports, then you’ll love robotics competitions. Even students as young as 5 and as advanced as graduate school can participate. With most robotics competitions requiring mentors, teachers and parents also have an opportunity to join in on the excitement. After reviewing many robotics competitions for students of all ages, we’ve boiled our recommendations for how to win down to just one overarching tip: practice!
Robots don’t just do what you want them to right out the gate (unless you are a genius robot yourself). To get the robots to do what you want takes many iterations. Try something out, if it doesn’t work, learn from it. Learning from these small failures during your practice runs will make your team better prepared for the real tournaments! Take some time every week to think about a certain task or need for your robot in the challenge you’re participating it. Then practice that from many different angles again and again. Try different strategies to get it to do what you want, and when you get frustrated that its not working, learn from that, and try something new! Practicing the many different strategies you can use to get your robots to do what you want them to is – in our opinion – the single best way to win more robotics competitions.
If you want to expand your participation in robotics competitions check out some of the lesser known programs in our list below:
Popular Robotic Competitions
FIRST Robotics Competition – The gold standard of robotics competitions, FIRST challenges teams of high school students to design, build, and program robots that will compete with others on the international stage.
VEX Robotics Competition – Middle and high school teams from around the world compete in this innovative robot engineering challenge. The founding organization also hosts online competitions.
Botball – In Botball, middle and high school teams build autonomous bots. Students learn artificial intelligence and advanced coding to prepare their bot for battle.
BEST Robotics Challenge – Middle and high school student teams design and build task-performing robots that will compete in secret challenges revealed on competition day.
Robotics For All
Autonomous Aerial Vehicle Tournament – Participants program drones to complete tasks. The tournament is open to robotics enthusiasts of all ages.
Cyber Robotics Coding Competition – Virtual 3D robotics tournament open to grade 6-8
MakeX Spark Online Competition – Online coding and robotics competition for students age 6-13
MATE Underwater Robotics Competition – Students from kindergarten to grad school will design and build remotely operated vehicles to take on ocean missions
National Robotics Challenge – Students grade 6 to grad school find—rather than buy—materials to build a competitive robot
World Robot Olympiad – Global themed robotics competition open to students ages 6 – 25
Find other exciting robotics competitions in the ICS database which allows you to search competitions by theme and grade level. With an upgraded account, you can track and manage your participation in the competitions, making sure you don’t miss a minute of the action! Don’t forget to get your own Premium account to help you manage your participation and get special updates and discounts on ICS competitions!
From time to time, there have been sports teams that dominated their game so much they were called dynasties. Over the years, the Pittsburgh Steelers, San Francisco 49ers, and Dallas Cowboys have all been referred to as NFL ‘dynasties.’ The New York Yankees have certainly fit the bill in the MLB. In the NBA, it was the Boston Celtics in the 60’s, Los Angeles Lakers in the 80’s, and when Michael Jordan was playing, the Chicago Bulls in the 90’s.
With the way the Golden State Warriors dominated the competition toward the end of the 2017 season and steamrolled their way through the post-season, they could very well be on the way to becoming the next NBA dynasty.
When it comes to academia though, the word ‘dynasty’ is not typically used. However, here at ICS, we think it’s very interesting to look at the academic performance of various schools, regions, or even countries in the same terms as we do with sports. Luckily, academic competitions provide a great way of quantifying the level of excellence achieved just like we do with sports.
With this in mind, one question has been nagging us ever since the 2017 competition seasons started winding down: Is China on its way to becoming the Golden State Warriors of robotics?
The Question.
We hear a lot about China’s increasing dominance on the world stage of technology. So, is the US doomed to future mediocrity in the budding field of robotics, while we let China step up and become the next big robotic dynasty?
In recent years, China has become the leader in industrial robotics, buying more than any other country in the world. It’s all a part of a government-backed, industrial revolution centered on robotics that China has been promoting.
“Our country will be the biggest market for robots,” President Xi Jinping said in a speech to the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2014, “but can our technology and manufacturing capacity cope with the competition?”
While China as a country has embraced the value of robotics in manufacturing, the vast majority of the industrial robots purchased by Chinese companies are still made outside of the country. So is China producing the educated workforce needed to actually design and manufacture the high tech robots that will drive the economy in the coming decades? To answer this question, we can turn to the world of academic competitions.
For China to become the leader in developing robotics and not just using them, a focus needs to be put on education. To be the best, one first has to learn how to be—well, the best. The right minds must be taught and the knowledge they acquire put into practice.
There happen to be a number of great academic competitions focused on robotics that give the best and brightest young minds a chance to test their skills—and their robots—against the top challengers the world has to offer. We’ve analyzed a few of the top robotics competitions to find the answer to our question – is China becoming a dynasty in robotics competitions?
The Competitions.
The Vex Robotics Competition, presented by the Robotics Education & Competition Foundation, refers to itself as the largest and fastest growing robotics competition in the world. In 2017, over 18,000 teams (elementary school, middle school, high school, and college) from 40 countries took part in over 1300 competitions. The season culminated in the 10th Annual World Championships held in Louisville, Kentucky, as 1400 teams from over 30 countries competed for the chance to be the best.
Teams are split up into five different competitive levels—the middle school, high school, and university competitions and the elementary school and middle school IQ challenges--with each being comprised of several divisions.
How did teams from China fair this year?
- 1 team - from Xi'an Jiao Tong University - was the only team from China to win an Excellence Award, which is given to the team with the most well-rounded VEX Robotics program.
- 2 of the 3 high school world champions were Chinese teams this year.
- 2 of the 3 middle school world champions were Chinese, along with 3 other finalists.
- Both world champions for the IQ elementary challenge were from China
- The middle school IQ challenge had 1 team from China (Hong Kong), in 2nd place.
So, China did well, but did they dominate?
China definitely did well, with a bigger showing in the final rounds than most countries. And in the younger grades China seems to be even more dominant. However, if you factor in the performance in other Robotics Competitions — the answer is a bit fuzzier. Both the FIRST Tech Challenge and FIRST Robotics Challenge are international competitions whose seasons culminate in the World Championship competition. Unfortunately for China’s dynastic aspirations, neither competition has a history of teams from China winning the top awards.
In the FIRST Robotics competition, the Chairman’s Award is the highest honor a team can receive. Last season’s team was from West Virginia. In fact, the winners of the Chairman’s Award dating back to 2003 were teams based inside the United States.
For the FIRST Tech Challenge, the top team is named the Inspire Award winner. In the Houston World Championship competition, a team from Canada won. The St. Louis competition winner was a team from Iowa. Between the two, there was only one team from China that was recognized in the finals. A list of past winners dating back to the 2005-06 season included a few teams from Mexico, but otherwise, the Inspire Award winners have all been teams from the United States.
Does this mean we should write off China’s chances at a future dynasty? Have teams from China just not done well? Of course not. There very well may be other factors that have limited how many teams from China showed up in the top spots. For one, not as many teams compete from China as they do from the United States. Perhaps as more schools begin to enter the competitions, China’s teams will begin to show up in the top spots more dominantly.
In Conclusion…
So—back to the original question. Is China the Golden State Warriors of robotics? Are they the dominant force in the world of academic Robotics Competitions? No. At least not yet. The Golden State Warriors took 2 of the last 3 NBA Championships and were in contention for the one they didn’t win. They have dominated either all of the competition or most of it for the last three seasons.
China has done very well in the robotics competitions, but not so well that they can be called a dynasty on par with the Warriors. They have done well, but the same could be said for teams from the United States and Canada. But don’t count them out for the future. China’s dominance in robotic competitions may not be far away - as we’ve seen from their strong performances at the younger grade level competitions. And as more schools begin to compete, it’s going to lead to very interesting show-downs for the next few years of robotic competition for sure.
The Golden State Warriors they are not. Cleveland Cavaliers--maybe. But the future is wide open. The 2017-2018 robotics competitions begin this fall. So stay tuned for more!
