What is a Design Challenge?

A Design Challenge empowers students to integrate prior knowledge, new discoveries, and the Engineering Design Process (EDP) to design, test, and improve a solution. Resources to learn about the EDP can be found here.

2023 Student Design Challenge

Our overarching topic is water. Water is everywhere and all things - people, animals, and plants - need water to survive. In order to use water, it has be clear of pollutants and sustainable. This year’s challenge invites students to consider how they can improve their community and environment by examining the water in their area. Students have choice about how they approach the topic so they may best approach the needs of their communities and lives. Please note that this challenge is not focused on clean drinking water, but instead water in the environment.

Students might consider questions such as these: 

• How can the water supplies in your area be protected against environmental pollutants?
• What watersheds are in your area? How do pollutants effect watersheds?
• How is the wildlife and plant life in your area effected by water pollutants? What can be done about the damage?

For each question, students are encouraged to:  

• Identify the problem with the water in their area
• Define the target audience who will benefit from the solution 
• Create a physical model of the solution (build a physical prototype) 
• Discuss how the solution solves the problem for the target audience 
• Identify one career that is related to implementing the solution 

Participating schools will conduct classroom-level presentations and then nominate outstanding projects to participate in a virtual competition in Spring 2023. For safety and equity of access, all competitions will be held virtually this year. The cost and time of travel can be a burden to some families and schools. To alleviate that burden and encourage more students to explore STEM challenges, we will hold all levels of competition virtually. No student should be excluded from this opportunity due to constraint of their location in the state.

By registering for the Design Challenge, you will receive an interactive digital booklet you can share with students. The booklet includes step by step instructions, resources, and videos to help roll out the challenge at your school.