Engineering is one of the most popular paths for high school STEM students. It combines math and science with real career prospects. But engineering competitions are less well known than science fairs or math olympiads, even though they’re a strong way to boost a college application. Here are ten of the best engineering competitions for high school students. Dates and rules change each year, so confirm the current details with each one.
1. FIRST Robotics Competition
The FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC), founded by Dean Kamen and Woodie Flowers in 1992, challenges high school teams to build a robot for a new game each season. Teams get a game manual with the rules and tasks, then design, prototype, and build their robot during an intense six-week build season starting in January. FRC supplies a standard Kit of Parts (motors, sensors, pneumatics), and teams can add custom parts.
Teams compete at regional events, where judges score robot performance along with team spirit, safety, and community outreach. Matches use alliance-based gameplay: teams pair up into temporary alliances for elimination rounds, so strategy and communication matter as much as the robot. The season ends at the FIRST Championship in Houston. FRC also stresses “gracious professionalism”: teams share ideas and help each other even while competing.
2. Science Olympiad
Science Olympiad, founded in 1984, is a team-based STEM competition for middle and high school students. Each school team (usually around 15 students) prepares for a range of events that fall into three types: knowledge-based events (written exams on topics like anatomy or geology), lab-based events (experiments and data analysis), and building events (designing devices, bridges, or model aircraft).
Sample events include Anatomy and Physiology, Chemistry Lab, Mission Possible (a Rube Goldberg machine), Wright Stuff (rubber-powered model planes), Boomilever (a load-bearing cantilever), Astronomy, and Dynamic Planet. Teams start at regional tournaments, advance to state, and the best qualify for nationals. Many scientists and engineers credit Science Olympiad with sparking their interest in STEM.
3. VEX Robotics Competition
The VEX Robotics Competition (VRC) has middle and high school teams design, build, and program robots using the VEX V5 system. Each season brings a new game with its own rules and tasks. Teams compete at local, regional, and state tournaments, with the best advancing to the VEX Robotics World Championship in spring.
Like FRC, VRC uses alliance-based gameplay. It also includes solo Robot Skills Challenges (one robot against the clock), Online Challenges (CAD design, animation, essays), and a STEM Research Project where teams propose solutions to real-world problems. VRC is run by the Robotics Education & Competition (REC) Foundation.
4. RoboRAVE International
RoboRAVE International runs robotics workshops and competitions for students of all ages, with a focus on programming, electronics, and mechanical design. Its events cover a range of challenges: autonomous robots, sumo robots, line following, drone courses, maze solving, and an open category for original designs (dancing robots, art machines, and the like).
RoboRAVE also encourages STEM research projects and emphasizes responsible technology use, covering privacy, security, and the social impact of robotics. The organization has a global reach, with events across the Americas, Europe, and Asia.
5. International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF)
The International Science and Engineering Fair, sponsored by Regeneron and run by the Society for Science, is the largest pre-college science competition in the world. Students conduct original research across fields like biology, chemistry, physics, engineering, and computer science, then present it to expert judges.
To reach ISEF, you first compete at a Society-affiliated regional, state, or national fair. Categories span Biomedical and Health Sciences, Engineering, Environmental Sciences, Computer Science, Physics and Astronomy, and more. Finalists compete for more than $9 million in awards and scholarships. The top prize is the George D. Yancopoulos Innovator Award ($100,000), followed by the Gordon E. Moore Award for Positive Outcomes for Future Generations ($50,000). Note that ISEF is a separate competition from the Regeneron Science Talent Search, which is a US-only research competition for high school seniors.
6. American Rocketry Challenge
The American Rocketry Challenge is the world’s largest rocket contest, with nearly 5,000 students competing each year. Middle and high school students design, build, and launch model rockets, working through real engineering problems around aerodynamics, materials, propulsion, stability, and recovery.
To qualify for the national fly-off, teams complete at least two qualifying flights observed by an adult member of the National Association of Rocketry (NAR). The National Finals are held at Great Meadow in The Plains, Virginia. One notable alum is Warren “Woody” Hoburg, who competed in the first American Rocketry Challenge in 2003 and later flew as a mission pilot on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 to the International Space Station.
7. Rube Goldberg Machine Challenge
The Rube Goldberg Machine Challenge, named after the cartoonist Rube Goldberg (1883–1970), asks participants to build an elaborate chain-reaction contraption that performs a simple task in the most convoluted way possible. The goal is something like turning on a light or pouring a cup of coffee, achieved in a minimum of 20 and a maximum of 75 steps, incorporating at least six different simple machines (levers, pulleys, inclined planes, wedges, screws, and wheels and axles).
Beyond the engineering, these machines reward creativity and storytelling, the more absurd and entertaining, the better. They teach energy transfer, friction, momentum, and balance, and often appear at schools, maker fairs, and community events.
8. NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge (HERC)
The NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge is an engineering design competition where student teams build human-powered rovers that traverse a simulated planetary surface and complete mission tasks. It’s held each spring at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and is open to US and international students at the high school, college, and university levels.
The course features craters, rocky surfaces, and uneven terrain, so teams have to adapt their rover designs to get through. Rules and guidelines are in the HERC Handbook. The challenge aligns with NASA’s Artemis program to return humans to the Moon, and it’s run by the HERC team at Marshall Space Flight Center.
9. Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) ROV Competition
The MATE ROV Competition has student teams design, build, and operate remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) for underwater missions. Run by the Marine Advanced Technology Education program, it ties together engineering, robotics, and marine science.
Teams complete science-based missions that mirror real ocean work: collecting samples from the seafloor, navigating underwater obstacles, and deploying sensors or instruments in precise locations. The tasks reward critical thinking, troubleshooting, and teamwork, and give students a window into careers in oceanography and marine engineering.
10. Technology Student Association (TSA) High School Competitions
The Technology Student Association runs a wide range of competitive events for high school students across STEM disciplines. Eligibility rules apply to the national TSA conference, and participants submit one entry per event.
Events span career categories including architecture and construction, communications technology, computer science and IT, leadership, manufacturing and transportation, and the intersection of STEM and the arts. Specific competitions include Animatronics (building devices with sound, lights, and an environment), Architectural Design, Audio Podcasting, Biotechnology Design, and Board Game Design. TSA gives students practical skills, teamwork experience, and exposure to real-world challenges.
Want to win a STEM engineering competition?
If these competitions motivate you, it’s worth getting serious about preparing. For a masterclass on how to prepare, taught by a past winner, see rishabacademy.com/stem.
Good luck with the competitions.
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