The Real World Design Challenge is an annual competition that provides high school students, grades 9-12, the opportunity to work on real-world engineering challenges in a team environment.
One primary goal of the RWDC is to increase the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics workforce. Each year, student teams address a problem that confronts our nation’s leading industries, utilize professional engineering software to develop their solutions and generate presentations that demonstrate the value of their solutions.
Every teacher who participates in the RWDC receives $1 million in professional engineering software along with training, curriculum materials and access to mentors. Registration is free to students and teachers.
Students first compete in a state-level Governor’s Cup. The team with the best design in each state takes an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C. to compete in the national finals.
Team registration for the 2012-13 academic year is now available. Teachers can register teams even it they do not know which students they will have next fall, and teachers may have more than one team. The National Challenge Championship will take place April 19-22, 2013.