So far 59 teams from 29 universities and university technical colleges (UTCs) have been confirmed for the 2024 Design Challenge.

The list of participating universities and university technical colleges (UTCs) registered to take part in the 2024 Design Challenge is available on the Challenge website.

Teams of 2-6 students from universities or university technical colleges (UTCs) will undertake the task of designing and building a repeatable vehicle which represents the first stages of a robotic vehicle that could be used for materials handling purposes. This will help develop the participants’ practical skills and enable them to gain valuable experience of working on a real-world project in the process.

If you require an extension beyond the original 26 January 2024 deadline to register team(s) for Design Challenge 2024, please contact us directly designchallenge@imeche.org

Sign-up for the following webinars to get fully clued up on what the Design Challenge is and what it entails, as well as to best prepare your team in the hopes of progressing from the Regional Finals and National Final:

• What is the Design Challenge? – 16 February 2024, 12:00-13:00 GMT – Sign-up here >
• Get ready for the regional: how do I win? – 13 March 2024, 12:00-13:00 GMT – Sign-up here >
• Let’s move from the regional winners to the national winners! – 11 June 2024, 12:00-13:00 BST – Sign-up here >

In addition, the Ansys Simulation Challenge which will run alongside Design Challenge 2024, is open to all registered Design Challenge 2024 teams. Taking part in the Simulation Challenge alongside Design Challenge 2024 enables competing teams to use free Ansys software to optimise product performance, speed up development while reducing prototyping costs, resources and effort.

The simulation can be structural OR thermal OR fluid. Dynamic simulation (simulation of parts in motion) is not required.

Submissions:

• 1-2 slide overview of model set up and boundary conditions (with assumptions and estimations.
• Maximum 3-minute video (click here to watch a video example) showing original simulation with results and then redesign with results.
• The top submission from each regional heat will go through to the finals. Teams can update their video along with their designs to submit for the finals.
• Submissions deadline for the Ansys Simulation Challenge will be 1st April 2024

To all Design Challenge 2024 registered teams: don’t miss out, visit the Ansys Simulation Challenge webpage for full details of this new, exciting competition and register your interest at designchallenge@imeche.org.

All participants are encouraged to follow the Design Challenge’s Twitter and Facebook social media channels and Challenge website for competition updates, and we wish all university and UTC teams the best of luck with their projects.