Dream with Us: High School Engineering Challenge
The Dream with Us: High School Engineering Challenge for 2026-2027 is the Fueling Flight Design Challenge: New Energy Systems. Students in grades 9-12 work in teams of 3-7 participants to focus on designing a new cargo aircraft fueled by liquefied natural gas and creating a proposal to support your freight company’s selection of your design. Join this year’s challenge to solve a real-world aviation issue.
GET INVOLVED
WITH THE DREAM WITH US: HIGH SCHOOL ENGINEERING CHALLENGE
Register a Team
To register your teams fill out the form by clicking the link below.
Teams are made up of 3–7 students in grades 9–12. Each team needs a coach who is a teacher or other adult to help organize the team and act as the point of contact for the team. You may change or add team members through the registration period as needed. Coaches may have as many teams as they want but students may only be on one team.
Once you register a team follow the steps below to get started on the challenge.
Come Dream with Us…as a Judge!
Get involved and register to be a judge.
Sign up to be a volunteer to have the opportunity to serve as a Technical Judge or a Presentation Judge. Each option plays a vital role in evaluating student teams.
Technical Judges review and score the Engineering Design Notebooks in advance of the event. Presentation Judges evaluate team presentations in real time during a one-day presentation session.
Key Dates to Remember
2026-2027 DWU
HIGH SCHOOL ENGINEERING CHALLENGE
Key Dates to Remember
Sep. 25, 2026 – Challenge Goes Live
Oct. 27, 2026 – Information Session (Virtual)
Dec. 08, 2026 – Registration Deadline
Jan. 25, 2027 – Submission Deadline
Mar. 19, 2027 – Finalists Selected and Announced
Apr. 02, 2027 – Finalist Presentations (Virtual)
Apr. 09, 2027 – Winners Announced
Steps for Competing in the Challenge
Challenge Materials
It is important to thoroughly review all of the materials provided in preparation for successfully participating in the upcoming High School Engineering Challenge event experience.
Work on the Challenge
Look through the scoring rubric to get familiar with the requirements of the challenge. Review the engineering notebook template to address the questions in the scoring rubric aligning with the challenge theme.
Submit Your Solution
Be sure to submit your engineering notebook by the official submission deadline. Use the NASA STEM Gateway platform to upload your complete and finalized notebook for review.
Software
Vehicle Sketch Pad (VSP) (Required Software—Open Source)
Use NASA’s Vehicle Sketch Pad (VSP) to create a variety of aircraft designs. This tool uses geometry modeling that allows designers to use more complex analysis methods when creating an aircraft. Download this free NASA tool to use in the design process of the challenge. Participants are free to use other commercial tools available to them.
Open VSP Ground School (Required Software—Open Source)
NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) created Open VSP Ground School to help users learn how to navigate and effectively use the Vehicle Sketch Pad (VSP) software. If you have never used VSP or need a refresher, this is the perfect place to start learning and building your skills. Stay tuned for upcoming live training sessions with a NASA expert instructor.
Earn a Credly Badge
Earning a Credly badge is a digital recognition of your verified skills and achievements, backed by trusted organizations. NASA is able to award a limited number of Credly badges based on the technical work completed during the Dream with Us challenge and the use of Vehicle Sketch Pad. During the challenge our judges will select student teams to be awarded Credly badges for their exceptional work utilizing OpenVSP.
Visit the Middle School Design Challenge
Middle school students will adapt an existing airport to incorporate the addition of a new fuel type at the airport.
Learn more about the Middle School Design Challenge about Visit the Middle School Design Challenge
