Many companies and organizations sponsor engineering design competitions that are fertile ground for project ideas.

This is a list of links of those sorts of opportunities (click on logo).

RESNA is the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America. They sponsor both design and student paper competitions.
This contest features a paper design for a device that will monitor distribution level transformers for electric utility companies. Such a device would be part of the emerging "smart grid." There will be $5000 in cash prizes. The contest will accommodate both EE senior design projects, and, in a separate series of awards, graduate student participation.

A winning design may be selected by CCET (the Center for Commercialization of Electric Technology) to be further developed for commercialization--in which case the winning contestants may be hired as consultants to help build and test prototypes.

NISH established the National Scholar Award for Workplace Innovation & Design to create technological solutions to barriers that prevent people with severe disabilities from entering or advancing in the workplace.

 

The Mondialogo Engineering Award invites engineering students in developing and developed countries to form international teams to create project proposals that address the United Nations Millennium Development Goals – proposals to improve the quality of life in the developing world, particularly poverty eradication and the promotion of sustainable development.

Each team should actively engage in international cooperation and intercultural dialogue over a six-month period, from December 2006 to May 2007, to propose practical, high-quality engineering projects for the benefit of local communities in developing countries.

Ten Mondialogo Engineering Awards of € 20,000 will go to teams with the top project proposals, with an Honourable Mention and € 5,000 earmarked for twenty more teams.

 

 

 Sponsored by NASA and administered by the Texas Space Grant Consortium, the TSGC DESIGN CHALLENGE is a unique academic experience offering undergraduate students an opportunity to propose, design and fabricate a solution to a topic of importance to NASA and its mission.

DESIGN CHALLENGE topics are submitted by researchers working with NASA or its contractor community on current projects of interest. Student teams work on the topic of their choice over the course of one or two semesters. The overall experience pairs the student team and faculty advisor with a research-directed mentor; and provides student team members with an opportunity to engage in scientific research, hands-on design, space-related career opportunities, meeting presentation and educational outreach.

As DESIGN CHALLENGE teams progress through a series of Levels and Option Areas, they are involved in taking a real-world research topic of interest from the idea-stage to an actual workable design.

Monetary awards are made available to individual teams upon satisfactory completion of design Levels. Teams are also eligible to receive travel grant funds to assist student-members with off-campus learning, site visits, outreach ventures or meeting participation.

 

 Circuit Cellar and Atmel are pleased to sponsor the Atmel AVR Design Contest 2006. This is your chance to work with the Atmel AVR family of flash memory microcontrollers and show off your design skills. It’s easy to design a top-notch project when you’re building with the versatile Atmel AVR microcontrollers. A wide range of features and varying levels of flash memory, SRAM, and EEPROM make the Atmel AVR family the dependable choice for a myriad of engineering applications. Use your ingenuity to create a unique AVR-based* application that demonstrates technical merit, usefulness, cost-effectiveness, and design optimization.

The Atmel AVR Design Contest 2006 is your vehicle to fortune and fame. You could win a share of $15,000 in cash prizes. Plus, Circuit Cellar will publish the most notable projects. Put your design skills to the test. Base your next project on a powerful Atmel AVR microcontroller* and win the recognition you deserve!

 

 

 The 2006 SES AMERICOM Arthur C. CLARKE CHALLENGE

What Is It? - A new annual award program for the very best creative, problem-solving idea that can propel the continued growth and expansion of commercial communications services and applications from satellites operating in the Clarke Orbit.

Who Can Apply? - Undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate students attending an accredited U.S. college or university.

What Can You Win? - A one-time, unrestricted cash award of up to $50,000 to an individual or a student team.

What Do You Have To Do? - Apply by yourself or with your team before September 1, 2006, describing your solution to a technical or operational Challenge slowing the growth of global satellite communications.

Who Is Sponsoring This? - SES AMERICOM, part of the world's largest commercial communications satellite operator and services provider, and distinguished futurist, author and scientist Sir Arthur Clarke, author of 2001: A Space Odyssey and the father of commercial communications satellite services.

The Trinity College Fire-Fighting Home Robot Contest invites persons of all ages and skill levels to build a robot and register in our annual fire-fighting contest. There are categories for Junior, Walking, High School, Senior, and Expert Division teams. We have updated the "Robot Hide and Seek" event and we will also give awards in a new poster session where teams can explain and demonstrate their work, and for the robotics Olympiad, the first theoretical test associated with a major robot competition.