Real World Design Challenge heads to Arizona

The Real World Design Challenge is coming to Arizona!

This annual competition gives high school students the opportunity to tackle actual engineering challenges. The contest is just for students, but we’re all going to benefit from the skills these future innovators are learning!

Gov. Jan Brewer announced her partnership with the Real World Design Challenge on Sept. 8 when she launched the state’s new Arizona Ready education initiative.

The governor explained students will not only gain valuable experience, but through the Real World Design Challenge, they also get “access to millions of dollars of state-of-the-art engineering software.”

Here’s how the competition works:

Teachers who participate get access to $1 million in professional engineering software ... they also get training, curriculum materials and the assistance of mentors.

Teams of high school students utilize these resources to work on a real-life engineering problem. The team with the best solution from each state gets to compete in the national finals, held in Washington DC.

Real World Design Challenge Project Director Ralph Coppola was on hand for the governor’s announcement and described the challenge as a way to support and help develop the engineers and innovators of the future.

With fewer and fewer students entering into the engineering and aerospace fields, Coppola said supporting science, technology, engineering and mathematics in the classroom is crucial.

So, where does ADOT fit in to all of this?

Well, transportation projects depend on integrated teams trained to create solutions to challenges and the Arizona Department of Transportation looks forward to supporting students and educators through this program.

We also realize that the state’s future depends on the problem-solvers of tomorrow...

Since transportation attracts jobs to Arizona and supports economic development, ADOT is going to need plenty of these future engineers and scientists on our team.

We are proud to be partnering with the Governor's Office of Education Innovation and the Arizona Department of Education to bring the Real World Design Challenge to Arizona and wish the best of luck to all the students who participate!