NASA Dream with Us High School Engineering Challenge

Changing an aircraft’s fuel sounds, at first, like an engine problem. It quickly becomes a question about where the fuel goes, what it weighs, how much useful cargo remains and whether the aircraft can still do its job. NASA’s Dream with Us High School Engineering Challenge connects aircraft design with questions arising in aviation research. NASA describes its aviation work with FAA, university and industry partners as addressing safety, affordability and new fuels. That context matters: the interesting task here is not to sketch an impressive future aeroplane, but to make a defensible set of engineering choices. The current task asks teams to design a cargo aircraft using liquefied natural gas and explain why a freight operator should select it. CompeteMap sees the strongest fit in students who enjoy following one design decision into several related problems. A storage choice can affect the airframe; an airframe choice can affect the mission. The educational value lies in tracing those connections and being willing to revise a favourite idea. Families should expect a substantial modelling and explanation project, rather than a quick construction activity. Students who mainly want a spectacular finished object may find the reasoning and documentation less immediately satisfying, but that is also where this opportunity becomes more useful than a model-making exercise.