Overview
Future Engineers started in 2014 with one contest — design something that could be 3D printed in space — and the winning student's design became the first one ever printed on the International Space Station. The platform has run national K–12 STEM competitions ever since, including the contest that named NASA's Perseverance rover. All current challenges are free, and any U.S. student can enter.
The Challenges
Future Creatures (Individual · Grades K–12)
Pick a vertebrate animal that lives in a rainforest, then draw what it might look like thousands of years from now if its habitat changes — a coastal rainforest turning into a wetland, for instance. Each entry includes two illustrations, one of the animal today and one of the future version, plus a 150-word essay explaining the adaptations. Judged in three age categories.
AEOP Veterans Appreciation Challenge (Individual · Grades 4–12)
Design a 3D model of a wearable pin honoring U.S. veterans. The twenty finalist pins are 3D printed each year and handed out to veterans visiting the National Veterans Memorial and Museum in Columbus, Ohio. Entries are judged by a panel that includes service members and veterans, in two age categories.
NASA TechRise (Team · Grades 6–12)
Sixty student teams every year send a real science experiment to the edge of space — on either a high-altitude balloon or a Virgin Galactic suborbital spacecraft. Teams form within a school or local community, work under an educator they already know, and propose an experiment to NASA. Selected teams receive funding, a flight box for their experiment, mentorship from working engineers, and an assigned spot on a NASA-sponsored flight test. No prior experience required.
Who It's For
The kid who wants to make something real, not just learn about it. Future Creatures suits the child who draws, watches nature documentaries, and asks how animals change over time. AEOP fits the child who is already comfortable in 3D modeling software, or wants to be. NASA TechRise is for the older student ready to lead — to write a real proposal, build hardware, and stick with a yearlong project alongside a few teammates.
What Makes This Different
Most online STEM contests end with a digital certificate. These don't. Each one produces something real in the world. A pin gets handed to a veteran. An illustration earns a real animal adopted in your child's name. An experiment actually flies.
Cost & Information
All three challenges are free to enter.
NASA TechRise · Grades 6–12
- Submission window opens in the fall
- Winners announced in January; flights the following summer
- 60 winning teams receive $1,500 plus a NASA-sponsored flight slot
Future Creatures · Grades K–12
- Submission window runs from fall to early spring
- One grand-prize winner per age category receives a $50 gift card and a WWF endangered-species adoption
AEOP Veterans Appreciation Challenge · Grades 4–12
- Submission window opens in the fall
- Finalists announced in early spring; grand-prize winners shortly after
- 20 finalists each receive five 3D prints of their pin and a $100 print credit
- 2 grand-prize winners (one per age category) receive a 3D printer for their school and a trip to Columbus, OH for the Memorial Day event