National Design Competition
Design. Transform Lives.
Our annual National Design Competition challenges student teams to engineer real-world solutions for injured veterans, first responders, and adaptive athletes. This year’s challenge focuses on creating a safe, effective warming system for residual limbs—designed in partnership with Team USA’s para sliding program.
The Challenge
Design a High-Performance Residual Limb Warmer for Winter Para-Athletes
During winter sliding sports like para-bobsled and para-skeleton, athletes often remove prosthetics during training and competition, leaving residual limbs vulnerable to cold, stiffness, and injury. Your mission: develop a lightweight, comfortable, and performance-ready warming system that helps athletes stay warm between and during runs—without interfering with movement or equipment.
Real-World Impact
This is not just a class project.
Teams will collaborate directly with para-athletes recruited by Kim Seevers, Chair of the USA Para Sliding Development Committee.
Designs will be evaluated not just for innovation, but for practicality, safety, and generalizability across a range of limb types (arm, above-the-knee, and below-the-knee amputations).
The winning design may be selected for use during official Team USA practices and competitions—including international events.
Who Can Apply
Open to undergraduate and graduate engineering students from Project S.E.R.V.E. partner universities.
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Student teams will move through three engineering design reviews:
Preliminary Design Review (PDR)
Critical Design Review (CDR)
Test Readiness Review (TRR)
All reviews are held virtually. The competition culminates in an in-person final event at Virginia Tech, in collaboration with the university’s Biomedical Engineering Department.
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Fall 2025 – Team registration opens
Winter 2025–2026 – Athlete pairings and virtual design reviews
Spring 2026 – In-person final event at Virginia Tech
Exact dates to be announced. Check back soon.
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While the real reward is the opportunity to build something that makes a difference, this year’s winning team may receive:
A monetary prize (pending sponsorship)
The opportunity to see their design used by Team USA athletes in real-world competition
Ready to register your school as a participant?