Looking for STEM, and particularly, AEROSPACE related competitions or groups? Start here. Please contact us with any you find that are suitable for listing. High School Students and/or NON PROFITS Engineer Girl Essay Contest: In this contest, participants are encouraged to imagine themselves as engineers working on an exciting piece of new technology, possibly designed to address one of Engineering’s Grand Challenges, like making solar energy economical or providing access to clean water. Each entrant submits an essay that explains the challenges, improvements, and upside of their chosen technology. https://www.engineergirl.org/26567.aspx Exploravision: competition for K-12 students engages the next generation in real world problem solving with a strong emphasis on STEM. ExploraVision challenges students envision and communicate new technology 20 years in the future through collaborative brainstorming and research of current science and technology. https://www.exploravision.org/ Google Science Fair: The Google Science Fair is an online science and engineering competition open to students ages 13 to 18 from around the globe. It encourages them to change the world through scientific inquiry and problem solving. They’ll learn about their chosen topic and develop key skills along the way. https://www.googlesciencefair.com Jim Baen Memorial short story contest: Since its early days, science fiction has played a unique role in human civilization. It removes the limits of what "is" and shows us a boundless vista of what "might be." Its fearless heroes, spectacular technologies and wondrous futures have inspired many people to make science, technology and space flight a real part of their lives and in doing so, have often transformed these fictions into reality. The National Space Society and Baen Books applaud the role that science fiction plays in advancing real science and have teamed up to sponsor this short fiction contest in memory of Jim Baen. http://www.baen.com/baenmemorialaward NASA CubeSat Launch Initiative: NASA’s CubeSat Launch initiative (CSLI) provides access to space for small satellites, CubeSats, developed by the NASA Centers and programs, educational institutions and non-profit organizations giving CubeSat developers access to a low-cost pathway to conduct research in the areas of science, exploration, technology development, education or operations. https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/heo/home/CubeSats_initiative NASA Ames Space Settlement Contest. This annual contest, co-operated by NASA Ames Research Center, San Jose State University, and the National Space Society (NSS) is for all students up to 12th grade (18 years old) from anywhere in the world. Individuals, small teams of two to five, and large teams of six or more are judged separately. The grand prize is awarded to the best entry regardless of contestant age. Students develop space settlement designs and related materials. These are sent to NASA Ames for judgement. https://settlement.arc.nasa.gov/Contest/ StellarXplorers: inspires and attracts high school students to pursue studies and careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) through a challenging, space system design competition involving all aspects of system development and operation with a spacecraft/payload focus. http://www.stellarxplorers.org/ NASA Exploration Design Contest: The NASA Exploration Design Challenge tasks participants with finding innovative ways to protect astronauts from dangerous space radiation. The Orion spacecraft, which is currently in development, will take astronauts beyond Earth’s low orbit onto an asteroid on Mars! Protecting astronauts from the radiation there is a real-world problem that needs to be solved, and NASA is asking for help from kids! https://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/spacelife/explorationdesign/overview/index.html#.VkOKSK6rTBK Middle School students: Engineer Girl Essay Contest: In this contest, participants are encouraged to imagine themselves as engineers working on an exciting piece of new technology, possibly designed to address one of Engineering’s Grand Challenges, like making solar energy economical or providing access to clean water. Each entrant submits an essay that explains the challenges, improvements, and upside of their chosen technology. https://www.engineergirl.org/26567.aspx Exploravision: competition for K-12 students engages the next generation in real world problem solving with a strong emphasis on STEM. ExploraVision challenges students envision and communicate new technology 20 years in the future through collaborative brainstorming and research of current science and technology. A teacher will guide his or her students as they pick a current technology, research it, envision what it might look like in 20 years, and describe the development steps, pros & cons, and obstacles. Past winners have envisioned technologies ranging from a hand-held food allergen detector to a new device to help people who have lost limbs regain movement in real time. https://www.exploravision.org/ Future City is a project-based learning program where students in 6th, 7th, and 8th grades imagine, research, design, and build cities of the future. https://futurecity.org/ Google Science Fair: Google Science Fair: The Google Science Fair is an online science and engineering competition open to students ages 13 to 18 from around the globe. It encourages them to change the world through scientific inquiry and problem solving. They’ll learn about their chosen topic and develop key skills along the way. https://www.googlesciencefair.com Jim Baen Memorial short story contest: Since its early days, science fiction has played a unique role in human civilization. It removes the limits of what "is" and shows us a boundless vista of what "might be." Its fearless heroes, spectacular technologies and wondrous futures have inspired many people to make science, technology and space flight a real part of their lives and in doing so, have often transformed these fictions into reality. The National Space Society and Baen Books applaud the role that science fiction plays in advancing real science and have teamed up to sponsor this short fiction contest in memory of Jim Baen. http://www.baen.com/baenmemorialaward NASA Ames Space Settlement Contest. This annual contest, co-operated by NASA Ames Research Center, San Jose State University, and the National Space Society (NSS) is for all students up to 12th grade (18 years old) from anywhere in the world. Individuals, small teams of two to five, and large teams of six or more are judged separately. Entries are also grouped by age/grade of the oldest contestant for judging. The age groups are 7th and under, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th. The grand prize is awarded to the best entry regardless of contestant age. Students develop space settlement designs and related materials. These are sent to NASA Ames for judgement. https://settlement.arc.nasa.gov/Contest/ NASA Exploration Design Contest: The NASA Exploration Design Challenge tasks participants with finding innovative ways to protect astronauts from dangerous space radiation. The Orion spacecraft, which is currently in development, will take astronauts beyond Earth’s low orbit onto an asteroid on Mars! Protecting astronauts from the radiation there is a real-world problem that needs to be solved, and NASA is asking for help from kids! https://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/spacelife/explorationdesign/overview/index.html#.VkOKSK6rTBK Young Scientists Challenge: Sponsored by Discovery and 3M, the Young Scientist Challenge is a popular science competition for middle schoolers. It tasks participants with solving an everyday problem that impacts them, their family, their community, or the global population using science and innovation. Kids create a short video explaining their problem, identifying the science behind their solution, and highlighting how their solution addresses the problem. https://www.youngscientistlab.com/challenge College Level Students: ECSL Essay contest: One of the ECSL's core objectives is to promote knowledge of and interest in the law relating to space activities through the encouragement of research activities. In 2014 it was decided to inaugurate a Student Essay Competition. The competition challenges students to think critically about a particular topic in space law and policy and to present cogent arguments in support of a position. http://m.esa.int/About_Us/ECSL_European_Centre_for_Space_Law/ECSL_Essay_Competition Jim Baen Memorial short story contest: Since its early days, science fiction has played a unique role in human civilization. It removes the limits of what "is" and shows us a boundless vista of what "might be." Its fearless heroes, spectacular technologies and wondrous futures have inspired many people to make science, technology and space flight a real part of their lives and in doing so, have often transformed these fictions into reality. The National Space Society and Baen Books applaud the role that science fiction plays in advancing real science and have teamed up to sponsor this short fiction contest in memory of Jim Baen. http://www.baen.com/baenmemorialaward NASA CubeSat Launch Initiative: NASA’s CubeSat Launch initiative (CSLI) provides access to space for small satellites, CubeSats, developed by the NASA Centers and programs, educational institutions and non-profit organizations giving CubeSat developers access to a low-cost pathway to conduct research in the areas of science, exploration, technology development, education or operations. https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/heo/home/CubeSats_initiative SPACE GENERATION Advisory Council: Supports United Nations Programme on Space Applications through raising awareness and exchange of fresh ideas by youth. See volunteer and networking opportunities. http://spacegeneration.org/ ISDC Space Settlement: FSSM Space Settlement: