NASA Announces 31st Human Exploration Rover Challenge Winners

editornasa1 week ago12 Views

NASA has announced the winners of it’s 31st Human Exploration Rover Challenge . The annual engineering competition – one of the agency’s longest standing student challenges – wrapped up on April 11 and April 12, at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, near NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.

NASA

NASA has announced the winning student teams in the 2025 Human Exploration Rover Challenge. This year’s competition challenged teams to design, build, and test a lunar rover powered by either human pilots or remote control. In the human-powered division, Parish Episcopal School in Dallas, Texas, earned first place in the high school division, and the Campbell University in Buies Creek, North Carolina, captured the college and university title. In the remote-control division, Bright Foundation in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, earned first place in the middle and high school division, and the Instituto Tecnologico de Santa Domingo in the Dominican Republic, captured the college and university title.

The annual engineering competition – one of NASA’s longest standing student challenges – wrapped up on April 11 and April 12, at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, near NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. The complete list of 2025 award winners is provided below:

Human-Powered High School Division

First Place: Parish Episcopal School, Dallas, Texas
Second Place: Ecambia High School, Pensacola, Florida
Third Place: Centro Boliviano Americano – Santa Cruz, Bolivia

Human-Powered College/University Division

First Place: Campbell University, Buies Creek, North Carolina
Second Place: Instituto Tecnologico de Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Third Place: University of Alabama in Huntsville

Remote-Control Middle School/High School Division

First Place: Bright Foundation, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
Second Place: Assumption College, Brangrak, Bangkok, Thailand
Third Place: Erie High School, Erie, Colorado

Remote-Control College/University Division

First Place: Instituto Tecnologico de Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Second Place: Campbell University, Buies Creek, North Carolina
Third Place: Tecnologico de Monterey – Campus Cuernvaca, Xochitepec, Morelos, Mexico

Ingenuity Award

Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada

Phoenix Award

Human-Powered
- High School Division: International Hope School of Bangladesh, Uttara, Dhaka, Bangladesh
- College/University Division: Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama
Remote-Control
- Middle School/High School Division: Bright Foundation, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
- College/University Division: Southwest Oklahoma State University, Weatherford, Oklahoma

Task Challenge Award

Remote-Control
- Middle School/High School Division: Assumption College, Bangrak, Bangkok, Thailand
- College/University Division: Instituto Tecnologico de Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Project Review Award

Human-Powered
- High School Division: Parish Episcopal School, Dallas, Texas
- College/University Division: Campbell University, Buies Creek, North Carolina
Remote-Control
- Middle School/High School Division: Bright Foundation, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
- College/University Division: Instituto Tecnologico de Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Featherweight Award

Campbell University, Buies Creek, North Carolina

Safety Award

Human-Powered
- High School Division: Parish Episcopal School, Dallas, Texas
- College/University Division: University of Alabama in Huntsville

Crash and Burn Award

Universidad de Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico (Human-Powered Division)

Team Spirit Award

Instituto Tecnologico de Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (Human-Powered Division)

STEM Engagement Award

Human-Powered
- High School Division: Albertville Innovation School, Albertville, Alabama
- College/University Division: Instituto Tecnologico de Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Remote-Control
- Middle School/High School Division: Instituto Salesiano Don Bosco, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
- College/University Division: Tecnologico de Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico

Social Media Award

Human-Powered
- High School Division: International Hope School of Bagladesh, Uttara, Dhaka, Bangladesh
- College/University Division: Universidad Catolica Boliviana “San Pablo” La Paz, Bolivia
Remote-Control
- Middle School/High School Division: ATLAS SkillTech University, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
- College/University Division: Instituto Salesiano Don Bosco, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Most Improved Performance Award

Human-Powered
- High School Division: Space Education Institute, Leipzig, Germany
- College/University Division: Purdue University Northwest, Hammond, Indiana
Remote-Control
- Middle School/High School Division: Erie High School, Erie, Colorado
- College/University Division: Campbell University, Buies Creek, North Carolina

Pit Crew Award

Human-Powered
- High School Division: Academy of Arts, Career, and Technology, Reno, Nevada
- College/University Division: Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada

Artemis Educator Award

Fabion Diaz Palacious from Universidad Catolica Boliviana “San Pablo” La Paz, Bolivia

Rookie of the Year

Deira International School, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

More than 500 students with 75 teams from around the world participated in the 31st year of the competition. Participating teams represented 35 colleges and universities, 38 high schools, and two middle schools from 20 states, Puerto Rico, and 16 other nations. Teams were awarded points based on navigating a half-mile obstacle course, conducting mission-specific task challenges, and completing multiple safety and design reviews with NASA engineers.

NASA expanded the 2025 challenge to include a remote-control division, Remote-Operated Vehicular Research, and invited middle school students to participate.

“This student design challenge encourages the next generation of scientists and engineers to engage in the design process by providing innovative concepts and unique perspectives,” said Vemitra Alexander, who leads the challenge for NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement at Marshall. “This challenge also continues NASA’s legacy of providing valuable experiences to students who may be responsible for planning future space missions, including crewed missions to other worlds.”

The rover challenge is one of NASA’s eight Artemis Student Challenges reflecting the goals of the Artemis campaign, which will land Americans on the Moon while establishing a long-term presence for science and exploration, preparing for future human missions to Mars. NASA uses such challenges to encourage students to pursue degrees and careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

The competition is managed by NASA’s Southeast Regional Office of STEM Engagement at Marshall. Since its inception in 1994, more than 15,000 students have participated – with many former students now working at NASA, or within the aerospace industry.

To learn more about the Human Exploration Rover Challenge, please visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/roverchallenge/home/index.html