Teams announced for Institution’s Design Challenge 2026

The IMechE is pleased to announce the official lineup of teams selected to participate in the Design Challenge 2026.

The Design Challenge is an annual competition for universities and university technical college students to experience real-world engineering and develop practical, business and interpersonal skills and enhance their academic studies.

For 2026, teams must build a device that simulates a wire rope climbing robot that mimics functionality in SKY Wire, SkyWrap or other solutions found in industry that carry out unmanned non-destructive testing on suspended bridges, ropes or depose optic fibre cables on existing over the ground lines.

Building on last year's competition, 2026 will host more than 65 student teams from over 30 universities across the country, with previous winners from Sheffield Hallam (advanced class) and UCL (foundation class) returning to defend their titles: view the full list.

Teams are organised into regions across the country and will be taking part in regional heats in the coming weeks, giving all students a chance to showcase their work, justify their engineering design decisions, and get feedback on their work from a judging panel of senior engineers in industry and academia. Those who win their regional events will progress to the grand finals to compete for the championship title, which takes place at the end of the summer at the Institution's London headquarters.

“The Design Challenge has grown from strength to strength as shown by the increased number of universities that have registered this year," remarked Joyce Achampong, the IMechE's Associate Director of Impact. "The enthusiasm and ambition shown by the teams is exactly what makes this competition so exciting. What makes the Design Challenge great is how it encourages innovative thinking and practical problem-solving that young engineers will find valuable in industry. This challenge continues to be a key part of the IMechE's strategy to engage with and support the next generation of engineers.”

On behalf of the organising committee, we wish all teams the best of luck with the upcoming regional finals.