NAFEMS Americas Excellence in Engineering Simulation Student Competition

S​tay tuned for the 2027 Student Competition, more information will be provided soon.

Series 2026

The FEA Professional Program at the Colorado School of Mines sponsored the $1000 prize for the Student Competiton for 2026 for the Americas Region. This initiative is jointly organized by the FEA Professional Program and the Americas Steering Committee.

W​inner

In 2026, Aria Wang's project from Yale School of Engineering and Applied Science has won the Student Competition.

S​econd Place

M​arkus Miller's and Georger Ruper's (Iowa State University) Low Speed WindTunnel CFD Showcase project was awarded second place in 2026.

Rules and Regulations

Eligibility for Participation

1. Nomination Criteria: Open to all undergraduate students in their second-to-last or final year of study, enrolled at any accredited higher education institution during the 2025-2026 academic year.
2. Degree Requirements: Eligible degrees must be accredited by a recognized engineering body (e.g., ABET) and can be either B.S. or B.Eng. degrees. M.S. or Ph.D. programs are not eligible.
3. Exclusions: The competition is not open to employees of NAFEMS or any individual directly involved in the organization or administration of this competition, including their immediate family members.
4. Verification: The project supervisor must confirm that the contestant is a registered undergraduate student for the academic year and that the submitted work is the nominee’s own.
5. Repeat Submissions: No previous submissions or closely related content to previous submissions will be accepted.

Award Guidelines

1. Simulation Technology: The project must demonstrate significant use of engineering simulation technologies, such as Electromagnetic Simulation, Computational Structural Mechanics (CSM), Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), or Multi-Body Dynamics (MBD).
2. Ongoing Projects: If the project is part of a larger ongoing project, it may be eligible if it introduces a significant new feature or a major modification. The student(s) must clearly articulate their contribution and achievements.
3. Publicity Participation: Winners give consent to their name and photo being used for promotional purposes.Winners may be invited to attend a NAFEMS event and would be reimbursed for reasonable expenses.
4. Submission Guidelines and Deadlines:

• Abstract submission: A 300 word description of the project must be submitted through the NAFEMS website by March 31, 2026. If it is a group project, all communication will go through the lead submitter.
• Finalists will be notified by April 15, 2026. Finalists must submit a 3-5 minute video explaining the project by May 8, 2026 and grant permission to use the video.
• Winner(s) will be notified by June 30, 2026.

Judging Criteria

1. Evaluation Metrics: Award winners will be selected based on their demonstration of:
   - Practical application of simulation, including validation of results and acknowledgment of limitations.
   - Comparison with physical experiments, theoretical solutions, and reflection on uncertainty.
   - Effective communication of the value and impact of simulation on the project.
2. Finality of Decisions: The judges' decisions are final, and no correspondence will be entered into regarding the outcomes.
3. Acceptance of Awards: Awards must be accepted as offered. Winners must notify the organizers by the specified deadline if they do not intend to accept the award.
4. Communication Restrictions: Only finalists will be contacted directly. Project supervisors and nominees should refrain from contacting NAFEMS personnel regarding the awards.

Cancellation

1. Organizer Rights: The competition organizers reserve the right to cancel the competition at any stage if deemed necessary.

General Provisions

1. Compliance: No responsibility is accepted for entries that do not comply with the competition rules.
2. Acceptance of Rules: Entrants are assumed to have accepted these rules and agree to be bound by them upon entering the competition.
3. Final Authority: The decision of the organizers is final in all matters, including those not explicitly covered in these rules, and no correspondence will be entered into.

N​eed more information? Reach out to kathy.elliott@nafems.org.

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Sponsors

Past Winners

2​025

Winner: UT25 Adams Car Mutibody Dynamics Development by Ajay Anand, University of Toronto

2​nd place: AI/ML-assisted Robust Shock Processing for CFD Applications by Sharat Val, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

3​rd place: Composite Chassis Optimization for a Solar Racing Vehicle using Computational Structural Mechanics by Will Asproth, University of Minnesota  

2020

Winner: Tubular Flow Reactor App

by Vasilios Halkias, New Jersey Institute of Technology