2026 ASEE MODEL DESIGN COMPETITION
On behalf of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) – Two Year College Division (TYCD), we invite you to encourage the submission of student design projects for the 28th Annual ASEE Two-College Division MODEL DESIGN COMPETITION. This event will be held in conjunction with the 2026 ASEE Annual Convention, Charlotte, North Carolina. This competition is open to 1st and 2nd year engineering and technology students at two-year and four-year colleges and universities.
2026 Model Design Details
As this year’s competition will be held in Charlotte, NC which is a regular PGA (Pro Golf Association) tour stop at the Quail Hollow Club. The 99th PGA championship was held here in 2017. The United States will celebrate its 250th birthday on July 4, 2026, so a patriotic theme is also appropriate. This year’s contest will be to design an Autonomous Golf ball retrieval robot. The contestants will have to find a way to pick up and sort Red, White and Blue golf balls placing them in their corresponding color-coded bins. The robot must adhere to the rules of the model design competition (attached). An Exhibition session is included as part of the competition.
The 28th Annual American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Two-Year College Division (TYCD), Model Design Competition will be held in conjunction with the ASEE Annual Convention on June 21 – 24, 2026 in Charlotte, NC.
Event Name: Robot Range Picker
To design and build an autonomous robot that can successfully pick-up, sort and deposit 3 different colored randomly placed foam golf balls, in their respective colored bins. The robots have a maximum time of 120 seconds in each of their four allotted trials to deliver up to 12 golf balls as described in the ‘Robot Time Trial Scoring’ section of the rules. The robot must begin within an 8” X 12” X 10” high size limit but may expand to any size during a trial. An Exhibit Session will precede the robot trials. The judges will randomly insert the 12 golf balls (4 red, 4white, and 4 blue) into 3D printed golf ball can placed at the center of the “driving range”. Once the team has placed their robot on the field with some part of the robot touching the sorting bins, the judge will lift the can which should send the golf balls out in random directions. Once all the balls have stopped moving the judges will give the “on your mark, get set, go” and the time trial will begin.
Track Sponsor:
University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science
The main reason for this competition is for students to gain a better understanding of the design process from start to finish. Designing and building something from an idea is probably why they chose engineering in the first place. Use this design competition as a platform to reinforce their ideas and have some engineering fun! We hope to see you and your students’ next June.
Please find linked below the guidelines, interest and registration forms for this event.
2026 ASEE TYCD Model Design Competition Files
2026 Design Rules, Guidelines, and Schematics (page 3)
2026 Interest Form (page 12) – deadline April 1
2026 Registration Form (page 14) – deadline June 1
Link to STL file to 3D print Golf Can Dropper
Previous Model Design Results
2025 ASEE TYCD Design Competition Results (page 2)
For questions on the competition or to sponsor the track, you can reach any of the Model Design Competition coordinators at the their contacts below.
Kenny Grimes
Tidewater Community College
Email: kgrimes@tcc.edupgordy@tcc.edu
Geoff Berl
Monroe Community College
Email: gberl001@monroecc.edu
Clint Kohl
Cedarville University
Email: KOHLC@cedarville.edu