Educators – Overview

About the Challenge

Sea, Air and Land Challenge is an Office of Naval Research Sponsored program, in which teams of high school students learn the engineering process through the design and build of a robotic system relevant to the Department of Defense.  The systems are then used to compete in challenges that mimic missions encountered by the military, national security agencies and first responders.

Sea, Air and Land Challenge provides the opportunity for high school aged students and youth organizations to work together with educators and industry engineering mentors. Teams have twelve to sixteen weeks to design and build unmanned vehicles and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) payloads to compete in predefined sets of challenges. The challenges are designed by Penn State Applied Research Laboratory engineers and some of the country’s finest Navy SEALs and Green Berets.

This is not a competition based on winning, all of the participants are winners – this is about the journey, not the finish line!  Teams are judged based upon the team’s innovation and use of the engineering design process in building a vehicle and its ability to maneuver through a designated unknown course.

For more information, please contact your regional coordinator or the Sea Air and Land Group.

Suggested Deadlines

Fall Semester

  • Review Survival Guide
  • View Videos
  • School Registration
  • Team Recruiting
  • Structure Teams
  • Choose Challenges
  • Team Fundraising
  • Consider Engineering Mentors & Volunteers
  • Student Registration (Click Here)
  • Pre-Challenge Survey (Click Here)

Spring Semester

  • Team Brainstorming
  • Begin Designing
  • Equipment Research
  • Ensure Mentor & Volunteer Background Clearances Complete
  • Preliminary Design Review (PDR) due for Review
  • Critical Design Review (CDR) OPTIONAL for Review
  • Fabrication and Testing Phase
  • Flight Certification Test for Air Teams
  • Challenge Day
  • Final Reports (Optional)
  • Surveys (Required) for Educators, Students, Mentors

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