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Caltech Engineers Without Borders

Caltech Engineers Without Borders

Caltech EWB Science & Engineering Competition

ClosedSTEMScienceCompetition

About the Program

The historical 2026 Caltech EWB Science & Engineering Competition was a global online STEM competition for middle and high school students, organized by Caltech Engineers Without Borders (EWB) in partnership with AlgoEd. Teams of 2-5 students compete across three rounds to solve real-world science and engineering challenges, with finals judged by Caltech professors and industry experts.

Historical 2026 competition format:

  1. Preliminary Round (September 19, 2026): Online test with multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, and free-response questions; 1 hour; available across multiple time zones worldwide. Top 2 scores per team count toward the team total. Top 10 teams per category advance.

  2. Semi-Final Round (due October 5, 2026): Teams develop and present a solution to a science problem via a pitch deck within one week.

  3. Final Round (Live Zoom, October 24, 2026): Top 5 semi-finalist teams present their refined solutions live to a judging panel of Caltech professors and industry experts.

Age categories:

  • Middle School (Grades 6-8): General knowledge, real-world problems, critical thinking across math and science fundamentals
  • High School (Grades 9-12): Biology, chemistry, physics, and math with emphasis on critical thinking and real-world applications

Awards: All participants receive certificates; preliminary round Honor and Merit awards; Semi-Finalist recognition; individual top-performer awards regardless of team standing.

The competition is part of the World STEM League, allowing students to compete across multiple competitions throughout the year and track improvement over time.

Historical 2026 registration fees: $35/student (priority, by June 17) · $45/student (regular, by Aug 17) · $55/student (late, by Sep 17).

Status checked November 4, 2026: the official AlgoEd competition page marks registration closed and confirms the historical 2026 dates and fees retained above. It lists a multi-school team exception request process and links a fee-waiver policy for qualifying low-income students and eligible US high-poverty public schools. Waiver requests were required before the regular deadline. These are historical 2026 policies, not confirmed next-edition terms. No later edition's dates, eligibility, fees, or funding terms are announced in these sources.

Eligibility

Historical 2026 eligibility: grades 6-12 worldwide in teams of 2-5 from the same school, divided into grades 6-8 and 9-12 categories. The official page allowed requests for a multi-school exception. Next-edition requirements are unannounced.

How to Apply

Registration for 2026 is officially closed. Its priority, regular, and late registration cutoffs were June 17, August 17, and September 17, with $35/$45/$55 fees per student. The preliminary test was September 19, pitch decks due October 5, and Zoom final October 24, 2026. No next-edition window is announced in the checked source.