Warman Design and Build Competition 2026 Rules
The Warman Design and Build Competition challenges students to push the boundaries of Mechanical Engineering by developing practical solutions to theoretical problems.
Treasured by universities and students alike since its inception in 1988, the Warman Design and Build competition has allowed leading Universities to take engineering out of the classroom and into practice, allowing bright-minded students to create unique engineering solutions to help save the fictional planet of Gondwana.
The Mission: Project REEP
The people of Gondwana need an innovative engineering solution.
For the past 38 years the people of Gondwana, a small planet orbiting a sun on the outer fringes of our galaxy, have triumphed over their new planet’s harsh environment. They have overcome complex problems using only the resources they have at hand and assistance from the brilliant minds of engineers from Earth.
These engineers have traversed impossible ravines with limited resources, contained dangerous nuclear contaminations and solved engineering feats that have made people’s lives easier and safer.
Once again the people of Gondwana are faced with uncertainty… and once again student engineers from Earth are here to help.
Challenge
Your team of student engineers has been set the task of designing and building a reduced scale, demonstration system which is capable of collecting six 3D printed rocks and safely depositing them into the crusher hopper for further processing. Over the last 38 years, Earth’s engineering students have rendered invaluable assistance with such engineering problems, and we anticipate you will again be successful on this thirty-ninth occasion.
Objective
Prototype a reduced scale, proof-of-concept transport system, later referred to as the “system”, which will precisely deliver scale representations of the ore containing rare earth minerals, from the ore dump zone to the crusher hopper. Referring to Figure 1, the autonomous system will start from a safe area defined by the Start Zone. The ore will be simulated using 3D printed particles (hence forth referred to as “rocks”) which will be randomly distributed in a Dump Zone. Size constraints require your system to fit within an imaginary 400 mm sided cube. When activated via a single starting action, your system will autonomously collect the rocks, and deliver them to the crusher hopper. The maximum allowed time for the operation is 120 seconds.
Warman Design and Build Competition 2025: Winners announced
Monash University (Clayton Campus) has claimed the top prize at the 2025 Warman Design and Build Competition, held on 18–19 October. This marks the first time a team from the campus has won the national title, competing against strong contenders from Australia, Malaysia and New Zealand.
Engineers Australia Chief Engineer Katherine Ricards AM CSC said the competition gives students the opportunity to take engineering from the classroom into real-world application, challenging them to design innovative solutions to save the fictional planet of Gondwana.
“As we accelerate efforts on climate action and building a sustainable economy, the importance of this competition grows,” Mrs Richards said. “Engineers are leading the way in addressing these critical challenges, and as these talented students show, it’s about more than stronger infrastructure or smarter cities. It’s about redefining engineering’s role in a rapidly changing world.”
Nearly 70 mechanical and mechatronic engineering students from 15 universities competed over two days, advancing through rigorous university-level heats to secure their place in the finals.
2025 Warman Design and Build Competition winners
- First prize: Monash University (Clayton Campus)
- Second prize: University of Queensland
- Third prize: Deakin University
- Weir Judges Award: University of Newcastle
- NCED “Best Design” Award: University of Canterbury
Competing universities
University of Newcastle, RMIT University, Griffith University (Gold Coast), Monash University (Clayton Campus), University of Canterbury, Deakin University, University of Technology Sydney, UNSW Canberra, University of Southern Queensland (Toowoomba), University of South Australia (Mawson Lakes), University of Western Australia, University of Queensland, Monash University Malaysia, University of Adelaide and Edith Cowan University.
