INCOSE Foundation

INCOSE Foundation Excellence in Systems Engineering Award at the University Rover Challenge

For URC2026, the Mars Society proudly welcomed the INCOSE Foundation as an Educational Partner of the University Rover Challenge (URC). The INCOSE Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, charitable organization affiliated with the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE). The INCOSE Foundation is committed to rewarding skills through scholarships for those engaged in finding solutions to complex technical challenges at all stages of their education or career.

Together the organizations established the INCOSE Foundation Excellence in Systems Engineering Award. Archived information from the innaugural award at URC2026 can be found here.

About the 2027 Award

Following the System Acceptance Review, teams who qualify for the URC2027 Finals will be invited to to compete for the INCOSE Foundation Excellence in Systems Engineering Award by submitting a Systems Engineering Annex. The annex has no effect on URC scoring. INCOSE Foundation judges review each entrant’s SAR Report and annex, select up to 15 systems engineering finalists, observe them in the field at the URC2027 Finals, and hear a 30-minute systems engineering presentation and Q&A from each before choosing the winner. INCOSE Foundation judging is independent from URC and SAR judging. Systems engineering resources for teams are available from the INCOSE Michigan Chapter: https://michigan.incose.org/university-rover-challenge/. Full award criteria and the annex template will be posted here soon.