INCOSE Canada Student Competition​

The INCOSE Canada Student Competition invites student teams from Canadian post-secondary institutions to demonstrate how they apply systems thinking and systems engineering to real projects.

Eligible projects may include capstone projects, thesis projects, design-team projects, national or international competitions, or other supervised student work that uses systems engineering concepts, methods, or tools.

The competition is intended to connect students with systems engineering mentors, recognize strong student work, and support project expenses or dissemination of project outcomes.

Student teams are encouraged to apply early using the registration form (button below). ​Teams will be screened to ensure their project and team composition meets the requirements of the competition and will be notified if they can compete.

Aims and Objectives

• Connect you with systems engineering mentors who may help you on your journey​

• Offer prizes that may be used to offset part of the cost of your project, or used to attend conferences to present your work (and add to your CV!)​

Eligibility

To take part in the competition, you and your team need to meet all the requirements below:​

• Affiliation with a Canadian post-secondary institution​ as an undergraduate or graduate student.
• Individual entries are not accepted; all submissions must be from teams of at least two students.
• Teams must work on a project that uses, applies, or is clearly related to systems engineering tools, methods, or knowledge. Eligible projects include (but are not limited to) national or international competitions, design projects, capstone projects, and thesis projects.
• Each project/team must be supervised by a faculty member.

Format and Awards

Submission and Selection Criteria

Each team will prepare a submission summarizing their experience with the implementation of systems thinking and systems engineering in the context of their project and any lessons learned from this experience. 

Detailed submission instructions and a rubric will be provided to selected teams after the application deadline. Broadly speaking, the submission is then judged based on the following criteria:

1. Description of Systems Engineering Approach 
   1. Situation(s), idea(s) or moment(s) is contextualised and described clearly and concisely through writing, figures and embedded evidence.
   2. The impact of systems engineering approach and decision on the outcome is well-explained and supported by evidence.
2. Evidence provided
   1. Use of evidence shows careful and deliberate intention. 
   2. Evidence supports the meaning provided in the written description, and the evidence itself helps describe the situation or idea clearly.
3. Analysis of Systems Engineering Approach
   1. Precise and insightful analysis of the situation(s)/idea(s)/moment(s), causes, and their relationship to systems engineering.
   2. Motivation to change systems engineering approach is clear from the analysis, and change will address current and future situations of this type.
   3. Links to broader systems engineering literature provide strong support for the analysis.
4. Strategy and Recommendations
   1. Identifies and insightfully explains a practical strategy for dealing with similar events in the future and developing professional skills that help with similar situations.
5. Next Steps
   1. Succinct: clear understanding of the impact of systems engineering processes and recommendations for the future.
   2. Plan for future systems engineering approach is wise.
6. Link to Systems Engineering Knowledge Areas
   1. Clearly connects to systems engineering, implementation and management, or system life cycle.
   2. Life cycle stage of situation is discussed. 
   3. The situation(s) is clearly related to systems engineering, systems implementation AND systems management.

Selected teams may be invited to present their projects through the INCOSE Canada Technical Webinar Series after the competition. These presentations are optional and will not affect the judging outcome.

Terms of Participation

By completing a submission for the competition, you agree to the following terms:

• INCOSE Canada may mention your name, affiliation, team logo and headshot photo in connection with the competition, including in announcements and related promotional material. We expect to announce the top 3 teams publicly, but may highlight additional submissions that stand out.
• Copyright of the submitted entry shall remain with the contestants. However, by submitting an entry you agree that INCOSE Canada is granted non-exclusive reproduction rights. INCOSE Canada may also present ideas and findings generated by this competition at relevant conferences.

Additional Support

To support participating teams, INCOSE Canada will organize three online events (see the Timeline below) to support selected teams in applying systems engineering to their projects. Additional mentorship in systems engineering may also be provided.

​Awards

• First place: $3,000 toward the team's (current or future) project expenses or dissemination of project outcomes, plus one complimentary INCOSE student membership per team member.
• Second place: $1,500 toward the team's (current or future) project expenses or dissemination of project outcomes, plus one complimentary INCOSE student membership per team member.
• Third place: One complimentary INCOSE student membership per team member.

Tentative Timeline

• Applications open: 1 June 2026 ​
• Applications close: 1 Oct 2026
• Notification of selected teams: 20 Oct 2026​
• Events​
  • Onboarding session and Intro to Systems Engineering: Nov 2026​
  • Mentorship session 1: Dec 2026
  • Mentorship session 2: Feb 2027​
• Lessons learned document submission deadline: 15 March 2027
• Award ceremony: In April or May 2027 (in conjunction with an INCOSE Canada event)

Sponsorship Opportunities

INCOSE Canada is open to discussing other forms of sponsorship and partnership in support of the competition.​ If interested, please contact us at canada@incose.net.

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