Hosted at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers’ headquarters, this year’s Design Challenge National Final brought together top-performing teams from across the UK to compete in the culmination of the 2025 season.
From the original field of more than 75 university teams, only the regional winners advanced to the national stage. The finalists presented their solutions to an expert judging panel before demonstrating their devices in live trials. Teams from universities nationwide went head-to-head in the Foundation Class, showcasing their designs through presentations, technical posters, and live performance rounds. Marks were awarded for design innovation, reliability, accuracy, and team communication.
This year’s brief tasked students with designing and building a device capable of simulating an autonomous vehicle capable of hitting precise targets - a challenge demanding precision, control, and ingenuity under pressure.
UCL’s two teams once again delivered outstanding performances, with both securing multiple category wins. UCL Team B dominated the event, taking home awards for Best Design, Best Poster, Design Excellence, and Main Competition Winner, before being crowned National Champion 2025 in the Foundation Class. UCL Team A also brought home the Design Excellence award in the Foundation Class. The team from Sheffield Hallam University won this year's Advanced Class competition.
Reflecting on the achievement, Oriane Duval from the winning team said:
My favourite moment was completing the runs at Regionals—feeling relieved that the car performed as expected and proud of what we’d achieved. Lifting the trophy all together was amazing; it marked the realisation of nine months of commitment, resilience, and teamwork."
IMechE President Matt Garside, who served as a guest timing judge, praised the high standard of competition:
“It's a fantastic event and seeing so many teams with so many different ways of achieving the goal and the accuracy they're managing to achieve is fantastic. The teamwork is immense and I'm really proud to be here. I'm proud to be inspired by these groups of young engineers.”
Event Chair Davide Migliorini added:
“It's been great to see what teams have done at the finals today and it's been a very tight competition; the top teams in particular scored very high on points.”
About the IMechE Design Challenge
The IMechE Design Challenge provides first- and second-year engineering students the opportunity to experience the full design cycle - from concept to manufacture and testing - within a real-world engineering context. For UCL MechEng undergraduates, the challenge is integrated into design scenario weeks, with the most successful teams going on to represent the university in competition.
