Concurrent Engineering Challenge open for applications

Following the success of previous editions of the Concurrent Engineering Challenge, organised by ESA’s Education Office and the Systems Department, the next edition is scheduled to take place from 7 to 11 April 2025.   

By applying to the Concurrent Engineering Challenge through this call, your place will be considered for a participation in ESA Academy’s TLF. In addition to the 30 students in the TLF, 3 other groups of students from Cranfield University (England), Politecnico di Milano (Italy), and Universidade de Aveiro (Portugal) will also join the challenge and work on the same mission in parallel. If you are a student from these three universities, it is advised to participate from your university. 

What is concurrent engineering?

Concurrent engineering is a method of designing and developing products for the space sector. Unlike traditional design methods, in concurrent engineering, all subsystems are designed simultaneously, with specialists from each discipline collaborating in joint sessions at a dedicated facility. This is a much more efficient way of designing, but it comes with its own challenges. Solutions in one area that may impact another subsystem must be identified and communicated immediately. Although concurrent engineering is more intense initially, it allows design incompatibilities and conflicts to be identified earlier, reducing the overall design time. 

Through this Challenge, students complement what they are learning at university by familiarising themselves with the concurrent engineering approach and its benefits and learn how ESA assesses technical and financial feasibility of space missions. Europe’s leadership in space depends upon its ability to continue developing world-class missions. To do that, a new generation of space engineers and scientists needs to be trained. 

Selected students will be supervised by two system engineers and will be given, at the start of the Challenge a space mission to design within five days. Students will be divided into small teams of two to four people to cover the following disciplines: 

• Structures and Mechanisms 
• Configuration
• Power 
• Thermal 
• Attitude and Orbit Control System (AOCS) 
• Propulsion 
• Trajectory Analysis 
• Communications and Data Handling 
• Optical Payload 
• Cost Engineering  

Students within each small team will design their subsystem using the concurrent engineering approach, with the objective of complying with the mission requirements and proving feasibility. Students selected for the cost engineering discipline will estimate the costs of their subsystems and balance them against the mission’s overall budget constraints. Additionally, students selected for Mission Analysis and Trajectory Design will utilize tools such as STK (Systems Tool Kit) by Ansys to simulate key mission parameters, including orbital trajectories and communication links, offering deeper insights into mission design and optimization. 

It is important to realise that the four groups of university students, located across Europe, will not compete against each other, but rather, they will use video conferencing to share their progress each day, discuss any difficulties they encounter, and receive valuable feedback from the other participants. At the end of the week, all groups will present their final design.  

Before the Challenge, all selected students will be offered by ESA the opportunity to participate in an online tutorial of Starion’s Concurrent Model-based Engineering Tool (COMET) to get familiar with the tool and get ready for the Challenge! 

In parallel to ESA’s selection process, the three European universities involved in the Concurrent Engineering Challenge 2025 are organising their own student selection. If you are from these universities please get in touch with us to obtain details of who to contact in your host university.  

Preliminary schedule of the Challenge: 

Day 1	Introduction to the Concurrent Engineering Approach  Get familiar with Calculation Sheets and CoMET  Presentation of each CEF  Introduction to Cost Engineering  Introduction to the mission  Mission overview and requirements
Day 2	System requirements  Mission and system modes definition  First iteration of all subsystems – part 1  Each group results presentation
Day 3	First iteration of all subsystems – part 2  First budgets  Finalisation of the concept  Each group results presentation
Day 4	Second iteration of all subsystems  Product tree  Budgets  Each group results presentation
Day 5	Final design consolidation & any open issues  Each group final presentation

Who can apply?

In order to participate, students must fulfil the following eligibility criteria at the time of application:  

• aged minimum 18 years old. ESA Academy and relevant partners will only appraise applications from students who have no or limited professional experience in relevant engineering or space-related topics. 
• be a citizen of an  ESA Member State, Canada*, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia or Slovenia. 
• be enrolled as a Master or PhD student in a university for the academic year 2024-2025. 
• be studying an engineering subject or physics (with basic knowledge in space technology).  

Selected students will be required to attend the entire 5-day training course at ESEC. They will be sponsored by ESA Education to cover accommodation and meals, as well as up to 300 Euros for travelling to Belgium. 

Students participating in the Challenge from ESA Academy's Training and Learning Facility will be evaluated based on their group work throughout the week and the final results presentation. Upon completion of the Challenge, they will receive a certificate of participation as well as a transcript, allowing them to request ECTS credit(s) from their respective universities. 

How to apply?

• Fill in the application form; 
• Upload a motivation letter (PDF, maximum 1 page, no images); 
• Upload a CV (Europass format, PDF, maximum 2 pages); 
• Upload a formal recommendation letter (PDF, maximum 1 page, including signature, no images) from a university professor or an academic supervisor from your current university (if not possible to receive the recommendation letter from your reference, please ask them to send a recommendation email to academy.training@esa.int before the application deadline); 
• Upload a copy of academic records (PDF); 

All answers and documents should be in English (except academic records if not available). 

The deadline for applications to participate in the Concurrent Engineering Challenge 2025 from ESA Academy’s TLF is 13 January 2025, 23:59 CET. 

For more information, please contact academy.training@esa.int