menu

American-Made Challenges

 5,919

2024 Geothermal Collegiate Competition

College students: Compete to solve real-world geothermal technical and policy challenges for a chance at thousands in DOE prize funding!
Education Energy, Environment & Resources Engineering
stage:
Registration Deadline for Mentor Assignments
prize:
$10,000
Education Energy, Environment & Resources Engineering
more
Summary
Timeline
Updates7
Forum
Teams536
Resources
FAQ
Summary
Overview Guidelines

Overview

***Registering? You must complete the registration form by clicking the "Begin Entry" button -- creating your team on HeroX isn't enough. The registration form asks important questions like team member email addresses. You can change/add team members between now and December.***

Sign up for a 15-minute session with a competition organizer to get answers to your questions or email Geo.Competition@nrel.gov.

 

Welcome to the 2024 Geothermal Collegiate Competition (GCC)! Stay up to date on competition announcements and details by selecting the "Follow" button at the top of the page. 

  • Through the Geothermal Collegiate Competition, the U.S. Department of Energy Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO) encourages students to develop innovative solutions for geothermal energy application challenges and build career skills for the clean energy workforce. 
  • 2024 GCC prizes and awards include:
    • 1st place (for each track): $10,000
    • 2nd place (for each track): $6,000
    • 3rd place (for each track): $2,000
    • Bonus for outstanding submission from a team of all Tribal college and/or community college students: $2,000
    • Honorable mention for best informative graphic: recognition on social media and announcements
    • Honorable mention for best video: recognition on social media and announcements

A team may receive the bonus prize or an honorable mention either separately from or in addition to other awards. To get details on submission material content and evaluation criteria, read the rules.

Registration closes on October 7, 2024. 

Teams must have at least three undergraduate and/or graduate members (can be from multiple schools), and students of any discipline can participate. Final competition deliverables are due on December 20, 2024.

There are two competition tracks: Technical and Policy.

  • Technical Track teams will perform a resource assessment and design a geothermal heating and cooling system for a community of their choosing. The design can also include other renewable energy technologies and/or storage.
  • Policy Track teams will present a high-level idea for a geothermal heating and cooling system in a community or campus, focused on an analysis of the regulatory environment, economic assessment, and workforce development analysis. 

Guidelines

Read the 2024 rules for details.

Specifics to note:

  • This competition is open for undergraduate and/or graduate students pursuing any major or minor. 
  • The Geothermal Collegiate Competition invites participation by teams of at least three students enrolled in accredited U.S.-based collegiate institutions or U.S. citizens enrolled at non-U.S. based collegiate institutions. In this case, “collegiate institution” refers to any school of post-secondary or higher education, including but not limited to community colleges, technical colleges, and traditional four-year and graduate-level universities. See “Who Can Enter” in the rules for more information. 
  • There is no cost to register or participate.
  • Additional details are available on the Geothermal Collegiate Competition webpage.

If you want to receive updates, use the "Follow" feature on this page. For questions, email .

View legal agreement
Timeline
Updates7

Challenge Updates

Recording of 9/12 Informational Webinar Now Available

Sept. 19, 2024, 3:12 p.m. PDT by NREL Prize Moderator

You can now view a recording of last week’s GCC informational webinar!

Competition organizers discussed rule changes, previous participants shared why students should compete, and more.

Still have questions? Sign up for a 15-minute session with a GCC organizer or email .

 

Extended to Midnight ET: Deadline to Register and Get a Mentor!

Sept. 16, 2024, 3:13 p.m. PDT by NREL Prize Moderator

You still have time to register your GCC team and get an industry mentor! Complete the registration form on HeroX before today, Sept. 16, at 11:59 p.m. ET.

To register, one team member (usually the captain) must:

  1. Visit HeroX and select “Solve This Challenge,” then complete the prompts.
  2. Go back to the competition’s HeroX page, select “Begin Entry,” and complete the entire registration form.
  3. Watch for a confirmation email to ensure the registration went through.

Looking for teammates? Here are two options. Try selecting the "Teams" tab on HeroX, then:

  • Selecting "Find a Team" to message innovators or teams
  • Selecting teams with limited members and messaging the caption.

The registration form will ask for:

  • The names and emails of at least three team members
  • Your team’s project track (technical or policy)
  • A title, which can be your team or school name + "Registration"
  • A description, which can be a sentence or two about your team/project
  • An image, which can be your school’s logo.

Teams that miss today’s deadline can still register through Oct. 7 but are not guaranteed the expert guidance of an industry mentor.

Questions? Sign up to speak with a competition organizer or email .

Register by Monday, 9/16, To Get a Mentor; Sign Up for New Q&A Session!

Sept. 13, 2024, 4 a.m. PDT by NREL Prize Moderator

Want your GCC team to get expert guidance from an industry mentor? Complete the registration form on HeroX before Monday, Sept. 16 at 5 p.m. ET!

Signing up as a team on HeroX is important, but registration requires a separate step. To ensure your team is officially registered, one team member (usually the team captain) must:

  1. Visit HeroX and select “Solve This Challenge,” then complete the prompts.
  2. Go back to the competition’s HeroX page, select “Begin Entry,” and complete the entire registration form.

It only takes a few minutes to fill out the registration form. Requirements include:

  • The names and emails of at least three team members (you can change or add members later)
  • Your team’s project track (technical or policy)
  • A title, which can be your team or school name + "Registration"
  • A description, which can be a sentence or two about your team/project
  • An image, which can be your school’s logo.

There's a new way to get answers to your GCC questions! Sign up for a personal, 15-minute session with a competition organizer. As always, you can also email . 

Join the Webinar This Week, 9/12., at 4 p.m. ET!

Sept. 9, 2024, 5 a.m. PDT by NREL Prize Moderator

Register to join the second 2024 GCC informational webinar on Thursday, Sept. 12, at 4 p.m. ET!

Learn about changes to this year's rules and how alumni benefitted from participating. Organizers will also answer questions.

This is the last webinar before the Oct. 7 registration deadline, but you can always email with questions.

Registration Now Open - 2024 Geothermal Collegiate Competition

Aug. 12, 2024, 8 a.m. PDT by NREL Prize Moderator

Registration is now open for the 2024 Geothermal Collegiate Competition! Register by September 16, 2024, to be paired with an industry mentor. The final date to register is October 7, 2024. 

To register: 

Click "Solve This Challenge" on HeroX 

Team captains must fill out the "2024 Geothermal Collegiate Competition Registration Form" (click 'Begin Entry') on behalf of the team to officially register.  

We recommend having all team members make a HeroX account and connect to their team. You can add team members after completing the registration form. 

After registering: 

READ the competition rules! 

Attend the Informational Webinar on September 12, 2024, at 4 p.m. EDT. 

Contact competition organizers at Geo.Competition@nrel.gov with questions. 

Begin your project - you can submit an optional deliverable on October 28, 2024, to receive feedback on your work in progress. 

Final deliverables are due on December 20, 2024. 

Forum
Teams536
Resources
FAQ