Inclusive Additive Design Challenge 2025
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Simple Additions to Make Life Simpler
Inclusive Additive Design Challenge 2025
The Inclusive Additive Design Challenge 2025 is a national student competition that calls on undergraduate engineers to apply creativity and empathy in solving real-world problems through 3D printing. Instead of designing from scratch, participants are invited to rethink everyday products and propose simple, functional, and 3D-printable enhancements that improve accessibility and usability for diverse groups. At its heart is Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM), an affordable and accessible manufacturing method that allows rapid prototyping and testing, empowering students to translate ideas into tangible, inclusive solutions.
Unlike traditional competitions focused solely on innovation, this challenge prioritises empathy-driven engineering, low-cost design thinking, and inclusivity across ability, age, and neurodivergence. Students are encouraged to identify real usability barriers, design modifications or complete redesigns, and demonstrate their solutions with working FDM prototypes. The competition is more than a showcase of technical skills—it is a call to action for the next generation of engineers to foster inclusion, dignity, and empowerment, showing how small design changes can make life simpler, fairer, and more inclusive for all.
Project Challenge: Additivity and Inclusivity
The heart of the Inclusive Additive Design Challenge 2025 lies in a simple question:
How can we make everyday life easier, fairer, and more inclusive—through smart, 3D printed additions?
We challenge students to look at the world around them—not to reinvent everything, but to enhance what already exists. Your mission is to:
Identify a product, system, or public-use item that creates barriers for some users—whether due to age, physical ability, neurodiversity, or other factors.
Design a simple, cost-effective, 3D printable solution that improves accessibility or usability for a clearly defined user group.
Prototype your idea using FDM 3D printing and present your concept in a concise, impact-driven report or presentation.
This could be:
A tactile clip-on for public buttons to assist users with visual impairments
A grip aid for everyday tools to support those with limited dexterity
A simple classroom add-on to improve ergonomic comfort for diverse learners
A dashboard cue system to support neurodivergent drivers
Or anything that makes life simpler and more inclusive
You may choose either:
An additive solution: a clip-on or attachment that modifies an existing object
A full redesign: a completely reimagined version of a common product, built with inclusivity in mind
The only design constraint? Your prototype must be 3D printed using FDM technology and primarily made from PLA filament.
Your final submission should include:
A clearly defined problem statement
A thoughtful, user-focused design
A functional PLA prototype
A concise presentation/report
Files: STL, CAD (where possible), photos/video
This is not just a test of engineering skill. It’s a demonstration of empathy, creativity, and your ability to use design as a tool for social good.
Let’s rethink the everyday—one 3D printed addition at a time.
Key Dates
25 Sept 2025: Registration Opens
10 Oct 2025: Webinar – Design Methodologies for Additive Manufacturing
13 Oct 2025: Webinar – Inclusive Design: Engineers leave no one behind!
25 Oct 2025: Registration Deadline (Imperial College London)
01 Jan 2026: Registration Deadline (The University of Huddersfield )
01 Jan 2026: Registration Deadline (Aston University)
3 Nov 2025: Local Finals (Imperial College London)
21 Jan 2026: Local Finals (The University of Huddersfield )
21 Jan 2026: Local Finals (Aston University)
28 Jan 2026: National Final (Aston University)
Prizes & Recognition
National Finalists (Top 3 Teams from All Universities)
National Finalists (Top 3 Teams from All Universities)
National Winner (1st Place Team)
✅ £800 Cash Prize
✅ £600 Elegoo Voucher
✅ Certificate of Achievement
✅ Promotion through institutional media and Elegoo’s official social media channels
National Runner-Up (2nd Place Team)
✅ £500 Cash Prize
✅ £400 Elegoo Voucher
✅ Certificate of Achievement
✅ Promotion through institutional media and Elegoo’s official social media channels
Third Place (3rd Place Team)
✅ £200 Cash Prize
✅ £200 Elegoo Voucher
✅ Certificate of Achievement
✅ Promotion through institutional media and Elegoo’s official social media channels
🏫 Local Finalists (Top 3 Teams from Each University)
🏫 Local Finalists (Top 3 Teams from Each University)
Local Winner (1st Place Team)
✅ £240 Cash Prize
✅ £240 Elegoo Voucher
✅ Certificate of Achievement
✅ Promotion through institutional media and Elegoo’s official social media channels
Local Runner-Up (2nd Place Team)
✅ £160 Cash Prize
✅ £160 Elegoo Voucher
✅ Certificate of Achievement
✅ Promotion through institutional media and Elegoo’s official social media channels
Third Place (3rd Place Team)
✅ £100 Cash Prize
✅ £80 Elegoo Voucher
✅ Certificate of Achievement
✅ Promotion through institutional media and Elegoo’s official social media channels
💡 Additional Recognition
💡 Additional Recognition
All winners will receive certificates and recognition on the official competition website.
Top projects may be invited to future industry events, university showcases, and Elegoo-led workshops.
Select designs will be featured in case studies and digital publications to inspire others in the field of inclusive innovation.
Webinars
Join our free, interactive webinars designed to support your journey in the Inclusive Additive Design Challenge 2025. Learn how to design for additive manufacturing, and Inclusive Design.
Webinar 1: Design for Additive Manufacturing (DFAM) Essentials
Date: Friday, 10 October 2025
Time: 13:00–14:00 (UK Time)
Platform: Microsoft Teams
Description: DfAM Essentials: Design Smarter, Print Better
Unlock the true potential of 3D printing by mastering Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM). This dynamic one-hour session equips student engineers with essential principles to create parts that are not only printable—but optimised, efficient, and purpose-built for additive production. We’ll move beyond basic CAD and into a mindset shift: from designing for subtraction to designing for addition. Discover how DfAM redefines constraints and unlocks geometries that traditional manufacturing could never achieve. You’ll explore key topics like part consolidation, lattice structures, support minimisation, build orientation, and material considerations—using real-world case studies from aerospace, medical, and consumer industries. Learn how to tailor your designs for FDM, SLA, and SLS technologies, reduce print time and cost, and avoid rookie mistakes that compromise mechanical performance. Whether you're prototyping or preparing for functional end-use parts, this session gives you the tools to innovate confidently. Design like a true additive thinker—because printing smarter starts with designing smarter.
Webinar 2: Inclusive Design: Engineers leave no one behind!
Date: Monday, 13 October
Time: 13:00–14:00 (UK Time)
Platform: Microsoft Teams
Description: Inclusive Design: Engineers leave no one behind!
Stop designing for the average. This essential one-hour session gives Student engineers the critical frameworks to immediately apply Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) to every project. We'll cut through the noise, defining the moral imperative and the legal mandate while showcasing real-world, high-profile failures that resulted from design bias. You'll learn to actively shift your mindset to human-centred design by using practical principles—like the Inclusive Design Toolkit's focus on capability loss (Vision, Mobility, Dexterity, etc.)—as a diagnostic. We'll integrate these insights into a structured ethical design process, empowering you to build the next generation of solutions that deliver true justice and universal access. Level up your engineering career by making inclusion your competitive advantage.
Contact
Behzad Abdi (b.abdi@hud.ac.uk) - Huddersfield University
Agg, Chloe J (c.agg@imperial.ac.uk) - Imperial college London
Kate Sugden (K.Sugden@aston.ac.uk) - Aston University
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