Three editions. Two venues. One growing belief — children learn best when they are given the opportunity to think, explore and experience.
When we started the Engineering Design Challenge Competition (EDCC) at The STEM Makers, the intention was never to create just another competition where students compete for prizes. We wanted to create something different. A space where children could encounter problems without being given a predefined method to solve them. A space where they could observe, question, research, experiment, build, fail, rethink and try again. Most importantly, we wanted children to experience a form of learning that is different from simply learning something because it will appear in an examination.
That idea has now grown into the third edition of EDCC, taking place at two venues:
- Aravinda High School, Kunchanapalli — 18 September 2026
- Kadapa Public School, Kadapa — 26 September 2026
For us, expanding to two venues is an exciting milestone. But the real growth of EDCC is not measured by the number of venues or participants. It is measured by the kind of learning experiences we are able to create for children.
Why Do We Need a Different Kind of Learning?
School education plays an important role in giving children knowledge and foundational skills. But education cannot stop at remembering information and reproducing the expected answer.
Children also need opportunities to develop the ability to:
Question. Observe. Connect. Analyse. Imagine. Experiment. Decide. Create. Reflect.
These abilities develop when children encounter situations where there is no obvious answer and where they have to figure out what to do next.
This is where experiential learning becomes powerful.
Instead of first teaching a concept and then asking a child to apply it, experiential learning starts with an experience or a challenge.
The child encounters a problem.
The problem creates a need to learn.
The child searches for information, makes a hypothesis, tries something, observes what happens, and changes their approach based on what they discover.
The experience becomes the classroom.
Experiential Learning: When the Problem Becomes the Teacher
Imagine a child trying to build a structure that keeps collapsing.
Nobody has to begin by saying, “Today we are going to learn about structural stability.”
The child simply asks:
“Why is it falling?”
They change the shape.
They add support.
They try different materials.
They test again.
Slowly, through experience, the child begins to understand concepts related to balance, forces, strength and structure.
Similarly, a student designing a robot may encounter questions about motors, gears, friction, speed, sensors and programming.
A student researching a community problem may discover that opinions alone are not enough. They need data.
A student analysing that data may discover patterns that lead to a completely different understanding of the problem.
This is learning that happens because the child has a reason to learn.
Learning Without Realising That They Are Learning
One of the most beautiful aspects of experiential learning is that children often don’t realise how much they are learning.
A child working on an EDCC challenge isn’t thinking:
“Today I am going to develop my critical-thinking skills.”
They are thinking:
“Why isn’t this working?”
“What if we try this?”
“Can we make it stronger?”
“What information do we need?”
“Why did our first idea fail?”
“Is there another way?”
Those questions are the learning.
Through a single challenge, children may simultaneously use:
- Mathematics to measure, estimate and calculate
- Science to understand phenomena
- Engineering to design and build
- Technology to create and test
- Communication to explain their ideas
- Collaboration to work as a team
- Critical thinking to evaluate alternatives
- Creativity to imagine possibilities
- Persistence to continue after failure
- Decision-making to choose between different approaches
This is multidimensional thinking.
The child is no longer learning mathematics, science, technology or communication as isolated subjects.
They are using different kinds of knowledge together to understand and respond to a real situation.
From Rote Learning to Thinking
There is an important distinction here.
We are not suggesting that knowledge and memorisation have no place in education. Children need knowledge. They need foundational concepts. They need to develop fluency in reading, mathematics, science and many other areas.
But knowledge becomes much more powerful when children understand when, why and how to use it.
The shift we want to encourage is:
From “What is the answer?”
to
“How can I find the answer?”
And eventually to:
“What questions should I be asking?”
That is a very different kind of learning.
EDCC 2026: From Solving Problems to Discovering Problems
This year, EDCC is taking another important step forward.
We are introducing the Young Researcher Challenge.
Traditionally, students are often given a problem statement and asked to develop a solution.
But real-world innovation rarely begins that way.
It begins with observation and curiosity.
Something doesn’t seem right.
Someone is struggling.
A pattern is noticed.
A question emerges.
Data needs to be collected.
Evidence needs to be examined.
Only then does a meaningful problem begin to take shape.
The Young Researcher Challenge gives students an opportunity to experience this process:
Observe → Question → Research → Collect Data → Analyse → Find Patterns → Generate Insights → Define the Problem
Only after understanding the problem deeply should we ask:
What can we do about it?
This is why we see the Young Researcher Challenge not simply as a new competition category, but as an extension of the EDCC learning philosophy.
The Role of Engineering College Students as Mentors
Another important dimension of EDCC is the involvement of engineering college students as mentors for school students.
We believe this creates a unique learning environment for both groups.
For a school student, an engineering student can be much more than a mentor.
They can be a role model.
Someone who was once sitting in a school classroom and is now studying engineering, building projects, solving technical problems and exploring possibilities.
This makes the world of engineering and technology feel more real and accessible.
Near-peer learning matters.
School students may feel more comfortable asking an engineering student:
“Why does this work?”
“Can I try this?”
“What happens if we change this?”
“I don’t understand this part.”
The interaction is often less intimidating than a traditional teacher-student relationship.
The mentor can encourage the child to explore without immediately giving them the answer.
And that is important.
The mentor’s job is not to solve the problem for the student.
It is to ask the right questions, provide direction, share experience and allow the child to discover.
Mentoring Is Also Learning
The learning, however, does not happen only for the school student.
When engineering students mentor younger children, they have to learn how to:
Listen. Explain. Simplify. Question. Encourage. Facilitate. Lead.
Knowing something and being able to explain it to someone else are two very different abilities.
An engineering student who has learned about electronics, mechanics, programming or robotics in college gets an opportunity to take that knowledge out of a structured classroom or laboratory and apply it to an open-ended challenge.
They also discover something important:
Children don’t always think the way adults expect them to think.
A child’s unconventional question or unexpected approach can sometimes make the mentor look at a familiar problem differently.
So the relationship becomes reciprocal.
The school student learns from the mentor.
The mentor learns from the school student.
Together, they experiment, question, fail, rethink and learn.
This is the kind of learning community EDCC aims to create.
Beyond Competition
The word competition is part of EDCC’s name, but competition is not the only purpose.
A trophy is temporary.
The ability to approach an unfamiliar problem with curiosity and confidence can stay with a child for years.
We want students to leave EDCC with more than a project or a certificate.
We want them to leave with questions.
With confidence.
With the willingness to experiment.
With the understanding that failure is information.
With the ability to look at a problem from multiple perspectives.
And perhaps most importantly, with the belief:
“I don’t know the answer yet — but I can find out.”
That is a powerful mindset for a learner.
The EDCC Journey
Over the first two editions, we have seen EDCC grow.
The third edition takes another step forward.
From one venue to two.
From engineering challenges to research and problem discovery.
From building solutions to understanding problems.
From individual subject knowledge to multidimensional thinking.
From being given answers to learning how to ask better questions.
And ultimately:
From knowing to thinking.
This is the education we want to explore through EDCC.
Not education that replaces what children learn in school, but an experience that complements it in a fundamentally different way.
A place where knowledge comes alive through experience.
Where curiosity drives learning.
Where failure becomes feedback.
Where mentors learn alongside students.
And where children discover that they are capable of much more than simply finding the right answer.
Join EDCC 2026
The 3rd Edition of the Engineering Design Challenge Competition is happening at:
📍 Aravinda High School, Kunchanapalli — 18 September 2026
📍 Kadapa Public School, Kadapa — 26 September 2026
We invite schools, students, teachers, engineering college students and mentors to become part of this journey.
Let’s create more opportunities for children to:
Learn differently.
Think differently.
Question deeply.
Create fearlessly.
Because the future doesn’t just need children who know the answers.
It needs children who know how to find them.
EDCC 2026
Building Future Innovators. Unlocking Creativity. Igniting Curiosity.
The STEM Makers