The Prize Challenge invites collaborative industry-academia teams to deliver innovative strategies that combine foundational instruction with hands-on learning experiences, preparing students and early-career professionals to meet the workforce needs of the undersea tech sector.
UTIC will award a $30,000 cash prize to at least one winning team to support course design, build-out, and prototyping. Runner-up teams may receive scholarship grants of up to $10,000 in recognition of strong proposals.
“As national security priorities increasingly emphasize undersea capabilities, the demand for a mission-ready workforce has never been higher. There is a need for a strong undersea tech talent pipeline with both technical knowledge and practical experience,” said Molly Donohue Magee, Chief Executive Officer of UTIC. “UTIC’s Prize Challenge will enable that pipeline and ensure we remain at the forefront of undersea tech innovation.”
Course Details
Participating teams will design a prototype course—approximately 40 hours in length—that provides a comprehensive overview of the undersea domain for college students, entry-level professionals, and manufacturing technologists.
The winning design will serve as a framework to accelerate workforce readiness, strengthen academic-industry collaboration, and ensure future undersea technologists are prepared to support the full lifecycle of undersea systems—from concept and design to deployment and sustainment.
Applications are open from October 15, 2025, through December 1, 2025. For details on the challenge, eligibility, partnership opportunities, and the full timeline for proposal submission, visit: https://www.underseatech.org/undersea-technology/challenge-opportunities/
Workforce Development Initiatives
The Workforce Development Challenge builds on UTIC’s robust series of workforce initiatives, which also include an annual scholarship program. Launched in 2023, UTIC’s program has already awarded over $100,000 in scholarships to students at U.S. academic organizations pursuing an undergraduate and/or graduate degree in STEM-related fields with a focus on undersea technology.
UTIC has also partnered with the University of Rhode Island and Raytheon to offer a free, graduate-level course, Sonar, Underwater Sounds and Undersea Systems, to UTIC members for non-credit. The course was created and taught by Dr. John Short, a renowned sonar technology expert. More than 400 members have completed the course offering to date.
