Both students and industry benefit from intercollegiate design competitions. Each competition allows students to apply the theories and information they have learning in the class room to real world situations. Industry gains better prepared and more experienced engineers.
In the late sixties and early seventies only one competition of significance existed: Mini-baja. Today, almost every field of engineering has several design competitions. The Society of Automotive Engineers organizes the largest and most prestigious design competitions including Mini-baja, Sunryce, and Formula SAE.