Competition and Hackathon Winners
Aspiring engineers and scientists worldwide are winning competitions using MATLAB and Simulink—building technical skills and gaining valuable experience. Take a look at recent champions and their projects and be inspired to enter, compete, and possibly even take home a top prize.
Signal Processing
University of North Dakota
2nd Place: AFRL SDR University Challenge 2024-25
Using MATLAB and Simulink, the UND SemCom 6G team built a complete multi-user MIMO testbed that controls three USRP-B210 radios, implements LTE Tx-diversity/OFDM waveforms, and delivers two simultaneous image links with deep-learning-enabled semantic communication in real time. Custom TX/RX GUIs were created in MATLAB that allow users to select images, set RF gains, and monitor constellation, spectrum, and reconstructed-image plots live—turning complex SDR control into a single-click experience.
Aerospace
Universidade Federal da Bahia
1st Place Overall, 1st Place – Design Report, 1st Place – Oral Presentation, 1st Place – Mission Performance: SAE Aero Design West - 2025
Axé Fly, from UFBA – Brazil, won the SAE Aero Design West 2025 competition. The team used MATLAB to perform multidisciplinary design optimization and define the aircraft's dimensions based on an accurate takeoff model. Additionally, they developed a 6-DoF simulator using MATLAB/Simulink to evaluate flight mechanics and stability parameters.
Automotive
Politecnico di Milano
1st Place – Passing competition at Indianapolis Motor Speedway – September 2024: Indy Autonomous Challenge 2024
PoliMOVE Autonomous racing team, part of the MOVE Research Group at Politecnico di Milano led by Prof. Sergio Matteo Savaresi, has been a leader in the Indy Autonomous Challenge since 2020. With three world records and over ten victories, the team partnered with Michigan State University in 2023, becoming PoliMOVE-MSU. In September 2024, PoliMOVE achieved a historic victory in the Passing Competition at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
MATLAB and Simulink are vital to our success, enabling track data analysis, localization algorithm prototyping, and vehicle dynamics control design, including steering, throttle, and braking strategies. Simulink’s code generation ensures seamless integration of algorithms into real-time systems, driving our advancements in high-speed autonomous racing.
Finance
Shanghai University of Finance and Economics
1st Place and MATLAB Innovation Award: China Graduate Financial Data Modeling Contest 2024
Utilizing MATLAB's powerful matrix and numerical computation capabilities, Team 2024003 from the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics processed tens of millions of funds and stock data points, developed innovative stock investment strategies based on information about fund heavyweight stocks, and evaluated the performance of these strategies through backtesting.
Aerospace
University of Bologna
1st place: Airbus Sloshing Rocket Workshop 2024
A Simulink model was implemented to simulate the flight dynamics of the aircraft, with the objective of optimizing range and flight time during the rocket's gliding phase. A PID controller was designed and integrated into the model to control the elevator pitch angle to achieve this goal.
Furthermore, MATLAB was used to analyze the resonance frequencies of the sloshing phenomenon caused by the partially filled tank, which was essential for the subsequent CFD simulation.
Aerospace
KLE Technological University
2nd Runner up: SAEINDIA AeroTHON 2024
The team developed a PID Controller and optimized values for the motors of drone through extensive testing. Using MATLAB and Simulink models, we fine-tuned these values to achieve enhanced stability and performance in Roll, Pitch, and Yaw control. By iteratively adjusting the proportional, integral, and derivative parameters, we ensured smoother dynamic response and greater precision.
Poland 2025
- 27 March 2025
Institute of Heat Engineering, Politechnika Warszawska
- Winner: SKA PW, Politechnika Warszawska
- First runner-up: KNR Drone PW, Politechnika Warszawska
- Second runner-up: error404 – Politechnika Warszawska
India 2024
- 27–28th September 2024
Indian Institute of Science, India
- Winner: CodeXareals, MS Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences
- First runner-up: EPsquad, NIT Calicut
- Second runner-up: Genisis, Government Engineering College Thrissur
Singapore 2024
- 10-11th June 2024
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
- Winner: NYP ATIC, Nanyang Polytechnic
- First runner-up: JAJAJA, Nanyang Technological University
- Second runner-up: NY Flying, Nanyang Technological University
2023 Sustainability and Renewable Energy Challenge
- 1st place: TH Köln, Germany
- 2nd place: Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar, India
- 3rd place: Ain Shams University, Egypt
2023 Simulink Student Challenge
- 1st place: Politecnico di Torino, Italy
- 2nd place: Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology, Egypt
- 3rd place: King’s College London, England
2022 Simulink Student Challenge
- 1st place: Politecnico di Milano, Italy
- 2nd place: Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain
- 3rd place: University of Southampton, England
HackDavis 2023
- Best Use of MATLAB Award: Jonathan Wang, Andrew Fu, Eric Liu, and Suparn Sathya
- Project name: Drowsy—Sleep Analytics and Improvement Through Technology
MATHACK 2022
- 1st place: Rafael Otero, Alejandro Sánchez Roncero, Víctor Manuel López Higueras, and Pablo Pastor
- Project name: Hacking Better Emergency Response Times with MATLAB Mobile
MATHack Western Cape 2022
- 1st place: Bianca Harber, Gabrielle Liebenberg, and Rosanne Maritz, Stellenbosch University, South Africa
- Project name: Overstock No More!
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