General Lab Information

The 2023 Maglev Competition is scheduled to be held onsite at Brookhaven National Laboratory, but it is subject to change to a virtual format at any time based on local COVID-19 conditions. Please check this website before traveling to the Brookhaven Lab site.

What is the MAGLEV Competition?

In this competition, you will learn about MAGLEV technology and use math, science, and technology principles to optimize the design of a MAGLEV vehicle. Long Island, like so many areas, has traffic congestion problems. Many experts believe the best way to solve this problem is to design new transportation systems. One approach is to develop "MAGLEV" vehicles that float over a fixed track, supported (levitated) and driven by magnetic fields. This is like flying with lift provided by magnets instead of wings.

Who Can Participate?

This competition is suitable for all 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students with their teachers.


MAGLEV Competition

Competition Agenda

  • 9:00 a.m.–11:30 a.m.
    Student Vehicle Testing and Adjustments
  • 11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
    Student Lunch (bring your own)
  • 12:30 p.m.–1:00 p.m.
    Trophy Presentations

What are the Rules?

The competition information page contains all the rules along with some helpful information for working on your design.

How Do I Register?

A teacher will register the top 15 maglev vehicles created at their school. If you are a teacher with students who would like to participate, register your students here.

Student Design Portfolio

The steps in this Design Portfolio will help you complete your MAGLEV vehicle design. Writing down what you did or found in each step will help you and others learn from your work.

It will also help the competition judges understand your design approach. The design process begins with a Problem Statement. Here you should state exactly what your design is trying to accomplish. Next, under Investigation, list the questions you will have to answer to come up with a successful design.

The remaining steps take you through the rest of the design process. As you complete your design, fill in your responses to each step. You may add tables, charts, drawings or anything else you think will help you and your readers understand what you did.

Important Dates

December 15, 2022 Registration opens
March 10, 2023 Registration closes
March 22, 2023 Date of Competition

Competition Information

2017 MAGLEV Participants
MAGLEV Participants
Photo Galleries