JHTO Hypersonic Horizons 2025 - Prize Challenge

Section I: General Information

Wind Tunnel Warriors: Show your skills!

This challenge explores the crucial role of wind tunnels in hypersonic research, challenging students to design, build, and demonstrate their own model wind tunnels while diving into the history and science of these incredible tools.

Section II: Description

Hypersonics research utilizes a variety of testing methods, including simulations, wind tunnels, ground testing, and flight testing. Each type of testing serves a distinct purpose, working in conjunction to validate data and developing a more complete understanding of the hypersonic technology being evaluated.

Wind tunnel testing is a major aspect of hypersonic research. Wind tunnels vary in size, shape, and speed capabilities. While rudimentary forms of wind tunnels were used as early as the 1700s, it took over two centuries for scientists and engineers to develop supersonic and, eventually, hypersonic wind tunnels. As our understanding of hypersonics continues to grow, the potential for even faster wind tunnels in the future remains a fascinating prospect.

Instructions

Individual students, or teams of up to three students, should create a video for the Challenge appropriate for their academic enrollment. Videos should be three to five minutes in length and less than 1GB in size. All videos and associated information are due by 11:59 pm EST on Friday, January 9, 2026. Please visit https://forms.gle/x3QBxhKkE8VmShWJ9 to submit your video and fill out a form with the name, email, academic affiliation and location, and year for each member of the team. Video submissions must be in a format compatible with YouTube (such as .MOV, .MPG, .AVI, .WMV, etc.).

Please refer to the following link for further details and instructions:

https://hypersonics.tamu.edu/hypersonic-horizons-2025-the-high-speed-video-challenge/