Editor's note: This article was printed in the Spring 2026 issue of the Naval Engineers Journal.

If the naval engineering community wants to see what its future workforce looks like in action, it could do worse than start at the edge of the Elizabeth River. At PEP26, that future is taking the form of student-built electric-propelled vessels, real-world engineering problems, and a competition designed to test far more than speed.

Held at Portsmouth City Park, the 2026 Promoting Electric Propulsion competition brought together more than 350 collegiate engineers from more than 40 universities. Student teams designed, built, tested, and raced electric-propelled craft across multiple divisions, demonstrating not only technical skill, but also the systems thinking and adaptability required in modern naval engineering. On-water support from the Combatant Craft Division added another layer of operational realism to the event.

That practical environment is a big part of what makes PEP26 distinctive. It is not just a race, and it is not just a recruiting event. It is a setting where students are asked to solve the kinds of multidisciplinary problems that define real maritime engineering work. Across the competition, teams had to integrate propulsion, structures, controls, software, and mission requirements into vessels that could actually perform in the water.

The event included more than 50 student teams competing across six divisions that highlighted key technology areas, including autonomy and crewed craft design. Some teams focused on manned vessel performance and propulsion efficiency. Others tackled unmanned operations, autonomy, and over-the-horizon challenges. Together, those divisions reflected the broad range of technical demands now shaping naval platforms and maritime systems.

For the naval engineering community, the value of that format is straightforward. It allows employers, mentors, and technical leaders to observe students doing real engineering rather than simply describing it. In a competition environment like PEP26, participants have to troubleshoot under pressure, communicate clearly with teammates, refine designs under constraints, and make decisions when systems do not behave exactly as planned. Those are the same qualities industry and Navy organizations look for in early-career engineers.

PEP26 also served as a broader workforce-development platform. In addition to the competition itself, the event included an onsite recruiting fair and industry-student receptions organized through the Hampton Roads Workforce Council. That made the event more than a showcase of student talent. It became a place where employers could build relationships with promising engineers, strengthen connections with universities, and in some cases conduct near-term recruiting around internships and full-time opportunities.

That combination of technical evaluation and relationship-building helps explain why PEP continues to grow. Traditional recruiting tools can only reveal so much. A resume may show coursework and credentials, but it does not show how a student responds to a wiring problem, a failed subsystem, or a last-minute design adjustment. PEP gives employers a chance to see those qualities directly, in a setting that more closely resembles real engineering practice.

The breadth of schools involved also speaks to the reach of the event. The field included major research universities such as Princeton, Carnegie Mellon, and Johns Hopkins; schools with strong maritime or engineering traditions such as Texas A&M, Virginia Tech, Old Dominion, and the University of Michigan; and universities not always closely associated with maritime careers, including the University of Kentucky, the University of Central Florida, the University at Buffalo, and Madison College. That mix highlights an important point for the naval engineering community: talent is coming from many directions, and events like PEP help connect it to maritime careers earlier.

The competition’s contribution was not limited to boats on the water. Organizers also received 53 technical papers from participating teams, totaling more than 600 pages of naval engineering research. That added a deeper academic and professional dimension to the event. Students were not only demonstrating finished craft; they were documenting design decisions, engineering processes, and technical findings that help strengthen the broader talent pool and contribute to the field.

At a time when the Navy and Maritime Industrial Base are increasingly focused on workforce development, PEP26 offered a useful model for what that effort can look like in practice. It combined technical challenge, professional exposure, research, recruiting, and community engagement in one setting. Students gained experience applying classroom knowledge to real engineering problems. Employers gained a clearer view of emerging talent. And the broader naval engineering community gained another reminder that workforce development works best when future engineers are given the opportunity to build, test, compete, and connect.

In that sense, PEP26 was about more than a collegiate electric boat race. It was a demonstration of how the next generation of naval engineers is being developed: through hands-on design, cross-disciplinary teamwork, and direct engagement with the community they may soon join.