ICEAA hosted our 4th Cost Challenge at our 2026 Professional Development & Training Workshop in Norfolk, Virginia, a historic waterfront city shaped by naval logistics, shipbuilding, and America’s earliest colonial roots, not far from the first permanent English settlement in North America: Jamestown. Four hundred and nineteen years later, the world’s imagination is captured by settling a new frontier: Mars. What would it take to plan, deliver, operate, and grow a permanent settlement in an extreme environment with long supply lines, limited rescue options, and major uncertainty?
Our teams of junior cost estimators (all of whom had 3 or fewer years of experience) presented their estimates for the cost of establishing and sustaining New Jamestown, the first human settlement on Mars starting in 2050, including transportation, infrastructure, life support, operations, R&D/technology, and future expansion capability. We encouraged the teams to think of the ways New Jamestown would mirror original Jamestown, particularly when it comes to building a new settlement from scratch while isolated in a hostile environment, and how they would evolve a starter outpost to a robust base with around 400 inhabitants over ten years.
Join us to see how our 2026 Cost Challenge Teams assessed, analyzed, and approached the exciting adventure of New Jamestown! The 2026 Challenge Winning team from Boeing will give their presentation for the membership at noon (eastern) on Tuesday, July 11:
At the 2025 ICEAA Professional Development & Training Workshop, our teams were challenged with estimating the cost of relocating the 2028 Olympics from Los Angeles to Atlanta…and in 2027! What will it take to fast-track preparations and successfully move the LA Olympics to a city with its own unique challenges and opportunities? What infrastructure from the 1996 Olympics can be repurposed, what other Atlanta area venues can be utilized, and how can innovative technologies like AI and digital twins transform Olympic logistics and reduce costs? Which creative strategies can maximize sustainability while minimizing community disruption?
Our rising estimators defined their ground rules and assumptions, the context of their estimate, and presented in current fiscal year US dollars. Teams presented their solutions for a panel of judges at the 2025 ICEAA Professional Development & Training Workshop in Atlanta.
2025 Cost Challenge Presentations
Winning Team Technomics:
Download Team Technomics’ Slides (PDF)
Participating Team Augur:
Download Team Augur’s Slides (PDF)
Participating Team Boeing:
Download Team Boeing’s Slides (PDF)
2023 Cost Challenge Presentations
The teams competing in the 2023 ICEAA Cost Challenge faced a ponderous question: how much does our cycle through life cost? How will the cost curves change from milestone to milestone, from birth to death? What risks or uncertainty need to be considered? What outliers or other unexpected elements will impact the project we call being alive, and what external societal costs or circumstantial benefits should we consider when looking at, well, everything?
Our rising estimators defined their ground rules and assumptions, the context of their estimate, and presented in current fiscal year US dollars. Items that may have been taken into consideration are government assistance, taxes, US population, life expectancy, and elements surrounding education, health, occupation, lifestyle, or other statistics. Our teams presented their solutions for a panel of judges at the 2023 ICEAA Professional Development & Training Workshop, and encore presentations from three of our teams are below:
Download slides (PDF)
Team Augur
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Team Technomics:
Download slides (PDF)