The Hydro Power Contest was an opportunity for students and participants to demonstrate their ideas for turning water into power. The contest was conducted each year from 1991-2005 at the annual summer hydro industry conference. While created before the inception of the Foundation, the Foundation assumed the contest in the early 2000’s. To compete, each individual or team was required to construct a device that converted the gravity potential of water into mechanical power and then submitted the device for testing under competition conditions. During the competition, the mechanical power produced by each device and its efficiency were measured. Winners were awarded prizes, scholarships, and scholarly literature from various professional organizations.