The City of STEM Innovation Challenge asks students to imagine Los Angeles in the year 2050 and create inventive ideas to solve real-world problems facing the Los Angeles area, such as clean energy, sustainability, transportation, and recycling.

The Challenge is open to all middle school students currently enrolled in a public, private, parochial, or home school located in Los Angeles County for the 2025-2026 school year. Employees, consultants, and contractors of Columbia Memorial Space Center, Lollipop Labs, and City of STEM - and each of their respective parent, subsidiary, and affiliated companies - and their immediate families (parents, spouse, children, siblings, grandparents, stepparents, stepchildren, and stepsiblings) are not eligible to participate.

Teams must have between one (1) and five (5) students.

No. All students on a team must be enrolled in the same school.

· February 11, 2026: Student Team Registration Opens

· March 25, 2026: Video Submissions Close at 11:59 PM PST

· March 26–28, 2026: First Round Judging

· March 31, 2026: Finalist Teams Announced

· April 26, 2026: Final Judging and Crowd Voting at City of STEM + LA Maker Faire Festival

Student Teams must submit their idea through a video. An adult representative (at least 18 years old) is required to submit the video on behalf of the team.

In compliance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998, parental or legal guardian consent is required for anyone under the age of 13 to provide personal information to a third party over the internet. For this Challenge, all Student Teams—including those with members over 13 years of age—must have a parent or legal guardian act as the team's adult representative and grant consent for us to receive their entry.

All Student Teams must create a video that is no longer than two (2) minutes about their solution.

· Clearly explain the problem facing the Los Angeles area

· Clearly explain the recommended solution to the problem

· Clearly explain how the technology or idea works

· Clearly show how STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) was used to develop the solution

· Clearly explain the impact of the solution

Remember: the judges reviewing videos will not necessarily know your research, so it's important to be as clear as possible.

Video submissions open at 9:00 AM PST on February 11, 2026, and close at 11:59 PM PST on March 25, 2026.

An adult representative must submit the Student Team's video by pasting a link to the video on the submission form at cityofstem.org/innovation-challenge.

The adult representative of the Student Team must first create a registered user account at www.youtube.com and agree to all applicable terms at that site. There is no fee or charge to become a registered user of YouTube. YouTube is not a sponsor of this Innovation Challenge, nor does it endorse or administer the Innovation Challenge. Here is how you upload your video on YouTube:

• Sign in to YouTube. If you don't already have an account, create one by clicking the button in the upper right of the screen.

• Click the Upload button at the top right of the page.

• Before you start uploading the video you can choose the video privacy settings. For the purpose of this Innovation Challenge, please choose Unlisted.

• Select the video you'd like to upload from your computer.

• As the video is uploading you can edit both the basic information and the advanced settings of the video.

• Click Done to finish the upload.

• If you haven’t clicked Publish, your video won’t be viewable by other people. You can always publish your video at a later time in your Video Manager.

• Copy the link in the browser and paste it in the Video Submission page after you have registered on cityofstem.org/innovation-challenge.

• When filling out the description of your video, please limit your explanation to six words.

· Videos that include students' first and last names, physical addresses, school names, or any other identifying information will be immediately disqualified from further consideration.

· The video and the "script" (wording and presentation) must be original.

· If the video is taken by a third party, you must have secured all rights and clearances to the video from that third party.

· The video cannot contain any music or any identifiable background images (posters, logo shirts, objects with brand names, identifiable brand products, etc.).

· Materials, products, and other objects used in the video should have their brand names obscured.

· The video cannot contain materials displaying copyrighted images, names, likenesses, photographs, or anything else that identifies any person, living or dead, without permission.

· The video cannot defame, misrepresent, or contain disparaging remarks about people or companies.

· The video cannot be obscene or offensive, endorse any form of hate or hate group, or be derogatory to any ethnic, racial, gender, religious, professional, or age group.

· The video cannot depict illegal activity and cannot itself be in violation of any law.

· The video may not include images of a known celebrity, famous or well-known person, or any image that violates the right of privacy or publicity of any person.

· The video cannot be more than two (2) minutes in length.

The video cannot be more than two (2) minutes in length.

No. Student Teams can only submit one video.

Yes. Video submissions from prior competitions are eligible as long as they meet all the criteria.

Yes. Adult representatives can log into their YouTube account and add a new video link to their saved entry prior to the deadline. The adult representative can resubmit the submission and explain in the comments that it is a new video.

The video does NOT need to be "produced" or have high production value. Judges are not evaluating production skills. Entries that follow all of the rules and regulations will be ranked based on the average of scores awarded by an expert panel of judges using the following rubric:

· Creativity (ingenuity and innovative thinking): 30%

· Potential Impact: 30%

· STEAM Knowledge: 20%

· Feasibility: 20%

There will be two separate expert panels of judges. The first-round panel will select the semi-final teams by reviewing the submitted videos and scoring them based on the provided rubric. The second-round panel will select the Grand Prize winning team and two Runner-Up Teams by reviewing the submitted videos and scoring them based on the provided rubric.

Once the video submission window closes (11:59 PM PST on March 25, 2026), the submissions will be scored. The adult representatives of the six (6) Student Teams with the highest scores will be contacted via email on or about March 31, 2026 to verify their status as a finalist. A team must be able to attend the City of STEM+LA Make Faire Festival to qualify as a finalist.

Nothing. The judges will review the existing video, then ask the team questions. A three panel science poster board will be given to you after the team qualifies to be a finalist.

The team needs to use the board to explain their idea as they present to the Festival attendees. No other three panel board is allowed.

There will be one (1) Grand Prize Team and two (2) Runner-Up Teams.

The Grand Prize is a once-in-a-lifetime VIP innovation trip around the Los Angeles area to visit innovative companies and experience cutting-edge technologies making an impact. The trip will accommodate the Student Team's schedule. The winning team’s school will receive $5000 in science supplies. There will be other amazing prizes for the Runner-Up Student Teams.

To participate in the Innovation Challenge, all Student Teams must first read and comply with the Official Rules.

Most questions can be answered by reading the Official Rules. Any additional questions can be emailed to innovationchallenge@cityofstem.org.