Sponsored by the Spark Center for Innovation in Learning

North American AI Challenge

An accelerated student design and venture challenge for inclusive excellence.

Interest form now open!

Learn more about becoming a Challenge Launchpad host to send a top student team to the North American AI Grand Finale in Phoenix on Nov. 21, 2026!

Register your interest by April 1

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The Spark Center for Innovation in Learning, in collaboration with Enterprise Technology, proudly presents the North American AI Challenge.
 

The North American AI Challenge brings together student teams, higher education institutions and service-minded organizations to advance AI for neurodiverse learning. From Oct. 24 to Nov. 21, this design and venture challenge invites students to prototype and pitch AI-driven ventures that support neurodivergent young people, while engaging higher education institutions and service-minded organizations across North America as partners and collaborators. Informed by real-world research with trusted partners that serve neurodiverse communities, student teams will develop and present venture-ready AI solutions through a series of pitch rounds. The challenge culminates in a live grand finale in Phoenix, Arizona, with $20,000 in total prizes.

 

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Join the North American AI Challenge

The North American AI Challenge brings together student teams, higher education institutions and service-minded organizations to advance AI for neurodiverse learning. 

Whether you’re hosting a regional pitch event as a Challenge Launchpad, grounding innovation in lived experience as a Challenge Partner, or participating as a competing student team, there are multiple ways to contribute to inclusive innovation through the North American AI Challenge.

Host a Launchpad

A Challenge Launchpad is a regional pitch event hosted by a higher education institution. Launchpad hosts collaborate with challenge organizers to recruit and screen applicants, invite judges, and host their Launchpad on Nov. 7, selecting one team to advance to the grand finale in Phoenix, Arizona. 

Become a Partner

Challenge Partners are vetted companies, nonprofits, startups or university research centers that support neurodivergent individuals through education, workforce readiness, student success or community-based programs. Partners play a critical role in grounding student innovation in real-world context, supporting teams during their 2-week design sprint.

Compete for Prizes

Student teams from across North America are invited to apply between April 15 and Sept. 30, 2026. Selected teams will be notified by Oct. 9, 2026 of their acceptance and invitation to join the official kickoff on Oct. 24, 2026. Official competition dates are Oct. 24 - Nov. 7, 2026, followed by a finale on Nov. 21, 2026.

 

Host a Challenge Launchpad

A Challenge Launchpad is a regional pitch competition hosted by a higher education institution to spotlight student innovation and advance one winning team to the North American grand finale in Phoenix, Arizona. Each host serves as a regional hub for interdisciplinary innovation, shares the Challenge across its student networks, and convenes a live pitch competition on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026. Hosts collaborate with SCIL to uphold a shared framework for pitch formats, evaluation and branding, ensuring a consistent and equitable experience for all student teams.

Launchpad Benefits

  • Empower your students to join a continent-wide innovation network
  • Elevate your institution’s role as a regional convener and thought leader in emerging neurotechnology
  • Connect with industry and academic leaders through Challenge Partner engagement
  • Receive full support from SCIL, including centralized applicant vetting, standardized materials and national promotion

Host a Launchpad

Become a Challenge Partner

The North American AI Challenge is recruiting companies, nonprofits, startups or university research centers serving neurodiverse individuals or communities to serve as Challenge Partners. As vetted organizations that serve neurodivergent individuals through education, workforce readiness, student success, or community-based programs, Partners play a critical role in grounding student innovation in lived experience and operational reality. 

Challenge Partners play an active role in advancing student innovation by welcoming teams into real-world contexts and sharing practical insight. Partners support ethical, nonclinical customer research during the challenge design sprint (Oct. 25 - Nov. 6) and contribute their expertise to regional Challenge Launchpad events as domain experts and jurors, helping shape high-potential ideas into real-world impact.

Partner Benefits

  • Visibility across a North American higher education innovation network
  • Opportunity to identify pilot-ready or partnership-ready ideas
  • Partners receive a $1,000 grant

Compete in the North American AI Challenge

The North American AI Challenge is an innovation challenge designed for students — as emerging technologists, designers and entrepreneurs — to design and prototype AI-driven systems that surface meaningful executive function patterns experienced by individuals navigating autism, ADHD, dyslexia and other cognitive differences. 

Teams are challenged to leverage AI to move beyond productivity tools and develop solutions at the intersection of neurodiversity research, AI prototyping and entrepreneurial viability, demonstrating how intelligent systems can surface meaningful insights, personalize support pathways and scale responsibly.

Challenge structure

The North American AI Challenge operates on a regional hub-and-spoke model designed to ensure research integrity, equitable access, and high-quality live competition experiences. Participation is intentionally structured to prioritize in-person engagement, verified customer research, and regional pitch events.

Student teams recruited through Launchpad networks are invited to apply between April 15 and Sept. 30, 2026. Selected teams will be notified by Oct. 9, 2026 of their acceptance with an invitation to join the official kickoff on Oct. 24, 2026.

 A core requirement of the Challenge is direct customer and market research; during their two-week design sprint, teams must conduct customer research through a Challenge Partner (Oct. 24 - Nov. 6), a curated list of institutions, programs, or service providers supporting neurodivergent individuals, ensuring proposals are grounded in institutional realities and real user needs. 

All participating teams agree to pitch in-person at a Challenge Launchpad (Nov. 7), a regional pitch competition hosted by selected higher education institutions across North America. One winning team from each Launchpad site will advance to our grand finale on Nov. 21 in Phoenix, AZ where they will pitch their solutions to a panel of experts for grand prizes totaling $20,000. 

 

Challenge timeline

Oct. 24 - Nov. 21, 2026

Saturday, Oct. 24 | Challenge kick-off (virtual)

Participants, partners, and mentors gather online to review challenge overview and exclusive details, enjoy keynotes from challenge experts, reveal Challenge Partners, ensure tool access and begin team ideation.

Oct. 25 - Nov. 6 | Design sprint

In two weeks, teams design, conduct research with a Partner, prototype their solutions, and prepare their pitch

Saturday, Nov. 7 | Launchpad event

Teams pitch and demo their solutions live to an expert panel of evaluators in 5-minutes or less following a 5-slide template. Each Launchpad will select one winning team to advance to the grand finale in Phoenix, AZ on Oct. 3.

Saturday, Nov. 21 | Challenge Finale, Phoenix, AZ

Advancing teams compete in Phoenix, AZ at the grand finale featuring pitches, demos and awards ceremony!

 

Prize pool

Grand prize

$15,000

Sinema Student Seed Fund awarded to the top-ranked team.

Gold award

$5,000

Awarded to the top-ranked team.

Silver award

$2,500

Awarded to the second-ranked team.

Call for Launchpad Hosts!

Interested in hosting a regional Challenge Launchpad?

Submit an interest form to explore how your institution can help elevate student innovation and advance inclusive AI across North America.

Register interest by April 1!
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