By Randy Trammell

More than 250 K-12 student inventors from across the state arrived on the Georgia Tech campus on March 11 to showcase their inventions and compete in the 2026 K-12 Inventure Prize State Finals.

“At this year’s amazing State Finals, we celebrated with our students, teachers, and families—all gathered here on campus as our amazing student inventor-entrepreneurs presented their inventions to our competition judges,” said Danyelle Larkin, director of the K-12 InVenture Prize. “It is such a thrill and joy to be in this space brimming with such positive energy and innovative ideas.”

“As a part of the College of Lifetime Learning, we are proud to help our students connect to innovative STEM education and design thinking at an early age,” Larkin added. “Many of our students return with new inventions each year, refining and continuing to make improvements. It is so inspiring to see our students’ hard work, ingenuity, and commitment to learning and growth.” 

More than 100 student teams advanced from the online qualifier and regional qualifying events of the STEM invention/entrepreneurship program. This year marked the addition of the Georgia Mountain Region Qualifier in Gainesville. In response to overwhelming interest and participation, several in-school competitions were also held ahead of the regional event in Thomasville. 

“We are also pleased with the continued expansion of our program in Gainesville and Thomasville, where our participation and impact continue to grow,” Larkin said.

Students were joined by family, friends, and teachers, as well as Georgia Tech students, staff, faculty, and community partners, many of whom served as volunteer judges or helped with registration or other event duties. More than 50 student inventors from twenty-three teams were honored at the awards ceremony. Sixteen inventors, singled out by contest judges, will advance to the next round of the competition, RTX Invention Convention U.S. Nationals, at The Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan, June 3-5.

The K-12 InVenture Prize, based in the College’s Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics and Computing (CEISMC), challenges kindergarten through high school students to identify real-world problems and design novel solutions through analysis, creativity, and the engineering design process.

Each first-place team received a patent search or patent filing offered by longtime supporters, the Georgia Intellectual Property Alliance (GIPA). Cameron Schriner, an engineer with local software company IronCAD, also presented at the event.

Award-winning projects included an affordable and effective treatment approach to neuromuscular disorders; an innovative motorsport crash barrier designed around the safety and health of the driver; a low-cost, AI-driven 3D biomedical printer; an innovative chicken coop cleaner; a secure, effective medication distributor organized daily dosing; a water bottle with a sensor that is connected to an app to remind individuals to meet their water intake; and a temperature-regulating backpack designed for explorers in extreme climates.

The day concluded with the annual InVenture Prize at Georgia Tech collegiate competition at the Ferst Center for the Arts, which aired live on Georgia Public Broadcasting and online. Nicknamed "American Idol for Nerds," the Emmy Award-winning InVenture Prize at Georgia Tech is an interdisciplinary innovation competition open to all Tech undergraduate students.

For more information on the K-12 InVenture Prize curriculum and competition, please visit https://k12inventure.gatech.edu.