Status
Challenge Status: Challenge is Active. This challenge is part of the Junior Academy and not open for general application.
Application Status: Open to Junior Academy Members
Key Dates
Challenge Begins: 09/21/2026
Challenge Closes: 11/22/2026
Solutions Due By: 11/22/2026
Winners Announced: 12/16/2026
Eligibility
- This challenge is open to all Junior Academy students.
- Maximum of six (6) students per team, plus one (1) mentor.
Overview
Advances in brain technologies are rapidly moving from the lab to meaningful real-world use. Brain wearables, or noninvasive brain-sensing devices, use electroencephalography (EEG) to measure brain activity. These tools are especially good at detecting changes in real time. This makes them useful for catching brain events like seizures, and researchers are exploring their use for early detection of conditions such as epilepsy, sleep disorders, concussion, and memory decline—sometimes even before symptoms appear. Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), meanwhile, read brain signals and translate them into outputs, helping people move, communicate, or connect with technology in new ways. These devices may be non-invasive or implanted on or inside the brain. Neurostimulation systems apply stimulation (electrical, magnetic, sound, etc.) to neurons or directly to the brain and are already being used in the treatment of pain and epileptic seizures. Brain technologies, which not so long ago felt like science fiction, today offer the potential to transform healthcare and individual human lives. Researchers are testing these tools for early recognition and monitoring of disease and human-machine interaction.
Of course, as with any new technology, responsible design is essential to realizing the benefits of brain technology. Questions of privacy, autonomy, consent, affordability, and accessibility must also be considered for the end-users. It is critical that these devices be designed with meaningful input from the people who need them most.
The life-changing potential for BCIs and brain wearables is tremendous. BCIs could help people regain their ability to move or even communicate. Brain wearables could recognize and monitor disease and potentially increase the impact of medical intervention and lifestyle changes. How might you design a BCI or brain-focused wearable that enhances accessibility or enables early disease recognition while prioritizing user needs and well-being?
Challenge
Design a brain-computer interface* or brain-focused wearable* that improves everyday life by enhancing accessibility or enabling earlier disease recognition or monitoring.
Consider the following when designing your solution:
- How will you include input from the people or communities that your solution is intended to serve?
- Does your solution maintain human dignity and prioritize consent, privacy, and well-being for the user?
- What safety issues does your solution bring up and how will you mitigate them?
- Will distance from a major city or large medical research facilities limit which people can easily access your solution? Will your innovation be useful to those who live in rural areas? Can patients use your solution without being constantly monitored by an in-person, highly trained specialist?
- How can you make your solution accessible to the most people even during the trials phase?
- How affordable is your solution? Will the cost make your solution inaccessible for those with lower economic means? How can you overcome this challenge?
*This is a conceptual design challenge. Teams must not construct or test invasive or neurostimulation devices, test brain-monitoring devices on people (or any other living organism), or collect identifiable health or neural data. Any physical prototype should be nonfunctional and used only to illustrate the proposed design.
See the challenge course syllabus.
Success Evaluation Criteria
Solutions will be judged based on the following criteria:
- Innovation and Design Thinking: Is the design and approach unique and/or innovative? Does the design show a high degree of originality and imagination?
- Scientific Quality: Are the appropriate references and analytical methods used and are the insights derived correctly?
- Presentation Quality: Is this concept concisely and clearly explained? Are the findings/recommendations communicated clearly and persuasively?
- Commercial Viability/Potential: Does the solution have the potential to make a difference?
- Sustainability: What is the social impact on local communities? How does the solution incorporate positive environmental or social objectives? Is the solution in line with a sustainable or justice focused future?
- Teamwork and collaboration: Was the experience a collaborative endeavor? Was the knowledge gained from the experience reflected upon and tied back to a civic engagement mindset? (From Personal Reflections)
Sponsor
