Build something that matters. The Horizon Challenge is MMI's flagship 48-hour international virtual engineering innovation challenge, bringing together students from around the world to tackle real-world problems through engineering.
You don't need a perfect prototype. You don't need expensive equipment. You need an idea worth exploring and the determination to build it.
Eligibility: open to high school students worldwide, ages 13 and up. International participants welcome — the challenge runs fully virtually.
At the official start of the challenge, five challenge statements are revealed at once — real problem areas, not fixed briefs. Teams pick one and build their entire submission around it for the next 48 hours. Nobody gets a head start on the actual problem, no matter how early they registered.
Example set shown above — the actual five statements are revealed only when the challenge begins.
Whether your final submission is a working prototype, a simulation, a CAD model, an AI-assisted solution, or a well-developed engineering concept — we want to see what you create.
AI tools are welcome for brainstorming, research, coding support, debugging, prototyping, and design exploration. But every participant must understand, verify, and be able to explain every part of their submission. AI should accelerate your engineering process — it can't replace your engineering thinking.
Project title, team member names, contact email, challenge category.
What real-world problem are you solving, and why does it matter?
Your engineering approach, how it works, and the reasoning behind your design decisions.
Anything that helps judges understand your work:
Either a 2–3 minute video, or a 1–2 page PDF summary, covering: what you built, what problem it solves, how it works, what tools you used, what challenges you overcame, and — if you used AI — how it contributed to your process.
Independent Judging Panel. Projects are evaluated by an independent panel of university engineering students, researchers, and industry professionals — to ensure a fair and technically rigorous judging process.
The reasoning behind your decisions, not just the result.
Original angles on the problem.
How well the thing actually works.
Could this realistically function beyond the challenge?
Does it address a problem that matters?
Can you explain it clearly to someone outside your team?
What "48 hours" actually means: during the official challenge period, you're expected to develop the core of your project — the engineering solution itself should be conceived and developed during the challenge, once your team's chosen statement is revealed. Preparing beforehand is fully welcome: forming your team, learning new tools, installing software, and gathering materials are all fair game ahead of time.
Registration is open right now. Exact start/end times on September 19 and 20 will be confirmed closer to the date — the days themselves are locked in.
Open to high school students worldwide, ages 13+. Solo or in teams of up to three. Registration closes Thursday, September 17, 2026 — the five challenge statements are revealed when the challenge begins on September 19.
Register Now →You don't have to build the perfect project.
You don't have to know everything before you begin.
You simply have to start.