Be Part of The National Innovation Challenge

Interest is rapidly building for the second year of our National Innovation Challenge (NIC) — an exciting competition that gives students the opportunity to showcase their vision and propose solutions to real industry challenges.

Please note: Entries have now closed for the 2026 NIC competition. Thank you to all those who submitted their work for consideration.

2026 Theme: Sustainability and AI

This year’s focus explores one of the most important conversations of our time: how sustainability and artificial intelligence can work together to shape a better future.

More Than a Competition

This isn’t just about ideas — it’s about shaping the future. Challenge your mind. Change the world.

HRUC is proud to have launched the UK’s first National Innovation Challenge in partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Industrial Liaison Program (ILP). The competition celebrates the creativity, ambition, and determination of young people ready to make their mark.

Explore our 2025 film

A Global Opportunity

In 2025, nearly 200 schools and colleges took part. Winning students travelled to Boston, USA, where they collaborated with world-leading MIT researchers. It was an unforgettable experience at the forefront of global innovation.

What's your big idea?

We are looking for projects that champion innovation and sustainability.

The challenge enables students to submit one of the following:

A concept
Business Idea or
Design Prototype

These will outline and propose solutions for current and future industry challenges.

The initiative is part of our groundbreaking work with the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Industrial Liaison Program (ILP).

How it works
Full-time students can work on their projects as individuals or in groups (maximum of three).

They will be able to enter ONE of two categories including:
- Secondary Schools
- General Further Education (GFE), Sixth Form and Institute of Technology (IoT) students
Further details about the competition will be provided within the information pack.

Below is an outline of what we expect from each category.

Create a sustainable concept
- Define your purpose and scope – What is the problem you are trying to solve?
- Who are your target stakeholders/users?
- What are your objectives for success?
- What are the key features and benefits?
Develop a business idea
- An initiative that can lead to services and/or products that generate income
- Target market: who will engage with your idea?
- What are the challenges to consider with current services or products?
- Which industry are you interested in to take your business idea to market?
Design your prototype
- A preliminary product or sample model that is created to test ideas/concepts, functionality, usability and feasibility
- Your prototype could be on paper, a wireframe, an interactive model or animation
- Early design concepts for mass production and/or scalability are welcome
Still not sure where to begin?
Here are some ideas you may want to consider to help you kick-start your project:
- How to contribute to delivering a healthy plant
- Reducing carbon footprint
- Strategies to support NetZero
- Technology to drive the sustainability agenda
- Sustainable impact to support Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG).
The competition has been officially launched and you will receive an information pack, for those schools and colleges who have registered their interest.
The prize

The winners will embark on a life-changing educational and cultural adventure to the USA.

The National Innovation Challenge will provide students with an unprecedented opportunity to gain new technical skills, work across borders, improve their personal thought process and develop international networks.
Shortlisted
In addition to internal students studying at HRUC, this initiative was expanded nationally to include external schools, colleges and sixth forms, ensuring an inclusive opportunity for all participants. See the full list of those who were shortlisted below.

We received submissions from across the UK and the entries advancing to the next round are as follows:

Colleges and Sixth Form Category
- Bridgend College | Modular Hydro Vein
- Bridgend College | Janus
- Aylesbury Grammar School | Sand Sweeper
- Shoeburyness High School - Sixth Form (Southend-on-Sea) | EcoSense Bench
- Our Lady & St Patrick College (Belfast) | Vaccine Loop
- Richmond upon Thames College | AI Waste
- Harrow College | EcoPaper
- Harrow College | NeuroLinguistic Interface
- Uxbridge College | Bio Loop AI
- Uxbridge College | Epione
- Uxbridge College | Smart Road Humps
Secondary Schools Category
- Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg - Bro Edern (Cardiff) | Heat Harvest
- Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg - Bro Edern (Cardiff) | Smart Sort
- St Bede's Catholic High School (Ormskirk) | The DuoPod Pump
- St Modan’s High School (Stirling) | AI Food Waste Prediction System
- The Sydney Russell School | Trash Quest
- Torquay Academy | SMART FINS
- Torquay Academy | One Step at a Time App
- Torquay Academy | Edible Food Packaging
- The Richmond upon Thames School | Air Purifiers
- Plantsbrook School (Birmingham) | Reusable Battery
Key dates (subject to change)
- National Innovation Challenge launch w/c Monday 24 November 2025
- Information pack published in December 2025 to registered participants
- All competition entries must be submitted by Friday 13 March 2026
- Shortlisting will commence in March 2026 with a final submission from participants in May 2026
- Awards evening June/July 2026
- Winners to visit USA in September/October 2026 (to be confirmed).

Judging panel

Our judging panel for 2026 includes outstanding figures from across industry.

Sarwar Khan

Sarwar Khan is the Sustainability Director at BT and for the last six years has been responsible for developing digital products, propositions and services that help business customers across the globe make the transition and turn sustainability into a competitive advantage.

Prior to joining BT, he spent nearly 10 years working in the energy sector to help customers decarbonise, with experience in developing large scale renewables and smaller decentralised solutions.

He holds an MSc in Renewable Energy from Loughborough University and an Executive MBA from Cranfield University. Sarwar is also a certified AI Governance Professional with the IAPP and his mission is to build a more equitable society.
Iqbal Vaza

Iqbal Vaza is a dedicated advocate for the next generation, currently serving as Chief Executive of The Education Space. His career is driven by a single mission: ensuring the education ecosystem is robust enough to truly prepare children for the future.

Leading an organization that supports over 400 schools, Iqbal works at the heart of the UK’s learning community to remove the barriers that stand between young people and their potential. He is a specialist in digital transformation and "future-proofing" school environments, ensuring that every child, regardless of their background, has access to the tools and innovation they need to thrive in a rapidly changing world.

As a judge for the National Innovation Challenge, Iqbal will be looking for young visionaries who are not only dreaming of a better world but are building the practical, scalable solutions to create it. He is passionate about empowering young innovators to turn their ideas into lasting social impact.
Helen Walker

Helen is passionate about education technology - its potential to transform learning and improve social equity.

Helen's career spans teaching, advising, senior civil service and the edtech industry. She started out in schools and moved into policy, strategy, and delivery roles at the UK government’s first edtech agency then at Qualifications and Curriculum Authority leading on pedagogy and ICT.

As CTO at the Department for Education, she led the department’s sector-facing digital services and internal tech, delivering a major cloud modernisation and digital transformation programme. More recently in commercial edtech, she has led Global Operations for RM plc and is now Vice President for UK and International Qualifications at Pearson plc.
Steve Whittaker

Steve Whittaker is Program Director in MIT’s Industrial Liaison Program and focuses on building sustainable relationships between MIT researchers and global industry.  He has a background in computer science and AI, coupled with very broad interests in emerging technologies and their impact on individuals, organizations, and society.

Before joining MIT, Steve Whittaker spent almost 40 years in the telecommunications industry with a focus on R&D and strategy.  He was recognized as a BT Accomplished Engineer within BT’s AI, Service, Security and Operations Research Directorate and was awarded BT’s prestigious Alan Rudge Award for Innovation for work on advanced interactive speech systems. 

From 2000 onwards, Steve was responsible for BT’s partnerships with US research universities and business schools - including their long-standing relationship with MIT. In addition to over ten years as a Visiting Scientist at the MIT Media Lab, Steve managed BT's collaborations, consortia memberships and informal partnerships across campus and the extended MIT ecosystem. He was responsible for a wide range of internal reports on topics such as AI, cyber conflict, future of work, platform strategies and future skills. He supported both BT’s network of global labs, regularly taught as part of BT’s executive MBA course at Tsinghua University and developed a range of unique C-level customer engagement programs.

Prior to relocating to the US, Steve held various research, research management, strategy and business development roles at BT's UK based research labs.