From Competition to Careers: Celebrating 20 Years!

Out of over 17,000 students, the top five teams will compete on June 10 in a Q&A session on stage with a panel of judges. The questions encompass the research the students performed in the making of their 5-7 minute videos on sustainability.

On June 11, Kate the Chemist will present thrilling experiments and a great talk about STEM careers, followed by the award of almost $50,000 in scholarships!

Dates

Monday, June 10th – National Challenge Student Competition (2:00 – 5:00 PM CST) (Free to attend)
Tuesday, June 11th – National Challenge Dinner & Awards Ceremony (6:00 – 9:00 PM CST) (Ticketed Event)

Tickets
Tickets available for the Dinner & Awards Ceremony as individuals ($250) or couples ($475). All sponsors receive a table of 10.  Sponsorships begin at $3,000, so all sponsors receive 10 tickets. Tickets are available here: https://www.chemed.org/get-involved/

Location

Westin Houston Memorial City
945 Gessner Rd, Houston, TX 77024

 

What is the Challenge?

Teams will participate in the Regional Challenge where they will answer timed multiple-choice and short-answer questions. They will also create a video response to the year’s theme where they will form a company that has come up with an innovative solution to a problem. Overall team scores will be a weighted combination of their video score and their Regional Challenge score. The weighted scores will be used to select state winners. The top five teams amongst state winners will advance to the National Challenge in Houston, TX.

At the National Challenge, finalist teams will have the opportunity to present their research from the video component of the Challenge to a panel of judges. Teams will pitch their start-up company and innovative solution to the judges where they will expand their knowledge of the business side of the STEM field. The 2024 National Challenge will take place in June in Houston, TX.

There are two tracks to the Challenge: virtual and in person.

Why should you register for the Challenge?

  • Participation can be used as an asynchronous education tool for your classroom or as an after-school opportunity.
  • Interactive study materials are available for your students once you register
  • Students can develop their interest in science and compete for scholarships!

Through participating in the Challenge, students will have the opportunity to gain the following skills:

You can view more information about the Challenge on our FAQ page. For any questions related to the Challenge, please reach out to challenge@chemed.org.