2026 Regional Winners

Congratulations to the 2026 Presidential AI Challenge Regional Champions!

Regional winners will showcase their projects in Washington, D.C. in June.

Additional Information

  • East Central

    Educators, Track 3a

    Elevating Kindergarten Science with Machine Learning
    Team Members: Jessica Holloway, Stephane Elgin

    Educators, Track 3b

    AlignEd Prep: Preparing Co‑Teachers for Aligned Instruction in Inclusive Classrooms
    Team Member: Tiziana Lambert

    Elementary, Track 1

    Homework Helper
    Team Members: Aaron Gallagher, Ayden Taverna, Emma Connor, Jacob Chaloux, Ryker Cochran

    Elementary, Track 2

    Blaze's Backpack
    Team Members: Deacon Brewer, Jacob Flack, Clara Hawkins, Rayleigh Stewart

    Middle School, Track 1

    PantryPal
    Team Member: Cooper Lawhorn

    Middle School, Track 2

    AI-Powered Drone System for Automated Gutter Inspection
    Team Member: Erik Dong

    High School, Track 1

    Intelligent Municipal Finance
    Team Members: David Shi, Srihari Kumaresan

    High School, Track 2

    Project Nitri-shield
    Team Members: Satya Thavanesh Yalla, Arnav Kulkarni

  • Southeast

    Educators, Track 3a

    "AI Insect Detectives": Teaching Machine Learning Through Local Entomology
    Team Member: Carrie Robledo

    Educators, Track 3b

    PortfoliOS: An AI-Assisted Portfolio Feedback System
    Team Member: Barbara Morrow 

    Elementary, Track 1

    Navi: A Friendly AI Buddy for Kids Online Safety
    Team Member: Jay Chauhan 

    Elementary, Track 2

    Friendzone Chatbot_ Bullying Prevention App_Track II
    Team Members: Aryan Nuguru, Ira Jaiswal, Ishie Jaiswal, Ira Vivaramneni, Nihara Reddy, Srihan Pinnamareddy, Riva Madda, Aarna Jaiswal, Arya Chandrasekar, Eshani Khatri, Kimaayra Anand, Nikash Reddy, Sanuli Rathnayake, Samitha Pinnamareddy, Tobias Thomas, Zoya Waheed

    Middle School, Track 1

    CareerBridge AI Helps the Homeless
    Team Member: Aliza Yetnik

    Middle School, Track 2

    How accurately can an AI model detect urban blight using street-view images
    Team Member: Shan Vance

    High School, Track 1

    Early Detection of Crop Stress at the Field Level Using Time-Series Vegetation and Environmental Data
    Team Members: Amrita Choudhary, Saloni Choudhary 

    High School, Track 2

    Leveraging AI for Early Detection of Parkinson’s Disease in Winston‑Salem: A Community-Centered Solution
    Team Members: Jerrin Moore, Andrew Shih, Luis Cruz-Mondragon

  • West Central

    Educators, Track 3a

    Hot and Cold: Exploring AI Temperature in the English Classroom
    Team Member: Brooklynn Gross

    Educators, Track 3b

    The Human + AI Agency Cycle: Transforming Passive Learners into Active Co-Creators
    Team Members: Yen Nguyen, Stephanie Jones, Kamaya Mayfield 

    Elementary, Track 1

    The Curiosity Club: Helping Kids Learn and Save with AI
    Team Member: Noah Acharya 

    Elementary, Track 2

    Minimizing Cafeteria Food Waste through AI Analysis
    Team Members: George Carpenter, Freya Gaul, Lara Sage, Cale Winkler, Lucy Wosepka, Grayson Gibbens, Marah Maguire, Hunter McCroden, Vivien Weaver, Zenaida Zimny

    Middle School, Track 1

    NeuroWeave : A Cognitive Interface for Accessible AI
    Team Member: Anirudh Rao

    Middle School, Track 2

    Identifying and Addressing Gaps in Student Web Literacy Using Transparent AI
    Team Members: Lucas He, Dhruv Rohatg

    High School, Track 1

    Gadugi Learn: Using Artificial Intelligence to Preserve the Cherokee Language
    Team Members: Joshua Li, Jason Gao

    High School, Track 2

    Implementing AI to Assist Columbia, Missouri Law Enforcement
    Team Members: Aneesh Calyam, Aayan Behura, Aanya Shetty

Watch the Regional Winners Announcement Video Replay

  • Northeast

    Educators, Track 3a

    Chat In The Box - AI Education for All
    Team Member: Laura Fuhrmann

    Educators, Track 3b

    AI-Augmented Molecular Design: An AI-Durable Module for AP Biology
    Team Members: An Nguyen, Bridget Blash, Regina Knowlton

    Elementary, Track 1

    School Cafeteria Buddy
    Team Member: Sharvani Dara

    Elementary, Track 2

    HazardHunt: AI-driven Hazard Detection in Everyday Environments
    Team Members: Angeline Shin, Olivia Zhang, Chris Ding

    Middle School, Track 1

    Clinical CoPilot
    Team Members: Pragya Sharma, Aaradhya Sharma 

    Middle School, Track 2

    MentorBot: A Responsible AI Agent for Guided Learning
    Team Members: Aadi Nangare, Aditya Dhar

    High School, Track 1

    Utilizing Computer Vision for Hotel Room Identification in Criminal Investigations
    Team Member: Khandakar Mahin

    High School, Track 2

    IRIS: A Low-Cost Spatiotemporal AI Framework for Visually Impaired Navigation in Complex Urban Environments
    Team Member: Alexander Du

  • West

    Educators, Track 3a

    Global Innovation Race (GIR) Hawaii A Statewide Student Innovation Leadership Initiative
    Team Members: David Gonzales, Leah Aiwohi, Chloe Sato

    Educators, Track 3b

    EduAiLenz
    Team Members: Elaine Gross, Meagen Crafton 

    Elementary, Track 1

    Label Lens (Mobile App: Precision Guardian)
    Team Member: Avyakt Nataraj

    Elementary, Track 2

    AI Safety For Kids
    Team Members: Madesh Saravanan, Mishika Chauhan, Aariv Kumar

    Middle School, Track 1

    SkillUp
    Team Members: Viha Iyer, Shrimayi Shetty, Arya Pratap

    Middle School, Track 2

    Verdant - Your Garden Management Assistant
    Team Members: Erin Wu, Mira Arora 

    High School, Track 1

    Narco-Aegis
    Team Members: Allison Liu, Brendon Wu, Alvin Zhang

    High School, Track 2

    Computerpreter
    Team Members: Victor Niu Young, Forest Niu Young