The University of Evansville is proud to host the High School Changemaker Challenge, once again made possible by our generous partners at Toyota. Any high school sophomore, junior, or senior who can be present for the in-person event can compete to win a four-year, full tuition scholarship to the University of Evansville by submitting their idea to make the world a better place.

In-Person Competition
January 23-24, 2026
Eykamp Hall, Ridgway University Center
University of Evansville

How will you Change the World?

The University of Evansville’s Changemaker Challenge motivates local high schoolers to use innovation and creativity to solve challenges in the world around them.

Your idea to make the world a better place could win you full tuition to the University of Evansville where we will join you to make your idea happen!

2026 Top 20 Competitors

Accessible Cam
Team: Cameron Jenkins; Franklinton High School, Franklinton, North Carolina
Accessible Cam is designed to bring awareness to sidewalk and path accessibility issues throughout our city. It provides a street-level view of the challenges faced by pedestrians using wheelchairs and walkers, new mothers using strollers, and others navigating Evansville sidewalks and paths.

AluMedica: Recycle. Heal. Empower.
Team: Chantal Aguilar Felix; North Central High School, Indianapolis, Indiana
AluMedica is a youth-led initiative that transforms recycled aluminum into smart bandage STEM kits, empowering students, especially girls, to explore biomedical engineering through hands-on learning. By combining sustainability, health literacy, and innovation, AluMedica helps heal wounds, reduce waste, and inspire the next generation of changemakers.

Compost Corner
Team: Thejasri Raghuram, Grace Li, Leia Nicole Reloj; Signature School, Evansville, Indiana
This initiative uses community composting to turn food waste into fresh, nutritious produce for Evansville residents. It supports households experiencing food scarcity and provides reliable access to healthy ingredients for neighbors facing homelessness.

DoseGuard
Team: Niranjan Nambiar, Kodi Lau; Signature School, Evansville, Indiana
DoseGuard is a digital platform that reduces errors in the way K-12 schools administer medication by double-checking vital information in the whole process. DoseGuard's AI visual identification software and electronic health records are the cheap "one-stop shop" schools need to keep their students safe!

E-PLAY
Team: Margaret (Maggie) Antey; Castle High School, Newburgh, Indiana
E-PLAY is a community driven sports recreational league that connects adults and youth through fitness in the Evansville area. With adult recreational league fees, partnerships, and fundraisers, E-PLAY will sponsor youth in the Evansville area to play sports for free, while also updating and maintaining sports facilities in Evansville.

Evansville Youth Music Collective
Team: Ethan He, Layne Jenkins, Stephanie Panayides; Signature
We are a student-led volunteering ensemble and initiative composed of high school musicians driven by the philosophy that everyone deserves access to live music.  Since 2024, our ensemble has performed at hospitals, retirement communities, and care facilities, bringing joy to patients, residents, and families when they need it most.

FieldSafe Analyzer
Team: Sylas White; Castle High School, Newburgh, Indiana
This project offers an affordable soil-testing kit and companion app that helps farmers understand the health of their land. It delivers clear toxicity reports and science-based recommendations, supporting sustainable growing practices and stronger harvests.

Future Women of Criminal Justice
Team: Taylor McRoberts; Boonville High School, Boonville, Indiana
The project aims to organize outreach events that connect young girls with female role models in the criminal justice field, offering mentorship and support. The initiative seeks to inspire and empower the next generation of women to pursue careers in criminal justice.

GrowIN' Soy: Indiana’s Tiny Beans, Big Climate Impact
Team: Matthew Goff, Alexander Rawlinson; Signature School, Evansville, Indiana
GrowIN' Soy is an educational program to teach 3rd graders about the growth and value of soybeans and recieved an Ag Literacy grant from Indiana Farm Bureau to present this in Warrick Co. schools. Our goal is to expand this program statewide to create change by promoting more informed consumers for a positive environmental impact that supports Indiana's agricultural communities.

HelpingHands
Team: Noma Ohonba, Chaz Burkett; Signature School, Evansville, Indiana
HelpingHands is a streamlined platform to make volunteering more convenient, people can find events that match their interests and keep track of their hours & verification all in one place. It basically functions as a social network for service, making it easy to stay informed, get involved, and track real impact without extra hassle.

MedAtlas
Team: Carson Vu, Aiza Farooq; Signature School, Evansville, Indiana
MedAtlas is designed to give Tri-State residents greater control over their healthcare journeys. It provides a clear, accessible platform that helps patients—especially those in underserved communities—understand where, when, and how they can receive the care they need.

MindGuide AI
Team: Joseph Quinonez, Karanveer Singh; Signature School, Evansville, Indiana
MindGuide AI is a student-focused support platform that provides safe, real-time guidance, early risk detection, and workflow tools for counselors without replacing human decision-making.

MyJourney
Team: Nicholas Fleming; Signature School, Evansville, Indiana
An online therapy extension providing reusable resources to patients for use out of session, along with storage for session notes and action plans and mood and progress tracking. It helps the financial and time burden on both therapists and patients, ensuring that more people have access to therapy.

Navis
Team: Kevin Xia, Roy He, Ryan Chen; Walt Whitman High School, Bethesda Maryland
Navis is the world's first proactive, goal-oriented smart cane that helps the 43 million fully blind and 300 million visually impaired people in the world navigate independently and safely. Using real-time guidance, agentic systems, and hierarchical control, Navis shifts mobility from reactive obstacle avoidance to proactive route planning, fundamentally changing the blind navigation paradigm.

PulmoVOC
Team: Jonathan Davis; Signature School, Evansville, Indiana
This project introduces a non-invasive diagnostic tool that analyzes exhaled VOCs with machine learning to support early detection of lung cancer. It offers a simple, patient-friendly approach that can improve screening access and lead to faster, more informed care decisions.

SchoolShield
Team: Janelle Addo, Sophie Ng; Signature School, Evansville, Indiana
Most classroom doors are required to be locked and door windows covered with paper for safety, derailing focus when a loud knock disrupts learning, creating an accessibility issue for the disabled and a safety issue by opening the door to unknown people. SchoolShield was built to be a remote door camera, opener, and security system for better focus and learning.

Second Hands
Team: Joseph Swayze; Henry Clay High School, Lexington, Kentucky
Many elderly people in the U.S. struggle with technology, which leaves them vulnerable to scams and feeling isolated. My project, Second Hands, helps address this by empowering seniors in my community and teaching them how to use their devices confidently.

SkillSwap
Team: Finn Drozhinin, Naren Raghavan, Vivek Penumetsa; Signature School, Evansville, Indiana
Skillswap is a peer-to-peer learning platform that matches high school students and allows them to trade skills in cooperative lessons. It solves the issue of the lack of affordable tutors for high schoolers.

Team Promise
Team: Lucy Howe, Elodie Thomason; Reitz Memorial High School, Evansville, Indiana
This program proposes a co-ed or all-girls flag football league in the Evansville Promise Neighborhood, offering kids a fun and active way to build healthy habits. It emphasizes physical activity, teamwork, and confidence while creating a positive space for youth to play and grow.

VeraWell for Women
Team: Jaini Haria, Adria Saha; Signature School, Evansville, Indiana
This app provides a secure way for victims of domestic abuse to reach licensed health and mental-health professionals through private chat or video, offering crisis triage and personalized safety planning. It also includes anonymous peer-support spaces where survivors can connect and share experiences, along with accessible resources to help them find safety and begin healing.

ALTERNATES

GraceBand AI
Team: Sreehari Nair; Signature School, Evansville, Indiana
This project offers an affordable wearable device for seniors that monitors falls, inactivity, and heart rate in real time. Using AI to detect concerns and send timely alerts to family members, it supports safer independent living and quicker access to care when it’s needed most.

Urban Mobility Support
Team: Supratibh Mondal, Henry Onate-Ayala, Daniel Clutter; Signature School, Evansville, Indiana
This project provides a durable, mobile wagon stocked with essential supplies to support individuals experiencing homelessness. It offers a practical way to carry personal belongings, access daily necessities, and maintain mobility and dignity while navigating life on the streets.

Competition Event

This event will be a celebration of all the incredible changemakers who are competing. There will be time for networking and collaboration as we all work together to make the world a better place.

Top 20 teams will compete on Friday evening, followed by a dance for all competitors where the Top 6 teams will be announced. Saturday afternoon, the Top 6 teams will compete again. The top three teams will be awarded during a gala celebration of all Changemaker Challenge competitors.

Prizes

The winning students who choose UE as their college destination will receive the following scholarships*:

*Students will receive either the Changemaker Scholarship or the Academic Merit Scholarship, whichever is higher. All UE scholarships are applied to fall and spring semesters and exclude summer and winter enrollment. UE admission requirements apply.
†Students winning first place will not pay any tuition out of pocket for four years. Winners are required to live on campus as part of a cohort, remain consistently enrolled full-time each semester, maintain satisfactory academic progress toward their degree, and display progress toward fulfilling their Changemaker Challenge project goals.
The awarding of the Changemaker Scholarship may adjust Scholarships and Grants previously offered for students who have already received an initial Financial Aid Notification. Learn more about Scholarship information for the Fall 2026 entering class.