What is the name of your organization?
Foundation for Global Education and Empowerment
What is the name of your solution?
MyMachine USA
Provide a one-line summary or tagline for your solution.
MyMachine connects elementary, university & high school students who collaborate to ideate, design & build Dream Machines that are unique creations.
In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
Bloomington, IN, USA
In what country is your solution team headquartered?
United States
What type of organization is your solution team?
Nonprofit
Film your elevator pitch.
What specific problem are you solving?
The world is changing faster than our education system can handle. We continue to prepare students for a world that no longer exists - one where creativity, innovation, and collaboration were optional, not essential. Despite calls for educating the next generation to be “future-ready,” students are rarely provided with authentic opportunities to imagine, design, and build something new.
Too often, young people—especially those from minoritized and underserved communities—never meet a STEAM role model who shares their background or story. Without access to mentors or experiences that make STEAM tangible and relevant, many lose confidence in their creative and technical abilities and turn away from STEAM before they’ve even had the chance to explore it.
The result is not a shortage of talent, but talent without the belief that they belong. MyMachine addresses this gap by reimagining how students encounter STEAM—through creativity, cross-age collaboration, and confidence-building experiences that make innovation feel both personal and possible. MyMachine addresses this by reimagining how students encounter STEAM—through creativity, cross-age collaboration, and confidence-building experiences that make innovation feel personal and possible.
What is your solution?
MyMachine USA transforms how students experience STEAM by turning imagination into action. The program connects three levels of learners—elementary, high school, and university students—who collaborate to bring a “dream machine” to life. Elementary students dream up big ideas. University students studying design translate the ideas and render models to show what they could be. High school students then use those designs to build a working prototype. Each group contributes to the overall goal while learning from one another.
This process forms a role modeling chain: younger students see that their ideas matter, high school students gain confidence as creators, and university students learn to translate a client’s vision into reality. Together, they experience the full cycle of innovation—ideation, design, and creation—mirroring how ideas move through real STEAM industries.
To advance the goals of this Challenge, we seek to involve more youth from underserved backgrounds by experimenting with various models, including a focus on working with local STEAM professionals and organizations. By connecting students directly with industry role models, students’ confidence in participating in STEAM and their awareness of the diverse career paths available should increase.
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
MyMachine USA serves students across the learning spectrum—elementary, high school, and university—particularly those from underserved and underrepresented communities where exposure to STEAM careers is limited. Each group benefits uniquely, yet all are connected through a shared experience of creativity, collaboration, and mentorship. Over the past four years, we have engaged nearly 4,500 students across 24 schools in five states.
Elementary students are given the freedom to dream and they gain confidence and curiosity as their imagined ideas are transformed into prototypes, discovering that innovation is something they can do. High school students build technical, creative, and teamwork skills while realizing that STEAM is not abstract—it’s hands-on, collaborative, and relevant. University students develop leadership, communication, and applied design experience, learning to translate a client’s vision into tangible solutions grounded in real-world manufacturing constraints.
By involving local STEAM professionals and organizations, the program broadens students’ awareness of real career pathways while helping them see themselves reflected in these roles. The result is a growing network of confident, capable young innovators who not only understand STEAM—but believe they belong in it.
