Utah State University Preparing for 2nd Annual Horizons Competition for Undergraduate Innovators

The Office of Student Research is gearing up for the second annual Horizons competition, inviting undergraduate students to tackle some of society's most pressing challenges.

Horizons, which launched in 2024 as part of Utah State's Year of Undergraduate Research, is an event where teams of undergraduate students compete to find creative solutions to challenging problems. Last year's topics ranged from developing a more equitable health care system to addressing the societal impacts of AI to creating livable environments for humans in space. Unlike many other student competitions, no research is required — only big ideas to tackle these "wicked problems."

Last year, 100 students began the competition, with six teams advancing to the finals.

In addition to the $3,000 first-place prize, this year's competition will feature expanded partnerships with Utah-based industry leaders, offering all participating teams mentoring resources and unprecedented networking opportunities.

"I have made industry and academic connections that have guided my studies … Truly, Horizons has been transformative in perspective, direction, capacity and confidence," said a student competing in last year’s event.

Horizons will kick off with a launch event at 3 p.m. Oct. 17 in the Merrill-Cazier Library. Interested students can attend the event to form teams and learn more about this year's topics. The competition is open to all USU undergraduate students across all campuses. Students who can't make the launch can still take part by registering on the Horizons website after Oct. 17.

Visit https://research.usu.edu/your/horizons/ to RSVP for the launch event or explore how faculty, alumni and industry professionals can get involved and support competing teams.